Granite Construction Inc. is a civil contractor whichconstructs dams, highways, airports, tunnels, bridges and other infrastructure-related projects in the west, southwestand southeast. For the FY ended 12/31/00, revenues increased 1% to $1.35B. Net income increased 5% to $55.8M. Revenues reflect growth in the market for residential and commercial site development. Net income also reflects an improved gross profit margin and increased interest income.

February 25, 2001

Granite Construction Incorporated is one of the largest heavy civil construction contractors in the United States and operates nationwide. The company operates in both the public and private sectors providing such services as construction of roads, highways, bridges, dams, as well as performing site preparation services for buildings, plants, subdivisions and other facilities. GVA announced a 3:2 split with their earnings report this past Wednesday the 21st. This will be GSA's third stock split since the company started trading publicly in 1997. The stock split will occur on April 13th. Good news seems to breed good news at GVA because the day after the split announcement, GVA was awarded a $21.9 million contract by the California Department of Transportation for the asphalt concrete resurfacing of Interstate-880 in Oakland, California. Switching our focus from the news to the chart, we note that on February 9th GVA hit a new 52-week high of $34.40. That new high was achieved on volume of 132,000 shares. GVA normally trades about 62,000 shares based on a 3-month average, so the new high was achieved on the kind of volume we like to see. We mention this because on Friday while the market was bleeding red with selling, GVA actually posted a gain of +1.74 for the day on 130,000 shares of positive volume. Looking to next week, if you are considering opening a new play on GVA, look for a move through resistance at $33.50 and then up at the present high of $34.40 on continued good volume. A bounce off a support level could also be considered for an entry point. Use the 10-dma at $32.17, the 20-dma at $31.50 or the 50-dma at $30.85 as support levels. We'd like to see volume of 45,000 or better traded by midday accompany the stock higher when considering a new play. For our protection we will post our stop loss at $30.50 just below the last level of support.

Picked on February 25th at $33.07
Change since picked 0.00
Stop Loss at $30.50

March 13, 2001

After GVA survived Monday's wicked broad-market sell-off, we thought we might be in this play for the long-haul. That didn't turn out to be the case, though. We were stopped out of GVA today after it trended lower with the Dow Jones Industrial during the first half of the session. Still, we were able to exit GVA with a small profit.

Picked on February 25th @ $33.07
Profit/Loss +0.43 (1%) (Stopped Tuesday @ $33.50)
Best Profit +2.41 (7%)

March 11, 2001

Granite Construction finished the week down after the market turned sour on Friday. The triple digit losses on both indices were too much for GVA to handle and the stock took the path of least resistance lower. The stock traded below its first level of support and came to rest at $34.50, a former level of resistance established back on February ninth. For now this will serve as the first level of support until a more solid footing can be established. Friday's volume surpassed the three-month average of 75,000 shares by 9%, with 82,000 shares swapping hands. As it turns out, the ill effects of the current market have outweighed what euphoria was out there for a split run. The split, a 3:2, is scheduled for April 13th and we'll continue to watch for another leg up prior to that date. For next week look for possible entry points for new plays if the stock bounces off support or move through resistance at $35.00 on volume exceeding 60K traded by midday. We are keeping our stop loss at $33.50 on this play.

Picked on February 25th at $33.07
Change since picked -1.48
Stop Loss at $33.50