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Watts,
I understand your pessimism, or what could be viewed as realism.
But we all see as through a mirror dimly. I am hopeful from all the signs that something good is happening in the backdrop of this company, and that it will be revealed soon.
If not, I have treasures of a different sort, that do not fade away.
Currently liquidmetal has rights to all the patents in CIP with Apple. Apple can use the patents for consumer electronics, Liquidmetal for all other areas.
Under the current licensing agreement Liquidmetal is forbidden to sell or even liscense out these patents for non-ce business. But when this license with Apple ends in February 2014 Liquidmetal will be able to take the patents that Apple just spent 10's of millions of dollars for which it did R&D, and they can literally sell and license out these patents for non-ce use.
Do you honestly think Apple wants Liquidmetal to have this kind of control with their patents that will revolutionize Apple's products for the next 10 years. Absolutely not. And Apple is going to pay big bucks to eventually gain full control of this company.
Apple has been concerned with control from the beginning of this relationship with Liquidmetal. Why do you think Kang was booted out, and Apple's chosen man Steipp put into the CEO position by Apple? Control. They needed someone they could trust to keep the confidentiality and silence that Steipp has maintained throughout.
But sharing the ownership of the patents in CIP between Apple and Liquidmetal leaves to many doors open to Liquidmetal for Apple's comfort level, and leaves Apple vulnerable. Believe you me-Apple is not going to want to have their patents shared with the potential of having them sold by Liquidmetal for other uses. No, they will buy out this company, and I believe they will do it before the current licensing agreement ends in February.
The only way this stock gets diluted more is if Liquidmetal uses the authorized shares for cash. Just authorizing more shares does not in itself dilute the stock.
People who are waiting until after October 24 to buy back in don't know how dilution works in regard to issuing more authorized shares. Merely having a vote in favor of issuing the authorized shares WILL NOT dilute the stock. The shares would have to actually be exchanged for cash for dilution to take place. Get it?
I don't believe the CFO and another top executive would have used their hard earned cash to purchase shares in the open market knowing that they were planning on diluting the stock just a few months later.
Buy out could be sooner than later. The company is posturing for this, in my opinion.
1. Insiders buying significant shares in the open market the last few months
2. Millions of insider shares converted to common this year
3. Current changes made in the policies for Salas and Chung to cover them in the event of a buy out
4. Significant raises in salary that will be given to executives of the company
5. Another 200 M shares to be authorized-for a reason-when it still has 160 M shares in its back pocket for cash
6. Inventor of liquidmetal himself said Apple would be at a point with its R&D with liquidmetal to introduce it into a major and revolutionary product in 2014
Buy out could be sooner than later. The company is posturing for this, in my opinion.
Steipp said that commercialization of liquidmetal prototypes would begin second half of 2013. Well here we are headed toward the end of quarter 3 of 2013-BUT WE HAVE YET TO SEE A CONTRACT.
If Steipp doesn't produce a significant contract before year end, the little belief that some shareholders still may have in him will be completely CRUSHED AND SNUFFED OUT. As a famous proverb reads: "Hope deferred, crushes the spirit."
At that point, he will be lucky if the 200,000,000 shares he wants to dilute with are worth 2 million dollars.
After sitting for more than 3 years in the captains chair, it's time to see results mr. Steipp. And I am not talking about more news of patents or prototypes.
Watts,
You must have me confused with someone else, as I never put an order in for the cutlery.
Maybe Atakin Peker's prediction is coming to fruition: Apple will use liquidmetal "in the form of small component" (sim tray-fall 2013 iPhone), then in a "breakthrough product" (iwatch-spring 2014).
The question is: what is the implication of a liquidmetal sim tray in an iPhone? This is important, especially since we are already making liquidmetal sim tools for the iphone.
I think the key implication and principle to focus on, if Apple makes the sim tray out of liquidmetal in the new iPhone, is that it will CONFIRM THE SPECULATION OF APPLE'S FUTURE PLANS OF FURTHER USES OF LIQUIDMETAL IN ITS PRODUCTS. The sim tray will only be the beginning of Apple's further use of liquidmetal in its products. It will confirm that the millions in R&D being done by Apple, in regard to liquidmetal, is moving to the stage of implementation. This news alone should have a profound impact on the share price of LQMT.
Even if Apple does not use liquidmetal in the September releases of the iPhone cases, a liquidmetal sim tray in the iphone will be a great beacon of light that illuminates the upcoming path for the Liquidmetal/Apple relationship.
What I think will unfold in the next 3 weeks.
1. More hype about iphone and iwatch being made out of liquidmetal. It wouldn't surprise me to see some high powered PR come out connecting the gold iphone and liquidmetal. Whether it's true or not it will spike the share price up significantly.
