BullRaid

[shmolton]

I thought it was a stock on the Oslo exchange or something.

[flota]

its some stupid thing reuters puts on their stocks.

[shmolton]

What is the .O suffix on the ticker?

[shmolton]

Thta's surprising to me, I didn't realize how big they are.

[flota]

Robin Greenwood, Harvard University and Stefan Nagel, Stanford University and NBER
"Inexperienced Investors and Speculative Bubbles"
Discussant: Jeremy Stein, Harvard University and NBER

http://www.econ.yale.edu/~shiller/behfin/2006-11/greenwood-nagel.pdf

[flota]

Tal Fishman and Harrison Hong, Princeton University, and Jeffrey D. Kubik, Syracuse University
"Do Arbitrageurs Amplify Economic Shocks?"
Discussant: Michael Rashes, Bracebridge Capital


http://www.econ.yale.edu/~shiller/behfin/2006-11/fishman-hong.pdf

[flota]

Flyer Tomorrow

UPDATE 1-Verigy swings to profit, sets strong outlook; shares up
Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:24 PM ET



(Recasts, adds outlook, share movement)

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Verigy Ltd. <VRGY.O> swung to quarterly profit and forecast second-quarter earnings and revenue above analysts' estimates, sending shares up 21 percent in late electronic trade.

The maker of advanced test systems for the semiconductor industry reported first-quarter net income of $13 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with net loss of $16 million, or 32 cents a share in the year-ago period.

Excluding certain items, it posted earnings of 28 cents a share for the quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting first-quarter earnings of 25 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $154.9 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Despite a cyclically soft period in the semiconductor test industry, Verigy reported a strong quarter helped by its balanced product portfolio, which focused on both system-on-a-chip and memory device test, Chief Executive Keith Barnes said in a statement.

Looking ahead, the company expects second-quarter earnings to be 28 cents to 33 cents a share, on revenue of $170 million to $180 million.

Excluding certain items, earnings are expected to be 32 cents to 37 cents a share for the second quarter.

Analysts on average expect earnings of 24 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $146.5 million.

Shares of the company were trading at $22.98 in late electronic trade, after closing at $18.88 on the Nasdaq. (Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bangalore)

[flota]

China Mobile will be global big player
Wednesday, February 7th, 2007
In spite of a small presence in Hong Kong, China Mobile's footprint remains pretty much confined to its home but it is the company's ambition to extend its reach well beyond China.

China Mobile is already — this has not been challenged in the financial press — the world's biggest wireless company in terms of both subscribers and market capitalisation. Although, so far, China Mobile has only struck a deal with a Hong Kong-based wireless operator, China Resources Peoples, and confirmed its interests in Pakistan Telecom and Millicom, it has said publicly — many times — that overseas expansion is a long-term goal. Two sections of this item are in bold because the figures involved are, literally, staggering.

The company, which had cash of RMB 71.4bn ($9.5 bn) as of June 2006, is especially interested in the emerging markets.

Wang Jianzhou, chairman, said, 'One of our advantages is scale. We do central procurement so our cost is low. Since we bought Peoples, it only has to pay half what it used to pay for the same equipment.'

Wang Jianzhou has also said that China Mobile was not in a hurry. There are still plenty of growth opportunities at home.

In November, China Mobile added a record number of subscribers, bringing its total number of users to 294m — almost as large as the population of the United States.

Perhaps more importantly, while the mobile penetration rate in China's east coast cities has reached 48 per cent, only one in five people in the poorer central and western regions has mobile phones.

Zhang Dongming, research director at telecoms consultancy BDA in Beijing, said, 'No matter what China Mobile plans to do in other markets, China is likely to remain its growth engine for some time. It has a dominant position and the market is still relatively young. I don't worry about its growth potential here.'
Source: Financial Times Deutschland

[flota]

AP
Builders FirstSource Sees Tough 2007
Thursday February 22, 6:18 pm ET
Builders FirstSource Cautions Housing Slowdown Will Affect 2007 Revenue, Profit

DALLAS (AP) -- Building products supplier Builders FirstSource Inc. said Thursday its earnings and sales will continue to be negatively affected through the middle of 2007 by a housing slowdown.
The company did not give specific guidance for profit or revenue but it said its operating results will be hurt by difficult market conditions.

"At this point it is unclear if the housing market has hit bottom," said Chief Executive Floyd Sherman. "Until housing demand becomes more predictable, we will manage our business day-to-day in order to meet customer needs."

Sherman said the company will initiate short-term costs reductions to help offset the lower sales.

Chief Financial Officer Charles Horn said the company will also adjust staffing levels "commensurate with changes in sales volume."

Builders FirstSource shares fell 77 cents, or 4 percent, to close at $18.49 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock has ranged from $14.10 to $25.76 over the past year.

[flota]

Chesapeake Energy Corp Reports Q4 $0.90 v 0.77e, R $1.87B v 1.52Be .

[flota]

Skoda Sees Net Profit Soar by More Than 40 Percent in 2006 to Reach Record $663 Million
February 22, 2007 - 08:31 a.m.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) - Czech car maker Skoda Auto said Tuesday its net profit rose by more than 40 percent in 2006 to reach a record 14.2 billion koruna (euro504 million; US$663 million).

Skoda's sales rose 8.7 percent year-on-year to 203.7 billion koruna (euro7.2 billion; US$9.5 billion), boosted by sales in strategically important markets, including Western Europe, the company said in a statement.

Skoda's 2005 profit before taxes was 10.1 billion koruna (euro359 million; US$472 million).

"2006 was the most successful year in the (company's) history ... and we are pleased about the trend in the pretax profit," said Holger Kintscher, Skoda Auto board member in charge of the company's finance.

Skoda sold a record of 549,667 cars in more than 90 countries worldwide last year, compared to 492,111 the previous year, the manufacturer said.

Skoda's sales in Western Europe were up by 9 percent, reaching 301,343 cars, with Germany, Britain, Spain and Austria being the most important markets. The sales went up also in Eastern Europe by 14 percent, and 21 percent in Asia, Skoda said.

Skoda Auto, a unit of German manufacturer Volkswagen AG, is the country's largest and most profitable exporter.

Skoda said it sold 270,274 of its Octavia models, 243,982 of Fabia cars and 20,989 of Superb. It also sold 14,422 cars of its new model, Roomster.

This year "We are going to focus on reinforcing our positions in European markets and on extending our capacities in China, Russia and India," board chairman Detlef Wittig said.

He had earlier said Skoda was planning to produce 580,000 vehicles in 2007.

[shmolton]

ANSW Guided for non-GAAP profitability for the first quarter...

...they sounded very excited on the cc. Looks like the first quarter is a major turning point. I'll be buying any pullbacks.

Answers Corporation Reports Q4 and Full Year 2006 Financial Results
Tuesday February 20, 4:00 pm ET
2006 Revenue of $7.03 Million Grew 242% Over 2005


NEW YORK, February 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Answers Corporation (NASDAQ: ANSW - News), creators of Answers.com(TM), today reported unaudited financial results for its full year and fourth quarter ended December 31, 2006.
"2006 was an outstanding year for Answers.com," said Bob Rosenschein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Not only was revenue up over 240%, but we significantly reduced our non-GAAP net loss sequentially every quarter and expect to be non-GAAP profitable in Q1 2007."

Other 2006 achievements:

- Acquired WikiAnswersTM (formerly FAQ Farm)

- Average daily queries in Q4 2006 were 83% higher than Q4 the previous year


- RPMs in Q4 2006 were 66% higher than Q4 2005
- Added several new premier publishers
- Integrated Brainboost technology
- Began direct ad sales effort
- Launched AnswerTipsTM
"2005 was the year we put Answers.com on the map, and in 2006 we proved its scalable business model from a financial perspective," continued Rosenschein. "We look forward with great anticipation to a very successful 2007."

Q4 2006 Financial Results

- Revenues were $2,506 thousand for Q4 2006, an increase of 35% compared to $1,858 thousand for Q3 2006.

- GAAP operating loss for Q4 2006 was $1,084 thousand, an improvement of $212 thousand or 16%, compared to the $1,296 thousand reported in Q3 2006.

- Non-GAAP operating loss in Q4 2006 was $311 thousand, an improvement of $302 thousand or 49%, compared to the $613 thousand reported in Q3 2006.

- GAAP net loss in Q4 2006 was $989 thousand, an improvement of $202 thousand or 17%, compared to the $1,191 thousand reported in Q3 2006. GAAP net loss per share in Q4 2006 was $0.13, compared to $0.15 in Q3 2006.

- Non-GAAP net loss in Q4 2006 was $216 thousand, an improvement of $292 thousand or 57% compared to the $508 thousand reported in Q3 2006. Non-GAAP net loss per share in Q4 2006 was $0.03, compared to $0.07 in Q3 2006.

Full Year 2006 Financial Results

- Revenues were $7,029 thousand in 2006, a 242% increase compared to $2,053 thousand in 2005.

- GAAP operating loss in 2006 was $8,880 thousand, a 36% increase compared to $6,517 thousand in 2005.

- Non-GAAP operating loss in 2006 was $2,634 thousand, a decrease of 42% compared to $4,577 thousand in 2005.

- GAAP net loss in 2006 was $8,617 thousand, a 43% increase compared to $6,014 thousand in 2005. GAAP net loss per share in 2006 was $1.12, compared to $0.88 in 2005.

- Non-GAAP net loss in 2006 was $2,144 thousand, a decrease of 47% compared to $4,074 thousand in 2005. Non-GAAP net loss per share in 2006 was $0.28, compared to $0.60 in 2005.

- As of December 31, 2006, Answers had cash, cash equivalents and investment securities of approximately $9.1 million.

- Answers employed 66 employees as of December 31, 2006, up from 65 on September 30, 2006, and 48 as of December 31, 2005.

