Bookkeeping: Closing Insituform Technologies (INSU)

I continue to like Insituform Technologies (INSU) as a water infrastructure play and I've tried to stay very patient in this name [Feb 2, 2009: Bookkeeping - Beginning Insituform Technologies] , but it is one of the few stocks in my universe (watch lists) that is below the 200 day moving average. After the biggest surge in the stock market since the late 1930s I have to question any stock that cannot show signs of life. It bounced like everything else off that S&P 666 early March low, but has been range bound for a month and a half since - i.e. completely dead money. And now shows signs of rolling back over (down). (Frankly it looks like a short from here at least technically)

I am surprised by this lack of performance because I thought the sectors it was involved in would be very much in favor - aside from the infrastructure play their recent acquisitions have pushed them into oil services, which is now the hottest part of the stock market as part of the "reflation" trade. Yet, not a peep - the stock is in purgatory. People do not want stocks at 16x earnings, because there are plently of much cooler stocks at 30, 35 and indeed now 40x forward earnings to march up. Value is so 1980s.

I had just been sitting on a 0.5% stake after taking profits off the initial surge 6 weeks ago - we're taking a tiny loss of a $100 or so.

This opens up slots for me to buy the flavor of the days in the portfolio.

[Mar 5, 2009: Water Mains are Ticking Time Bombs]
[Feb 25, 2009: Insituform Technologies in Forbes]
[Feb 10, 2009: Insituform Technologies with Favorable Mention in Investor's Business Daily]

No position