By Aaron Katsman
IsraelNewsletter.com

Jacada(JCDA), a leading provider of unified desktop and process optimization solutions for customer service operations, annouced details on a deal signed in early August. Jacada said that the agreement is with Central Hudson Gas & Electric, a regulated gas and electricity provider serving approximately 367,000 customers in eight counties of New York State’s Mid-Hudson River Valley. Revenue from the contract will be recognized in future quarters.

Since my post on the 19th of September, Jacada stock has moved straight up, much like Don King’s hairdo, and is up over 15% in this 3-week period. Truth be told, back in my wild and wacky college days, I too had an impressive ‘fro like Mr. King, but that’s another story. As I have mentioned in the past, small Israeli companies that are flying under analyst radar, who keep signing deals and executing their business plans, sooner or later catch fire and with small floats, off they go. Keep in mind that with a market cap under $85 million and $36 million in cash this continues to be an attractive play, especially for those looking at up and coming micro-cap stocks.

Please see our Disclaimer HERE.

Disclosure: Author’s fund is long JCDA as of 10/09/07. Author has no positions in any other companies mentioned.

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Aaron Katsman is the lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

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By Aaron Katsman
www.IsraelNewsletter.com

As if suffering through the Seattle Seahawks getting shut out yesterday by the Steelers wasn’t bad enough, I came into the office this morning to tens of emails from my “so-called” friends making fun of me. Sadly, since these emails weren’t offically spam, they weren’t blocked, like the Steelers linebackers, and I had to suffer through reading them.

Speaking of email spam (nice segue), Commtouch(CTCH), a leading provider of email defense systems, announced today that nine new companies licensed its email defense technology during the third quarter. The company had set a goal of 30 new deals for all of ‘07, and they are almost all the way there with another 3 months to go in the year.

The third quarter was another strong quarter in terms of new partners signed, continuing our earlier momentum,” said Gideon Mantel, Commtouch’s CEO. “One of our objectives for 2007 was to sign 30 OEM deals, and we have nearly achieved this target already at the end of Q3. These new agreements, together with our existing partner base, are laying the foundation for our future growth in 2008.”

This speaks volumes about Commtouch’s potential. With over 58% of end-user organizations seeking new anti-spam vendors, the opportunity for Commtouch to grab market share is very real. The continued momentum Commtouch is enjoying is proof that they really have a superior product.

Trading at about $2.00 a share, Commtouch looks like a nice play well into ‘08.

Please see our Disclaimer HERE.

Disclosure: Author’s fund is long CTCH as of 10/08/07.

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Aaron Katsman is the lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

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By Aaron Katsman
www.IsraelNewsletter.com

I have received many requests by loyal Newsletter readers, to help clarify last week’s announcement of a non-binding memorandum of understanding to buy 51% of the Russian eggs and slaughterhouse company owned by Arcadi Gaydamak(also majority owner of G.Willi) for an estimated $32.6 million.

As it was a holiday week in Israel, there were conflicting reports as to which entity was the potential buyer. G.Willi(WILC)  or Willi Food Investments( the parent company which trades on the Tel-Aviv exchange). Thanks to alert reader Amit Chokshi, who was correct to note that it was indeed the Israeli company, who may do to the deal.

The question many have asked me is if there will  be any impact for WILC shareholders?

I think the answer is a resounding “Yes”.

G. Willi will now enjoy a huge distribution channel in Russia for all of their food business. G. Willi had no penetration into this market and if their parent company does a deal in Russia, it will certainly help G. Willi gain a foothold there.

I actually think US investors are underestimating this potential and the stock is still trading at very attractive levels.

 Please see our Disclaimer HERE.

Disclosure: Author’s fund is long WILC as of 10/07/07.

Like what you see? Sign up to receive daily updates from IsraelNewsletter here

Aaron Katsman is the lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

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Gilat Satellite Networks (GILT) announced that its subsidiary, Spacenet, is working with Verizon (VZ) Business to deploy a custom satellite network for the US Postal Service.

…and here come the lawsuits against BigBand (BBND). BigBand had a disastrous quarter and the stock plunged over 30% in one trading day. The provider of the de facto network architecture for digital simulcast, an application that facilitates the insertion of advertising and the transmission of video in a digital format while still providing service to analog customers, blamed a variety of factors on its revenue shortfall, including increased software customization and integration, a slowdown in Telco-TV revenues, and softness in its data business. Read the press release here. IsraelNewsletter has also written recently about what we thought was going on at BigBand.

Teva (TEVA) gets FDA approval for generic Valtrex, a version of GlaxoSmitKline PLC’s herpes drug. Valtrex sold about $1.3 billion last year.

Lots of interesting stuff going on at IsraelNewsletter pick, G-Willi Foods (WILC). Read what analyst Aaron Katsman has been saying on recent M&A activity. Look for IsraelNewsletter to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the deal later this week.

Alon USA Energy (ALJ) reported minor snags at its 70k barrel/day Big Spring, TX refinery, but with no effect on production.

After gaining more than 200% in the past six months and 500% in the last 12, Ceragon Networks (CRNT) is downgraded by Collins Stewart. Read the Globes story.

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