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PLI
joining the green parade today! lol
pli
bv of 1.69 and some nice volume with big playaz moving in! Some patience needed here imo.
Daat
creepin up. low float and good forecast for the year!
DAC Technologies Announces a 23% Increase in Sales for April and May
On Monday June 8, 2009, 8:45 am EDT
Buzz up! Print Related:DAC Technologies Group International Inc.
LITTLE ROCK, AR--(MARKET WIRE)--Jun 8, 2009 -- DAC Technologies (OTC BB:DAAT.OB - News) today announced net sales of $2,161,691 for April and May, as compared to $1,760,412 for the same two months in 2008. This is an increase of $401,279, or 23%.
Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
DAAT.OB 0.75 +0.02
{"s" : "daat.ob","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""} David A. Collins, Chairman and CEO, stated, "The Company is enjoying revenue increases in its core business of firearm accessories. These increases are coming from a variety of customers, such as Cabela's, Academy Sports, and firearm manufacturers such as Sig Arms and Savage, to mention a few. The Company has also received a commitment from Wal-Mart for a large Holiday/Christmas promotion of its deluxe gun cleaning kit. All gun cleaning kits and accessories sold to Wal-Mart for the coming season will be under the Winchester® brand name as part of a licensing agreement between the Company and Olin Corporation, owner of the Winchester® trademark."
Collins further stated, "We feel privileged to be working with the world famous Winchester name. As discussed in our 2008 year end report, the Company will not be manufacturing its low gross margin items such as game processing kits, meat grinders, and fireplace equipment, instead focusing on its core items. The Company looks forward to significantly increasing its net earnings in 2009, to 12-14 cents per share."
About DAC:
DAC Technologies Group International, Inc. is an outsource manufacturer of high quality, reasonably priced security safes, gunlocks, gun cleaning kits, sporting goods, household cleaning products and various hardware items. DAC distributes its products through mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart and Kmart, and sporting goods retailers and distributors such as Cabela's, Acusport, Jerry's, RSR, Maurice, Academy Sports, Sports Authority and others. DAC also provides gunlocks to OEM gun manufacturers such as Glock, Sig Arms, Savage, Marlin, Weatherby, as well as others. Also, DAC's products are distributed through catalog companies.
pli
picked up a few on the dip!
Daat alert!
just released this pr with years forecast of 12-14c!
DAC Technologies Announces a 23% Increase in Sales for April and May
On Monday June 8, 2009, 8:45 am EDT
Buzz up! Print
Related:
DAC Technologies Group International Inc.
LITTLE ROCK, AR--(MARKET WIRE)--Jun 8, 2009 -- DAC Technologies (OTC BB:DAAT.OB - News) today announced net sales of $2,161,691 for April and May, as compared to $1,760,412 for the same two months in 2008. This is an increase of $401,279, or 23%.
Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
DAAT.OB 0.75 +0.04
{"s" : "daat.ob","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""} David A. Collins, Chairman and CEO, stated, "The Company is enjoying revenue increases in its core business of firearm accessories. These increases are coming from a variety of customers, such as Cabela's, Academy Sports, and firearm manufacturers such as Sig Arms and Savage, to mention a few. The Company has also received a commitment from Wal-Mart for a large Holiday/Christmas promotion of its deluxe gun cleaning kit. All gun cleaning kits and accessories sold to Wal-Mart for the coming season will be under the Winchester® brand name as part of a licensing agreement between the Company and Olin Corporation, owner of the Winchester® trademark."
Collins further stated, "We feel privileged to be working with the world famous Winchester name. As discussed in our 2008 year end report, the Company will not be manufacturing its low gross margin items such as game processing kits, meat grinders, and fireplace equipment, instead focusing on its core items. The Company looks forward to significantly increasing its net earnings in 2009, to 12-14 cents per share."
About DAC:
net income was only 50k for 2nd qtr.
last year. They should easily beat that number this year imo with expenses continuing to drop.
sdgl news!
Secured Digital to Invest in V-Mobile Communications Pty Ltd; Announces Dividend to Stockholders
Wednesday March 25, 2009, 9:50 am EDT
Buzz up! Print Related:Secured Digital Applications Inc.
NEW YORK, NY--(MARKET WIRE)--Mar 25, 2009 -- Secured Digital Applications, Inc. (OTC BB:SDGL.OB - News), a provider of mobile communication, outsourced business and information technology consulting services, announced today that it had executed a Subscription Agreement to acquire up to 3.3 million Series A Convertible Preference Shares ("CPS") in V-Mobile Communications Pty Ltd, Australia ("VMC").
Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
SDGL.OB 0.0250 +0.0030
Subscription Agreement
Under the Agreement, SDGL has the non-exclusive option until the closing to subscribe up to 3.3 million CPS at AU$0.60 per share for a total consideration of AU$1.98 million (approximately US$1.385 million). The transaction is expected to close on April 8, 2009. VMC has the right to accept or reject subscriptions prior to the closing. At the next stage of VMC's fund raising exercise, the 3.3 million CPS will be converted into 3.3 million Ordinary Shares prior to the listing of VMC on the Australian Stock Exchange ("ASX"). The acquisition will be funded from internally generated funds and issuance of SDGL's securities.
Announcement of Dividend
Concurrent with the closing of the acquisition and provided that (a) SDGL exercises and receives the CPS in accordance with the Subscription Agreement and (b) such shares of CPS are converted to VMC's Ordinary Shares ("VMC Shares"), the Company's Board of Directors has approved the allocation of VMC Shares to be distributed to SDGL's stockholders as dividend. The dividend is expected to occur on June 15, 2009 (the "Dividend Date") with the distribution of VMC Shares on a pro-rata basis that will entitle SDGL's stockholders to receive one VMC Share for every 300 shares of SDGL common stock or one VMC Share for every two shares of SDGL Preferred Stock held on April 15, 2009 (the "Record Date").
Any SDGL stockholder that sells shares of SDGL common stock between the Record Date and the Dividend Date will receive from the purchaser of those shares a due bill that entitles the purchaser delivery of the dividend shares. The CPS will be held in escrow pending VMC receiving approval from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission to convert from a private company to a public company prior to its proposed listing on ASX. The Company's Board has also decided that fractional shares held by SDGL stockholders will not be entitled to receive any VMC Share. Distribution of the dividend is subject to various conditions and regulatory requirements of the U.S. and Australia.
VMC's Managing Director and co-founder, John McLeay, commented, "The confidence shown by SDGL in supporting VMC highlights the value of our unique mobile VoIP technology and, in light of current uncertainties in financial markets, provides a strong validation of our private label partner program, business model and marketing strategy." McLeay added, "VMC's mobile video sharing application will be an important differentiator for the next generation of mobile VoIP applications. We believe that VMC will grow to become the eyes and ears of the world."
"We are impressed with VMC's private label partner program. As a value added investor in VMC, we will insure that VMC receives strategic guidance and cooperation towards its goals to become an international success," said Patrick Lim, Chairman and CEO of Secured Digital Applications. "We are confident that the combination of SDGL's core competency in multimedia content production and mobile communication with VMC's mobile VoIP technology and McLeay's rich experience in the media industry will grow VMC into a formidable mobile VoIP applications service provider in Asia."
sdgl news!
Secured Digital to Invest in V-Mobile Communications Pty Ltd; Announces Dividend to Stockholders
Wednesday March 25, 2009, 9:50 am EDT
Buzz up! Print Related:Secured Digital Applications Inc.
NEW YORK, NY--(MARKET WIRE)--Mar 25, 2009 -- Secured Digital Applications, Inc. (OTC BB:SDGL.OB - News), a provider of mobile communication, outsourced business and information technology consulting services, announced today that it had executed a Subscription Agreement to acquire up to 3.3 million Series A Convertible Preference Shares ("CPS") in V-Mobile Communications Pty Ltd, Australia ("VMC").
Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
SDGL.OB 0.0250 +0.0030
Under the Agreement, SDGL has the non-exclusive option until the closing to subscribe up to 3.3 million CPS at AU$0.60 per share for a total consideration of AU$1.98 million (approximately US$1.385 million). The transaction is expected to close on April 8, 2009. VMC has the right to accept or reject subscriptions prior to the closing. At the next stage of VMC's fund raising exercise, the 3.3 million CPS will be converted into 3.3 million Ordinary Shares prior to the listing of VMC on the Australian Stock Exchange ("ASX"). The acquisition will be funded from internally generated funds and issuance of SDGL's securities.
Announcement of Dividend
Concurrent with the closing of the acquisition and provided that (a) SDGL exercises and receives the CPS in accordance with the Subscription Agreement and (b) such shares of CPS are converted to VMC's Ordinary Shares ("VMC Shares"), the Company's Board of Directors has approved the allocation of VMC Shares to be distributed to SDGL's stockholders as dividend. The dividend is expected to occur on June 15, 2009 (the "Dividend Date") with the distribution of VMC Shares on a pro-rata basis that will entitle SDGL's stockholders to receive one VMC Share for every 300 shares of SDGL common stock or one VMC Share for every two shares of SDGL Preferred Stock held on April 15, 2009 (the "Record Date").
