BullRaid

[shmolton]

That's a big one

[flota]

DIVX

8:01AM DivX announces agreement with Qualcomm (DIVX) 13.84 : Co announces a licensing agreement allowing QUALCOMM (QCOM) to include DivX technology in a range of QUALCOMM video-enabled chipsets. This agreement will potentially allow consumers to access high-quality DivX video on a wide range of mobile devices powered by QUALCOMM's chipsets.

[flota]

Are you ready to go into Administration?

Sterling dips as UK subprime lender collapses
Tue Sep 11, 2007 8:52 AM BST
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LONDON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The pound slipped versus the yen, euro and dollar on Tuesday as the collapse of a British subprime lender led investors to fear that problems in the U.S. mortgage market could spread to Britain.

British subprime specialist Victoria Mortgages said it had gone into administration on Monday as the increased cost of borrowing made it unable to fund new loans [nL10796349]. Industry experts say it is the first British lender to go into administration in the current crisis.

Analysts said that the company's demise is prompting fears that Britain could be more exposed to the subprime mortgage problems than was thought.

"This is the first UK casualty from the subprime contagion and it's hitting sterling a little," said Daragh Maher, currency strategist at Calyon. "It shows that although subprime mortgages are a U.S. issue, it has international implications."


At 0722 GMT, sterling was down 0.25 percent versus the yen at 229.78 <GBPJPY=R>. It was down 0.15 percent versus the dollar at $2.0241 <GBP=>. The euro was up 0.1 percent to 68.10 pence <EURGBP=>.

Investors will look to trade data for July at 0830 GMT for further clues on the health of the British economy and prospects for interest rate hikes. Economists polled by Reuters predicted a 6.4 billion pound global goods deficit.

Investors will also look to comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at 1500 GMT and European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet at 1600 GMT for clues on the outlook for U.S. and euro zone interest rates.

[flota]

Y2K Finance Hedge Fund Halts Redemptions and Sales (Update4)

By David Clarke

Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Y2K Finance Inc., the flagship hedge fund of Wharton Asset Management, will halt redemptions until at least December because of credit market turmoil.

Y2K Finance will stop calculating net asset value ``due to current market turbulence,'' the fund, based in the British Virgin Islands, said in a statement today.

Wharton Asset Management specializes in investing in asset- backed securities. Investors are shunning bonds backed by home loans after late mortgage payments by U.S. borrowers with poor credit histories rose to the highest since 2002, rattling debt markets. The London-based firm joins at least 10 other investment managers, including New York-based Bear Stearns Cos., forced to shut down funds or suspend client redemptions since July.

Managers of asset-backed funds ``could be in a lot of pain over the next few months,'' said John Godden, head of London- based IGS Group, which invests in hedge funds. ``There are no decent valuations on any of this stuff.''

The fund dropped 7.31 percent in June, for a year-to-date loss of 5.24 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Maurice Salem, who founded Wharton in 1993 and runs the firm, didn't answer calls to his mobile phone. Calls to the company's offices in London weren't returned. The Y2K fund was established in 1999.

Wharton's Trio Finance Ltd. fund, which invests in real estate asset-backed securities, has fallen 46 percent this year, according to Bloomberg data.

Frozen Funds

Bear Stearns in July sought bankruptcy protection for two hedge funds. Basis Capital Fund Management Ltd. and Absolute Capital Group Ltd., both of Sydney, froze investor accounts, and Basis sought bankruptcy protection in August for the Basis Yield Alpha Fund.

Synapse Investment Management LLC, the London-based hedge- fund manager that oversaw money for a German bank bailed out in August, said last week it shut one of three fixed-income funds after ``severe illiquidity'' in the market.

Caliber Global Investment Ltd., overseen by hedge-fund manager Cambridge Place Investment Management LLP, said in June it planned to close and sell assets after investments in securities backed by mortgages went awry.

Hedge funds are mostly private and unregulated pools of capital where managers can buy or sell any assets, participating substantially in the profits of the money invested. The industry oversees more than $1.7 trillion, almost triple the amount five years ago, according to Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research Inc.

