EZCORP Inc. (Ticker: EZPW) the McDonalds of Pawnshops

According to Yahoo!, EZCORP Inc. operates pawnshops and signature loan stores that function as sources of short-term cash. The company had 2700 employees in 234 EZMONY loan stores and 98 pawnshops as of September 2005. A week ago the company reported opening 46 stores during the most recent quarter, and they raised earnings expectations to 61 cents to 64 cent a share, up from 43 cents to 46 cents a share. I bought shares on September 20 as the stock ended a two day pulled back, after it had gapped up 15% a few days earlier. Those shares are now up 6.78% in a week. The day after my buy, IBD recommended the stock as a timely purchase buy placing a box around the chart in their IBD 100 stock chart page, which probably juiced additional buying. It can be difficult to buy a stock near an all time high, but you have to realize the largest profits in stocks are all made doing just that. One the day chart (top left) the stock in breaking out of a cup-with-handle base and could continue its strong performance.

Other recent trades

• Sold China Automotive Systems (Ticker: CAAS) break even (now it will go up) I don’t like the low volume trade action in this stock - it is still giving a buy signal though
• Bought U.S. Global Investors Inc. (Ticker: GROW) also breaking out of a cup-with-handle formation