Any SDGL stockholder that sells shares of SDGL common stock between the Record Date and the Dividend Date will receive from the purchaser of those shares a due bill that entitles the purchaser delivery of the dividend shares. The CPS will be held in escrow pending VMC receiving approval from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission to convert from a private company to a public company prior to its proposed listing on ASX. The Company's Board has also decided that fractional shares held by SDGL stockholders will not be entitled to receive any VMC Share. Distribution of the dividend is subject to various conditions and regulatory requirements of the U.S. and Australia.
VMC's Managing Director and co-founder, John McLeay, commented, "The confidence shown by SDGL in supporting VMC highlights the value of our unique mobile VoIP technology and, in light of current uncertainties in financial markets, provides a strong validation of our private label partner program, business model and marketing strategy." McLeay added, "VMC's mobile video sharing application will be an important differentiator for the next generation of mobile VoIP applications. We believe that VMC will grow to become the eyes and ears of the world."
"We are impressed with VMC's private label partner program. As a value added investor in VMC, we will insure that VMC receives strategic guidance and cooperation towards its goals to become an international success," said Patrick Lim, Chairman and CEO of Secured Digital Applications. "We are confident that the combination of SDGL's core competency in multimedia content production and mobile communication with VMC's mobile VoIP technology and McLeay's rich experience in the media industry will grow VMC into a formidable mobile VoIP applications service provider in Asia."
a cnbc bash
so your're not one of his fans?
lol I thought he drove a '68 shelby cobra.
jim rogers tells it like it is!
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_10/b4122017811535.htm
jim rogers tells it like it is!
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_10/b4122017811535.htm
SDGL news!
Secured Digital's Channel Partner to Roll Out Mobile VoIP Services in Guangdong, China
Tuesday February 24, 9:50 am ET
NEW YORK, NY--(MARKET WIRE)--Feb 24, 2009 -- Secured Digital Applications, Inc. (OTC BB:SDGL.OB - News), a provider of mobile communication, outsourced business and information technology consulting services, announced today that it had entered into a Supplemental Agreement with its Channel Partner, Southpark Worldwide Limited, to roll out SDGL's mobile advertising and mobile Voice Over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") services utilizing SDGL's mobile VoIP Gateway in Guangdong Province, China.
ADVERTISEMENT
Under the terms of the Agreement, Southpark will pay SDGL an annual license fee of 2.5 percent of the gross revenue generated by Southpark or $300,000 per year, whichever is the higher. The Agreement is for an initial term of three years and the parties will renegotiate on the license fee before the end of the three-year term. SDGL expects to receive its first payment during the third quarter of 2009.
SDGL had previously entered into a Channel Partnership Agreement with Southpark to promote SDGL's mobile advertising and mobile VoIP services that combines the reward of free mobile phone calls with the distribution of mobile advertisements to registered users.
Guangdong Province is China's biggest economic powerhouse with gross domestic product ("GDP") of approximately 3,570 billion yuan or $521 billion. Guangdong had met its 2010 GDP target of 3,440 billion yuan two years ahead of time. As of November 2008, China has over 616 million mobile phone subscribers with approximately 130 million registered subscribers in Guangdong (Source: Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Statistics).
"Our partnership with Southpark underscores our ability to rapidly apply our mobile VoIP technologies to meet the market needs of our partners," said Patrick Lim, Chairman and CEO of SDGL. "It provides SDGL with a long-term revenue stream that will allow the Company to continue to develop its vast proprietary product pipeline to bring more innovative products to the mobile VoIP market."
SDGL news!
He must have just woke up
pr out:
Active Valor International to Invest in Secured Digital's Malaysian Subsidiary
Wednesday February 11, 9:40 am ET
Company Expects EBIT and Gross Profit Margin to Improve in 2009
NEW YORK, NY--(MARKET WIRE)--Feb 11, 2009 -- Secured Digital Applications, Inc. (OTC BB:SDGL.OB - News), a provider of mobile communication, outsourced business and information technology consulting services, announced today that the Company had on February 10, 2009 executed a Shareholders Agreement with Active Valor International Limited ("AVI") to subscribe for shares in DigitalApps Sdn Bhd ("DASB").
Under the terms of the Agreement,
-- AVI will subscribe for 90% equity in DASB with the remaining 10%
held by SDGL.
-- In consideration of AVI acquiring 90% equity in DASB, SDGL will receive
a guaranteed income totaling $3.9 million that will be progressively
paid to SDGL in the following manner:
2009 US$ 1.2 million
2010 1.3 million
2011 1.4 million
-- AVI will provide $11.5 million to fund the roll out of DASB's mobile
VoIP services encompassing mobile VoIP voice calls, mobile advertising
and mobile video sharing in China.