Non-GAAP Measures

Management uses different financial measures, both GAAP and non-GAAP, in analyzing the Company's financial performance, making operating decisions and for planning. Management views the use of non-GAAP financial measures useful in analyzing current financial performance and prospects for the future. While management uses non-GAAP financial measures as a tool to facilitate its understanding of certain aspects of the Company's financial performance, it strongly believes that these measures can not replace, and are not superior to, the Company's financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Hence, management is of the opinion that the non-GAAP financial measures should only be viewed as a supplement to the GAAP financial information. It is in this light that management believes that disclosing non-GAAP financial measures to its investors provides them with useful supplemental data that, while not a substitute for GAAP financial measures, allows for greater transparency in the review of the Company's financial performance. The manner in which management uses the non-GAAP financial measures to conduct and evaluate the Company's business, the economic substance behind management's decision to use such measures and the reasons why management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provides useful information to investors, are set forth below:

Acquisition-related Expenses

Management uses non-GAAP financial measures which disregard amortization of intangible assets and other specified costs resulting from acquisitions, in order to enable more accurate comparisons of the Company's financial results to its historical operations, and the financial results of other companies in its industry. Specifically, the Company excludes (A) amortization of acquired technology resulting from the acquisition of Brainboost Technology, LLC; (B) compensation costs resulting from certain portions of the stock component of the Brainboost purchase price that were deemed compensation expense; © penalty payments to the sellers of Brainboost Technology, LLC that were made because the shares of Company common stock such sellers received in connection with the Brainboost acquisition were not registered prior to April 1, 2006 (On December 1, 2005, the Company acquired Brainboost Technology, LLC, creators of the Brainboost Answer Engine, for $4 million in cash and 439,000 shares of restricted common stock, including certain price protection rights); and (D) amortization of intangible assets resulting from the acquisition of WikiAnswersTM (formerly FAQ Farm(TM)) and other related assets for $2 million cash in November 2006. The aforesaid acquisitions resulted in operating expenses that would not otherwise have been incurred. Management believes that providing non-GAAP financial measures which exclude such amortization expenses is significant to investors, due to the fact that the amortization amount constitutes a non-cash item, it was determined based on a prior acquisition decision and is not indicative of future cash operating costs. Further, had the Company developed these intangible assets in-house, the amortization would have been expensed historically, and the Company believes the assessment of operations excluding these costs is relevant to the analysis of the Company's internal operations and comparisons to industry performance. Thus, the presentation of supplemental data in the form of non-GAAP financial measures, in this context, affords readers of the Company's financial statements the ability to review both the GAAP expenses in the period presented, as well as the non-GAAP expenses, thus providing for enhanced understanding of historic and future financial results and facilitating comparisons to peer companies.

While the Company excludes the aforesaid expenses from its non-GAAP measures it does not exclude revenues derived as a result of such acquisitions in its non-GAAP measures. The amount of revenue that resulted from the acquisition of WikiAnswersTM (formerly FAQ Farm(TM)) and other related assets, in 2006, was $62 thousand. The amount of revenue that resulted from the acquisition of technology from Brainboost (i.e. Brainboost Answer Engine), in 2006, is not quantifiable due to the nature of its integration.

Stock-based Compensation

Management uses non-GAAP financial measures that exclude expenses associated with non-cash stock-based compensation as a means to assess operational results and compare current results to prior periods. Furthermore, it is management's practice to prepare and maintain the Company's budgets and forecasts for future periods on a basis consistent with this non-GAAP financial measure. Management believes that because of the variety of equity awards used by companies, the varying methodologies for determining stock-based compensation expense, and the subjective assumptions involved in those determinations, excluding stock-based compensation enhances the ability of management and investors to compare financial results over multiple periods with those of other companies. It is management's view that by allowing the readers of the Company's financial statements to review both the GAAP expenses in the period presented, as well as the non-GAAP expenses, the Company is facilitating enhanced understanding of historic and future financial results.

Revenue from Subscriptions Sold in 2003

As of December 31, 2006, the Company had approximately $425 thousand of deferred revenues, relating to subscriptions to its GuruNet services, which had no defined term and which were sold in 2003. The Company never recognized revenue from those subscriptions because the obligation to continue the service had no defined termination date. On February 2, 2007, in accordance with our rights under the agreements we previously entered into with such subscribers, we terminated the GuruNet service. Thus, the Company will recognize the $425 thousand as revenue in Q1 2007. Because this is a one-time, non-cash event and is not reflective of our core business and core operating results, the Company will not include such amount in its non-GAAP Operating income (loss) and non-GAAP net income amounts in the first quarter of 2007.

Each of the non-GAAP financial measures described above should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, a measure of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Further, investors are cautioned that there are inherent limitations associated with the use of each of the foregoing non-GAAP financial measures as an analytical tool. The Company's non-GAAP financial measures are not based on a comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles and many of the adjustments to the GAAP financial measures reflect the exclusion of items that are recurring and will be reflected in the Company's financial results for the foreseeable future. In addition, other companies, including other companies in the Company's industry, may calculate non-financial measures differently than the Company, thus limiting their usefulness as a comparative tool. More specifically, an inherent limitation is that non-GAAP financial measures do not reflect the periodic costs of certain intangible assets used in generating revenues in the Company's business. Further, because the Company's non-GAAP financial measures do not include stock-based compensation, they do not reflect the cost of granting employees equity awards, a key factor in management's ability to hire and retain employees. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information in the reconciliation to the GAAP amounts excluded from the non-GAAP financial measures. In addition, as noted above, management evaluates each non-GAAP financial measure together with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

Business Outlook - First Quarter 2007

The following business outlook is based on the Company's current information and expectations as of February 20, 2007. Answers undertakes no obligation to update the outlook, or any portion thereof, prior to the release of the Company's next earnings announcement, notwithstanding subsequent developments; however, Answers may update the outlook or any portion thereof at any time at its discretion.


Three months
ended March
31, 2007
$ (in
thousands)

Revenues, before recognition of $425 thousand relating
to
subscriptions sold in 2003 2,900 - 3,050

Non-GAAP Operating income (loss)
Operating loss (465) - (295)
Adjustment to GAAP Operating loss:
Recognition of revenue relating to subscriptions sold
in 2003 (425)
Stock-based compensation 540 - 520
Amortization of intangible assets resulting from
acquisitions 310
(40) - 110

Non-GAAP Net income (loss)
Net loss (375) - (205)
Adjustment to GAAP Operating loss:
Recognition of revenue relating to subscriptions sold
in 2003 (425)
Stock-based compensation 540 - 520
Amortization of intangible assets resulting from 310 - 310
acquisitions
50 - 200


A conference call to review the Q-4 2006 financial results will follow this release today at 4:30 PM ET. The company's management will host the call, discuss its quarterly results and will provide insight into its business outlook. The call will be followed by a question and answer session. Investors are invited to listen to the conference call and the replay over the Internet through Answers' Website, within its Investor Relations page at http://ir.answers.com. To listen to the live call via webcast, please go to our Website at least 10 minutes early to connect and register. To dial in to listen and/or submit a question, please dial 800-817-4887 and request the Answers call. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available on the site shortly after the call.

About Answers Corporation

Answers Corporation (NASDAQ: ANSW - News) operates the award-winning Answers.comTM information portal, delivering comprehensive content on four million topics spanning health, finance, entertainment, business and more. Content includes over 120 licensed titles from leading publishers such as Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep Group PLC, Barron's, Encyclopedia Britannica, All Media Guide and others; original articles written by Answers.com's editorial team; community-contributed articles from Wikipedia; and user-generated questions & answers from Answers.com's industry-leading WikiAnswersTM (wiki.answers.com). Founded in 1999 by CEO Bob Rosenschein, Answers.com can be launched directly from within Internet Explorer 7, Firefox and Opera browsers, and its service is integrated into sites like Amazon.com's A9.com, The New York Public Libraries' homeworkNYC.org, The New York Times, CBSNews.com and others. Answers.com is also available for mobile devices at mobile.answers.com. For investment information, visit ir.answers.com. (answ-f)

Cautionary Statement

Some of the statements included in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, statements regarding future market opportunity and future financial performance. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Important factors may cause our actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to, our inability to increase the number of persons who use our products, our inability to increase the number of partners who will generate increased traffic to our sites, our failure to improve the monetization of our products, a change in the algorithms and methods used by Google, the provider of the vast majority of our search engine traffic, and other search engines to identify web pages towards which traffic will ultimately be directed or a decision to otherwise restrict the flow of users visiting www.answers.com, a decision by Google, Inc. to discontinue directing user traffic to www.answers.com through its definition link and other risk factors identified from time to time in our SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our registration statement on Form S-3/A filed in May 2006 and declared effective in June 2006. Any forward-looking statements set forth in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We do not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. This press release and prior releases are available at www.answers.com. The information in Answers' website is not incorporated by reference into this press release and is included as an inactive textual reference only.


Investor Contact:
Bruce D. Smith, CFA
VP of Strategic Development
[e-mail]
[phone]

Press Contact:
Jay Bailey
Director of Marketing
[e-mail]
[phone]



Answers Corporation
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(in thousands, except for share and per share data)

Year ended December 31 Three months ended
December September
2006 2005 31, 2006 30, 2006
$ $ $ $

Revenues:
Answers.com advertising
revenue 6,817 1,771 2,461 1,810
Answers service
licensing 187 110 43 44
Subscriptions 25 172 2 4
7,029 2,053 2,506 1,858

Operating expenses:
Cost of revenue 3,406 1,158 1,071 844
Research and development 5,865 2,190 656 621
Sales and marketing 3,253 1,818 1,009 924
General and
administrative 3,385 3,404 854 765
Total operating expenses 15,909 8,570 3,590 3,154

Operating loss (8,880) (6,517) (1,084) (1,296)

Interest income, net 553 555 123 144
Other income (expense),
net (176) (42) 44 (17)

Loss before income taxes (8,503) (6,004) (917) (1,169)

Income taxes (114) (10) (72) (22)

Net loss (8,617) (6,014) (989) (1,191)

Basic and diluted net
loss per common share (1.12) (0.88) (0.13) (0.15)

Weighted average shares
used in computing

basic and diluted net
loss per common share 7,673,543 6,840,362 7,793,630 7,782,820


Answers Corporation
Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP
Financial Measures
to the nearest comparable GAAP Measures
(in thousands, except for per share data)
Year ended December 31
2006 2005
$ $

Non-GAAP Cost of revenue
Cost of revenue 3,406 1,158
Stock-based compensation expense (128) (1)
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions (914) -

2,364 1,157

Non-GAAP Research and development
Research and development 5,865 2,190
Stock-based compensation expense (341) (32)
Stock-based compensation resulting from
Brainboost acquisition (3,489) (698)
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions - (171)

2,035 1,289

Non-GAAP Sales and marketing
Sales and marketing 3,253 1,818
Stock-based compensation expense (676) (215)

2,577 1,603

Non-GAAP General and administrative
General and administrative 3,385 3,404
Stock-based compensation expense (665) (823)
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions (33) -

2,687 2,581

Non-GAAP operating expenses
Operating expenses 15,909 8,570
Stock-based compensation expense (1,810) (1,071)
Stock-based compensation resulting from
Brainboost acquisition (3,489) (698)
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions (947) (171)

9,663 6,630

Non-GAAP operating loss
Operating Loss (8,880) (6,517)
Stock-based compensation expense 1,810 1,071
Stock-based compensation resulting from
Brainboost acquisition 3,489 698
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions 947 171

(2,634) (4,577)

Non-GAAP net loss
Net Loss (8,617) (6,014)
Stock-based compensation expense 1,810 1,071
Stock-based compensation resulting from
Brainboost acquisition 3,489 698
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions 947 171
Non-recurring penalty payments 227 -

(2,144) (4,074)

Non-GAAP net loss per share
Net loss per share (1.12) (0.88)
Stock-based compensation expense 0.24 0.16
Stock-based compensation resulting from
Brainboost acquisition 0.45 0.10
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions 0.12 0.02
Non-recurring penalty payments 0.03 -

(0.28) (0.60)

See discussion regarding non-GAAP measures in the text of this earnings release under the heading "non-GAAP Measures" for an explanation of the reconciling items noted above.


