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WOW, that's great, there, cowboy. Are they affiliated with PUDA coal?
Has GEO done any diligence on them?
How about Seeking Alpha?
Help us out with some real "quality" research.
TIA!
A change of auditors is simply NOT some "smoking gun" proving any impropriety.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/francinemckenna/2013/04/29/las-vegas-sands-can-now-hire-a-chinese- auditor/
I really think some of you guys are just looking for "The Boogieman" to uncover ammunition for the assassination of Longwei Petroleum.
I disagree with you. There is next to NOTHING concrete to go on to condemn shareholder prospects with LPIH stock. You have news snippets that have negative content and may, over time, be either proven or disproven. The impact of those reports has already been reflected in the S/P going to 7 cents. Someone buying at this valuation MAY only have a huge upside if some of these slurs are discredited, withdrawn, refuted or simply get ignored as sour grapes or opportunism from shorts or manipulators.
Where is YOUR proof that the CFO's and auditors for China Medical Express, Longtop Financial and Sino Forest were convicted of crimes? Next, where is your proof that the CFO's remained free, anyway, and that the auditors continued to ply their trade despite these reputational black marks?
As for your statement about my comments on the Yahoo Longwei boards, I NEVER posted on the LPIH board and have rarely posted on the LPH board since I exited my last position which was around 4 years ago. Your aspersions regarding me using multiple identities are insulting and untruthful.
Most of us have higher expectations for I-Hub board moderators.
I absolutely made the correct investment decision which was to sell my LPH at around $2 for a nice gain. If I decide to buy some at the current valuation of under a dime, why do you care? It's my money. And I am entitled to my opinion which remains that this one has NOT concluded and absolutely nothing... or VERY LITTLE may have been done wrong by Longwei to justify the meteoric descent of its share price.
The FACT that Longwei even filed the lawsuit, regardless of its eventual outcome, absolutely proves that the company refuted the allegations. As another poster pointed out, yesterday, a slew of Chinese companies have opted out of listing on any U.S. exchange. If Longwei decided it was better to withdraw than expensively wrangle with a bunch of offshore zealots, that is a sound business decision... not some "smoking gun" that confirms guilt in any matter in any way.
I have never stated that Longwei is not guilty of wrongdoing. I have said that it has yet to be proven. And Chinese Law, as I understand it in a very limited way, can be far more harsh on such crimes and criminals than the "country club" campus facilities that white collar criminals lounge around in here in the U.S. for similar offenses... which are MANY. Crime knows no sovereign boundaries.
If it is proven that Longwei conducted fraudulent activities then I will simply move on and look for value elsewhere. I am not invested here at this time. But I am not prepared to simply walk away from a potentially lucrative investment because some clown on a blog may have some agenda and has decided to trash a company for some as yet unrevealed reason.
I no longer follow Rino and Fuqi. I used to.
Part of what troubles me on this message board is the almost pan-racist assumption that all Chinese businesses are "scams" because a few were. Hey, Capitalism is an evolving entity in a State controlled State and it is not fully evolved into the checks and balances we have here. I might even say that, over time, the Chinese may do it BETTER since so much illegal and unsavory stuff has victimized Western markets in the U.S. England and elsewhere.
There is "an element" that would sacrifice the Chinese experiment in "controlled capitalism" and would just like to turn a quick windfall, even if it sinks the Chinese economy and drives it back to its previously isolated and internalized economy of exclusion to foreigners. I HATE THESE PEOPLE!
IMO, if China's experiment in capitalism fails, so does the U.S. and so does much of the world... western... eastern... makes no difference. If they fail because of bad faith dealings, well, so be it. But if they sink because greed and speculators drove them back to a self-contained, internalized economy because their distrust of capitalism rationalizes a retreat back to their own little, semi-feudal world... shame on US for not providing the proper encouragement and tutelage.
That's enough philosophy for one night, but I think it has a LOT to do with the attacks on this company.
I agree. I think that another acquisition may be in the offing to expand the menu range. Just a guess, but based on prior observations.
I still like Darden, PFC and CAKE... don't get me wrong... but I want to own equity here.
Good luck!
I prefer sushi.
LPH has yet to counter the claims..." Really?
Then why did they file a lawsuit for defamation?