-- AVI and SDGL will use their best effort to list DASB on an Asian stock
exchange within 3 years from date of the Shareholders Agreement.
Effect of AVI's Investment in DASB on SDGL's Financial Results
-- Will reduce the Company's exposure to currency exchange fluctuations.
Due to the international nature of the Company's operations, SDGL
suffered a translation loss of $193,000 in 2008. Loss, if any, in 2009
will be minimized as SDGL's revenue and income will be transacted in
US Dollars.
Before Investment After Investment
(2008 Unaudited) (2009, 2010 & 2011 Projected)
Gross Profit Margin 7.5 - 9.0 % 75 - 80 %
Operating Margin 2.6 - 3.5 % 16.7 - 17.5 %
Guaranteed Income - $3.9 million payable over 3 years
EBIT $1.4 million $2.0 - 2.6 million
EBIT margin 2.3 - 4.0 % 36 - 41 %
ADVERTISEMENT
The Company said that AVI's investment in DASB represents the best strategic move for both SDGL and AVI. It will allow SDGL to focus on its efforts to raise funds for the roll out of the proposed mobile VoIP network in the U.S
it had been expected
but waiting for 09 forecast now. Also, wth is up with ONT?
some of the 'smartest'
were taken in by madoff:
December 13, 2008
Look at Wall St. Wizard Finds Magic Had Skeptics
By ALEX BERENSON and DIANA B. HENRIQUES
For years, investors, rivals and regulators all wondered how Bernard L. Madoff worked his magic.
But on Friday, less than 24 hours after this prominent Wall Street figure was arrested on charges connected with what authorities portrayed as the biggest Ponzi scheme in financial history, hard questions began to be raised about whether Mr. Madoff acted alone and why his suspected con game was not uncovered sooner.
As investors from Palm Beach to New York to London counted their losses on Friday in what Mr. Madoff himself described as a $50 billion fraud, federal authorities took control of what remained of his firm and began to pore over its books.
But some investors said they had questioned Mr. Madoff’s supposed investment prowess years ago, pointing to his unnaturally steady returns, his vague investment strategy and the obscure accounting firm that audited his books.
Despite these and other red flags, hedge fund companies kept promoting Mr. Madoff’s funds to other funds and individuals. More recently, banks like Nomura, the Japanese firm, began soliciting investors for Mr. Madoff internationally. The Securities and Exchange Commission, which investigated Mr. Madoff in 1992 but cleared him of wrongdoing, appears to have been completely surprised by the charges of fraud.
Now thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of investors confront losses that range from serious to devastating. Some families said on Friday that they believed they had lost all their savings. A charity in Massachusetts said it had lost essentially its entire endowment and would have to close.
According to an affidavit sworn out by federal agents, Mr. Madoff himself said the fraud had totaled approximately $50 billion, a figure that would dwarf any previous financial fraud.
At first, the figure seemed impossibly large. But as the reports of losses mounted on Friday, the $50 billion figure looked increasingly plausible. One hedge fund advisory firm alone, Fairfield Greenwich Group, said on Friday that its clients had invested $7.5 billion with Mr. Madoff.
The collapse of Mr. Madoff’s firm is yet another blow in a devastating year for Wall Street and investors. While Mr. Madoff’s firm was not a hedge fund, the scope of the fraud is likely to increase pressure on hedge funds to accept greater regulation and transparency and protect their investors.
On Thursday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and S.E.C. said that Mr. Madoff’s firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, ran a giant Ponzi scheme, a type of fraud in which earlier investors are paid off with money raised from later victims — until no money can be raised and the scheme collapses.
Most Ponzi schemes collapse relatively quickly, but there is fragmentary evidence that Mr. Madoff’s scheme may have lasted for years or even decades. A Boston whistle-blower has claimed that he tried to alert the S.E.C. to the scheme as early as 1999, and the weekly newspaper Barron’s raised questions about Mr. Madoff’s returns and strategy in 2001, although it did not accuse him of wrongdoing.
Investors may have been duped because Mr. Madoff sent detailed brokerage statements to investors whose money he managed, sometimes reporting hundreds of individual stock trades per month. Investors who asked for their money back could have it returned within days. And while typical Ponzi schemes promise very high returns, Mr. Madoff’s promised returns were relatively realistic — about 10 percent a year — though they were unrealistically steady.
Mr. Madoff was not running an actual hedge fund, but instead managing accounts for investors inside his own securities firm. The difference, though seemingly minor, is crucial. Hedge funds typically hold their portfolios at banks and brokerage firms like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. Outside auditors can check with those banks and brokerage firms to make sure the funds exist.
