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I'm with you on all points, i.e. my brain is on holiday, whales are interesting, IH are getting prepared and last but not least I've been more than ready.
Another good link from jsinternational at Investorvillage:
Next Generation Alternative Fuel Power Truck Project
Project Participants
Kenworth Truck Company, a leading manufacturer of heavy and medium duty trucks, will serve as the technical lead and developer for this project.
Capstone Turbine Corporation, headquartered in Chatsworth, California, will provide the microturbine and demonstration support.
Brayton Energy LLC, an engine research and development firm, will provide technical support.
Arvin Meritor, a truck drive train component supplier, will provide the class 8 Dual Mode Hybrid Drive system.
Southern California Gas Company will provide technical and marketing oversight, and fuel management support.
Clean Energy, the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in the US, will coordinate fuel delivery for this project.
Global shipper FedEx Corporation will conduct the field test for this project.
CalStart, a non-profit organization focused on the growth of clean transportation, will provide program management for this project and will coordinate all activities of the project team.
From yesterday
That's amazing, considering it's size/weight ratio to power output. it would be nice for a large route fleet to go this way, especially since they wouldn't be locked in to natural gas as the sole fuel source. Although Clean Energy Corp (CLEN) has inked a deal with pilot to intall their natgas filling units across the country, I think the option of a multi-fuel engine makes more sense.
Thanks to ipdrive over at InvestorVillage for the link to the Expo in Long Beach.
5/23/2012 Turbine-Electric Hybrid Whirs and Whooshes But Saves Fuel, Maker Says at TruckingInfo. The Wrightspeed Route truck uses a C200 it seems. At least a Capstone propelled truck had a presence at the Alternative Clean Transportation Expo "ride and drive." Learning a bit more about Wrightspeed "Route" makes me a bit more optimistic about Capstone's involvement in the medium duty truck market.
This one for the Capt'n-- since you've toured the factory is this a C200 in the photo?
Edit function timed out before I could add this one:
NGV Journal
This site is a great resource to see where natural gas is headed as it applies to land transportation, whether it be heavy trucks, small trucks, buses, cabs, etc. I haven't had time to read through the whole site but just skimming the Daily News Section leads me to believe that it is mostly about Nat Gas diesels.
Don't take these posts as bashing, as that is not my intent. I'm in very long and large with CPST and want to see it succeed. I just think it is healthy to have a firm grasp on what the competition is doing. At the moment I wish I had split my investment between CPST and WPRT...hindsight is a wicked thing indeed.
Here's a tout for you:
VOLVO PLANS LNG ENGINE FOR NORTH AMERICAN MARKET
Swedish truckmaker Volvo AB (VOLV-B.SK) said Monday it will launch a 13-liter liquefied natural gas (LNG) engine within the Volvo brand for the North American market in 2014.
-The engine's high pressure diesel ignition technology will provide significant fuel efficiency gains compared with current natural gas products.
-Combined with the group's previously announced offering of compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered Volvo VNM and Volvo VNL model daycabs, the new engine will provide customers with a complete range of natural gas -powered transportation solutions.
-Within the Volvo brand another fuel is being tested that can be produced from natural gas, DME (dimethyl ether), which has the potential to become an attractive alternative for the North American market.
-"Despite the near-term infrastructure questions regarding widespread adoption of natural gas as a heavy-duty truck fuel, it's clear this segment will grow over the next several years," says Ron Huibers, president of Volvo Trucks North American Sales & Marketing.
Market Watch 21/05/2012
Westport Innovations (WPRT)holds the key to the world of Heavy Trucks running on Natural Gas.
The Fools are at it again and I tend to agree.
I really don't see how Capstone can compete in this market, but would love to be proved wrong. Converted or new Diesels are also the power train of choice among small off-shore marine vessels, as well as most of the large ships, especially the LNG Vessels which are tri-fueled, being built today.
Of course I sold out of WPRT about 2 years ago to buy CPST.
Whether or not you agree with Fracking, unless we start booking more orders in the drilling industry I can't see this stock moving upward although I could be completely wrong.
GLTA
RE: What did I miss?
News of more sales.
Desperate, nervous, bored, impatient...
All of the above? I suppose it matters how many pennies you have in the game. With spot rates of gas retracing upward I would like to see the idle rig count decrease and more wells drilled and as a consequence of that more Caps ordered.
With management working on cutting the build time of each unit some big orders coming our way will be necessary to take up the 75& idle plant capacity.
All that being said I'm in for the long haul and will take a penny up vs the opposite.
