Access Control
& Security Systems

The opening of stock trading on Monday marked the six-month anniversary of the re-opening of the stock exchange following the Sept. 11 attacks. The original re-opening of the market thrust a wide range of security-related stocks into the spotlight. From established defense contractors to small firms specializing in biometrics, security meant increased stock prices across the board.

Now that six months have passed, so have the fancies of some traders -- and several security companies' trading prices have decreased. Nevertheless, security stocks are generally still being traded at double and triple their pre-Sept. 11 value.

Peter Barry,a Bear Sterns analyst, pointed out in a CBS Marketwatch report that the fear factor has subsided, but the original burst has "created whole new valuations that either will or won't be supported by the fundamentals of the individual companies involved."

Many stocks have seen a ride similar to that of Imageware (AMEX: IW), a San Diego-based maker of digital photography and ID software. Imageware shares surged to more than $9 in October after trading at less than $3 beofre Sept. 11. The sotck has tailed off to around $5 in March.

InVision Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: INVN), on the other hand, a Newark, Calif.-based supplier of explosives detection technology for airport applications, has seen its shares rise nearly $44 dollars since September.

This month in Access Control

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• An Enterprise Approach
• The Framework For Open Systems
• On A Higher Plane
• More from April's issue