To contact the reporters on this story: David Clarke in Edinburgh at [e-mail] .

[flota]

By Rachel Beck
ASSOCIATED PRESS

11:20 a.m. September 11, 2007

NEW YORK - Alan Greenspan must really be worried about preserving his legacy. That's the only way to explain his assertion that the current financial turmoil is "identical" to market dislocations that occurred in 1987 and 1998.

The former Federal Reserve chairman told a group of economists in a speech last week that the behavior seen in the last seven weeks amounts to nothing more than deja vu all over again. Back then, financial stress rocked markets and raised worries about slowing economic growth before the Greenspan-led Fed rode to the rescue by cutting interest rates, quickly leading to happy days again.

We'd be lucky for such smooth sailing this time, given the bigger risks embedded in today's marketplace. How convenient for Greenspan to overlook that, since he was the chief cheerleader for the growth of instruments like derivatives and securitizations that are playing a large role in today's credit market dislocations.

Greenspan stepped down from the helm of the Fed nearly two years ago, handing the reins to successor Ben Bernanke. But he has hardly left the spotlight - commanding big speaking fees, the "maestro" still often chimes in on the economy.

Now that Greenspan is in the private sector, he is free to express his views. While he didn't respond to a request for comment for this column, expect to hear even more from him in the coming weeks as his much-awaited book chronicling his 18 1/2 years at the Fed, "The Age of Turbulence," hits bookstores Sept. 17.

That's a day before the current Fed's closely watched meeting to decide how to proceed on interest rates. Its benchmark federal funds target for overnight loans between banks now sits at 5.25 percent. It has been at that level since last summer after 17 quarter-point increases.

Wall Street is desperate for a rate cut, given that stocks have plunged from record highs in recent weeks and there are worrisome signs that the credit crisis set off by the housing and mortgage market collapse is still with us.

Greenspan's view is that this situation largely mirrors what happened in the past. If that is the case, and history serves as a guide, then a few rate cuts by the Fed will turn these trying times around fast.

While those past events were surely financial shocks, they are not the same variety we are seeing today. Economist Ed Yardeni talks about them as "unsettling" differences.

In 1987, a financial meltdown over an overvalued stock market was the primary concern. The situation in 1998 largely stemmed from debt defaults in Russia and other emerging economies, which Yardeni notes were still a relatively small percentage of the global economy. While that led to the failure of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management, the situation was quickly resolved once LTCM was bailed out by some big banks.

"In both financial crises, the Fed lowered the federal funds rate, the economy and profits continued to grow and stock prices rose to new highs once the financial panic subsided," said Yardeni, in a note to clients of his namesake firm, Yardeni Research Inc.

Things today are more complicated. The marketplace is truly global, and the current crisis in confidence runs deep into financial markets.

One of the biggest areas of concern now is the continued dislocation in commercial paper markets, where companies raise cash to fund their operations. Investors are resisting buying, which has roiled that market. According to Citigroup, commercial paper outstanding has fallen by $209 billion over the last three weeks.

Greenspan should know how we got to this point. He led the Fed during its rate-cutting binge earlier this decade, slashing the federal funds rate over a three-year period to as low as 1 percent and keeping rates depressed for longer than many economists considered necessary. That low-rate environment sparked the boom in the housing and mortgage lending markets, which helped pull the economy out of its 2001 recession.

Greenspan also publicly supported risky loan products, such as adjustable-rate and subprime mortgages. Those areas of the mortgage market have imploded in the last year as adjustable mortgage rates have risen and home prices have dropped, making it difficult for borrowers to keep up with their payments. Default rates have skyrocketed.

Most importantly, Greenspan blessed the increased use of risk-laden financial tools, such as securitizations, which let lenders bundle their risky loans and sell them as bonds known as mortgage-backed securities.

The trouble is such instruments lack transparency in terms of risk, making it difficult to know what could happen should they falter. Investors - including some big hedge funds, investment banks and even German state banks - have gotten a quick lesson in those risks now that the mortgage-backed securities market has collapsed, leaving a trail of significant losses in its wake.