Answers Corporation
Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP
Financial Measures
to the nearest comparable GAAP Measures
(in thousands, except for per share data)
Three months ended
December 31, September 30,
2006 2006
$ $

Non-GAAP Cost of revenue
Cost of revenue 1,071 844
Stock-based compensation expense (34) (33)
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions (245) (223)

792 588

Non-GAAP Research and development
Research and development 656 621
Stock-based compensation expense (80) (79)

576 542

Non-GAAP Sales and marketing
Sales and marketing 1,009 924
Stock-based compensation expense (197) (168)

812 756

Non-GAAP General and administrative
General and administrative 854 765
Stock-based compensation expense (184) (180)
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions (33) -

637 585

Non-GAAP operating expenses
Operating expenses 3,590 3,154
Stock-based compensation expense (495) (460)
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions (278) (223)

2,817 2,471

Non-GAAP operating loss
Operating Loss (1,084) (1,296)
Stock-based compensation expense 495 460
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions 278 223

(311) (613)

Non-GAAP net loss
Net Loss (989) (1,191)
Stock-based compensation expense 495 460
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions 278 223

(216) (508)

Non-GAAP net loss per share
Net loss per share (0.13) (0.15)
Stock-based compensation expense 0.06 0.05
Amortization of intangible assets
resulting from acquisitions 0.04 0.03

(0.03) (0.07)

See discussion regarding non-GAAP measures in the text of this earnings release under the heading "non-GAAP Measures" for an explanation of the reconciling items noted above.


Answers Corporation
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands)

December 31 December 31
2006 2005
$ $
Assets

Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents 4,976 2,840
Investment securities 4,102 11,163
Accounts receivable 1,304 451
Other prepaid expenses and other current assets 416 349
Total current assets 10,798 14,803

Long-term deposits (restricted) 218 211

Deposits in respect of employee severance
obligations 856 610

Property and equipment, net 998 597

Other assets:
Intangible assets, net 6,010 5,384
Goodwill 437 -
Prepaid expenses, long-term 302 254
Deferred tax asset, long-term 11 13
Total other assets 6,760 5,651

Total assets 19,630 21,872

Liabilities and stockholders' equity

Current liabilities:
Accounts payable 366 305
Accrued expenses 805 673
Accrued compensation 623 322
Deferred revenues, short-term 465 67
Total current liabilities 2,259 1,367

Long-term liabilities:
Liability in respect of employee severance
obligations 828 622
Deferred tax liability, long-term 194 98
Deferred revenues, long-term - 442
Total long-term liabilities 1,022 1,162

Stockholders' equity:
Common stock 8 8
Additional paid-in capital 71,599 69,492
Deferred compensation - (3,518)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (31) (29)
Accumulated deficit (55,227) (46,610)
Total stockholders' equity 16,349 19,343

Total liabilities and stockholders' equity 19,630 21,872






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Answers Corporation

[flota]

LTON possible rebound if this deal goes through

Wireless firms to pig-out in the new year
Nearly all of China's 430 million mobile subscribers will receive well-wishing text or MMS messages from friends, making the Chinese New Year one of the year's biggest boons for China Mobile and China Unicom.
Speaking of wireless value-added services, Linktone Ltd (LTON : linktone ltd adr
News , chart, profile, more
Last: 4.36-0.05-1.13%

4:00pm 02/16/2007

LTON4.36, -0.05, -1.1%) announced last Friday that it expects to make an offer to acquire UK-based wireless value added services provider MonsterMob Group Plc (UK:MOB: news, chart, profile) . The success of Linktone's bid depends on Monstermob rejecting a previous acquisition offer from Spanish company LaNetro Zed at a shareholders' meeting on February 23.
Linktone would offer 0.3028 new Linktone ADS shares for each share of MonsterMob, which would value MonsterMob at $87.47 million based on Linktone's February 15 closing price of $4.41.
This deal would be a backhanded way for Linktone to acquire the three China-based value-added services firms that MonsterMob has bought in the past few years. Investors responded positively to the news last week, but will have to wait until next week to see whether the deal will happen.

[flota]

TRADING & TECHNOLOGY

Market Makers Under Short Sale Scrutiny

Peter Chapman

January 02, 2007 - The NASD, detecting abuse, is warning market makers not to circumvent its short-sale rules.

The regulator issued a notice in September reminding members that its rules permit shorting on a down tick only when engaged in "bona fide" market-making activities. The warning was followed last month with stern words from the NASD's new head of market regulation (see following item).

http://www.tradersmagazine.com/magazine.cfm?id=2657

[flota]

Interesting

http://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-21-06/dpatch6879.pdf

[flota]

AP
Oil States Plan Weapons Buying Binge
Friday February 16, 10:48 am ET
By Jim Krane, Associated Press Writer
Flush With Cash and Fearful, Gulf Arab States Plan Weapons Buying Binge

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Deep fears about the war in Iraq and growing tension between the United States and Iran are driving the wealthy oil states of the Persian Gulf to go on shopping sprees for helicopters, ships and tanks, officials say.
Some 900 weapons makers and security firms from around the world, including the U.S. and Russia, will compete for those military buys at the IDEX military show that opens Sunday in Abu Dhabi. At stake are contracts predicted to soar past the $2 billion signed at the last such show two years ago.

"The shopping lists are directly correlated to the threat perception," said military analyst Mustafa Alani of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center. "For the past 15 years, these countries didn't invest a lot in rearming."

But now they're rushing to upgrade.

The biggest fear in the region is that Iraq will collapse into civil war and its violence will spill into nearby Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, Alani said.

Those countries want to protect critical sites such as oil installations, ports -- and U.S. military bases that house tens of thousands of American troops. Of those five nations, only Saudi Arabia has no American bases.

Helicopters and electronic warning sensors are expected to be hot sellers. For example, seaborne early warning radar can can detect rogue vessels approaching ports or oil terminals, said Robin Hughes, a Mideast military analyst at the London-based agency Jane's, a sponsor of the show.

If Iran were threatened or attacked by the United States or Israel, its ballistic missiles could hit land targets or ships, and its mines could block the narrow shipping lanes that carry oil from the Gulf.

That scenario is pushing Gulf defense ministers to consider missile defense systems like the Patriot, sold by U.S. manufacturer Raytheon Co. They also are eyeing warships, including mine sweepers, and early-warning radar, Hughes said.

In particular, the Saudi military is looking for air defenses and helicopters and perhaps naval frigates, Hughes said. Eurocopter, a French and German consortium, is working to sell its Tiger helicopter gunships to the Saudi military, he said.

The Emirates' shopping list includes ship-to-ship missiles, Hughes said.

Iran isn't believed to be sending an official delegation to the show. But military officials from Iran, who just took delivery of Russian-made TOR-1 air defense systems, are certain to be roaming the show and studying the weapons.

"They will be looking at interesting air defense systems that other countries are buying," Hughes said. "They want to see what's on the market and what others are buying, and how you defeat those capabilities."

Unmanned aerial vehicles, like Northrop Grumman Corp.'s jet-powered Global Hawk, also will be on display. U.S. manufacturer AAI Corp. will demonstrate robots boats as a defense for offshore oil platforms and ports.

Harbor visitors will also get to gawk at warships for sale by British, French and German shipbuilders.

Other exhibitors include some of the world's largest arms makers: Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., BAE Systems PLC, the Thales Group and Russia's state-run makers of tanks, trucks and howitzers.

[shmolton]

SIX-Started a position around here on the pullback to the 200, looking for a move above the triple top, looks like a golden cross could be on the way....

[flota]

Broadcom, Apple ex-execs may face charges
Federal prosecutors consider charging former executives at a number of companies of backdating stock options, a newspaper reports.
February 16 2007: 6:38 AM EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Federal prosecutors are strongly considering criminal charges against former executives of Broadcom Corp., Apple Inc., and KLA-Tencor Corp. related to the backdating of stock options, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the situation.

Prosecutors are also nearing charges against a former official of computer-security company McAfee Inc. (Charts), the paper said, citing people familiar with the situation.

In addition, a former executive of Engineered Support Systems Inc., a defense contractor now owned by DRS Technologies Inc. (Charts), has been told of a likely charge, the paper said, citing a person close to the matter.

More than 170 companies have been investigated by U.S. authorities or have conducted internal inquiries into possible manipulation of option grant dates. Some companies are accused of backdating grant dates to days when the share price was lower, giving the recipient the opportunity for extra profit.

Thursday, the ex-general counsel at Monster Worldwide Inc. (Charts) pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud in relation to the backdating of stock options, a day after the former chief executive of video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (Charts) pleaded guilty to options-related charges.

Federal charges have also been brought against former executives at Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Charts) and Comverse Technology Inc. (Charts), stemming from the stock options backdating scandal.

Officials at Apple (Charts), KLA-Tencor (Charts), Broadcom (Charts), McAfee and DRS could not immediately be reached.

[flota]

NAND Memory Prices Likely to Continue Free Fall

Prices for NAND flash memory chips are projected to tumble again in 2007 by dropping a projected 65%, after a 60% drop in 2006. Various NAND companies including Samsung and Hynix started dumping 8-Gbit NAND on the market late last year. This has sent average selling prices (ASP) plummeting in January and causing chaos in the contract market. Large OEMs are walking away from their contracts with NAND manufacturers and instead are choosing to buy cheaper parts on the spot market. Spot prices for an 8-Gbit NAND flash memory fell to a record bottom of $5.15 at the end of January 2007, down from $9.10 the week of December 1, 2006.

With pricing pressures in the 60% range for the second year in a row NAND manufacturers are going to suffer. SanDisk Chairman and CEO Eli Harari mentioned in their 3QF06 conference call that memory companies can sustain price reductions in the 40% range, but 60% reductions are not sustainable in the long term. At the time of the conference call last fall he did not think 2007 would be as bad as the 60% experienced in 2006 because of reduced supply as suppliers move production capacity to DRAM, which currently would yield better profits. However, most industry analysts believe 2007 will be just as bad for NAND even if some production capacity is transitioned to DRAM. Samsung, Hynix and Micron have all scaled back their production targets by moving capacity to more profitable DRAM. However, an industry shift toward multilevel-cell NAND technology and new and aggressive die shrinks, is expected to keep the NAND memory market in an oversupply situation until the third quarter of 2007. Samsung and Toshiba recently announced the first sub 60-nanometer NAND flash memory parts.

