Sourced this article from a newsletter that was posted in a forum Jan 2009
Lot of what he is talking about is now about to happen.
Interesting read.
This is the article
What is the most valuable thing to you in the world? Your spouse? Children? Parents? Maybe its your pets? Chances are you would do everything you possibly can to protect them. They can never be replaced. But what else is valuable to you? What about the possessions you have earned and saved for over the years? You may have a house, investment property, share portfolio, jewellery, car, boat, plasma television, the list could go on forever. Whatever, these are things you have worked for. They are things you have saved for. They are things that you need, and things that you want. They are also things that you do not want anyone else to take from you. You may not be prepared to put your life on the line for them like you would for your family, but you will do all you can to ensure that what is yours stays yours. Global leader trading for peanuts That is why this month you will read about is a company that takes the security of private property to the next level. And if you invest in this company I believe you could see at least a 150% return in less than two years. But thats not all, if things pan out like I think they will, that return could easily reach more than 400% in the same time. This months share tip is a company that protects your property just as effectively as you protect your loved ones. And if security experts and history are to be believed, this year your personal property will need all the protection it can get. If youve ever dreamed of getting in at the early stages of a bright, young Australian-based company before it becomes a global leader, then Ive got some good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that this months share tip is already a global leader in its field. The good news is that for investors the share price has been left behind. The company - as a business - is no longer at the ground floor. In fact, it is within touching distance of the penthouse. Yet despite this, the share price is well and truly stuck in the lobby. But if you think it will stay that way forever, think again. Hedge against a recession This share tip is the global leader in an industry that is set to boom even if there is a global recession. In fact, it is the fear of a recession that could actually help it boom. And if there isnt a recession? Thats fine too. It has a chance to win either way. So, what does the company do? The company website tells us it is a: global leader in the development of assetbased identification, having developed four leading-edge identification technologies that allow assets, and their component parts, to be uniquely marked and identified. In plain English, the company owns patented technology that enables it to uniquely identify almost any item of property. It is a technology that can be used by individuals or more lucratively the commercial market. In fact, industrial companies have been the early adopters so far and that is set to continue as the global economy takes a turn for the worse. Profit in the Age of Identity Management In a moment I will tell you how the coming economic downturn could be the very catalyst for this company to make it big on the world stage. But before I get down to the brass tacks, think about how you protect your own personal property. It is yours. And you want to make sure that it stays yours. For most people, that goes no further than an insurance policy, which is fine up to a point. But look at the drawbacks: It is a hassle to make a claim The insurance company may not pay you out for weeks if at all You may not have insured your property for the full replaceable value It doesnt hide the fact that someone has taken something of value from you! What you need is a company with a technology that is not only a deterrent to thieves but can also be effectively used by law enforcement agencies and insurance companies to recover stolen assets. Thats where this months share tip enters the frame. Property Security One Dot at a Time The company is DataDots Ltd [ASX: DDT]. Based in Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, it is an Aussie small cap company that has already gone truly global with operations across Europe, Asia and North America. The international scope of the business means that in the commercial sector it has already contracted with marquee names such as Nissan, Subaru, Avis, Yamaha, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and the Master Builders Association. The reason these companies are involved is due to the leading-edge technology. But thats only half the story. The other half is the potential for massive growth. Thats why I believe this company has the potential to be trading at five-times its current share price. Thats a 400% gain over the current share price of 3.5 cents. Actually, I even think it could go much higher than that, but you know I like to err on the side of caution with the price targets. Anyway, Ill go through all the numbers shortly, but before I do, let me explain why I believe the share price will perform so well over the next couple of years. At the moment DataDots is a $6 million company. But it is a $6 million company that is already building its business on a global scale. Your opportunity is to get into this company before it becomes a big-name global company. And I believe it is on the verge of a Tipping Point that will turn it from being the global leader in a niche market to being a global leader in a mainstream market. How is it going to do that? This is how I believe it will play