"Not only did Greenspan keep rates too low for too long, but he put his Good Housekeeping seal of approval on such risky activities," said Paul Kasriel, director of economic research at The Northern Trust Co. in Chicago.

Greenspan's talk about how today's events are like the past sounds like a stretch. He should know better.




Rachel Beck is the national business columnist for The Associated Press. Write to her at [e-mail]

[shmolton]

Me too! Mighty shiny!

[flota]

WZEN looking nice today.

[flota]

MMG,

WZEN back on watch, they have a lot of going on in the next year. earnings report pretty much sucked but these are the slowest months for them.

http://www.knobias.com/research.pdf?id=11576

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=15241491

[flota]

hinese real estate IPO should price high
Sun Aug 5, 2007 11:19AM EDT

By Helen Chernikoff

NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) - A Chinese real estate services company may beat its own hopes of raising $226.8 million in its initial public offering in the United States this week on the strength of soaring Chinese property prices and despite recent stock market volatility there, analysts said.

Shanghai-based E-House (China) Holdings Ltd, the 13th Chinese company to launch an IPO this year on either the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq, has filed to sell 16.8 million American Depositary Shares under the symbol "EJ" (EJ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on the New York Stock Exchange.

The anticipated price range is $11.50 to $13.50 per ADS, with each representing one common share.

The company is a primarily a residential real estate brokerage with 1,800 employees in 20 cities that also provides consulting and information services.

E-House is the market leader and the first Chinese real estate services company to make its debut on U.S. exchanges, analysts said.

That makes it a natural choice for investors interested in profiting from the breakneck pace of economic growth in China, whose housing market is the polar opposite of the the slumping one in the United States.

Chinese real estate prices nationwide have risen 26 percent this year on average and over 30 percent in major cities, said Benjamin Wey, president of investment bank and consulting firm New York Global Group, which specializes in China-related advising.

"(E-House) produces good income statements," said Francis Gaskins, president of independent research firm IPOdesktop.com. "It's an easy, visible way to play growth in China in an easily understandable market."

Given the appeal of Chinese real estate, E-House should price at the top of its range and could easily trade at a premium on its scheduled IPO date of Aug. 7, said Gaskins and William Wilson, an analyst at Boulder, Colorado-based Morningnotes.com.

The stock will trade higher than $15 on its first day and could reach $25, Wey said.

Offerings from China were especially hot in the final months of 2006 due to the country's prospects for continued rapid development fueled by its massive population.

Then a 9 percent, one-day drop in February on China's main Shanghai Composite (.SSEC: Quote, Profile, Research) index scared some away from Chinese offerings on the United States exchanges, Wilson said.

But the specter of Chinese market volatility probably will not darken E-House's debut because Chinese stock market uncertainty simply drives more people into real estate, viewed by the Chinese as relatively safe and stable, Wilson said.

IRRATIONAL EXUBERANCE?

Not every recent Chinese IPO has fared as well as analysts think E-House will, however.

Excessively high initial valuations have doomed some offerings to lackluster performance later, Wey said.

Xinhua Finance Media Ltd (XFML.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is a prime example of this phenomenon, Wey said.

The media and advertising company offered shares at $13 in March, but has tumbled 45 percent since then.

Of the seven companies that staged offerings in May, June and July on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, the shares of four are down.

With a likely initial market capitalization of about $932.6 million, E-House falls in the middle of recent Chinese IPO's size range. LDK Solar Co Ltd (LDK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) made its debut with a projected market capitalization of about $2.72 billion, while China Sunergy Co Ltd's (CSUN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) initial market capitalization was about $435.1 million.

But analysts said they are not worried that E-House is overvalued.

E-House's strong financials indicate skilled management, Gaskins said.

The company's revenue rose 79 percent to $56 million between 2004 and 2006 and its net income was $18.1 million in 2006 compared with $5.6 million in 2004.

Even E-House, however, is not without risk, Wey said.

One of the company's foremost advantages is its special relationships with local developers under which it not only receives the exclusive right to represent properties, but also buys as much as 20 percent of them in a risky strategy that has proven exceptionally rewarding, Wey said.