Industry analysts estimate that ASPs will fall by 25 to 30 percent in the first quarter alone followed by another 20 percent drop in the second quarter. The second half of the year will experience modest price declines of 10% before NAND memory supplies get back to being a bit in undersupply in late 2007 or early 2008. Electronic and system OEMs are the big winners here as they can either pack more memory into products or reduce the price of existing products. While the low prices are likely to spur more multimedia cell phone models there are no now products on the horizon that could significantly boost NAND flash consumption. Apples’s iPhone is priced too high to generate significant sales and solid state storage devices envisioned for ultra-energy efficient laptops are not due in mass until a few years down the road.

[shmolton]

ANSW-Earnings out on Monday, I'm expecting them to either show non-GAAP profitability or break even, or guide for it this quarter which they have already done. They usually beat their own non-GAAP guidance by $250-$300k and they guided they would lose $250k in the fourth quarter. They always sell off after earnings, but profitability could change that. I think they'll be bought out this year. They're an Israeli company and one of the directors is an International M&A specialist from Goldman.

[flota]

ECONOMIC REPORT
December sees $11 billion net capital outflow

By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:50 AM ET Feb 15, 2007


WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. monthly capital flows reversed in December to an outflow for the first time since June 2005, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.
The U.S. recorded an outflow of $11 billion in December, compared with an inflow of $70.5 billion in November, the Treasury said.
The U.S. economy has required big inflows of capital of about $70 billion every month to fund its large current account deficit, which totaled $225.6 billion in the third quarter -- about 6.8% of gross domestic product.
The large inflows of foreign capital have kept U.S. interest rates lower than they would otherwise be, boosting the real-estate sector and other asset markets with cheap money.
The dollar fell against yen and the euro following the report, which, according to Action Economics, "didn't sit too well" with the markets after Tuesday's report on the nation's growing trade gap and a Wall Street Journal report that China is considering shifting some of its $1 trillion in foreign reserves into riskier assets, such as corporate bonds, stocks and even commodities. See full story on currency markets.
The December flows data include both long- and short-term securities. The outflow resulted from total sales of $42.5 billion in securities by private investors, partially offset by $31.5 billion in purchases by official institutions.
U.S. residents purchased a net $47.4 billion in long-term foreign securities.
Net long-term capital inflows, meanwhile, fell to $15.6 billion in December from $84.9 billion in November. This marked the lowest inflow since January 2002.
Foreign private investors sold stocks in December, and they bought fewer Treasury bonds and corporate bonds.
Foreign central banks bought a record amount of government agency bonds to close out 2006.
Overall, foreign private investors bought $39 billion in long-term securities in December, compared with $115.7 billion in November. They purchased only $4.5 billion in Treasury bonds and notes in December, compared with $33.1 in the previous month, according to the data.
Foreign private investors sold $11.1 billion in equities in December, after having purchased $9.1 billion in November.
Foreign official institutions bought a record $15.5 billion in government agency bonds, up from $4 billion in the previous month.
A senior Treasury official noted that the monthly data are volatile and should be viewed over longer terms.
Greg Robb is a senior reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.

[flota]

A Fast-Growing Chinese Gaming Outfit Looks Cheap

By Jack Hough
February 8, 2007
ONLINE VIDEOGAMES in China are increasingly free. They're also making more money.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games, or MMORPGs as they're known, allow participants to build characters, form friendships, wage battles, collect loot and so forth. The most popular of these in China is the "World of Warcraft," made by America's Blizzard Entertainment but operated in China by Shanghai-based The9 (NCTY1). It uses a typical fee structure: Players pay upfront for the game and for over extra for ongoing monthly access.

But 84% of the new games released last year in China were "free to play" titles. These generally take one of two forms. Some offer limited versions where players can dabble but are charged for access to expanded content. Some are outright free, but sell items within the game like weapons, real estate and character abilities. They are plenty profitable. The shift to "free" games last year sent revenue per user in China 44% higher to $26, reckons Brean Murray Carret & Co., a New York investment bank.

http://www.smartmoney.com/stockscreen/index.cfm?story=20070208intro&afl=yahoo

[flota]

IRBT new 52 week low.

[flota]

SEC Ends Probe of Research Firm in Case That Sparked Press Furor
Marcy Gordon
February 14, 2007 - 1:50 p.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Securities and Exchange Commission has completed an investigation of Gradient Analytics Inc. and is taking no action against the research firm in a case that created a furor last year over the SEC's subpoenaing of journalists, Gradient said Wednesday.

The SEC began its investigation in late 2005 after online discount retailer Overstock.com Inc. accused Gradient of issuing negative research reports on the company in exchange for payments from a hedge fund seeking to profit from a drop in its stock price.

In the course of its inquiry, the SEC subpoenaed three online financial columnists last February for telephone records, e-mails and other material related to Overstock.

Overstock Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Byrne publicly accused Gradient and the hedge fund, Rocker Partners, of contributing to the decline of Overstock shares through biased reports as the fund was short-selling the stock.

Gradient made public Wednesday a letter from SEC enforcement official Marc Fagel informing Gradient's attorneys that the investigation had been terminated without any enforcement action being recommended by the agency staff.

"We are not surprised by the SEC decision," Gradient's president and CEO, Brad Forst, said in a statement. "We believe our business conduct has always been conducted with integrity. We cooperated fully with the SEC to demonstrate that we have nothing to hide."

SEC spokesman John Nester declined to comment. The agency customarily neither confirms nor denies the existence of investigations.

Jared Matkin, a spokesman for Overstock at its headquarters in Salt Lake City, said the company had no immediate comment.

The subpoenas — to Herb Greenberg of MarketWatch, Carol Remond of Dow Jones Newswires and James Cramer, writer of a column for TheStreet.com — came at a time of acute sensitivity over press freedom and government action against journalists, and from a regulatory agency with only civil powers that rarely subpoenas journalists or news organizations.

A second SEC subpoena to Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Gradient demanded records related to its contacts with journalists.

The journalists' employers objected to the subpoenas, and First Amendment advocates publicly criticized the SEC move.

In late February, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox took the unusual step of halting the agency's pursuit of the subpoenas. He said SEC enforcement attorneys should have consulted him because of the sensitivity of ordering journalists to hand over records.

In April, the SEC announced a new policy on subpoenaing journalists, calling for the agency to avoid issuing subpoenas "that might impair the news gathering and reporting functions." Under the new guidelines, any subpoena issued to a journalist must be approved by the SEC's enforcement director.

Rocker Partners wasn't the only big investor taking a bearish short position in Overstock's shares, but Overstock filed affidavits from three former Gradient employees alleging that Rocker asked the researchers to include "more negative information" in reports on Overstock and to "downplay any positive facts." One of them also contended that some reports were withheld for a time so Rocker could make trades in the stock.

In short selling, which is legal, traders sell stock they have borrowed. They wait for the share price to fall, buy back the shares and then return the loan, pocketing the difference.

But Byrne, the Overstock CEO, alleged that his company was a victim of illegal "naked shorting," in which traders sell stock they haven't actually borrowed in a bid to damage public companies.

[flota]

Tony Jackson: Transatlantic lessons to be learned
By Tony Jackson

Published: February 12 2007 17:08 | Last updated: February 12 2007 17:08

In one of the first pieces I wrote as a financial journalist some 25 years ago, I wondered why UK takeovers of US companies so often proved disastrous. Of the many examples to prove the point, the most obvious – the grand turkey, as it were – was Midland Bank’s purchase of Crocker Bank in 1980.

Mainly because of that deal, Midland was eventually taken over by another UK bank, HSBC. So there was a certain glum inevitability to HSBC’s first ever profits warning last week. The cause – its $14.7bn takeover of another US bank, Household International, four years ago.

Last week also brought news of Imperial Tobacco of the UK making its first foray into the US cigarette market with the $1.9bn purchase of Commonwealth Brands. These days, Imperial is a very well managed company. Fingers crossed, though – in its old conglomerate days it brought off another outstanding turkey in buying the US motel chain Howard Johnson.

All this raises two questions. Are UK companies particularly bad at foreign acquisitions? And are US companies riskier to acquire?

The answer to the first is a clear no. Think of Thomson of France buying General Electric’s TV manufacturing business in the US only to close it down. Think of Mitsubishi Estate buying the Rockefeller Plaza and putting it into Chapter 11 six years later. Think of Daimler buying Chrysler.

The second question is trickier. While there have been some very successful foreign acquisitions of US companies, the US is a harder place to make money than it looks. And US managers are generally pretty smart. When buying into the US, the question too seldom asked is why the other guy is selling. All this is has a wider relevance. Last year, according to Dealogic, cross-border M&A worldwide was a record $1.3 trillion. One third of that was either into the US or the UK, with the US slightly in the lead.

No doubt, as the investment bankers tell us, there is a trend towards global consolidation. And many of the countries doing the consolidating – China and India, for instance – are coming to it fresh. Hence the value of the American example. If we want an extended history of how and how not to do it, the US is the place to look.

Sticking with UK/US deals for the sake of simplicity, think of some big ones over the past decade. In 1998, Scottish Power paid $10.4bn for Pacificorp, and sold it at a loss to Warren Buffett six years later. The following year Vodafone bought the Californian mobile operator AirTouch for $61.2bn – a price which, to put it politely, reflected the temper of the times. In the same year, Marconi of the UK effectively destroyed itself by paying $5.5bn for US telecom equipment companies.

And so on. But before we depress ourselves too much, consider the successes. It was in 1998 that BP bought Amoco, followed by Atlantic Richfield the next year. Right now, some of those US operations are – shall we say – challenging. But no-one has accused BP of overpaying. Again, Unilever knew what it was doing with its $24.2bn purchase of Bestfoods in 2000. So, a few years earlier, did Cadbury Schweppes with Dr Pepper, and again with the Adams confectionery business bought from Pfizer for $4.25bn in 2002. Both companies, please note, had been operating in the US market for many decades.

Conversely, of course, most of the turkeys involved companies plunging heavily into the US market without prior experience. The argument is, no doubt, that a big opportunity requires a big deal. That particular fallacy wants watching as emerging nations muscle into the developed world, and vice versa.

Vodafone has just confirmed the $18.8bn purchase of Hutchison Essar, its big first-time splash in India. Vodafone described the deal as “transformational”. And that is just the point. Transformation– the waving of a magic wand – is a lot more appealing than patient groundwork.

The UK supermarket giant Tesco has raised eyebrows lately for its plans in California. It is building a business from scratch, under its own brand name. But UK retailers, critics say, have a lousy record in the US. Indeed they have, precisely because they went in by acquisition – J Sainsbury with Shaw’s supermarkets in New England, Marks & Spencer with Brooks Bros. and King’s supermarkets. Tesco is doing it the slow, persevering way. All those trigger-happy Chinese and Indian acquirers should take careful note.