But because he had his own securities firm, Mr. Madoff kept custody over his clients’ accounts and processed all their stock trades himself. His only check appears to have been Friehling & Horowitz, a tiny auditing firm based in New City, N.Y. Wealthy individuals and other money managers entrusted billions of dollars to funds that in turn invested in his firm, based on his reputation and reported returns.
Victims of the scam included gray-haired grandmothers in Florida, investment companies in London, and charities and universities across the United States. The Wilpon family, the main owners of the New York Mets, and Yeshiva University both confirmed that they had invested with Mr. Madoff, and a Jewish charity in Massachusetts said it would lay off its five employees and close after losing nearly all of its $7 million endowment. Other investors included prominent Jewish families in New York and Florida.
On Friday afternoon, investors and lawyers for investors with Mr. Madoff packed Judge Louis L. Stanton’s courtroom at federal court in Manhattan, hoping to question lawyers for Mr. Madoff and the S.E.C. But a deputy for Judge Stanton canceled the hearing, leaving investors with few answers. Several investors said they were planning to file lawsuits against the firm in the hope of recovering some money.
Based on the vagueness of the complaints against Mr. Madoff, his confession, as detailed in court filings, seems to have taken the F.B.I. and S.E.C. by surprise. Investigators have not explained when they believe the fraud began, how much money was ultimately lost and whether Mr. Madoff lost investors’ money in the markets, spent it, or both. It is not even clear whether Mr. Madoff actually made any of the trades he reported to investors.
The F.B.I. and S.E.C. have also not said whether they believe Mr. Madoff acted alone. According to the authorities, Mr. Madoff told F.B.I. agents that the scheme was his alone. He worked closely with his brother, sons and other family members, many of whom have retained lawyers.
Also likely to face very difficult questions are the hedge funds, investment advisers and banks that raised money for Mr. Madoff. At least some big investment advisers steered clients away from putting money with Mr. Madoff, believing the returns could not be real.
Robert Rosenkranz, principal of Acorn Partners, which helps wealthy clients choose money managers, said the steadiness of the returns that Mr. Madoff reported did not make sense, and the size of his auditor raised further concerns.
“Our due diligence, which got into both account statements of his customers, and the audited statements of Madoff Securities, which he filed with the S.E.C., made it seem highly likely that the account statements themselves were just pieces of paper that were generated in connection with some sort of fraudulent activity,” Mr. Rosenkranz said.
Simon Fludgate, head of operational due diligence for Aksia, another advisory firm that told clients not to invest with Mr. Madoff, said the secrecy of his strategy also raised red flags. And Mr. Madoff’s stock holdings, which he disclosed each quarter with the Securities and Exchange Commission, appeared to be too small to support the size of the fund he claimed. Mr. Madoff’s promoters sometimes tried to explain the discrepancy by explaining that he sold all his shares at the end of each quarter and put his holdings in cash.
“There were no smoking guns, but too many things that didn’t add up,” Mr. Fludgate said.
However, the S.E.C. had already investigated Mr. Madoff and two accountants who raised money for him in 1992, believing they might have found a Ponzi scheme. “We went into this thing just thinking it might be a huge catastrophe,” an S.E.C. official told The Wall Street Journal in December 1992.
Instead, Mr. Madoff turned out to have delivered the returns that the investment advisers had promised their clients. It is not clear whether the results of the 1992 inquiry discouraged the S.E.C. from examining Mr. Madoff again, even when new red flags surfaced.
According to an S.E.C. statement released on Friday night, the agency looked at Mr. Madoff’s operations twice in recent years — in 2005 and 2007. The 2005 review found only three technical violations of trading rules. The 2007 inquiry found nothing that prompted the regional enforcement staff to take further action by referring the matter to Washington, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Fairfield Greenwich Group, whose clients have $7.5 billion invested with the Madoff firm, said it was “shocked and appalled by this news.”
“We had no indication that we and many other firms and private investors were the victims of such a highly sophisticated, massive fraudulent scheme.”
At the court hearing, an individual investor, who declined to give his name to avoid embarrassment, expressed a similar sentiment.
“Nobody knows where their money is and whether it is protected,” the investor said.
“The returns were just amazing and we trusted this guy for decades — if you wanted to take money out, you always got your check in a few days. That’s why we were all so stunned.”
Zachery Kouwe and Stephanie Strom contributed reporting.
another ponzi scheme revealed
only 50B involved!
Prominent Trader Accused of Defrauding Clients
===========================
he estimated the losses at $50 billion.