2. Knowing Steipp's track record, if a contract is ready to hatch, it wouldn't surprise me to see him announce the contract a couple days before Apple releases information about their new products. Steipp probably won't give all the details of the contract so that speculation of a correlation between apple and the contract can run high. This will again spike the share price up significantly.
3. Three possibilities:
a. If Apple does use liquidmetal in a product, combined with an announcement of a contract, this stock will run to the moon
b. If Apple doesn't use liquidmetal, but a contract with another company is announced, it will level off betweeen .50-1.00 depending on the revenue significance of the contract
c. If no contract is announced, and Apple doesn't use liquidmetal, we are back to sub .10 again after sept. 10
All my speculation.
.14 (where LQMT was at on announcement of dilution) on 40% dilution would take us to roughly 0.8, not .03. With that said I don't think it's impossible to see .03, but it will be from silence and lack of contracts, not just dilution.
Also, I have a hard time seeing Tony Chung investing his hard earned cash in 1.3 million shares knowing that this stock is headed south-unless he is a complete idiot.
If I were Cook and I was planning on using liquidmetal in my new and innovating products, I would want both control/authority and security with LMT.
The licensing agreement provides some of this, but not in TOTAL, particularly when the licensing comes to an end. I don't think that anyone can argue that owning LMT would give APPLE much more control/authority over LMT, and thus far more security in using liquidmetal for their products.
As far as the 200,000,000 shares goes, LMT executives may be lining their pockets with more shares knowing an apple buy out is coming before apples 2014 products are announced.
It doesn't make sense that they need the 200 million shares for revenue. They currently have 150 million shares, and if a LMT contract is announced this year boosting share price even to .30 this would give them 45 million dollars to work with in 2014 (roughly 700% more than their annual operating costs).
This is all my conjecture, and could be completely off base. But I am trying to make sense of this announcement of dilution at this time.
"the Company is obligated to refrain from encumbering any assets subject to the Apple security interest through August 2012 and is obligated to refrain from granting any security in its interest in CIP at any time." (bold mine)
This was extended in the licensing agreement with Apple until 2014. If I am reading this correctly, I don't think LMT can legally perform a merger or acquisition with another company other than Apple, since they are "obligated to refrain from encumbering (selling) any assets subject to the Apple security interest."
Can anyone clarify if this is a correct reading or not.
The CEO dumps 400,000 shares to pay for his taxes, and now is seeking to dilute the stock by adding 200,000,000 shares. GREAT FORWARD LOOKING NEWS.
Every time Steipp has put out news for this company, or done a CC, it has only led to the devaluing of the stock. This is getting old.
I think Steipp should hold a special CC by phone to explain his actions. Otherwise, I for one am not going to be able to support him on this one.
I agree with Watts--Dilution is never good.
I have been in LMT for 2.5 years and watched my share price melt away with the dilution.
WE NEED CONTRACTS NOW!
On one hand, Steipp is to be commended for setting up a strategy, partners, and delivered prototypes. On the other hand, he has been at this for three years, and we still don't have one contract. They should have hired him on a commission type basis and maybe we would have seen some results by now.
Either things are about to change, or we are being lead to the slaughter. I think we will know "soon".
Exactly what I was thinking!
I sent an email to VMS customer care inquiring about their cutlery. This is the response I received:
"Sorry for the slow response. The 8" Chef is available now in both versions. Both can be ordered from our webstore. The knives are molded with pure Liquidmetal under license from LMT using proprietary technology" (italics mine) Best, Customer Care
"Liquidmetal Under License from LMT." Interesting.
Can anyone with a law degree explain how Rule 10b5-1 might apply to Steipp's 400,000 shares he sold? I have some ideas, but I am no lawyer.
Rule 10b5-1 -- Trading "on the Basis of" Material Nonpublic Information in Insider Trading Cases
Preliminary Note to Rule 10b5-1: This provision defines when a purchase or sale constitutes trading "on the basis of" material nonpublic information in insider trading cases brought under Section 10(b) of the Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The law of insider trading is otherwise defined by judicial opinions construing Rule 10b-5, and Rule 10b5-1 does not modify the scope of insider trading law in any other respect.
General. The "manipulative and deceptive devices" prohibited by Section 10(b) of the Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder include, among other things, the purchase or sale of a security of any issuer, on the basis of material nonpublic information about that security or issuer, in breach of a duty of trust or confidence that is owed directly, indirectly, or derivatively, to the issuer of that security or the shareholders of that issuer, or to any other person who is the source of the material nonpublic information.
Definition of "on the basis of." Subject to the affirmative defenses in paragraph (c) of this section, a purchase or sale of a security of an issuer is "on the basis of" material nonpublic information about that security or issuer if the person making the purchase or sale was aware of the material nonpublic information when the person made the purchase or sale.