But more sophisticated multinational companies such as Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Century21 are already becoming formidable competition to E-House, Wey said.

Also, real estate in China cannot continue to grow at its current pace forever, he said. The government already has policies in place to restrict prices and could tax real estate brokers and agencies.

"This industry can get chilled very quickly," Wey said.

[flota]

How One Firm Mined the Student-Loan Mess
Tiny MyRichUncle Draws
New Clients After Taking On
College Financial-Aid System
By ANNE MARIE CHAKER
August 2, 2007

In recent weeks, a relatively small student-loan company has taken out ads in major newspapers including USA Today and California's Orange County Register, touting itself as "conflict free." Those words in the ad are surrounded by a collage of newspaper headlines about recent revelations about conflicts of interest in the student-loan industry.

The ad is by MRU Holdings Inc., better known as New York-based MyRichUncle, and it comes exactly one year after the maverick lender took out a string of strongly worded ads that some credit with having sparked investigations into questionable relationships between colleges and lenders. A number of lenders had allegedly been offering incentives to university's financial-aid officials in exchange for getting on the "preferred lender lists" that schools hand out to prospective student borrowers.

Now, with families' trust in their college financial-aid officials broken, more people are looking to alternative resources for student loans, such as Internet search engines and lenders that pitch directly to the consumer. And many of them are turning specifically to MyRichUncle.

The company says calls from customers increased 87% last month from a year earlier. A spokeswoman declined to disclose the actual numbers of queries it gets or loans it provides. But the company says originations of its main private-student-loan product more than doubled in the fiscal year ended June 30, compared with a year earlier. And federal loan applications in just the past month have more than tripled. MyRichUncle "is a beneficiary of consumers exercising their choice to shop around," says Vishal Garg, chief financial officer.

Regulators caution that borrowers still must be vigilant and not assume they are getting the best deal by avoiding college financial-aid offices. The office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, which conducted intense probes of schools' preferred-lender lists, says it has now begun looking into Internet-based and direct-to-consumer marketing practices, too. "We need to ensure that we rid not only the preferred-lender list of conflicts, but also eliminate any deceptive practices taking place on the direct-marketing side," says Benjamin Lawsky, deputy counselor and special assistant to the New York attorney general, who declined to name any specific companies being targeted.

Amid all this, MyRichUncle -- which says it hasn't been contacted by Mr. Cuomo's office -- made a name for itself in a short period of time. It had been carving out a promising niche by promoting its competitively priced products directly to the consumer. But it has yet to make a profit. It was the newspaper ads last year targeting preferred-lender lists that brought the company national attention.

Such lists were a long-established practice whereby colleges steered students toward specific lenders. Financial-aid officers have said the practice helps whittle down the confusing array of choices in the marketplace. As a result, the vast majority of students end up borrowing from one of the listed lenders, even though they don't necessarily offer the best deals.

One of the MRU ads called the relationships between schools and lenders a "racket." Another said more pointedly, "Before you choose, ask your financial aid office about the lenders on their preferred lender list. Ask if any of these lenders offered kickbacks or incentives to get on the list."

By taking aim at financial-aid officers, who form an important link to customers, MyRichUncle was taking a big risk. And indeed, reaction was swift and sharp. At the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., financial aid director David Gelinas sent an email to a MyRichUncle representative, saying: "Please do not visit or contact me." The University of Mississippi's financial-aid director, Dewey Knight, sent an email to a MyRichUncle sales representative, saying he would "not receive or certify loan requests from your company."

Lisa Cain, whose daughter is attending a private college in Boston, says that the school's financial-aid office resisted when she said she was considering MyRichUncle. She had received a list of recommended lenders from the college, but decided to shop around as she began noticing headlines about schools' cozy relationships with banks. The administrative assistant in Tequesta, Fla., ultimately, she chose MRU over the objections of the school, and says she has been pleased.

"The bottom line is, this is a lot of money," says Ms. Cain. "I need to go with the best interest rate."