The fact that they recinded the suit is NOT an admission of guilt. It may just be an acceptance that the deck was stacked against them to stay OTC listed and not worth the legal expense.
joev2, I like you. Your posts are mostly well reasoned, and while you are mad at Longwei I don't sense you are a blind basher, just a loser on its degraded share price. I get that. I have lost on many investments, over the years. That said, overall I have done well with my market buys and sells, and learned from all of them, good and bad. But you need to acquire more experience and do more research before you make ridiculous, brash statements.
Reverse mergers are NOT a scam. Did you know that the New York Stock Exchange itself was actually a reverse merger via Archipelago and helped create the entity that is today's Euronext/NYSE? Have some reverse mergers been problematic? Yes. But most are just a cost-effective means of entering capital markets without all the very expensive and, frankly, non-productive assets shelled out to start a fresh public company... with the HUGE stipends in fees and oversubscription awards that the Morgan-Stanley's of this world use to engorge their coffers.
As for companies whose share price collapsed... my three best investments ever, were in Amazon after the tech bubble burst, Ford when the financing market collapsed and Las Vegas Sands when the discretionary economy collapsed and bribes were alleged in their entry into the Macao gaming market. I chose to go "Contrarian" in all three cases, each of which I later exited, and was able to retire early by NOT listening to the bloggers at Seeking Alpha and Motley Fool, to name a few. What I listened to was my own research and deeper diligence that the average "fast traders" ever invest in considering a stock purchase.
I have YEARS of experience with Longwei Petroleum. YEARS. And, no, I don't like everything that I both see and can't see due to late filings. But at $.07 for a stock that recently traded above $3, I want to know if I can spot some value that everyone else missed... either because I dig deeper... OR, because I figure out a real SCAM which may not at all be at the hands of the company but by MANIPULATORS that are notorious in penny/pinkie land.
It's a message board. I try not to take things personally, although I occasionally do, I admit. Similarly, Longwei is a company. It does not do everything or even many things perfectly, and this I admit and have previously stated. But that does not make them a scam. They may BE a scam, but from what I have seen to date, I doubt it.
If I decide to take a position, I will post it.
Who cares? I am not buying shares in Stanton Associates.
Your post is irrelevant, IMO.
Nope, not with Exide, but I lost on others including WorldCom so I feel the pain.
I have a long association with Exide and have followed it for decades since its intial IPO under EX.
No, Skeena, that is incorrect. There are YEARS of positive income statements from Longwei under two trading symbols that clearly establish a history of corporate profitability. They are all still up on Edgar, just in case you missed, like, 8 10K's and around 32 10-Q's... LOL.
Why am I any less informed than you or anyone else about "events" concerning Longwei? I read all the releases and a LOT of other stuff on the local and global newswires and on Social Media.
Why would I kiss YOUR ring, Skeena? I have YEARS of experience investing in this company. Do you? My agenda is only as an INVESTOR. What's yours?
That was precisely my point. I don't want to be called a basher or doomsayer, but this is highly dicey for common shareholders.
It all depends on the re-organization plan and subsequent actions in court.
In a fire sale, rarely do shareholders receive anything, sadly.
I would think that an unlikely share price run-up to anywhere near a dollar would signal a strong "sell" point trigger. I just re-reviewed the BK and pending breakup of A123 Systems, symbol AONE, who is in the process of a fire-sale of pieces, bit by bit, with JCI appearing to have snagged the biggest, best chunk. I think there a clues implied by this same-sector bankruptcy, as with the Valence proceedings.
The creditor's committee court proceeding will not likely provide any clue's to the future of shareholder's rights or interests. That will probably be months in the offing, waiting until such time as the restructuring officer just engaged has time to put together an overall plan. Then the plan must get board approval, be submitted to the court, offer stakeholders a chance to respond and then, finally get approved by the judge in some form as an approved plan.
And maybe, too, Red Chip and Seeking Alpha were "in on the deal" heaping more, simultaneous bad news on Longwei for maximum shock and impact on investors long the stock. Didn't one of the "authors" of one of these convenient diatribes admit to a short position in LPH, prior to the delisting?
There's a lot of STINK wafting around this quite remarkable chain of events and not all of it is coming from the c-suite, if you get my drift. What's next, an "el cheapo" buyout offer at today's depressed valuation so some wheeler-dealer can snap up a quite profitable, going concern for next to nothing?
This whole deal just reeks of impropriety, IMHO.
