Finally Over the Hump.... CBL, FNB, and ESL Seal the Deal

Most stocks were up today, but that doesn't mean they deserve to be (nor does it mean they'll be up a month from now). The names you want to own come from the very narrow sliver of stocks that boast solid fundamentals while also starting to show the right bullish technicals. With that goal in mind, here are three small cap ideas that finally made their way into that sweet spot today.

The new uptrend from Esterline Technologies Corporation (NYSE:ESL) isn't actually new. We saw the buy signal for this small cap way back in early 2009, which yielded good results then. The pullback and rebound - and renewed buy signal - are just fortunate timing for us.

From a fundamental perspective, what's not to like about a military contractor with a sub-15.0 trailing P/E ratio, and a sub-14.0 projected P/E? That's ESL right now. Esterline Technologies Corporation has also topped estimates in three of its last four quarters.... pretty good odds.



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CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (NYSE:CBL) isn't the only REIT that made its way to the technical buy list today, but it's one of� the few that has the right underlying corporate performance to truly justify owning it (admittedly though, CBL is attractive enough form a chartist's point of view to own it for that reason alone).

In any case, while this small cap retail REIT has seen better days, one should also note that it's also start! ing to s ee better days again, after a terrible spell in 2008 and 2009. The dividend from CBL & Associates Properties should continue to improve as the economy does, and as commercial/retail real estate rebuilds itself. There's growth as well as income opportunity here.



And finally, we'll round out our picks today with a small cap from the regional banking world... F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE:FNB). Though the stock hasn't done much of late - even when it was pointed higher - the new buy signals also suggest the latest upswing from FNB is also the beginning of a momentum-building period. (In other words, it's accelerating.) It's also above all its key moving averages.

As far as performance goes for F.N.B. Corporation, it looks like the bank has turned the proverbial corner. We've seen two sequential EPS increases, and the last two earnings reports both topped estimates (versus the prior two, each of which fell short of estimates). So, the company is at least doing its part to sustain the apparent rally FNB has started.

That said, I'd wait until the near-term resistance at $8.87 is cleared before pulling the trigger here. There's plenty of meat left on the bone beyond that line.



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