Attorney General Cuomo's probe into colleges' lending arrangements has led over two dozen schools, including Columbia University in New York and Drexel University in Philadelphia, to settle claims of deceptive trade practices involving undisclosed payments from lenders. Financial-aid officials at some of the best-known schools in the country have lost their jobs for taking stock or other payments from student-loan firms. And some of the biggest student-loan firms have reached settlements with Mr. Cuomo's office, totaling about $14 million.

Just yesterday, Mr. Cuomo announced that he subpoenaed 40 universities as his investigation expands to possible deals between university athletic departments and student-loan companies.

MyRichUncle was founded by two former classmates at New York's Stuyvesant High School. Raza Khan and Mr. Garg, both 29, are children of Indian immigrants who grew up in the city's Queens borough. Both attended New York University on scholarships and started on their career paths -- separately -- from their dorm rooms. Mr. Garg traded stocks for a hedge fund. Mr. Khan built Web sites for companies.

They came together again on MyRichUncle, which floundered in its first few years. The venture launched in 2001 with a novel investment idea: matching student borrowers with an investor -- "a rich uncle." But it didn't take off. Then the founders noticed opportunity in one segment of student loans, those that aren't backed by the federal government. Because federal law limits what students can borrow through less-expensive government-backed loans, rising tuition costs are forcing more students to borrow from private lenders. This market has more than tripled in the past five years, to $17.3 billion, according to the New York-based College Board.

The company went public in 2004, entered the private-loan market in 2005 and a year later unveiled a niche private loan. Using a pricing model they believed could predict a student's future ability to pay, they targeted students who were being denied traditional private loans. These were students who didn't have a co-signer or whose parents had bad or no credit history -- for instance, recent immigrants. They took into account such metrics as grades, major and school attended. No parent co-signer would be required, and the interest rate was based on a future ability to pay.

Last June, MyRichUncle entered the federal-student-loan business, but with a twist. Most lenders offer popular federally backed student loans at interest rates that are set by the government -- currently 6.8% on the most common program, known as a Stafford loan, and 8.5% on the Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students, or PLUS.

To draw business, many lenders discount those rates after a certain number of on-time payments. But because young borrowers often slip up, many don't qualify for the discounts. MyRichUncle offers a steep discount on those rates from the get-go -- 5.8% for Stafford and 6.75% for PLUS (though still charging an origination fee -- totaling 1.5% of the original principal balance -- which other lenders might waive).

Another twist: The product would be marketed directly to students, and not through schools' financial-aid offices. But its larger rivals had a near lock on prospective borrowers, via the college preferred-lender lists.

So the company took out its now-notorious ads in major national newspapers. One ad that ran last summer said, "You need to know that going through your financial aid office may cost you a premium. The only way to be sure you're getting the best rate is to go direct."

Following the widely publicized lending investigations, officials at MyRichUncle say they feel vindicated. The company is still hemorrhaging money. In the six months ended Dec. 31, 2006, its net loss was $17.6 million, compared with $10.6 million a year earlier. But Mr. Khan says those losses are narrowing as it builds its portfolio.

[flota]

nice write up

Jon Markman
Jul 23, 2007 9:48 am




When it's time to name this decade with an arch moniker, like the "Swingin' '60s" or the "Roarin' '20s", investors will probably vote for something like the "Ore '00s". For the most salient feature of this ten-year span so far has been the unprecedented rise in the value of natural resources and the companies and countries that produce and refine them.

Whether you're talking about coal, titanium, aluminum, iron, copper, lead or zinc, the base elements have been elevated to the top of the heap amid ravenous demand by emerging markets for the sort of raw materials that fuel factories, power grids and highways.

While China is the poster child for this phenomenon, we should absolutely not forget about India. It too has a massive population and is determined to enjoy rapid industrialization and urbanization throughout the country. India is growing a whopping 9% per year, and I have been recommending one of its leading lights to clients lately: the little-known copper, zinc and aluminum powerhouse Sterlite Industries (SLT). The company's corporate structure is a little arcane, but basically it is a separately traded unit of the United Kingdom-based mining conglomerate Vedanta, which also has major operations in Australia and Zambia.


Click here to enlarge.