Ahah, a Solyndra stalker in the house! Talk about a total disconnect. Gee, I'm sorry that "Occupy Wall Street" went dark and took away your media platform, such as it was.
What in God's name does stimulus money spent (and even possibly wasted) on alternative energy technology have to do with Exide, it's bankruptcy or the fairness of the Federal Court in Delaware? I have read a TON of opinions and decisions rendered by this court in the past, and recently, and I can tell you that there is a judicial standard that is both impeccable and consistent in application of the law.
As for solar, many of us view the lack of commercial viability there in the same light as ethanol and conversion of petroleum-fueled vehicles to nat gas... sunk by lobbying blockage and investment by Big Oil, despite government efforts to actually work on energy independence in a meaningful way against a huge blockade from oil fat cats.
Let's please stay focused on Exide! Obama has actually made two speeches from JCI in Milwaukee, trying to support EV technology and the battery business. The fact that he supports the industry which includes Exide is a huge plus, not some portent of doom from some marionette-like orchestration which you imply.
That's a creditors meeting. Nothing more than lawyers representing vendors with claims, most all of which will likely be paid, per prior PR. Share holders should not expect anything concrete from this meeting.
Exide expensively hired Sitrick & Company to handle PR during the BK process. This is a "Hollywood" spin doctor with ties to high profile bankruptcy and celebrity scandal "situations" like Michael Jackson's estate, Kim Bassinger's divorce and other People Magazine type escapades. This is my way of saying that ANY PR forthcoming is likely to be very guarded and self-serving to Exide and not necessarily meaningful to common stock holders.
The fact that Exide engaged Sitrick in a business downcycle that seems to imply the need for austerity speaks volumes about what Exide's board is trying to accomplish and who's interests (their own?) that they are trying to protect.
JMHO.
There are many companies that fail and all have executives that worked there, many of whom go on to successful careers, elsewhere. So what? Why do you have such a problem with Michael Toups? I saw posts from you going back to January where you have been on the slander bandwagon with this guy.
I do not know him, nor am I defending Toups, but I have to wonder why a board moderator would wage an apparent war against the CFO of a faltering company like Longwei. How do you know what he did or did not observe in China, or do you even know if he really went, at all?
All the negativism against LPIH may be fully justified. I do not claim to have all the answers... or even any answers. But I do know a FULL COURT PRESS when I see one.
Wow, dude. After reading that my head is dizzy.
Exide's patent inventory is actually pretty pitiful, IMO. Not much to work with, there.
Exide doesn't need a workforce coup. It needs a management that understands business, batteries, automated production and team building. It is a very straightforward business, both in automotive and in motive power.
Don't get caught up in complicated gyrations for the future. I once told Craig Mulhauser that Exide's problems were a lot like the Jackson Browne song, "Running on Empty" meaning that Exide was just trying to do too much for too many people with too little in resources to execute their overblown plans.
Mulhauser, of course, claimed that he had never heard of the artist, the song and thought everything was just wonderful as Exide, shortly thereafter, went BK for the first time. He was part of a continuum of CEO's who either ran the place for their own aggrandizement, their own ego, their option and exit packages or to stay one step ahead of the Grim Reaper and their final huge payday.
What's interesting is that Craig was maybe the best CEO Exide had in 20 years... and he SUCKED, IMO.
What a train wreck inflicted by one incompetent board of directors after another. It's sad, really.
It truly amazes me how little has changed since then.
Everyone with skin still in the game, here, is asking for the prognosis for common shares, cancel or not, and how long the process will take. I can't answer either question, but I can offer a relevant example in Valence Technology who filed for BK around a year ago (7/12/12) and still has no definitive plan. In that interim period its common shares have declined from $.65 to $.03.
Valence has an easier scenario in the sense that it is patent rich and much of its debt is held by the same person (Berg & Berg) that holds much of their equity. It will probably be sold, in some form, possibly to Johnson Controls, for its lithium/phosphate battery technology.
The analogy is pertinent in the sense that matters of BK are not always quick to resolve and seldom involve much value for common shareholders when all the dust settles.
Good luck to all investors here.
LOL. Thanks for a good laugh. I needed that! But maybe you should reconsider the letter "I" because in recent times using "investment" in the sector's identitiy has been an absolute oxymoron.
Mortgage Real Estate Investment Loss Trust... has rather a mellow ring to it!