[flota]

China set to pick new reserves chief
By Richard McGregor in Beijing

Published: February 13 2007 22:11 | Last updated: February 14 2007 04:08

China’s plans to establish a body to manage more aggressively a portion of its $1,000bn in foreign reserves are taking shape, with a senior ministry of finance official slated to take charge of the new institution.

Advisers to the Chinese government said on Tuesday that Lou Jiwei, the long-standing vice-minister of finance, had been in discussions to take a position which could see him overseeing a $200bn global investment fund.

[flota]

China Motel168 plans $100 mln Nasdaq IPO - sources
Wed Feb 14, 2007 5:38 AM ET



(Adds quotes, details and background)

By George Chen and Daisy Ku

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG, Feb 14 (Reuters) - China's Motel168, one of the country's three biggest budget hotel chains, plans to raise about $100 million through an initial public offering on Nasdaq, sources familiar with the plan said on Wednesday.

Motel168, controlled by privately run Shanghai hotel and restaurant manager Merrylin Holdings Ltd., has hired Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley <MS.N> to advise it on the IPO, planned for the third quarter of this year, the sources said.

Morgan Stanley is also a major shareholder in Motel168 after an investment arm of the bank paid $20 million for a 20 percent stake in late 2005, the sources said.

"Motel168 is hungry for capital now as it has to compete with Home Inns, Jinjiang Inn and other rivals for aggressive land purchases to build more hotels," said one Shanghai-based source close to Motel168.

"If you don't speed up, then you lose market share and soon you will be completely out of the race," said the source, who declined to be identified before an official announcement.

The planned listing follows a $109 million Nasdaq IPO in October by Home Inns & Hotel Management Inc. <HMIN.O>, a bigger Chinese rival of Motel168, reflecting investor belief in demand for budget hotels in the world's fourth-largest economy.

Shares in Home Inns have more than tripled since listing.

In December, Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels (Group) Co. <2006.HK> raised $310 million through a Hong Kong listing in an effort aimed partly at funding expansion of its Jinjiang Inn unit, the country's biggest budget hotel chain.

Motel168 and Morgan Stanley both declined to comment.

CATCH-UP

Motel168 operates around 50 budget hotels, mostly in rich provinces and cities in eastern China.

China attracted 124 million visitors and earned $33.5 billion from tourism last year, according to official data, making the hotel sector one of the hottest destinations for foreign funds.

Budget accommodation in China was dominated until the mid-1990s by notorious government-run "guest houses", many of which paid little attention to cleanliness or convenience.

"There is no solid market leader in the budget hotel sector, as budget hotels are still a new concept in China," said another source familiar with Motel168's IPO plan.

China's biggest budget hotel chain, Jinjiang Inn, backed by the Shanghai city government, operates around 150 hotels across the country and aims to increase the number to at least 200 by 2008.

"Motel168 plans to build 30 to 40 new hotels annually in the next few years," Motel168 said in statement posted on its Web site (www.motel168.com).

Hotel management sources said Motel168 would give priority to Shanghai for its business expansion, partly because its parent company has close relations with the city government, the host of the World Expo 2010.

Merrylin, a household name in Shanghai, became a tourism services giant after a series of acquisitions and expansion that started in the early 1990s. The company started as a small Chinese restaurant in downtown Shanghai. (Additional reporting by Wei Gu in Hong Kong)

[flota]

Nvidia sees revenue decline in current quarter-CFO
Tue Feb 13, 2007 5:25 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp. expects revenue in its current quarter to decline about 5 percent from the previous period, due to normal seasonal patterns, the company's chief financial officer said on Tuesday.

[flota]

IRBT close to new 52 week low

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

[flota]

WZEN should be reporting today. Looks like there is a delay, so they must be not good.lol

[flota]

By Alex Barker

Published: February 13 2007 14:06 | Last updated: February 13 2007 14:06

Wall Street stocks rallied Tuesday morning on sound earnings updates, an analyst upgrade for General Motors and reports of a possible takeover approach for Alcoa, the aluminium group.

The S&P 500 was up 0.5 per cent at 1,439.85 by mid-morning. The Nasdaq Composite were up 0.4 per cent to 2,461.06

The blue-chip based Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.63 per cent to 12,631.94, boosted by Alcoa shares rising more than 8.6 per cent to $35.72 on rumours of a takeover.

The jump in price followed an unconfirmed report that BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were preparing $40bn takeover approaches for the aluminium group.

The Anglo-Australian mining companies were reported by The Times to be independently preparing bids but to be at preliminary stages and yet to approach the Alcoa board.

Analysts at Merrill Lynch raised their recommendation on General Motors from a “sell” to a “buy”, lifting its shares 2.9 per cent to $36.73. Meanwhile, the brokerage reduced Ford to a “sell”, sending its shares down 2.6 per cent to $8.42 before the bell.

Shares in 3M were 2.6 per cent higher at $76.55 after the diversified technology group said after the bell on Monday that it intended to return $7bn to shareholders through a share buy-back over two years.

In earnings news, Marsh & McLennan, the insurer, reported a six-fold increase in profit in the fourth quarter from $35m to $226m, beating analysts’ estimates. Its shares were up 0.2 per cent to $29.77.

Nasdaq said its profits tripled from $17.1m to $63m in the fourth quarter on higher trading charges and gains from the 30 per cent share it has acquired in the London Stock Exchange as part of its hostile takeover attempt. Shares in Nasdaq were down 3 per cent to $34.04, following its 5.7 per cent fall on Monday.

Johnson & Johnson said after the bell on Monday that it had informed federal prosecutors and regulators that some of its units outside the US were believed to have made improper payments. Its shares were trading down 0.1 per cent at $65.36.

KB Homes said that it made fourth quarter losses of $49.6m after $343.3m of pre-tax charges for giving up land options and writing down the value of its housing stock. Its shares rose 2.6 per cent to $53.28 helped by a slight reduction in the cancellation rate from 53 to 48 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

[flota]

China turns on the tap
By Florian Gimbel

Published: February 12 2007 20:35 | Last updated: February 12 2007 20:35

Last August, some of the world’s most powerful money managers crammed into the meeting rooms of a discreet business hotel on the outskirts of Beijing. Sharp in their suits and polished shoes, the managers were hoping to impress a group of senior Chinese government officials during a one-day “beauty parade”.

Three months later, 10 financial groups received the big prize – the right to manage the first overseas investments of the $50bn (£26bn, €39bn) state pension fund. These initial investment mandates are the first trickle in what is expected to be a flood of overseas investments by cash-rich Chinese banks, insurers and pension funds.

[flota]

WZEN Some Info:





WEBZEN TO SHOWCASE UNPRECEDENTED MMOG LINEUP AT G-STAR
Leading Korean Online Games Company to Provide Attendees First Hands-on Demos of MMOFPS Huxley and Fantasy MMORPG Kingdom of Warriors

SEOUL, South Korea – Nov. 6, 2006 – Global online entertainment company WEBZEN Inc. (NASDAQ: WZEN) announced today its stellar line-up of PC and next-generation massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) to be showcased at G-Star, November 9-12 in Seoul.

For their second appearance at G-Star, WEBZEN will showcase a diverse range of games that include the upcoming epic fantasy MMO role-playing game Soul of the Ultimate Nation™ (SUN), which is currently in open beta service in Korea, the intense MMO First Person Shooter Huxley, and the attitude-driven urban action MMOG All Points Bulletin (APB), all currently in development for the North American market. Other dynamic online games from WEBZEN on hand at the booth will include Project Wiki, Parfait Station and Kingdom of Warriors.

WEBZEN will provide demos of both Huxley and Kingdom of Warriors at G-Star, marking the first time local gamers will be able to get their hands on both games. In addition, attendees can play live demos of Soul of the Ultimate Nation (SUN).

“We are thrilled to participate in G-Star as it is an ideal platform to showcase WEBZEN’s highly anticipated titles for the Korean market,” said NamJu Kim, chief executive officer, WEBZEN Inc. “We are confident that our games will be well-received by the Korean audience, just as they have in past global exhibitions including E3 and ChinaJoy.”

Soul of the Ultimate Nation (SUN) is the much anticipated MMORPG that delivers intense action with its quick and easy combat system. Players can jump into action and customize group missions through the unique Battle Zone System and embark on a graphically stunning and ever-expanding online fantasy world. With a unique battle systems and a captivating cast of characters, Soul of the Ultimate Nation (SUN) is an epic tale in a world of emperors, armies, magicians and monsters. Soul of the Ultimate Nation (SUN) will be available for PC.

Huxley is a massively multiplayer online first person shooting game (MMOFPS) utilizing the UNREAL3 engine to create an unparalleled twitch action gaming experience with up to 5,000 players in the same world. Huxley takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where human beings have mutated and are divided into three opposing races, Sapiens, Alternatives and Hybrids. At the center of the battle for survival is Lunarites, a promising new energy source highly coveted by both races. Forced to battle against one another for the continuance of each race, Sapiens and Alternatives will do whatever it takes to wipe out the opposition and gain control of the world and its resources. Huxley will be available for PC and the Xbox 360™.

All Points Bulletin (APB) is the only massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) to combine nearly limitless customization with blisteringly intense action in a city that never sleeps. Designed by the creator of the original Grand Theft Auto (GTA) franchise, APB brings players into a living, breathing city where cash is king and territory equals respect. In a fight to dominate the expansive world of APB, players must decide which side of the law to abide by. In a classic “cops vs. robbers” scenario, players can be Enforcement, who take on the challenge of supporting and safeguarding justice, or Criminals, who operate against the law and any opposing groups by any means necessary.

Project Wiki is an innovative fairy-tale massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) featuring a classical cel-shaded cartoon style that allows for incredible emotional expression in a visually stunning world.

Parfait Station is a unique action and shooting oriented massively multiplayer online role-playing game that supports a party and guild system, giving players the option to either engage in battles with other groups, or enjoy intense action in player vs. player mode. Strong action-based battles require skilled evading and counter attacks; victories are determined by team play, control and strategy.

Kingdom of Warriors (KOW) is an epic fantasy MMORPG based on the classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Developed by WEBZEN’s Chinese subsidiary, WEBZEN China, Kingdom of Warriors takes players into the chaotic period of Three Kingdoms and transforms them into larger-than-life heroes. The game features actual figures from ancient Chinese history, an unfolding saga with heroic tales and brilliant strategic battles of the Three Kingdoms era. Kingdom of Warriors is currently scheduled for commercial service in 2007 in China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and other strategic Asian markets.


http://finance.google.com/finance?cid=688676&morenews=10&rating=1

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/11/29/200611290023.asp

http://www.knobias.com/research.pdf?id=8816

[Rawnoc]

ANSW DD:

http://www.investorshub.com/boards/board.asp?board_id=5153

ANSW currently at 12.25. Check back in a year.

[Rawnoc]

And there's no reason to delete that post.

