"Revenues have grown every year since the company was founded in Austin, Texas, in 1980 and profits have grown too, until 2006 when profit margins began to contract from above 3% -- huge in the grocery business -- to a low of 1.0% in the third quarter of 2008.

"Now the margins are expanding again. Analysts' estimates are on the rise. And the future is bright. We have no expectations that the rate of growth of the company's early years will be repeated; with $8 billion in revenues, the company is just too big to do that.

"But we do appreciate that the mass market still has far more potential to embrace Whole Foods' natural foods, and most of all, we think there's enormous potential for profit as the stock recovers from its deeply oversold position.

"And technically, what a great chart! For 14 years, from its 1992 IPO to its December 2005 top, WFMI was a terrifc investment, soaring more than 2,500%. But in January 2006, anagement split the stock 2-for-1, unwittingly flooding the market with more stock than it could digest after it had gorged itself.

"The result, combined soon after with slowing growth and the broad market's decline, was a decline that took back 95% of the previous advance. But that's history. The stock is now showing strength.

"Selling pressures are gone. In the past month, WFMI has been working to build a base between 17 and 19. The 25-day moving average has just caught up. We think you can buy it here."

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