Changes in auditors are required by law to be reported. Disagreements between auditors and corporate boards are not all that infrequent, especially in Asian markets and can, as you say, result from a company restricting info available to the accountancy firm. But more typically the disputes are over the scope of auditor activities which are billed by the hour and often involve very expensive overseas travel in multi-national companies that a board of directors can prudently deem excessively costly.
If you are looking in earnest for the Boogieman then this 8-K might be important. If you are looking for answers as to Longwei's future, I think it is immaterial and premature to any conclusions except speculative ones.
I want to see something concrete before I make up my mind. I would not be at all surprised to see Red Chip re-affiliate once some of the dark clouds dissipate, assuming that they do. I have always valued their research and conference data; I will ascribe a lot less value to Red Chip going forward if Longwei tanks since they have been sending "buy" signals for 4 years and only reversed out of a contract extension a few days after the renewal announcement last December 28th.
Was it available to Red Chip on Dec. 28, 2012 when they announced a renewal with Longwei? I think not.
All these "Ah-Ha" moments are very curious. Are they illegal? Maybe you know?
Speaking of scams, why did GEO publish their scathing commentary on Longwei on January 3rd and then, the next day, the Rosen law firm files a 22 page class action lawsuit against Longwei citing the GEO indictment?
I think you are right regarding a scam, but I also think that you could be looking in the wrong direction for the source of the odor!
JMHO!
Be careful. The sword of justice swings both ways! Word to the wise.
This is a company with $3 billion in revenues. It has big problems. And, no, it is not too big to fail, because it already has. Twice. But there is a difference between failure and burial.
With the right leadership, Exide could rise again. It has, before. Jeffrey Gendell understood the potential and became Exide's sugardaddy for nearly a decade. Will someone else step up and bankroll a recovery? If so, it will take an Icahnlike figure with the gonads to fire the board and just about every other swinging "D" there now and put a team in place that can make a wristwatch instead of a pile of cogs, wheels and a broken stemwinder.
The components are there for Exide to be a Rolex. At the moment, it is a broken Timex being aimed for the trash barrel.
No shareholder on the surface likes dilution. But it is a fact of life in emerging companies as a source of expansion capital. The value of the decision always hangs in the ways those funds are applied and the results they attain. People who are smart are not looking at PHOT for a short term trading gain but a longer term skyrocket, IF it gets its act together.
Don't get me wrong, I have seen plenty of businesses in this sector go flat and expire so I'm not promoting this as the second coming for investors. But I do think it has potential, underscored by a very low valuation for an entry point.
Glad you exited prior to the S/P meltdown. I find it very odd that the Geo diatribe appeared on January3, 2013 and the very next day the Rosen law firm filed a 22 page class action lawsuit referencing the GEO article among other things and already had lead plaintiffs identified and listed in their Los Angeles court filing.
I also find it interesting the Red Chip signs an angreement with Longwei in December, then abruptly cancels it the day of this filing.
The TV filming of the underused fueling terminal is troubling. I just don't know if it is condemning or just troubling.
And the resignations after the filing of litigation that included officers could totally be due to no or too little indemnification insurance for board members. I do not find this issue all that concerning.
This is not a new company and has performed decently throughout its early years, from my view. All of the negatives could be truthful, but but we also could simply be having a hysterical reaction to previous Chinese hybrids that have definitely had some "scam" concerns proven.
I am sitting it out and watching the outcome.
The ONLY information of real value will come from the filings before the court in Delaware as the scope and mechanics of a proposed BK are revealed and get either approved, modified or rejected by the court. I would not encourage any investor, long or short, to base decisions on my comments or anyone else's on a message board.
I don't know whether I am right or wrong, yet, as I still view this as a work-in-progress. I am looking for a Red Chip review to add an informed third party perspective, and the delayed filing for metrics to contribute to a firmer opinion.
Business in China is not like business in the U.S.. There is much more protocol and things don't always happen at an American pace. If you arrived and requested a visit, their response would not surprise me a bit. If you called well in advance, they would have invited you to the investor event like everyone else.
That is a poor assumption to me. Why would a fledgling enterprise that has grown via acquisition and is in the world's leading consumer growth market do a share buyback vs. organic and M&A expansion? As for going private, Longwei is too small to be of interest to big money guys like Buffett or most of the vulture capitalists. Laws in China also do not make such transactions simple or quick to consummate.