[Rawnoc]

Check out ANSW. eom

[flota]

if you build it, it will send you one way to Mars...I hope

[BRIG_88]

If you build it....the drunks will come....BRIG

[Gyrodon]

Now that your here Brig I am sure others will follow. :)

[BRIG_88]

man this board is on fire...ranked #1 on ihub....BRIG

[flota]

BLSI...2 reverse splits on the books. the long term chart looks like it fell of the cliff. hmm maybe BLSI management has been watching CliffHanger too many times.

Yep lets give the management some options they need it with the performance of the stock..

http://biz.yahoo.com/e/060110/blsi8-k.html

give them more cash so they can burn it like there is no tomorrow. MWC you go some matches in your packets..lol

Deficit accumulated during development stage
(113,938,716 )

so they burn only 12 mill per year no biggie...

Boston Life Sciences, Inc.

(A Development Stage Enterprise)

MWC when will they move to developed stage?

[flota]

well turning this board into Techfest 2006, the emotional rollercoaster of financial wisdom...

[kgoodrich]

Hi Flota
The long term indicators say this one just grabbed dominance again, the short term on the daily say it is heading to growth stage. If the aroon down begins to drop Monday, I would be surprised if this one did not make growth. In its young history is looks to prefer the months of April, May and June. Good luck and nice find.

STOCKSEASONALITY.COM® MONTHLY REPORTS												 
 THE ORIGINAL SEASONALITY STOCK CHARTING SYSTEM												 
 TREN.OB												 
 YEAR	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC 
 2006	15%	4%	-10%									 
 2005	-12%	16%	-11%	21%	48%	28%	-6%	-24%	32%	-18%	7%	9% 
 2004	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	104%	-18%	-22%	24%	47%	-23%	16% 
 2003	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0% 
 2002	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0% 
 2001	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0% 
 2000	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0% 
 CPI	1%	20%	-20%	21%	48%	161%	-23%	-41%	64%	20%	-18%	27% 
 GEO%	0%	3%	-3%	3%	6%	15%	-4%	-7%	7%	3%	-3%	3% 
 TG	322%											 
 PR 	0	1	0	2	4	10	0	0	5	1	0	2

[flota]

Accumulating TREN

The company has finished its drilling phase and now started to perform testing on what they have in the ground. In the next 2 months there should be significant news on the horizon about the results of those wells. If history repeats itself there should be some nice upside potential if everything works out just fine.

See the chart:



Insiders have been buying in the last 3 months. Total shares outstanding 25 million. For more information see http://www.torrentenergy.com/s/Home.asp

Key Person in this company and his involvement with Pennaco Energy in the write up this weekend.

George L. Hampton III, MSc. – Geology Director of Torrent Energy Corporation

George was appointed as Director in July, 2004. He is a highly respected professional in the coalbed methane ("CBM") industry. Since 1980, George has been extensively involved with the evaluation and exploration of multiple CBM projects with companies such as Amoco, TEC Resources, Pennaco Energy and JM Huber, primarily in the United States. Since 1986, he has also been active through Hampton & Associates in managing CBM projects, supervising drilling of CBM wells, conducting feasibility studies, and generating CBM prospects.

George is a qualified geologist with a Bachelor of Science -- Geology from Brigham Young University in 1977 and a Masters of Science - Geology from Brigham Young University in 1979.

Latest PR

Torrent Energy Provides Update On Nitrogen Stimulation Program At Pilot Projects

Vancouver, British Columbia -- March 16 2006 -- Torrent Energy Corporation (the "Company") (OTCBB: TREN) is pleased to announce the following development from its wholly owned operating subsidiary, Methane Energy Corp. ("Methane").

From March 9th, through March 12th, 2006, Halliburton Energy Services completed Nitrogen (N2) stimulation activities on a number of Methane's Beaver Hill and Radio Hill pilot wells. This was the first such operation in the State of Oregon and in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. This program brought together talented personnel and equipment from both Canada and the western US oil and gas industry. Specifically the completion program included the following:

1) Beaver Hill #3 -- injected 175,000 SCF of N2 through casing into a 4 foot perforated interval in the Lower Coaledo "D" coal. Breakdown in the formation was achieved.

2) Beaver Hill #5 - injected 380,000 SCF of N2 through casing into a 4 foot perforated interval in the Lower Coaledo "D" coal. Breakdown in the formation was achieved.

3) Radio Hill #1 -- injected 1,020,000 SCF of N2 into 10 separate Lower Coaledo coal seams of varying thickness via a coiled tubing unit. Breakdown in the various formations was achieved.

4) Beaver Hill #2 -- injected 324,000 SCF of N2 into 4 separate Lower Coaledo coal seams of varying thickness via a coiled tubing unit. Breakdown in the various formations was achieved.

The stimulation results are currently being analyzed with the assistance of Coal Gas Technologies of Calgary, Alberta. Flow-back and swabbing operations are expected to continue through the balance of March.

Torrent President and Chief Executive Officer, John Carlson, states, "We have successfully completed 16 separate N2 stimulations on our Coos County project. We continue to gather a wealth of new and useful data thereby advancing our understanding of the various Coos County coal formations. Following a comprehensive evaluation of this data, the next phase in our testing program will be to connect the wells to production test facilities currently on location, pump any formation water and test potential gas rates and flowing pressures."


More due diligence will be up this weekend.

[fade]

[Here comes the night]

http://www.stormcatenergy.com/



Storm Cat Energy is a rapidly growing exploration company focusing on developing unconventional natural gas reserves globally. Our mission is to create value for our shareholders by applying strong technical expertise to strategies that will unlock substantial natural gas resources in areas where production can be achieved quickly and efficiently.

[Here comes the night]

Fellow Swingtrade posters. I have had the luxury over the last 18 months of dozens of suggestions and DD pages posted here by investors, many of whom are infinitely more qualified than I, about putting together such reports. So ,as a precursor to this report on Storm Cat Energy I want to thank you all for generously sharing your efforts at obtaining information that ultimately might be used by investors like myself to grow our individual assets. This is my first effort at a comprehensive overview of a company with links and as such will be chock full of composition flaws. That said if you can wade through the grammatical errors I am prone to use regularly I think many of you might find Storm Cat a very appealing investment to both swing and hold long term as catalysts have and will continue to unfold driving this PPS to much higher levels over the next 6-24 months.

I'll be posting information about this company as I find it relevant occasionally here and on the Perfect Phantom board. That was set up by Flota for archiving and discussing the fundamentals/nuances of just such companies as this one. Furthermore most of the credit on the DD certainly within this first summary about SCU comes from the superior investigative skills of Flota who first turned me onto Storm cat several months ago as a stock to watch and ultimately buy. I will from this point post info I gleam from the company or others about SCU here on occasion but more so on the Phantom board as this may not be a swing stock every week of every month but its certainly a long term ass kicker if my and Float’s DD play out the way I think it will....hope a peep or two find this worth investing in but in the end I have only my own decision to make this a core holding of mine to worry about ....MWC

Storm Cat Energy Corp (SCU)
http://www.stormcatenergy.com/

Overview:

Storm Cat Energy is a rapidly growing exploration company focusing on developing unconventional natural gas reserves globally. Our mission is to create value for our shareholders by applying strong technical expertise to strategies that will unlock substantial natural gas resources in areas where production can be achieved quickly and efficiently.






Projects:

United States Projects






North East Spotted Horse Field

The North East Spotted Horse Field is a producing coal bed methane project located in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. The property contains 71 producing wells (69 operated) and production is approximately 2.6 million cubic feet per day.

How Acquired

Under an agreement dated January 18, 2005, the Company, through its 100% owned subsidiary, Storm Cat Energy (USA) Corporation, acquired 100% of Palo's interest in the field and Palo's gas gathering subsidiary, Paso Gaso Pipeline, LLC. The purchase price for the acquisition was US $8,500,000 cash, and the acquisition was completed on February 28, 2005.

Description of Project

The project consists of 6,320 gross contiguous acres located in the eastern portion of the Powder River Basin, 35 miles northwest of Gillette, Wyoming. There are currently 71 producing wells on the project (69 operated by the Company). Production is from various Fort Union coal seams and daily production is approximately 2.6 million cubic feet per day.

The majority current production from the project is contained within less than 20% of the project acreage. The remaining 80% of the project is undeveloped or under developed.

Effective April 2005, the Company entered a hedging agreement by selling forward 1 mmcf/d of production from the project to Enserco at a price of US$6.95/mcf. The agreement ends in March 2006.

Anticipated Exploration

The Company plans to begin drilling the undeveloped acreage in July 2005. The initial drill program will consist of up to 20 wells on State lands. For the remainder, the Company intends to file a Federal Plans of Development which is required to receive Federal Applications to Drill (“APD”). Once the APD is received, the Company intends to drill up to 64 additional wells. The APD is anticipated to be received in the 3rd quarter of 2005 for drilling during the 4th quarter of 2005.

Jamison/North Twenty Mile Fields

The Jamison/North Twenty Mile Fields are producing coal bed methane projects located in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. The Company has a 100% Working Interest (81.5 Net Interest) in the project.



How Acquired

The Company acquired a 100% Working Interest (81.5% Net Interest) in the Jamison/North Twenty Mile Fields for US$1.25 million cash. The purchase was completed as of December 1, 2004.

Description of Project

The Jamison/North Twenty Mile Fields are located on the eastern flank of the Powder River Basin coal bed methane natural gas region in Campbell County, Wyoming. The projects are 1,481 acres and currently contain 28 producing wells which were originally placed into production in early 2002. Current production is approximately 1.0 million cubic feet per day.

The current production is from the Anderson and Canyon coal seams, which are 2 of the 6 coal seams known to exist in the area. The Company believes two of the lower seams, the Cook and the Wall, are of sufficient thickness to warrant testing and, if positive, development through the drilling of new wells. In addition, the Smith coal seam is a candidate development through the recompletion of certain existing wells.

Project Reserves

Sproule Associates Inc. (“Sproule”) of Denver, Colorado, prepared an estimate of reserves on the Jamison/North Twenty Mile Fields for the Company as of December 31, 2004. The estimates using a constant price are as follows:

Reserves Category Gross
(MMcf) Net
(MMcf)

Proved Developed Producing 301.145 225.799
Proved Developed Non-Producing 0.000 0.000
Proved Undeveloped 327.558 245.603

Total Proved 628.703 471.402


Anticipated Exploration

During the first quarter of 2005, the Company initiated a comprehensive recompletion and rework program on the project. This program consists of pulling and reinstalling bottomhole pumps, re-perforating currently producing formations and deepening of some wells to test new zones. A second program, consisting primarily of drilling of new wells, is planned for the third quarter of 2005. This program is designed to test the Smith, Cook and Wall coal seams.

Alaska Exploration Licenses

The Company has a 100% working interest in three five-year Petroleum and Natural Gas exploration leases located in the Cook Inlet region of Alaska.