Just go ahead and count me in when an exit point is found.There are numerous exit points, they are all just up a tad from where we are now. Like Lloyd20 I'm "getting used to this suffering" or at least numb to it.
Never thought a penny gain DOD would look so good.
This stock isn't going anywhere but down without news of more sales. Perhaps they are getting a unit sold here and one there, but unless we have some more big orders I would say we are stuck and at the mercy of the IHs.
Interestingly, it seems that the whole developed world is starting either LNG import or export projects at an unprecedented rate. We need to tap those markets.
Applications Engineer Job listing for Capstone posted on Linkedin yesterday.
I agree; this treading water at $1.02 gets old, but I suppose it could be worse if we were wading in 85 cent water. An announcement of a big order would help as I would hate to see that backlog completely eliminated.
If you really want to get depressed about things hop on over to the InvestorsVillage site. Mostly bashing and promoting fuel cells there. There are exceptions like jesinternational's report on his tour of the Van Nuys manufacturing facility. At least this board doesn't suffer from bashers, and it continues to provide useful information about Capstone.
Thanks to Jesinternational at InvestorVillage
What I saw at Van Nuys...
Visiting family in L.A to attend "Grandparents day" at my grandaughters' school I had a chance to get
a 15 minutes tour of the Van Nuys facility...
FWIW, here is what I saw:
* Two C-1000's ready for shipment outside the plant.
* One additional C-1000, in the same area,running full blast (I guess that's the last "quality
assurance" step). The noise level was not bad... almost pleasant -:).
* One C-200 ready for shipment to Thailand in the
same patio.
* Inside the plant, I saw an operator finalizing
the assembly of a C-1000 unit. It was interesting to hear from him (when I asked about productivity)
that they were about half way through in their
improvement program : they have come down from
120 men-hour assembly time to 80 with a final goal
of about 50 men-hour (I'm quoting from memory and could be all wet--but the percentage improvement rate was impressive to me).
* Nearby, I saw another operator working in the assembly of a C-200.
* Some 20 feet away from the C-200 there was a
TA-100 just about finished...That line seems to be
in a "de-bugging" phase...at present, it takes almost as long to assemble the units as the 10
times larger C-1000...
I can not compare with the past as this in my first visit to Van Nuys...My prior visit to Capstone
some three years ago, I was only at Chattsworth.
Cheers- Gene
Perhaps management is paying attention. The correct presentation is now up on the Capstone "Presentation" page.
Presentation: 11th Annual JMP Securities Research Conference Presentation Date(s): 5/15/2012 12:00:00 PM
Actually same presentation last put up at the FBR 2012 Energy and Industrials Presentation on 05/07/2012 and that is the link the email takes you to. You would think that the PR folks would at least change the 1st page of the pdf. to reflect the proper venue and date. This "alert" came through via email at 11:01 A.M. this morning.
Perhaps this is the reason for the small bump in share price at 12:14
Thanks for the update nevertheless. At least you made the effort.
I once took some advice given by Peter Lynch, of the Magellan Fund, and started visiting a company that I had taken quite a large position in. Due the number of shares I held I was given a tour and although I saw a vacant cafeteria, lights out in many rooms, and very few workers around I for some reason ignored what was plain to see--not much activity and not much product being pushed out the door. I attended annual meetings, followed Bills before Congress and had become somewhat of an expert in the business this company serviced.
Later, as I was denied access to the manufacturing facility I would take a spin by and count the cars in the parking lot. When noting that there were only four cars in the parking lot I should have just sold out and salvaged something of my "investment."
For some reason I ignored my instincts, and believed the hype being put out on MSNBC etc., and ended up riding the company down to bankruptcy. I lost a huge chuck of change on that ride.
Forbidding stock holders a "look-see" behind the shipping bay doors raises the same sort of concerns with me. What could be the rational behind that? "Insurance forbids anyone except employees beyond this point?" I don't know if the SEC has specific rules against that or if the company is paranoid about someone stealing trade secrets, etc. but in any case I think I'll pose this question on the "Ask Management" if it hasn't already been asked and answered.
Thanks again for your valuable input, as meager as it was. Next time count the cars in the parking lot and compare that with the following visit LOL.
I sure feel like I've been swimming in a dark pool and it isn't oil. Headlines like Gas drillers wrangle over NY limitations; opponents argue for more limits or ban on fracking makes me feel like I'm sinking rather than just treading water with a Capstone around my neck. I still believe in the company, like their product, but need to see more orders coming in that will convince me that I can at least make it back to shore after wading a long way out with this company.