The Shanghai bourse hit a 9 1/2 month low, last Monday, as markets continue to depress most all Chinese issues, large, small and microcap due to liquidity and growth concerns. Longwei has traded consistently with a LOT of Chinese microcaps I have followed for years and its share price decline is more derived from macro concerns for the Chinese economy than the piddly pieces of bad PR you guys love to over-value.
I am not alarmed about a late filing, especially since they are changing out accounting firms. This company has almost always been profitable and there is scant concern that the situation will somehow drastically change.
I am not a buyer, only an interested follower at this point.
I do not think that this company is a scam. I do think their PR is atrocious and their prolonged periods of information silence prod a lot of presumptive games from swing traders and shorts. That wouldn't include you, would it?
How do you know it is a scam? Defamation is a very difficult litigation because it is hard to prove and quantify damages. You likely already knew that, based on what you just posted that could easily be considered inflammatory, or worse.
The "case" is immaterial to Longwei's future or investment value. There are other question marks and issues that remain, just like there are huge upsides to their stock with some positive PR.
Nice try, though, Isn't it empowering to short a low interest stock, malign it on a rarely visited message board, then wait for those pennies to just roll right in?
JMHO.
I should have bought more at $25 when I had the chance. Was looking for $24.
My bad.
You are thinking like a moonshine still manufacturer as Prohibition was nearing repeal. You think everyone is going to "make their own" and want small, home-operated, low volume stills. History shows this to be a poor bet.
The impetus for PHOT to become a real company is acceptance as a pharmaceutical producer, with the decriminalization easing for recreational use a long-fought battle and likely oversight by either DOA or FDA oversight of production, quality, safety and other criteria to permit legal cannabis sales.
The days of the 3 pots grown from seeds on a windowsill are driven only by fear, availability and cartel-controlled prices. People in many climates could grow their own tobacco and roll their own cigarettes but almost nobody chooses to do so. Think there is a reason for that, with Marlboro's now over $6/pack in most markets?
I do.
Yup. I agree. A lot of the future hinges on whether there is any future agency-backed debt, at all. However, I am not so egotistical as to think I can predict what will happen on Capital Hill with this debate currently being led by Sen. Bob Corker.
Johnsyn could be right in his earlier post when he stated it could churn for years with little really changing.
I am sitting it out, but like everyone I keep looking at that divvy rate and memory-checking the Streisand tune: "The Way We Were." I did very well with AGNC for a very long ride, but the risk is just to much for my tastes at the moment.
I agree with your conclusions. I think mReits will eventually rejuvenate in a higher rate environment, once it equilibrates, but my bet is that maybe two years out is the next re-entry point. Just take a contrarian posture to whatever Seeking Alpha says and you'll come out ahead.
I prefer Led Zeppelin to this lead balloon.
It's like the Caribbean limbo... "How low can you go?"
Looks like below $20, to me.
I think that the recovery in the U.S. is solid, albeit slow-moving, but I am less sure of the Euro-zone where 2/3 of Exide's business reposes. The motive power side is still flailing in the recovery period and while the car battery business is enjoying a good O.E. resurgence, that is smaller than motive power and has huge competition from JCI. The lead scenario challenges margins across borders and business sectors and Exide's secondary lead processing is costly, risky and NIMBY restricted... NOT a good place to be in today's environment.
The car battery biz should be good with all this heat, but the recurrent impact of one new, novice management team after another has been to ignore the distribution challenges imposed by mega-buyers who control the vast majority of the retail shelves and service bays from which consumers purchase car batteries. Exide, in arrogant naivete, declared war on power buyers like Walmart and vacated supply arangements with people like Sears, NAPA, Advance Auto and so forth. Exide chased higher margin dreams while JCI and East Penn cleaned their clock and devoured the battery point-of-sale points.
Exide CAN survive, but it will first take unbundling both the debt and legacy costs of remediating its century plus of dysfunctional environmental management and abuse, heaped on top of GNB's similar escapades in the lead business which Exide stupidly acquired. Then a management team must be deployed that can react to a reordered market, stronger competitors, manufacturing technology and key client development/management.
Lastly, at long last, someone needs to bridge the stupid rivalries and turf wars that fracture a unified team approach to conducting business on a global basis.
Exide for years has just closed plants to reduce costs, while JCI focused on acquiring more business to keep their plants active.
Exide needs to quit being STUPID! All JMHO.