Affirmative defenses.
Subject to paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section, a person's purchase or sale is not "on the basis of" material nonpublic information if the person making the purchase or sale demonstrates that:
Before becoming aware of the information, the person had:
Entered into a binding contract to purchase or sell the security,
Instructed another person to purchase or sell the security for the instructing person's account, or
Adopted a written plan for trading securities;
The contract, instruction, or plan described in paragraph (c)(1)(i)(A) of this Section:
Specified the amount of securities to be purchased or sold and the price at which and the date on which the securities were to be purchased or sold;
Included a written formula or algorithm, or computer program, for determining the amount of securities to be purchased or sold and the price at which and the date on which the securities were to be purchased or sold; or
Did not permit the person to exercise any subsequent influence over how, when, or whether to effect purchases or sales; provided, in addition, that any other person who, pursuant to the contract, instruction, or plan, did exercise such influence must not have been aware of the material nonpublic information when doing so; and
The purchase or sale that occurred was pursuant to the contract, instruction, or plan. A purchase or sale is not "pursuant to a contract, instruction, or plan" if, among other things, the person who entered into the contract, instruction, or plan altered or deviated from the contract, instruction, or plan to purchase or sell securities (whether by changing the amount, price, or timing of the purchase or sale), or entered into or altered a corresponding or hedging transaction or position with respect to those securities.
Paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section is applicable only when the contract, instruction, or plan to purchase or sell securities was given or entered into in good faith and not as part of a plan or scheme to evade the prohibitions of this section.
The CC is what I expected, and what others who know LQMT predicted-NO DEBT, PROTOTYPES THAT WILL SOON BE ANNOUNCED AS CONTRACTS.
The pps will probably come down some as shorts dump off their shares, and longs pick them up.
Bottom line is this stock is like a rocket ready to take off. With so many eyes on this stock right now, one contract revealing revenues for Liquidmetal will send this stock soaring!!!
I am holding on to everyone of my shares in expectation for the "soon" to be announced contract(s).
In my opinion, this is not the time to get out of this stock, but to hold, or maybe I am wrong and CFO Tony Chung sold off his 1.3 million shares on the spike-I DON'T THINK SO!!!
I think a buy-out could happen sooner than later.
1. You point out Steipp's nearing retirement age 64. He is ripe for retirement and if he could walk away a richer man now, I don't think he would hesitate.
2. The Apple/Liquidmetal patents, prototypes, and soon to be signed contracts are a much bigger deal than what investors realize, or what the PPS reflects, and could bring in a significant buy-out price if negotiated well.
3. Buy-outs can be negotiated in a way that greatly benefit current employees. A friend of mine who is a CFO for a large company just went through this, and the employees were rewarded significantly through the buy-out. This included keeping their jobs with better pay.
4. Liquidmetal appointed as director Bob-Howard-Anderson to their board, just this year, who was President and CEO of Occam Networks, a provider of broadband access solutions. Bob was the main mover and shaker leading the way of the buy-out for Occam in February 2011, and negotiated a stellar deal. He knows what it takes to make Liquidmetal a sellers market, and I am sure is giving direction to Steipp.
I am not saying this is going to happen, only that they may be postured for it sooner than later-in my opinion.
Apple has the right to commercialize their IP in the field of "consumer electronics". Liquidmetal has the right to commercialize their IP in "all other fields."
In essence, does this means that Liquidmetal Tech. can commercialize their IP in "non-consumer electronics"? The point being that contracts, in regard to electronic products related to their IP, are permissible for LTI if it is non-consumer related.
This means that Non-CE is open game for LTI. Any IP that Apple has developed with LQMT, in regard to iphones, ipads, iwatch,ipods, etc, can be used by LTI in regard to any government and military applications. In other words, all the LQMT/AAPL patents related to iwatch, iphone, ipads, ipods could be used by LTI to generate revenue by the production of these products for the government in general, and military in specific, since they would be classified as non-consumer electronics in these contexts.
If this is true, which seems to make sense to me, then this is a major loop hole in the license agreement with AAPL that has the potential to generate millions if not billions in revenue for LQMT. The government spends over 190 billion dollars annually on goods and services, 30 billion of that is on electronics.
It's not stated anywhere. I am simply asking the questions.
LIQUIDMETAL TECH. FROM PRODUCTION RECEIVES MILLIONS IN REVENUE INDIRECTLY FROM APPLE THROUGH LTI'S PARTNER'S ENGEL, VISSER AND MATERION.
Is this possible? What could this look like? How would it work in correlation with Apple and the Licensing agreement?
Surely there would need to be a contract with LTI, and I would think it would be advantageous for LTI to announce the contract.