How Acquired

The Company acquired two leases totaling 18,359 acres through the high bid at the Alaska Mental Health Trust 2004 (the owner of the acreage) Oil and Gas lease sale held on November 9, 2004. The leases run for a period of 5 years, and consideration for the 2 leases is a US$203,901. The Company's Interest is a 100% Working Interest.

The Company acquired a third 5 year lease in the area totaling 3,757 acres in December 2004. US$9,395 was paid for lease rentals. The Company's interest is a 100% Working Interest (84.8% Net Revenue Interest).

Description of Project

The leases are all located in the Cook Inlet region of Alaska, approximately 45 kilometers from Anchorage. There is no history of production from any of these leases, and all are prospective for both conventional natural gas and for coal bed natural gas.

Storm Cat Energy has also acquired extensive Petroleum and Natural Gas leases in the Cook Inlet region of Alaska. Approximately 45 kms from Anchorage, the Company has acquired 18,369 acres comprising two five-year leases on two claims. These lands are considered prospective for both coal bed natural gas as well as conventional natural gas.

Mongolia Coal Bed Methane Gas Exploration Projects (Noyon West and Tsaidam)



Under an agreement dated April 5, 2004 on a production sharing contract for Coal Bed Methane hydrocarbons in the South Gobi region of Mongolia. The agreement grants the Company has the right to explore for, and produce, natural gas from coal within an area of 49,101 square kilometers (12,127,947 acres) located in the South Gobi area of the country known as the “Noyon West” project.

Under the Agreement, the Company has a minimum work commitment on the project of US$4,800,000 over 5 years under the following schedule:

Exploration Phase Exploration Year
Number Minimum Work Commitment (US$) Annual Surface Rental Fees
(per Square Kilometer in US$)

1 1 $ 820,000 $1.00
2 2 $1,280,000 $2.00
3 3-5 $2,700,000 $4.00

Total $4,800,000

Any excess expenditures spent in any given period may be credited against the work commitments of the next year.

The 5-year exploration period is divided into 3 phases. The first phase is one year long and 30 days from its expiration, the Company must relinquish from 25-50% of the original Contract Area. The second phase is also one year long, and 30 days from its expiration, the Company must relinquish an additional 20-30% of the original Contract Area. The third phase is three years long, and at the expiration of the third phase, the Company may relinquish all remaining portions or the original Contract Area except those areas which are being appraised or are under development. Upon mutual agreement of the Company and the Government, the period of the agreement may be extended up to 2 times, with each extension being up to 2 years in duration.

If a well is determined to be a Discovery Well, the area of the well will be classified as an “Appraisal Area”, and the company will have 180 days under an appraisal program to determine if a commercial reserve exists. If a Commercial Discovery is made, the area of the discovery to be developed will be reclassified as a “Development Area”, and the Company will have the right to develop the discovery for a “Development Period” of 20 years. The Development Period may be extended, upon mutual agreement of the Company and the Government of Mongolia, 2 times for a period of up to 5 years each time.

The Company must bear all costs for exploration and/or production of coal bed methane (“CBM”) from the project area. The Company is allowed to recover its costs from a portion of the CBM produced. Production will be subject to a royalty of 7.5% to the Government of Mongolia. After deducting the royalty and the cost-recovery, the remaining production will be allocated between Storm Cat and the Government of Mongolia based upon the average daily production for a given month under the following formula:



Total Average Daily Production
(in cubic meters) Production Allocation

Less than 1,000,000 Government of Mongolia
Storm Cat Energy - 20%
- 80%

1,000,001 to 2,000,000 Government of Mongolia
Storm Cat Energy - 25%
- 75%

2,000,001 to 3,000,000 Government of Mongolia
Storm Cat Energy - 30%
- 70%

3,000,001 to 4,000,000 Government of Mongolia
Storm Cat Energy - 35%
- 65%

Equal to or greater than 4,000,001 Government of Mongolia
Storm Cat Energy - 40%
- 60%

The Company will also pay the Government of Mongolia various cash payments as certain milestones are reached, under the following schedule:


Milestone Payment Amount
(in US Dollars)

Upon signing of the Agreement $ 60,000
First sale of Contract CBM $ 250,000
After average daily production exceeds 1,000,000 cubic meters for a calendar month
$ 500,000
After average daily production exceeds 2,000,000 cubic meters for a calendar month
$ 750,000
After average daily production exceeds 3,000,000 cubic meters for a calendar month
$1,000,000
After average daily production exceeds 4,000,000 cubic meters for a calendar month
$1,250,000
Beginning of each year the contract is in effect $ 40,000

The agreement was ratified by the government of Mongolia in May 2004.

In December 2004, the Company entered into a second agreement with the Petroleum Authority of Mongolia on a second coal bed methane exploration project. This exploration block, named the Tsaidam Block, covers approximately 22,407 square kilometers (5,536,893 acres) near Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.

This agreement requires the Company to spend US$300,000 on exploration work by December 31, 2005 in order to obtain the exclusive right and privilege to apply to the Petroleum Authority for a Production Sharing Contract (“PSC”) for all or part of the project area until June 30, 2006. If a PSC is granted, the funds expended on exploration under the agreement will be credited to exploration expended under the PSC
Summary of the Projects:

Highlights

Powder River Basin:

Current production of 3.5 million cubic feet per day
Spotted house has 120 drillable locations
Low risk investment

Elk Valley

Brought to this project by Encana (see more on them in key element section)
The capital of coal in Canada
Encana has two producing properties there
The property is over 77,000 acres and has 3 to 7 trillion cubic feet of resources (see link for source)

Saskatchewan

Drilled one well
Found gas in three different formations from drilling

Alaska

Acquired eight blocks
Owns over 35,000 acres
Zimmerman has previously explored these areas with Evergreen Resources

Mongolia

Borders China
Largest owned area (size of Rhode Island)
High risk investment
.



Plan of Exploration

The projects lie in the southern Gobi Desert near the Chinese border. The region has undergone little modern exploration and there is almost no detailed geological information available. However, there has been historic coal mining in several areas, and nine high rank coal seams were known within the Noyon West project area, while 500,000 acres of the Tsaidam Block contain geologically mapped coal deposits.

Upon the approval of the PSC by the government, the Company's exploration team began surface and geological mapping and stratigraphic exploration of known coal seams. During the summer of 2004, the initial work was followed-up with the drilling of 8 shallow (150 meter depth) exploration holes in the Nariin Sukhait region. These holes were drilled along the 70 kilometer length of the Nariin Sukhait thrust fault where surface expressions or outcrops of coal suggested the likelihood of correlative subsurface coal deposits. 7 of the 8 holes encountered significant thicknesses of coal, including intersections exceeding 41 meters in total thickness occurring in as many as 10 separate seams. The drilling was limited by the mechanical constraints of the Mongolian drill rig. A larger drill rig was contracted to drill 3 new holes to test possible deeper coal seam intervals down to a depth of 900 meters. The drill cores from these deeper holes will be used in gas desorption tests designed to test the methane gas content of the coals as well as to document the existence of coal cleating, or fractures, which are necessary for providing pathways for the methane gas production. Entrada GeoSciences (formerly Hampton, Waechter & Associates) of Englewood, Colorado, has been engaged to provide data collection and measurement of the gas content.

On the Tsaidam Block, the Company intends to conduct geological and geophysical as well as drilling of 3 exploration wells of 600 meters depth to test the known shallow coal beds within the block. It is anticipated that the cost of work will meet the Company's exploration expenditure requirement of US$300,000 before December 31, 2005.


Currently looking of JV partner


Outlook/Industry Insights/Important Terms:

The natural gas which can be extracted from Coal Bed Methane is one of the most current technologies which will help alleviate natural gas shortages.
Described as "sweet gas", CBM contains up to 90% methane. This high level of methane makes it directly available for consumption. At the end of the 80's CBM gas was almost nonexistent. However, by last year the production of CBM has grown to 9% of the total US gas production. The new technology you see pictured here, which uses water pressure to extract natural gas from ancient coal beds has changed the entire dynamic of CBM exploration.
The new CBM extraction technology has led to an explosion of CBM related exploration and production. Despite being only 9% of the total US Production, the table indicates the number of CBM wells in the lower 48 states has grown for virtually zero in the late '80's to a robust 10,000 plus wells in production by the turn of the century.

The natural gas shortage is a function of the regulatory mandates combined with regulatory restrictions on exploration. The demand side reveals 300 plus new power plants in the US that run only and natural gas, yielding a market environment which leaves us above $6 per MCF for the foreseeable future.


China's West-East Natural Gas Pipeline
Source: BusinessWeek

Adsorption/adsorbed – Absorption refers to the molecular bonding of a gas to the surface of a solid (for example coal).
Anthracite Coal – The highest rank of coal, anthracite is used primarily for residential and commercial space heating. It is a hard, brittle and black lustrous coal. Unlike bituminous coals, anthracite contains a high percentage of fixed carbon and a low percentage of volatile matter. The heat content of anthracite ranges from 22-28 million BTU (British Thermal Units) per ton.
Bituminous Coal – A dense black or dark brown coal, bituminous coal is used as a fuel, primarily in steam/electric power generation. It is also used in manufacturing and in producing coke. Bituminous coal is the most abundant coal in active B.C. mines. Its heat content ranges from 21-30 million BTU per ton.
Coal – Coal is readily combustible, black or brownish-black rock comprised of more than 50 per cent carbonaceous material by weight and more than 70 per cent by volume, including inherent moisture. Coal is formed from plant remains that have been compacted, hardened, chemically altered, and metamorphosed by heat and pressure over geologic time.
Coal Rank – Coals are classified according to their progressive alteration from lignite (lowest rank) to anthracite (highest). The standard ranks of coal include lignite, sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal and anthracite, and are based on fixed carbon, volatile matter, heating value, and coking (see coke and coking coal properties).
Coal Seam – A coal seam refers to a bed of coal lying between a roof and floor. It is also called a "bed" in the coal industry.
Coke (Coal) – A solid carbonaceous residue derived from low-ash, low-sulphur bituminous coal. The volatile constituents are driven off by baking at temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Coke is used as a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. It is grey, hard and porous and has a heating value of 24.8 million BTU per ton.
Coking Coal – Coking coal refers to bituminous coal suitable for making coke.
Conventional Natural Gas – Natural gas consists of mixture of hydrocarbon compounds, primarily methane, and small quantities of various non-hydrocarbons that exist in gaseous phase or in solution with crude oil in natural underground reservoirs.
De-watering – The process of removing water from a coal seam in the vicinity of a producing gas well. The water in the coal is pumped to the surface and an appropriate disposal method is determined based on water quality and quantity. De-watering is required to reduce pressure within the coal seam which in turn allows the methane gas to be released from the coal.
Directional Drilling – An international deviation of the well bore from its natural path. This method can be used when local topography (e.g. river banks or other water bodies) prevents vertical drilling. Under normal conditions, vertical drilling is used (i.e. the bottom of the hole is located beneath the drill rig).
Flaring – Flaring is the burning of natural gas as a means of disposal. It is restricted primarily to short-term testing, well workovers or exceedingly rare emergency situations.
Fracturing – Hydraulic fracturing is conducted to increase well productivity by injecting fluids at high pressure to create a more fractured and therefore permeable area. It is maintained by propping with sand to hold the fractures open.
Lignite – The lowest rank of coal, often referred to as brown coal, lignite is used almost exclusively as fuel for steam-electric power generation. It has a heat content ranging from 9-17 million BTU per ton.
Multi-seam well completion technology allows gas to be extracted from multiple coal seams through a single wellbore. (Storm Cat excels in executing this type of technology)
Sub-bituminous Coal – Sub-bituminous coal’s properties range from those of lignite to those of bituminous coal. The heat content of sub-bituminous coal ranges from 17-24 million BTU per ton.
Spacing and Target Area – They are required for, or allocated by regulation to, a well for producing petroleum or natural gas.
Workover – CBM wells may require additional work, or a workover, to maintain or improve production levels. Examples include well-bore flow stimulation by perforating or fracturing, installing water pumps in BCM wells, or cleaning. These activities require temporary rig setup on the well.
Current Natural Gas Hedges:

"Due to recent strength in the price of natural gas, Storm Cat has entered into a hedging arrangement by selling forward 1mmcf/d from the Spotted Horse Field at US $6.95/mcf for one year."
As far as I know, this is the only hedging that Storm Cat is currently doing. The rest of the gas is probably being sold at the spot price. The hedge will be over by the end of first quarter of 2006.

Key Element:


Joint Venture with Encana brings huge credibility for Storm Cat. It interesting to note that a company with 40 billion market cap comes to Strom Cat for help. Encana is looking for partners who have excellent technical expertise and they acknowledged through the joint venture that Storm Cat management is one of the best in the business. Farther this joint venture will help Storm Cat develop its properties more quickly and efficiently as they will have the past knowledge from Encana and we can assume that Encana has ton of information they will share with Storm Cat as they are the largest natural gas producer in North America and the largest company in Canada.
Storm Cat has assembled one of the very best technical team there is. The team has over 145 years of geo-technical experience exploring and developing large resource-rich, and unconventional, natural gas projects.

Ask yourself why was Storm Cat the “ONLY” small exploration company invited to speak at the EnerCom, Inc. EnerCom, Inc. announced today the lineup for The Tenth Oil & Gas Conference(TM), www.theoilandgasconference.com. The Conference, held in Denver Aug. 7-11, 2005, is the largest energy investment conference hosted in Denver, showcasing more than 90 companies with a combined enterprise value of more than $227 billion. This premier forum offers institutional investors, energy research analysts, retail brokers, investment bankers, energy industry professionals and high-net-worth individual investors a unique opportunity to meet and discuss important topics concerning the global oil and gas industry over five days. Participating industry leaders and key management from micro-cap to billion-dollar-plus companies in the global energy exploration, production and service sectors will discuss their future plans, opportunities and industry trends.








Recent Press Releases:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=Scu
If this link doesn’t open cut and paste it into your browsers address bar.

Directors/Management:

Scott Zimmerman is President of Storm Cat Energy. He is an innovative and highly accomplished engineer in the North American coal bed methane industry. Mr. Zimmerman joined Evergreen Resources, a premier leader in the development of coal bed natural gas, as Vice-President of Operations & Engineering in January 2002. Prior to this, as J.M. Huber's Vice-President-Energy Sector, Mr. Zimmerman spent 20 years specializing in CBMG exploration and development in the Rocky Mountain region, with emphasis on the San Juan and Powder River Basins. Prior to J.M. Huber, Mr. Zimmerman was the Senior Production & Reservoir Engineer with Amoco Production Company. Mr. Zimmerman received a BS in Petroleum Engineer from Texas Tech University in 1979 and is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Scott Zimmerman is one of the best CBM experts in the North America just looking at his past experience in the industry. He has worked on very CBM project you can imagine. He is one of the best CBM operators in North America. Considering what has Zimmerman accomplished for the past 2 year we can conclude that he builds companies infrastructure very well, acts quickly and efficiently. He has been very successful in bringing properties into production as he has overseen hundreds of drilling project in the past.
As a final note about Scott: He had spent from 1982 to 2002 with private JM Huber heading up their large CBM properties. He earned only a salary during that period. At Evergreen he was third in command but did not have the stock holdings that the other two had. Zimmerman was now very hungry to build his own major CBM company. This is very important as building this company Zimmerman is in control now of his own destiny.

Keith J. Knapstad has joined Storm Cat Energy as Vice-President, Operations (USA). Mr. Knapstad has a strong managerial and operational background, most recently as Manager Powder River Basin Assets for J. M. Huber Corporation; a privately held corporation with extensive unconventional resource holdings. Prior to Huber, Keith worked for Marathon Oil Company/Pennaco Energy in the Rocky Mountain region managing a multi-disciplined team responsible for engineering and development of various Rocky Mountain producing areas. Mr. Knapstad is an ambitious professional with proven abilities in executive leadership, project management, reserve evaluation/ reporting, and operational expertise. Mr. Knapstad received a BS in Petroleum Engineering from Montana Tech in 1984.

Matt Humphreys is Business Development Manager for Storm Cat Energy. He has over 30 years of oil and gas experience with an extensive background in acquisitions and new ventures. Prior to joining Storm Cat Energy, Matt was employed at Huber Energy in their New Ventures-Powder River team. Before Huber, he worked in the Business Development Group for Marathon Oil Company where he evaluated numerous unconventional gas plays in the US, and participated in successful CBM acquisitions. In 2003 Matt was a member of the National Petroleum Council's (NPC) Gas Supply Task Group and contributed significantly to the NPC Gas Resource Evaluation of the United States. Mr. Humphreys received an MS in Geology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BS in Earth Science from SUNY at Oneonta. He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists. Matt is a Registered Professional Geologist in Wyoming and has written several technical publications pertaining to geology and gas plays in the US.
Barbara Zimmerman is the Director of Land for Storm Cat Energy (USA) Corporation. She has over 30 years of oil and gas experience. Most recently, after 24 years of service, she retired from J. M. Huber Corporation. As Director of Land with Huber Energy, she was responsible for direction and completion of all coal bed methane land activities in five basins: Powder River, San Juan, Raton, Uinta and Crazy Mountain Basins. Prior to Huber Energy, she was a Landman with Texas Pacific Oil Company in Oklahoma City.
She is a Registered Land Professional and has provided expert land testimony before the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Barbara is a member of the American Association of Professional Landmen, Denver Association of Professional Landmen and Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation.

Michael O'Byrne serves as a Director. Mr. O'Byrne has been involved in the oil and gas business for over 10 years as a Landman, Land Manager and Vice-President, Land. He has been President of OMJ Land Services Ltd. specializing in preparation of Joint-venture documentation and other areas of oil and gas administration. He is currently Vice-President, Land for Golden Eagle Energy Ltd. and Chaperon Energy, private oil and gas companies, and as a Director and Principal of White Max Energy, Ltd., a private oil & gas production company. Mr. O'Byrne devotes approximately 5% of his time to the Company's affairs.

Dr. R. Marc Bustin is professor of petroleum and coal geology in the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and president of RMB Earth Science Consultants and a principal of CBM Solutions Ltd. He has over 30 years experience in the petroleum sector, with broad experience in the realm of fossil fuels both in research and in his consultancy practice. His professional experience includes employment by Mobil Oil Canada, Gulf Canada Resources (prior to joining UBC) and subsequently one year with Elf-Aquitaine (France), CSIRO (France) and CNRS (Australia). Dr. Bustin has consulted in the area of fossil fuel resource evaluation for a variety of small through large petroleum companies in Europe, Africa, North America and Asia. Dr. Bustin has published over 150 scientific articles on fossil fuels.

Matt Mavor is a Petroleum Engineer and President of Tesseract Corporation. Mr. Mavor has a unique combination of over 26 years of in-depth expertise in the disciplines of formation evaluation, reservoir engineering and simulation, and completion engineering for many types of reservoir rocks and fluid properties, especially including unconventional reservoirs.

Chief Joe Norris experienced in the timber industry and oil fields of British Columbia and Alaska, created Yiasult Management Corporation which is a construction company composed of a conglomerate of 47 tribes on Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. He continues to serve as the Co-Chairman. Chief Norris has sat on numerous tribal councils for the last 15 years and has been instrumental in the successful negotiations between native Indian tribes and industry.

Yaro Horachek is President of Geo-ing Resource Consulting Ltd. He has 30 years of experience in Coal exploration, Coal-bed methane exploration and evaluation, development, and planning of Coal deposits in western Canada and internationally. His experience with industry and government includes Shell Oil, Energy Utility Board of Alberta, Alberta and British Columbia governments, and numerous oil and gas and mining companies.

Conclusion:


I have been following several Coal-bed Methane (CBM) companies in the past 3 years. The future natural gas supplies are dependent on CBM development that is why I have focused on many CBM plays recently as they should do well going forward. This has been one of the fastest growing sectors as a source for natural gas. United States, Canada, and China will be facing major natural gas crisis going into the second half of this decade and into the future that is why the time is to act now to prepare of the future. I strongly believe that this company is one of those once in a life time opportunities since this company is still in early stages of the development. As a result there is more risk associated with such situation, but this equals to much higher returns if the company executes its plans. After reviewing the management, share structure, strong cash position, Amex listing, and incredible number of properties (and their acreage) we can conclude that this company is focused on becoming very successful.


Note : Financials were not included as this company is still in early stages. Information in this report is for informative purposes only.

[flota]

NINE....

once UBSS is gone this should move...strong support at 7

P/E (ttm): 12.29
EPS (ttm): 0.57



Ninetowns Digital World Trade Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, sells enterprise software, and computer hardware and accessories in China. Its software enables enterprises and trade-related PRC government agencies to streamline the import/export process in China.

[Here comes the night]

Flota, do you take a position in all the PHANTOM calls ? I'd like to know a little about his record..% gains on average?. One other thing... do you state before hand that a stock will be posted a hour or day in advance or does a guy just have to board mark you and this board to stay on top of the "picks"? MWC

[kgoodrich]

Flota are you hiding over here?
What have you found out about SYNM? Did XOM buy shares in this company to back up its coming fall? From April to August is the energy's sectors worst season. When SYNM was at $9.35 on March 29th, the liquidity ratio was only $1218, and today it is hovering at $1806, so it is over 50% harder for the stock to make growth now. Will this oil boom continue, or will it fall as history says it will? I like your board, too, Phantom. (\0/)

Kenstradamus