===========================
On Wall Street, his name is legendary.
With money he had made as a lifeguard on the urban beaches of Long Island, he built a trading powerhouse that had prospered for more than four decades.
At age 70, he had become an influential spokesman for the traders who are the hidden gears of the marketplace.
But on Thursday morning, this consummate trader, Bernard L. Madoff, was arrested at his Manhattan home by federal agents who accused him of running a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme —perhaps the largest in Wall Street’s history.
Regulators have not yet verified the scale of the fraud. But the criminal complaint filed against Mr. Madoff on Thursday in federal court in Manhattan reports that he estimated the losses at $50 billion.
“We are alleging a massive fraud — both in terms of scope and duration,” said Linda Chatman Thomsen, director of the enforcement division at the Securities and Exchange Commission. “We are moving quickly and decisively to stop the fraud and protect remaining assets for investors.”
Andrew M. Calamari, an associate director for enforcement in the S.E.C.’s regional office in New York, said the case involved “a stunning fraud that appears to be of epic proportions.”
According to his lawyers, Mr. Madoff was released on a $10 million bond. “Bernie Madoff is a longstanding leader in the financial services industry,” said Daniel Horwitz, one of his lawyers. “He will fight to get through this unfortunate set of events.”
Mr. Madoff’s brother and business colleague, Peter Madoff, declined to comment on the case or discuss its implications for the Madoff firm, which at one point was the largest market maker on the electronic Nasdaq market, regularly operating as both a buyer and seller of a host of widely traded securities. The firm employed hundreds of traders.
There was some worry on Wall Street that Mr. Madoff’s fall would shake more foundations than his own.
According to the most recent federal filings, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, the firm he founded in 1960, operated more than two dozen funds overseeing $17 billion.
These funds have been widely marketed to wealthy investors, hedge funds and other institutional customers for more than a decade, although an S.E.C. filing in the case said the firm reported having 11 to 23 clients at the beginning of this year.
At the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal judge appointed a receiver on Thursday evening to secure the Madoff firm’s overseas accounts and warned the firm not to move any assets until he had ruled on whether to freeze the assets.
A hearing on that request is scheduled for Friday.
Regulators said they hoped to have a clearer picture of the losses facing investors by that court hearing.
“We have 16 examiners on site all day and through the night poring over the records,” said Mr. Calamari of the S.E.C.
The Madoff funds attracted investors with the promise of high returns and low fees. One of Mr. Madoff’s more prominent funds, the Fairfield Sentry fund, reported having $7.3 billion in assets in October and claimed to have paid more than 11 percent interest each year through its 15-year track record.
Competing hedge fund managers have wondered privately for years how Mr. Madoff generated such high returns, in bull markets and bear, given the generally low-yielding investment strategies he described to his clients.
“The numbers were too good to be true, for too long,” said Girish Reddy, a managing director at Prisma Partners, an investment firm that invests in hedge funds.
“And the supporting infrastructure was weak.” Mr. Reddy said his firm had looked at the Madoff funds but decided against investing in them because their performance was too consistently positive, even in times when the market was incredibly volatile.
But the essential drama is a personal one — one laid out in the dry language of a criminal complaint by Lev L. Dassin, the acting United States attorney in Manhattan, and a regulatory lawsuit filed by the S.E.C. According to those documents, the first alarm bells rang at the firm on Tuesday, when Mr. Madoff told a senior executive he wanted to pay his employees their annual bonuses in December, two months early.
(Page 2 of 2)
Just days earlier, Mr. Madoff had told another senior executive he was struggling to raise cash to cover about $7 billion in requested withdrawals from his clients, and he had appeared “to have been under great stress in the prior weeks,” according to the S.E.C. complaint.
So on Wednesday, the senior executive visited Mr. Madoff’s office, maintained on a separate floor with records kept under lock and key, and asked for an explanation.
Instead, Mr. Madoff invited the two executives to his Manhattan apartment that evening. When they joined him there, he told them that his money-management business was “all just one big lie” and “basically, a giant Ponzi scheme.”
The senior employees understood him to be saying that he had for years been paying returns to certain investors out of the cash received from other investors.
In that conversation, according to the criminal complaint, Mr. Madoff “stated that he was ‘finished,’ that he had ‘absolutely nothing.’ ”
By this account, Mr. Madoff told the executives he intended to surrender to the authorities in about a week but first wanted to distribute approximately $200 million to $300 million to “certain selected employees, family and friends.”
On Thursday morning, however, he was arrested on a single count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5 million.