If this is legit, why the silence from LQMT about it?
I think the two most important FACTS about this stock are:
1) Apple is now in a reciprocal relationship with Liquidmetal producing patents using Liquidmetal.
2) 26 liquidmetal prototypes out there with a CEO that has not hyped this stock saying a contract will be forged soon (before the end of 2013).
This is why investors are holding tight. One word about a contract and it will probably go to $1.00 per share. When Apple announces lqmt in its product, no telling where it will climb.
I have been in this for over two years and buying down.
I haven't sold any shares and don't plan on it. In my opinion there are too many positives to start selling this stock off now:
Over 26 prototypes
Steipp's statement that a contract is soon to happen
Potential of Apple using this in their iwatch and iPhone
All the patents developed by Apple that include the use of LQMT
Tony Chung purchasing 1,300,000 shares at end of June
No recent dumping by management on the spike is a clue that the boat is in the dock
I don't see this coming down, there is too much speculation in the air, and in my opinion the potential is huge and timing is RIGHT NOW!!!
If Apple announces liquidmetal in one of their products, you better believe this will have a "bigger effect" on the PPS than a contract with their "springs". The ideal would be for both to be announced simultaneously.
In the last CC Steipp said that Visser now has MULTIPLE IM machines in his warehouse. Go to the website and listen to the CC.
Not True. In the last CC Steipp himself said that Visser, LQMT's production partner, now has 3D machines in its warehouse.
Watts,
If this is the case, then the fact that APPL extended the TTA with LQMT for an additional two years through February 2014 is a strong indicator of the reciprocal strength of this relationship between APPL and LQMT. APPL obviously has a vested interest in LQMT for reasons beyond what is spelled out in the license agreement. My speculation is that this will eventually lead to significant revenue from APPL for LQMT whether directly or indirectly through partners.
In the last cc Steipp said Visser currently has a 3D machine in house, along with multiple IM machines.
Maybe this pr is a precursor to prop up the share price before they give news of a contract.
"5 new prototypes this quarter" doesn't sound like a company that is planning to go bankrupt, and therefore, must be expecting revenue soon.
Right now with everything in place (prototypes, partners, apple, patents, insider buying, strategic staffing) I am betting with this technology, rather than against it.
This stock will most likely turn around. I have been in for two years, buying down, and don't plan on selling any time soon.
Reasons why I am staying in:
1. Insiders have purchased shares both on open market, and converted massive amounts of shares to common
2. Apple has invested millions in R&D of which Liquidmetal gets all rights and benefits of their R&D
3. When Apple uses Liquidmetal in their products, the credibility and promotion for LQMT will most likely send the PPS through the roof
4. Partnerns of Liquidmetal including Engel, Materion, and Visser are all vested into Liquidmetal in some form and fashion-- Steipp said this himself in last interview--for a reason
5. 21 Prototypes with major companies will most likely turn into commercial business for Liquidmetal, as Steipp said in 2nd half of 2013-2014
The dilution from paying the 12 million back in shares has hurt the PPS, but not the credibility of this company, or these above facts.
The days of the shorts are coming to an end soon!
All my own opinion.
Fuel cells are only one example of the millions of dollars of R&D that Apple is pouring into liquidmetal. As a small company struggling financially Liquidmetal tech. could never do this kind of R&D themselves.
According to the licensing agreement liquidmetal Tech. gets rights to everything discovered through Apple's R&D. In my opinion, investors have overlooked this very important point, and it is not being factored into the current share price.
In my opinion, there is going to be a wakeup call for all shorts if and when apple announces the use of liquidmetal in one of its products.
Here is an older article that emphasizes one of apple's first patents involving liquidmetal in 2011 is in regard to fuel cells. http://www.geek.com/apple/apples-first-liquidmetal-patent-relates-to-fuel-cells-1303743/
Based on the article you submitted from March 2013, it is certainly not out of the question that Apple could be on the brink of utilizing liquidmetal for such a product. If and when they utilize liquidmetal, it will blow the roof off of liquidmetal as a company in terms of the exposure and credibility they receive from Apple using their product.
Investing in this stock is definitely a risk, as many have pointed out, but the potential of this company is enormous! I hope they can pull it off.
I just talked to etrade. They said LQMT stock valuation at zero today (my stock was reflecting this valuation, which is why I called), and it must be going through some kind of corporate readjustment. Anyone know what's going on? Etrade said they won't have information until tomorrow at 8 a.m. eastern.
Interesting article by Forbes regarding the iphone 5s case, and the possibility of a liquidmetal case.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/11/14/my-testable-prediction-about-what-will-different-about-apples-iphone-5s/
Still not convinced that anyone knows enough information about what visser does or does not have ready to be decisive about this.