out. Recession Leads to Hard Times and More Crime Ask anyone what happens during an economic downturn. Seriously, if you are reading this near some friends, put this newsletter down and ask themWhat are the effects of an economic downturn? If they are anything like my friends, they will say job losses, companies going bust, and rising crime. They are certainly the subjects on a lot of peoples mind at the moment. But just supposing your friends come up with different answers, ask them this question instead, What happens to the crime rate in bad economic times? My guess is nine out of ten will say that crime rates rise during an economic downturn. How do they know that? Do you think they are big fans of crime rate web sites? Maybe they have a hotline to the Police Commissioner. Of course they dont. They are just guessing. Conventional wisdom tells them that when times are tough crime rates rise. There are any number of theories into why that is the case. But heres the key. It doesnt matter. Crime rates could stay the same, go higher or even fall. As far as this investment goes, it just doesnt matter. All that is required is for people and businesses to think that crime will rise and they will take precautions to either prevent it or to protect themselves. Fear and the Desire for Security Gold is a perfect example. The Perth Mint has been inundated with orders for physical gold. Why? Because if you fear that assets such as cash, bonds and shares will be worthless in a hyperinflationary environment followed by civil unrest and the collapse of society as we know it, then your best bet is to hold physical stocks of gold. Will such a doomsday scenario play out? The truth is we dont know. However, just the belief that something could happen causes the effect. Thats why so many people have been putting in orders with the Perth Mint for gold bars. The same scenario is likely to play out with the security and protection industries. Only in this instance the company (and shareholders) will be the winners regardless of which direction the economy and crime rates eventually turn. But people must get the idea from somewhere about the link between the economy and crime. Look no further than a few cuttings from the mainstream media: People are more likely to steal from shops and beat up their partners in the worsening economy - The Australian newspaper reporting on comments from Scotland Yard Senior police in Victoria are warning of a possible spike in property crime if previous economic downturns are anything to go by - ABC News Online on comments by the Victoria Police Unemployment means a hand-to-mouth existence, especially if prolonged. It is associated with family breakdown, rising crime and poor health - Sydney Morning Herald It is partly why I believe DataDots could return you five times your money within the next two years. Shortly I will take you through the numbers. But first let me explain how I came across this extraordinary little company, and the five lines of business that will take it to the top. Precious Metals Thieves Create Opportunity In late December, when I first started looking around for this months tip, the last thing on my mind was a company like DataDots. In fact I had started off looking at various metals prices to see if there was anything worth getting into following the drop in many metals during 2008. Thats when the Platinum Group Metals (PGM) caught my eye. For the record, the PGMs include Platinum, Paladium and Rhodium. One of the main uses for these metals is in the car industry. They are used as the catalyst in catalytic converters. It was whilst doing some further background research that I stumbled across a story how thieves were stealing catalytic converters from cars because of the PGM content. At the time of the news story Platinum was trading over USD$2,000 an ounce. It isnt surprising the criminals were so keen get hold of it. That is what led me to the amazing micro technology of DataDots Ltd. What the company does will help other companies and households manage their inventories of goods or personal possessions. Except for the most sophisticated Fortune 500 business, this simply isnt possible at the moment. But thats why the market is potentially so large. How Identity Management Works Heres the breakdown of what DataDots does, including the technology that helps prevent the theft of things like catalytic converters. The program has five components, each of which helps a person our business label and track important items. DataDotDNA This is the flagship product for the company. At just the size of a grain of sand, a DataDotDNA disc is laser-etched with lines of code enabling the identification of the asset it is attached to. The discs, or dots are brushed or sprayedonto the surface of property such as cars, boats, trailers, computers, or any other type of personal or business asset. DataThreadDNA DataThreadDNA is integrated into a fine thread that can be used by the clothing industry to prevent counterfeiting of expensive product lines. This is done by literally applying the DataThreadDNA to a fine thread and sewing it into the clothing label. The result is that the product contains a unique code that is virtually impossible to copy. DataLabelDNA This incorporates the DataThreadDNA concept by building it into a selfadhesive label. This is also designed to prevent and reduce instances of counterfeit products. DataTraceDNA This is the point where things get really futuristic. DataTraceDNA is a joint venture between DataDots Ltd and the CSIRO. Ill let the company explain exactly how this will work: DataTraceDNA is bonded to a products molecular structure, it