According to the S.E.C., Mr. Madoff confessed to an F.B.I. agent that there was “no innocent explanation” for his behavior and he expected to go to jail. He had lost money on his trades, he told the agent, and had “paid investors with money that wasn’t there.”
Although not a household name, Mr. Madoff’s firm has played a significant role in the structure of Wall Street for decades, both in traditional stock trading and in the development of newer electronic networks for trading equities and derivatives.
In building those new trading networks, his firm had formed partnerships with some of the largest brokerage businesses on Wall Street, including Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.
Mr. Madoff founded Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities in 1960 and liked to tell interviewers about earning his initial stake by working as a lifeguard at city beaches and installing underground sprinkler systems.
By the early 1980s, his firm was one of the largest independent trading operations in the securities industry. The company had around $300 million in assets in 2000 at the height of the Internet bubble and ranked among the top trading and securities firms in the nation.
Mr. Madoff ran the business with several family members, including his brother Peter, his nephew Charles, his niece Shana and his sons Mark and Andrew.
the big rally and Dr.Doom
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=935450306&play=1
gun sales going up
Daat sells gun cleaning kits and is expecting 11-13c eps in 08
http://news.aol.com/article/election-triggers-surge-in-gun-sales/241414
hmmm
so wills the sows be running the event also?
SDGL news
sounds fluffy but newport has been around before and helped the sp.
gun sales going up
and so should cleaning kits imo:
Gun sales thriving in uncertain times
Fredrick Kunkle
MSNBC
October 27, 2008
Americans have cut back on buying cars, furniture and clothes in a tough economy, but there’s one consumer item that’s still enjoying healthy sales: guns. Purchases of firearms and ammunition have risen 8 to 10 percent this year, according to state and federal data.
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Several variables drive sales, but many dealers, buyers and experts attribute the increase in part to concerns about the economy and fears that if Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois wins the presidency, he will join with fellow Democrats in Congress to enact new gun controls. Obama has said that he believes in an individual right to bear arms but that he also supports “common-sense safety measures.”
“Even though [Obama] has a lot going for him, he’s not very pro-gun,” said Paul Pluff, a spokesman for Massachusetts-based Smith & Wesson, which has reported higher sales. Gun enthusiasts are “going to go out and get [firearms] while they still can.”
it's a tough life for a congressman:
Meltdown Retirement Blow Is Softer for Lawmakers
Sponsored by
by Erica Werner
Monday, October 27, 2008
provided by
Inside Washington: Lawmakers' retirement plans riding out the storm better than others
Along with the rest of America, Rep. George Miller has watched the value of his retirement investments plummet in recent weeks.
"I've lost 30 percent like everybody else. This hits home with the Miller family, too," the California Democrat said in a recent interview.
But the blow is softer for members of Congress than for most. Although lawmakers have lost value in their thrift savings plans -- the government's version of a 401(k) -- they are also offered a defined-benefit pension plan backed by the U.S. Treasury and largely insulated from Wall Street fluctuations.
That puts Miller and the other lawmakers into an increasingly privileged category -- workers with guaranteed retirement benefits that aren't subject to the vicissitudes of the financial markets.
Market meltdown or no, if Miller, 63, were to retire at the end of this year he'd take with him an annual pension of about $122,000, according to the National Taxpayers Union, a nonprofit advocacy group in Arlington, Va. On top of that he could tap whatever remains in his 401(k)-like savings plan.
Lawmakers' retirement benefits start earlier and accrue faster than in plans offered to other federal workers, or by the average private company. Lawmakers also get cost-of-living increases, increasingly rare in the private sector.
Only 5 percent of private sector workers have defined benefit pension plans, in which the employer pays into an account and promises them benefits based on years of service, salary levels and other factors. That's down from 1980, when 60 percent of workers had such plans, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
Increasingly, employers are putting the responsibility for retirement -- and the risk -- onto workers themselves by switching to investment plans like 401(k)s. About 30 percent of workers have 401(k)s, in which employees contribute to their own accounts, often with employers matching a small percentage of contributions, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Thirteen percent have both defined-benefit pensions and 401(k)s. The remaining workers don't have retirement coverage from their employer, according to the institute.
Despite the financial crisis -- and the fact lawmakers' retirement benefits are out of step with most ordinary Americans -- Congress has made no effort to revisit its unusually sweet retirement deal.
Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., who has declined participation in either the congressional pension or thrift savings plan, said his efforts to scale them back have not been welcomed.
Chart shows breakdown of retirement plans in the private sector
"It would certainly be a timely gesture at this juncture," said Coble. "It certainly appears to be a different standard and I can see how people on the outside of that standard might resent it."