Sterlite is primarily known in India as a leading copper refiner and smelter, but after a recent deal it has also absorbed 91% of the country's leading zinc miner and refiner, Hindustan Zinc. You may know of zinc as primarily a dietary supplement or sunblock, but a much heavier version of the resource now accounts for a third of Sterlite's revenue and 70% of its earnings.

The zinc that Sterlite produces is primarily used to coat steel for protection against corrosion, a process called galvanization. Galvanized steel is used in structures that range from automobile bodies to skyscrapers, all of which are in great demand now in the region as the Chinese and Indian economies grow at a rapid pace. On the commodities futures market, zinc prices have more than tripled over the last three years while inventories have dwindled, though they’ve stalled a bit lately.

Worldwide, zinc consumption grew 5% last year, and it is set to grow another 4.5% in 2007 and 2008. With marginal higher-cost mines being restarted, it will be difficult for supply to catch up with the shortages of skilled labor and equipment plaguing the entire mining industry. So, as demand grows, zinc prices are going to continue to rise, which is great news for producers like Sterlite. The company's Hindustan Zinc unit operates a mine and three smelters in northwestern India and is currently exploring a 6,000 square mile area, which could boost its reserves by as much as 25%.

Total zinc capacity currently stands at approximately 400,000 tons annually, but the company has a number of expansion projects underway that will help boost production. Goldman Sachs analysts expect Hindustan's zinc volume to grow 21% next year, while Macquarie analysts see volume up as much as 50% by 2009. Macquarie also sees substantial increase in the company’s copper and aluminum smelting capacity and production volume as well. Since its facilities are very efficient, considered among the top 10% in the world in terms of cost effectiveness, the company should have little problem meeting expectations.

Last month, Sterlite sold $2 bln worth of shares in the United States to finance its buyout of the Indian government's stake in Hindustan Zinc. That opened the door for me to buy into this classic Asian growth story. If you cock your head a bit and squint your eyes, you can envision how it could turn out to be a mini version of India-born steel titan Arcelor Mittal (MT), which has done very well for my portfolios in the past year, rising 100%. Other comparable global base metals plays include BHP Billiton (BHP), Freeport McMoRan (FCX), Teck Cominco (TCK) and Century Aluminum (CENX).

I will have more to say about Sterlite in the future, including details about its large copper business. For now, the stock continues to look like a solid play on global metal demand for my 2008 target of $22. Set stop at around $16.25 in case of trouble.

http://www.minyanville.com/articles/gs-mt-bhp-fcx-tck-cenx-zinc-india-china-slt/index/a/13425/from/y...

[flota]

this is what SLT will do in couple years, if metal prices go up or stay the same.

[flota]

DIVX nice bounce today.

[flota]

Friday , July 27, 2007 03:12ET

By Staff Reporter
BEIJING, Jul 27, 2007 (XFN-ASIA via COMTEX) -- Houston-based Far East Energy Corp (BULLETIN BOARD: FEEC) plans to double its investment in coal-bed methane exploration in China over the next two years, the official Caijing magazine reported.
Michael McElwrath, CEO and President of Far East, was quoted as saying that over the past two years the company had invested 35 mln usd on several coal bed methane projects in central Shanxi province and southwestern Yunnan province.
Last month Far East said it has received final approval from the Ministry of Commerce to extend by two years the exploration period for its coal-bed methane production sharing contracts.
The exploration period will be extended until June 30, 2009 for the Shouyan and Qinnan coal bed methane projects in Shanxi.
The exploration period for the Enhong and Laochang coal bed methane projects in Yunnan will also be extended until June 30, 2009.
The 500,00-acre Qinnan Block is near the West-East Pipeline to Shanghai.
Far East explored the areas with partner China United Coalbed Methane Corp, which was set up in 1996 to produce natural gas from coal. China National Petroleum Corp has a 50 pct share in China United Coalbed Methane.
China's reserves of coal-bed methane are estimated at 36 trln cubic meters, similar to the reserve levels for natural gas, according to official data.
[e-mail]

[MMG]

nice chart!