Still hoping The Capt'n will make that trip to Chatsworth and provide us with a review of his findings.
As an aside...Henry Hub natural gas prices have retraced back to $2.43 from a low of $1.90 set on April 19th. Most "experts" predict that Henry Hub will have to hit 5 bucks again to make drilling attractive. In the meantime we wait and hope as this particular quarter seems longer than most.
WARTSILA TO POWER LNG-FUELED VESSEL (THE NETHERLANDS)
Wärtsilä, the marine industry’s leading total solutions provider, has been contracted to supply a complete power system, including two of its 6-cylinder Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel medium-speed engines, for a new dry cargo inland waterway vessel.
This order extends the benefits of gas fuelled operation to an inland waterway vessel, and represents a strong endorsement of gas as a marine fuel. The vessel will be part of the ECO2 Inland Vessel project, which is focused on developing innovative measures for making the inland shipping sector more economically and environmentally sound. A transition to liquefied natural gas (LNG) is widely viewed as being one of the most realistic options for significantly reducing the environmental footprint of marine transportation.
This will be the first ever medium speed, dual-fuel, mechanically driven inland waterway vessel capable of operating for 95-99 percent of the time on LNG fuel, with a minimum of pilot marine gas oil (MGO) used for ignition. The engines are also capable of operating fully on MGO. In addition to the two Wärtsilä dual-fuel engines, the scope of the order includes two fixed pitch propellers in a nozzle, the coldbox, and the LNG tanks.
The 135 meter vessel will set new standards in environmentally and economically sustainable operations on inland waterways in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and France. The vessel is being built for Combi International, a Dutch ship development, design and construction company located in Raamsdonksveer. The order has been placed by Koedood Diesel Service BV.
ECO2 Inland Vessel project
The vessel is the first of three inland vessels that will serve as pilots for innovative, environmentally sound power systems (engines and propulsion) for inland shipping. All three vessels will be designed, tested and implemented within the ECO2 Inland Vessel project.
A consortium of companies have joined forces in this project with Wärtsilä Netherlands BV as the co-ordinating partner. The other partners are Koedood Dieselservice, Combi Group BV, Reederei Deymann, TNO, DST and Hochschule Emden-Leer. The project’s goal is to identify the most efficient and economical power systems for various types of inland shipping vessels, to the ultimate benefit of the global inland shipping industry. The project is part of a larger initiative known as MariTIM (Maritime Technologies and Innovations Model region Germany-The Netherlands), sponsored by the EU.
“This ECO2 Inland Vessel project is helping the inland shipping industry to become more sustainable, whilst at the same time increasing fuel efficiency and reducing costs. Under the auspices of the project, all three pilot vessels will be monitored for up to three years in order to provide valuable input data for future generations of inland waterway vessels. The Wärtsilä dual-fuel engines have proven their reliability throughout five million running hours, which clearly indicates our leading position in this field. Wärtsilä’s dual-fuel engine technology, which is well established in ocean going applications, can now be applied to small scale LNG fuelled vessel applications,” says Bram Kruyt, Director, Inland Water Ways, Wärtsilä Services at Wärtsilä Netherlands B.V.
Wärtsilä 20DF engines
Wärtsilä’s dual-fuel (DF) engine technology allows flexibility in fuel choice, since the engines can operate either on LNG, MGO or HFO. In gas mode, harmful exhaust emissions are drastically reduced since nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are cut by at least 85 percent, CO2 emissions by some 25 percent, while sulphur oxide (SOx) and particle emissions are reduced by almost 100 percent from those produced by standard diesel fuel marine engines. The engine is fully compliant with the IMO Tier III exhaust emission regulations.
Lng World News 08/05/2012
The Canadian Players In The Booming LNG Sector
Of particular interest is the paragraph titled "Potential issues with Canadian LNG projects" and the follow-on question...Where will all the electricity and power that's needed come from, and what infrastructure is required for that?
Capstone should be knocking on doors in Houston and Kitimat B.C.. This is a big opportunity and it would seem to me that Capstone has a main part of the equation just waiting to be factored in.
Pretty bad when even the "Fools" don't rush in. I doubt that we could even get a "Cramer" spike these days.
"Level 2 is a poker game nowadays"
I find it more like the giant slot machine located at the door to most casinos. At least in a poker game you can see your opponent.
Bid/Ask again about 2:1 with shares going to the bid--so much for supply and demand. Of course EDGX seems to be picking off shares at 0.0014 or less than the ask. Solid profits are the only thing that is going to break this seemingly rigged game. Another announcement of more big orders might help but it's delivery and AP-AR (money in hand)that are needed to tilt the price in the right direction.
