At www.ValuEngine.com we show that the Finance sector 18.4% overvalued with the Banks West industry 7.7% overvalued. All 11 in today’s table have complete ValuEngine data and have enough price data to have most value levels, risky levels and pivots.

American River Bankshares (AMRB) – has been below $10 since the week of August 8, 2009.
Cascade Bancorp (CACB) – has been below $10 since August 15, 2011.
CoBiz Financial Inc (COBZ) – has been below $10 since the week of December 27, 2008.
Central Valley Community Bancorp (CVCY) – has been below $10 since the week of August 2, 2008.
First California Financial Group, Inc. (FCAL) – has been below $10 since the week of October 20, 2007.
Guaranty Bancorp (GBNK) – has been below $9.70 for at least five years.
Heritage Oaks Bancorp (HEOP) – has been below $10 since the week of June 28, 2008.
Heritage Commerce Corp. (HTBK) – has been below $10 since the week of January 24, 2009.
Premierwest Bancorp (PRWT) – has been below $10 since the week of May 15, 2010.
Summit State Bank (SSBI) – has been below $10 since the week of October 6, 2007.
Wilshire Bancorp Inc. (WIBC) – has been below $10 since the week of June 12, 2010.

Reading the Table

OV / UN Valued – The stocks with a red number are undervalued by this percentage. Those with a black number are overvalued by that percentage according to ValuEngine. The most undervalued stock is PRWT by 75.0%. The most overvalued stock is FCAL by 34.0%.

VE Rating – A “1-Engine” rating is a Strong Sell, a “2-Engine” rating is a Sell, a “3-Engine” rating is a Hold, a “4-Engine” rating is a Buy and a “5-Engine” rating is a Strong Buy. We have four Buy rated stocks (GBNK, HEOP, HTBK & WIBC) and seven Hold rated stocks.

Last 12-Month Return (%) – Stocks with a Red number declined by that percentage over the last twelve months. Stocks with a Black number increased by that percentage over the past twelve months! The biggest gainer over the last twelve months is FCAL up 63.4%. There were no losers.

Forecast 1-Year Return – Stocks with a Red number are projected to decline by that percentage over the next twelve months. Stocks with a Black number in the Table are projected to move higher by that percentage over the next twelve months. These stocks are projected to trade between a loss of 2.2% to a gain of 8.9%.

P/E Ratios – The twelve month trailing P/E ratios – WIBC has a single-digit P/E ratio. CACB has an elevated P/E of 39.0.
Value Level: is the price at which to enter a GTC Limit Order to buy on weakness. The letters mean; W-Weekly, M-Monthly, Q-Quarterly, S-Semiannual and A- Annual.

Pivot: A level between a value level and risky level that acts as a magnet during the time frame noted.

Risky Level: is the price at which to enter a GTC Limit Order to sell on strength.

Where to Buy and Where to Sell

A “Value Level” is a price at which buyers should add to positions on market price weakness. A “Risky Level” is a price at which sellers should reduce holdings on market price gains. A “Pivot” is a support or resistance (Value Level or Risky Level) that was violated in its time horizon, acting as a magnet during the remainder of that time horizon.  These levels are calculated in weekly (W), monthly (M), quarterly (Q), semiannual (S) and annual (A) time horizons, based on the past nine closes in each time horizon. My theory is that the closes over a nine-year period are the summation of all bullish and bearish events for that market or specific stock. These levels are the most important element of my Buy and Trade Strategy.

Buy and Trade Guidelines

Investors should consider entering good until cancelled (GTC) orders to buy weakness to a value level, or to sell strength to a risky level.