What would you say if I told you that there was a company that developed GPS-like technology for the human body? You’d probably say that that is really cool. Well leave it to Israeli ingenuity and creativity to create such a cutting-edge technology. In fact it’s such an interesting technology that St. Jude Medical(STJ) has bought the Israeli company for $300m.

In a market with very little M&A, this makes 2 acquisitions of Israeli companies in as many months. Johnson & Johnson(JNJ) bought Omrix Biopharmaceuticals(OMRI) as well. This shows that multi-nationals would rather outsource their R&D than develop it in-house. if this trend continues, it could get very interesting for Israeli hi-tech.

MediGuide was founded in 2000 by Gera Strommer, president and CEO, and Uzi Eichler, vice president technology, as a spin-off from Elbit Systems (Nasdaq: ESLT), which owns 41.3% of the company, and with backing from Israeli venture capital fund Vitalife.

According to Globes: “MediGuide has developed technology and products for minimally invasive navigation and tracking within the human body. Its devices are for use in cardiac procedures and catheterization. The system consists of sensors mounted on a catheter introduced into the body, with the locating done on the basis of the distance of the sensors from several sources of magnetic radiation, with an accuracy of fractions of a millimeter.

The information from the sensors is combined with an image of the interior of the body, in a way that is similar to the way locating using a GPS device works. Since in catheterization or other invasive procedure, the human body undergoes changes, the device measures physiological indications from the body breathing, EKG, and so on and amends the picture accordingly.”

What will they think of next?

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Jacada (JCDA) signs another material deal — this time it’s a follow-on deal with Nationwide Insurance.  According to the release, “This most recent contract extends the use of the Jacada solution to the Property and Casualty Direct Sales and Service group, to further automate and simplify access to customer, policy and billing information.”

Defense contractor Elbit Systems (ESLT) signed a $20 million deal to supply its Hermes unmanned air vehicles (UAV) to an unnamed European country.  The agreement is for air vehicles and ground systems to be delivered in 2009, according to Reuters.

Motorola, a strategic partner of NICE Systems (NICE), announced the receipt of an order on behalf of Denmark’s Interior Ministry.  The order is for an integration of NICE Inform, the firm’s multi-media incident information management solution in an effort to consolidate radio-over-IP content from the Danish public safety network.

Speaking of NICE, NICE’s Actimize division also announced a deal with partner Unisys in Singapore which would have Actimize’s transaction surveillance system installed at Singapore’s largest financial institution, DBS.  Actimize’s system analyzes transactions and recognizes potentially suspicious patterns across a bank’s product channels.  DBS is the first bank in Asia to install such a system on an end-to-end, cross-border, and bank-wide basis.

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Aaron Katsman
www.IsraelNewsletter.com

As we dig out from the snowstorm that crippled Jerusalem, attention this weekend turns to sunny Arizona, and the playing of the Super Bowl. While IOI has a strict policy against choosing one team over the other, as an individual poster I will take the liberty and say that the Patriots better win, because I can’t imagine what it is going to be like to have to listen to a bunch of obnoxious New Yorkers go on and on about the Giants.

Here at IOI we would like to present our top 2 Super Bowl picks. These Israeli stocks are sure to rise enough in value that you will be able to fly to Disney World with your earnings.

Verint Systems(VRNT.pk) the security company has been on fire over the last month and a half. Previous to that it was a one way ticket downhill. The stock has gotten crushed over the last few years, mostly due to the mess that is the parent company Comverse Technology(CMVT.pk). The fact the Verint had to delay filings and get delisted from the NASDAQ has taken its toll on the stock. If you can get beyond the scandal with Comverse, you will find that Verint is growing nicely, and well undervalued to its competition, namely fellow Israeli security play Nice Systems(NICE).

Elbit Systems(ESLT) the defense company just keeps signing new deals. This past Sunday’s deal with the Netherlands, while only a $40 million deal, was much more important than the money. The company thinks that this may help them crack into NATO, and if that happens, they will start selling like crazy. With the world continuing to be a very dangerous place, Elbit Systems should benefit.

Go Pats!

Disclosure: Author’s has a position in VRNT.pk and ESLT and is long the stock as of 2/1/08.

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Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is 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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Zack Miller
IsraelNewsletter.com

Globes ran an article on Elbit Systems (ESLT) last week. Company president and CEO Joseph Ackerman spoke about the growth the defense company is seeing. 2008 and beyond seem to be double-digit growth years for the Israeli contractor, with over $4 billion in backlog orders.

The seminal paragraph of the article addresses market demand for Elbit products:

“The budgets of armies around the world have been growing at 3-4% annually in the past few years, and we are growing faster than the market…Our business is military electronics,…there’s always demand for the products. What’s more, today armies buy fewer platforms and more systems, and that’s exactly what we do. Therefore I estimate that in the next three to four years we’ll maintain a two-digit growth rate. 2008 is more or less clear to us, and it will be better than 2007.”

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