Haven't seen the Capt'n or Wild_Bill around lately. Been hoping the Capt'n would make that trip to CPST HQ and report back.
Pretty quite around here lately. In the meantime we find that the NatGas producers are cutting back on production in order to get the price up. Natural gas prices rise 5%. Henry Hub is now $2.36; up from $1.94 not too long ago. UNG would have been a nice play if all of my dry powder wasn't tied up with Capstone.
Harvey Gulf International Marine ordered two additional 302’ X 64’, Dual Fuel Offshore Supply Vessels, bringing its total order to four. Duel fuel diesel propulsion and auxiliary engines are going to be a huge market.
I would think we need some serious representation in the Gulf. Capstone should own this market, but the big players like Wärtsilä and Cummings are beating us to the Marine market by having their duel fuel engines notated as "Enviro Plus" and will carry the "Green Passport" notation by the ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) Classification Society. America's First LNG Dual-fuel PSV on the Horizon
Thanks chklingon. Yes, with 300 million shares outstanding and playing with a buck makes it a "shorter's playground as you describe." Being quite long on Capstone it is disappointing to see it manipulated so much, especially in the areas of the "unknowns." Like I said..."its a rigged game for the retail folks, and we just have to try to discern the tea leaves for direction." I do have both a large swing position and real long long position. I suppose I should pull the trigger on the swing and take the smaller profits when they present themselves, but I find that old "greed factor" has an undue influence on that.
The Captain's analysis yesterday was an eyeopener and I surely hope that some more significant news comes out that flushes the shorters down the tube.
Could that bid be a "phantom" as I described last week? Put it out to test the water and then immediately withdraw it.
Thanks for the insight as always. I believe you named this particular pig not too long ago. Not much we can do as longs but stand pat and frustrate their "long squeeze." Hope they take it in the shorts.
Don't know who picked up the dime for the time, but that is exactly what we needed. If "we" paid for it; money well spent, if not, it's all good.
This is the line of credit I was referring to in prior postings, thanks for the recap of the details.
Pretty day for Cap! Go baby, go!
I can accept that explanation as having the shares registered beats needing them immediately would trump going through the SEC hoops to have them standing by for emergency use. If they are there in anticipation that should a huge huge order be received they could issue shares to cover a sudden ramp up in the cost sudden increased cost of material and labor. That being the case, didn't Capstone just finalize a new round of credit? Why dilute? The factory is 75% idle so I would think that with the way orders have been coming in issuance of new shares would only have to be occur to cover materials and additional labor if the credit line were not tapped. We were led to believe that issuance of new shares would not be necessary several CCs back.
Anyway, I still stand committed in a big way (long) with this company as I believe in the product being in the right place at the right time finally.
Thanks for the response.
The question of the 100,000,000 share dilution still remains unanswered.
Good to note some positive action today, i.e. price moving up with announcement of new orders.
While doing some research on another company Cheniere (LNG) I ran across The Dumbest Guys in the Room which led to After The Gold Rush: A Perspective on Future U.S. Natural Gas Supply and Price
Made some nice change on LNG and I'm quite certain that liquefaction in Lake Charles will come to fruition. There will be another nice entry point soon, as dilution will be necessary to service that 5 to 6 billions dollars of debt to build the plant.
That being said the total active rig count in the US is down considerably as it makes no sense to drill expensive gas wells with the price of gas at 2 bucks. Nevertheless, many drillers and producers are shifting their drilling to heavies (oil, and condensate liquids) which are far more valuable in today's world market.
Despite the above speculation I think Capstone will continue to flourish, as gas will remain an issue to be dealt with (flaring is a no-no now) and remote locations whether they be gas wells or oil will require power. The penetration of other markets gives Capstone diversity which again is why I think this company will eventually make money. Today was the first "fun" day in quite sometime, as far as Capstone goes, and a much needed one at that.
No one has yet explained the necessity for an additional 100,000,000 million shares of common Stock, Common Stock Warrants, Preferred Stock and Debt Securities. Anyone?
Hopefully I won't sail off the edge of the earth before greed kicks in. Cap has been going down each time "good" news comes out. Gibbs seems to be right with Rule # 1.
Gene & Bill -- Yes, saw that announcement first thing this morning. At least the planned commissioning time frames are being announced along with the orders. C1000s could be the answer, and prevent me from walking off the edge of the earth. Let's see if this will at least bring this thing up to a buck again.