[flota]

CROX shorts are getting plowed

[MMG]

Sounds like a great plan! :)

Have a great weekend, Flota.

[flota]

Skiing and close to Argentina.

http://www.chileanski.com/eng/

[shmolton]

Why Chile?

[flota]

no. These two books I am reading this summer and I am waiting for Irrational Exuberance part 3, that is when I am going to unload everything and move to Chile.


The New Financial Order: Risk in the 21st Century, by Robert J. Shiller, Princeton University Press (2003), ISBN 0691091722.
Market Volatility, by Robert J. Shiller, MIT Press (1990), ISBN 026219290X.

[shmolton]

Good question, do you have any quiche?

[flota]

why are you here?

[shmolton]

You've come out of hibernation.

[flota]

So, I would say you have answered you own question.

[Stock]

if you called your your friend al, to tell him you bought FEEC, what would you say to him on the phone?

I bought FEEC, Al.

[flota]

Market insight: What risk managers have learnt since the shock of 1998
By Michael Gordon

Published: July 19 2007 16:54 | Last updated: July 19 2007 16:54

Will the troubles in the US subprime market pass by as a little local difficulty – or will they start a rout across capital markets and bring to an end the great bull run in a broad range of asset classes? That’s the big question faced by those in capital markets right now.

Can history teach us anything on this score? Well, it’s certainly worth looking at the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management in September 1998. The near-demise of this ­mammoth hedge fund marked a turning-point for credit markets, hitting brokers and banks hard.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ef835ba2-3607-11dc-ad42-0000779fd2ac,_i_rssPage=f655fe98-30c9-11da-ac1b-0000...

[flota]

Friday , July 20, 2007 07:01ET

HOUSTON, Jul 20, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Far East Energy Corporation (OTC BB:FEEC) announced that it has agreed to a tentative term sheet for a proposed equity investment of $15 million by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group based in Washington, D.C. The financing would support FEEC's coal bed methane projects in China's Shanxi and Yunnan Provinces. The final terms and closing of the offering are subject to entering into definitive documentation and approval of the boards of directors of IFC and Far East Energy as well as other requirements. Closing is anticipated to occur prior to the end of the third calendar quarter of 2007.

The IFC has also indicated that it is interested in considering future long-term project financing. In addition to this potential project financing, IFC, as a member of the World Bank Group, can potentially render political risk mitigation, guidance on developing a long term strategy to leverage potential carbon finance opportunities under the Kyoto Protocol, and assistance on other aspects of Far East Energy's activities in China.

[flota]

sold some LLNW pre market thank you shorty...

[flota]

its being held at the ask. I would say someone is accumulating cause pretty big blocks go through from time to time.

[MMG]

LOL maybe my wording wasn't the best but I agree with you LOL

[flota]

if the rumors are not true this will a mother of all short squeezed lemons. get your scoop ready.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=AHM

[flota]

basher

[MMG]

breaking through $1 and holding would be a start imo..

[MMG]

that would have been nice :)

it seems to be trading in a uptrend channel...

[flota]

WYY one of these days this will blow the torch and start BOOMIN'

[flota]

should have loaded LOGI on the sell off in the AM..huh.

[MMG]

Indicators turning up!

Seems like it has found a higher low.

[flota]

LLNW shorty cover now. Boomer has spoken

[MMG]

Definetly oversold, gotta keep an eye on it to see reversal signal.

[flota]

LLNW looks interesting here. they report on August 9th. I would not be suprised if they run this thing before hand. Analyst coverage, I mean rookie coverage initated today.

[MMG]

kewl...holding right @ support imo

[flota]

these guys own 11 million shares of FEEC, so unless they dump nothing to worry about here.

http://www.martincurrie.com/aboutus/

http://www.nasdaq.com/asp/holdings.asp?mode=&kind=&symbol=FEEC&symbol=&symbol=&s....

[MMG]

lets see if it holds above the trendlines...

[flota]

well, KO is knockin its own share price out.

[MMG]

Interesting...