is chemically inert, safe and strong enough to persist in any conditions. DataTraceDNA can be added to a wide range of materials to ensure product management, manufacturing process and logistics control. In other words DataTraceDNA becomes an actual part of the manufactured product. Amazing! DataBaseDNA This ties everything in. The DataBaseDNA service is used by law enforcement agencies and insurance companies to allow them to trace the origin of a vehicle or property that has been recovered. As the company points out, police in Poland wont need to know that the recovered car they have originated from Germany, they just locate the dots, retrieve the data and locate the details through DataBaseDNA. All this adds up to a great opportunity for an Australian company to corner the market in this leading-edge technology. And it will do so just at a time when the protection of personal and corporate property will be taking centre stage. So, how do the numbers stack up? And how exactly can DataDots give you a 150% return on your money in two years? Well, Ive kept you waiting long enough, so lets go through the numbers. Cheap on a current and forward basis Even before I look at the future earning potential of this company, I have to look at the current price. In my opinion it is trading at a dirt-cheap level. Based on the most recent earnings result it is trading at a price to earnings (PE) ratio of 4.5 times 2008 earnings. Even if you take out the tax benefit it received which helped to boost earnings it is still trading at a PE of less than 9x earnings. For a hi-tech company with massive growth potential ahead of it that is just plain crazy. Even in bear markets, technology companies tend to trade at much higher earnings multiples than their peers in the retail or basic materials industries. So there must be a reason for the low valuation. One reason is that most stocks were slammed down in 2008, especially those that were seen as more risky than others. Another reason involves who some of its biggest customers are the car industry. But Ill get onto the risks shortly, because its important you know them. Even before global economies started to turn south many countries have begun the move towards mandatory identity marking of cars. One such country is Taiwan. Already, DataDots has signed agreements with ten Taiwanese vehicle manufacturers, and according to DataDots CEO, Ian Allen falling insurance claims represented by their brands is becoming widely known among the others. On top of that, DataDots is seeing huge interest from plant and machinery manufacturers. Mr. Allen claims, In Australia seven machinery manufacturers and importers are rolling out our program. We anticipate 100 per cent coverage of the Australian market within two years. Subject to the company achieving stronger revenue growth over the next two years, I see little reasonNorth American, Asian and Australian businesses to at least double its revenues. Yet a doubling of the revenues wouldnt necessarily require a doubling of expenses. In fact, if we look back to 2005, company expenses were roughly the same as they were for 2008. During the same period sales have more than doubled. So even if we look at conservative revenue growth of 25% through to 2010, much of this should flow through to the bottom line, giving the company up to an additional $2.5 million of profits by 2010. And even if the market continues to price DataDots Ltd at a PE of 4.5x to 9x earnings, then you would still be looking at a company valued anywhere between $16 million and $27 million. If that were the case, the share price would be anywhere between 10 cents and 17 cents. Thats compared to the current share price of 3.8 cents. If Im right, that means the share price could at least increase by 150% to 325%. If you factor in the possibility for a greater rate of growth then the share price must surely move even higher than that. Beware the Risks Earlier I mentioned the risks. And like all of our share tips in ASI this does come with its own set of risks. So lets go over the main downside risks now. The risks are four-fold. First, one of the major markets for this type of technology is the car market. Weve all seen the numbers from the car manufacturers. They arent very good. Even Toyota, which for years has been pinching market share from the American manufacturers, is suffering. Therefore a sustained drop in demand for new cars will have an effect on the sales of DataDotsDNA to this market. However, it could lead to a pick up in aftermarket sales, although that cant be guaranteed. The second potential downside is that the effects of the economic downturn outweigh any benefits the company gains from the fear of rising crime. Third, that the company is unable to successfully diversify its business further into the non-car market, meaning that it is not able to spread its risk across different products and industries.
This last point has been solved with the following announcement in Oct 2010
DataDot Technology Limited (ASX: DDT) is pleased to announce that its joint venture DataTraceDNA Pty. Ltd. (DataTrace P/L) has been selected by a world leading European pharmaceutical company to authenticate the entire production volume of one of its most successful drug products. A five year contract has now been signed by both parties
But based on everything Ive seen about the products, the company, and the outlook for the global economy, Im convinced that DataDots Ltd is a great addition to the ASI portfolio. Action to take: Buy DataDots Ltd (ASX: DDT). Recent price $0.035. n
DDT Price at posting:
4.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held