[kgoodrich]

Mail Boomin or Bullin?
Howdy, flota. You like our newest board? Should be an interesting way to let folks know about us. You will be desperately needed. Bring the beer. hehe

[flota]

MAIL BOOMIN'

http://bullraid.blogspot.com/search?q=mail

[flota]

Bruce dilution bonanza. looks like brainboost will be retired and I think raw just lost his job with lexico.

July 17 (Reuters) - Answers Corp. (ANSW.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it may periodically sell up to $140 million in debt securities, common stock, preferred stock, warrants, and units.

The company, which operates Answers.com, said it intends to use the proceeds to acquire other companies, products or technologies, including the outstanding equity interests of Lexico Publishing Group LLC.

Under a shelf registration filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a company may sell securities in one or more separate offerings with the size, price and terms to be determined at the time of sale. (Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore)

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EROC

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=EROC


Eagle Rock Energy Partners, L.P. engages in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting, and selling natural gas, as well as fractionating and transporting natural gas liquids. It has its natural gas gathering and processing assets located in Texas Panhandle, southeast Texas, and Louisiana. The company�s Texas Panhandle operations consist of the east Panhandle system and the west Panhandle system. East Panhandle system includes 773 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines; 3 natural gas processing plants; and 2 natural gas treating facilities. West Panhandle system consists of approximately 2,736 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines, 4 natural gas processing plants, 3 natural gas treating facilities, 1 propane fractionation facility, and 1 condensate collection facility. Its southeast Texas and Louisiana operations comprise the operation of approximately 1,049 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines, 2 cryogenic processing plants, and a 19 mile natural gas liquid pipeline. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Houston, Texas.

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Gap between GAAP and non GAAP Earnings

By CrossProfit

Lately more and more companies are reporting non GAAP earnings along with the standard required GAAP earnings. The trend is accompanied with statements like 'we provide non GAAP earnings to give a better picture of our operations' or 'management feels that the non GAAP figures better reflect our financial position'. A half truth is sometimes worse than a lie.

The reason GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) is required is so that a true peer to peer comparison can be applied. Imagine for a moment, that every CFO decides on his or her own what goes into a P&L statement or balance sheet. Chaos would be a mild understatement. At first, non GAAP figures veered from GAAP figures by excluding only the true cost of issuing shares as a form of compensation. Now, some companies exclude acquisition expenses as well. This enables companies to produce figures that show revenue growth and EPS growth, without accounting for costs and how that growth was achieved.

Non GAAP = NAAP = Not Acceptable Accounting Philosophy

In the past, Enron hid expenses and we all know how that ended. Likewise today, companies are deluding themselves, or should we say - are misleading investors, claiming that the non GAAP figures give a clearer picture of the company. They do not.

As an investor, you do want to know how much the company pays out to top management. There is no difference between a salary paid to the cleaner and the salary / stock options or other compensation that was paid to the CEO or CFO. This is an expense, a cost, money and value that has left the company. Whether or not you agree with the compensation package is irrelevant and is a totally different issue that is facing investors.

Recently, one company in particular, posted a 56% increase in revenues YOY (year over year) yet their GAAP EPS was $0.13, the same as in the first quarter of 2006. The company stressed the non GAAP EPS increment! There was no mention in the non GAAP statement that a $600K increase YOY wasn't from ongoing operations but from interest on investments. The company insists that the non GAAP figures show a clearer picture of operations! With non GAAP, anyone can spin the figures anyway they want, there are no rules and the sky is the limit. As time goes on, CFOs' are testing the tolerance level and are showing more chutzpah.

Another company posted yesterday after the bell a GAAP loss. The company emphasized the minuscule non GAAP EPS profit. What is mind-boggling is that this particular company has not been profitable for eleven years. What the company left out was that they may have to issue more stock six months down the road to cover acquisition and other costs. Once again, the company will report an increase in non GAAP earnings while the GAAP earnings will remain flat. In order to maintain the façade, the company has to continuously acquire more assets. Here as well the company boasts a tremendous increase in revenue and client count, yet in reality the company is still losing money for shareholders. In this particular instance, there is no way that they will post a real profit in 2007.

For all intents and purposes, GAAP earnings are the true earnings, not the other way around.