The generous retirement arrangement for members of Congress is meant to respond to the job insecurity that comes with elected office, according to Barbara Bovbjerg, director of education, work force and income security issues at the Government Accountability Office.
Members elected before 1984, like Miller, get a better deal on their pensions than do those elected since, because the rules changed that year to bring lawmakers into the Social Security system as well.
But any member with five years of service is eligible for full pension benefits at 62 -- though Social Security benefits conform with those of other workers, with early retirement bringing reduced benefits. Lawmakers with 20 years in office can get full pension benefits at 50, younger than most workers.
"The government plans are certainly very rich even if you compare them to the pension plans in corporate America," said Robyn Credico, national director of defined contribution consulting at Watson Wyatt, an employee benefits consulting firm.
"I certainly believe it affects policy," Credico said, suggesting that members of Congress don't experience the harsher reality of ordinary workers' retirement plans. "If you're not impacted yourself it's very easy to make different rules."
Indeed, Congress has in recent years promoted the dramatic movement in corporate America away from defined-benefit pensions to 401(k)s with policies encouraging automatic enrollment and raising contribution limits. Under 401(k) plans employees contribute to their own investment accounts and assume the risks and rewards that go with them. Lately, with the crisis on Wall Street and across the globe, it's been more risk than reward.
Earlier this month, Miller's House Education and Labor Committee found that Americans' retirement plans -- pension plans and 401(k)s included -- have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months -- about 20 percent of their value. At a committee hearing Wednesday in San Francisco, Miller cited new research suggesting that the losses might be as much as double that.
And although private sector employees with defined benefit pensions are guaranteed their pensions even if the value of the plan drops, employers may make up for the extra cost in other ways, like layoffs, cutting other benefits or even freezing the pension or eliminating it, experts say.
That risk was underscored Wednesday at Miller's hearing in San Francisco, where he announced that the federal agency charged with backstopping pension benefits for 44 million Americans has lost at least $3 billion in stock investments during the last fiscal year on assets of $68 billion, and invested a significant portion of its funds in mortgage-backed securities. The agency, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., insures approximately 30,000 defined benefit pension plans. It does not insure 401(k) plans
the outlook from nouriel roubini
The Sunday TimesOctober 26, 2008
Nouriel Roubini: I fear the worst is yet to come
When this man predicted a global financial crisis more than a year ago, people laughed. Not any more...Dominic Rushe
As stock markets headed off a cliff again last week, closely followed by currencies, and as meltdown threatened entire countries such as Hungary and Iceland, one voice was in demand above all others to steer us through the gloom: that of Dr Doom.
For years Dr Doom toiled in relative obscurity as a New York University economics professor under his alias, Nouriel Roubini. But after making a series of uncannily accurate predictions about the global meltdown, Roubini has become the prophet of his age, jetting around the world dispensing his advice and latest prognostications to politicians and businessmen desperate to know what happens next – and for any answer to the crisis.
While the economic sun was shining, most other economists scoffed at Roubini and his predictions of imminent disaster. They dismissed his warnings that the sub-prime mortgage disaster would trigger a financial meltdown. They could not quite believe his view that the US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would collapse, and that the investment banks would be crushed as the world headed for a long recession.
Yet all these predictions and more came true. Few are laughing now.
Related Links
Global panic as investors take fright
Wall Street halts futures trading amid panic
What does Roubini think is going to happen next? Rather worryingly, in London last Thursday he predicted that hundreds of hedge funds will go bust and stock markets may soon have to shut – perhaps for as long as a week – in order to stem the panic selling now sweeping the world.
What happened? The next day trading was briefly stopped in New York and Moscow.
Dubbed Dr Doom for his gloomy views, this lugubrious disciple of the “dismal science” is now the world’s most in-demand economist. He reckons he is getting about four hours’ sleep a night. Last week he was in Budapest, London, Madrid and New York. Next week he will address Congress in Washington. Do not expect any good news.
Contacted in Madrid on Friday, Roubini said the world economy was “at a breaking point”. He believes the stock markets are now “essentially in free fall” and “we are reaching the point of sheer panic”.
For all his recent predictive success, his critics still urge calm. They charge he is a professional doom-monger who was banging on about recession for years as the economy boomed. Roubini is stung by such charges, dismissing them as “pathetic”.
He takes no pleasure in bad news, he says, but he makes his standpoint clear: “Frankly I was right.” A combative, complex man, he is fond of the word “frankly”, which may be appropriate for someone so used to delivering bad news.
Born in Istanbul 49 years ago, he comes from a family of Iranian Jews. They moved to Tehran, then to Tel Aviv and finally to Italy, where he grew up and attended college, graduating summa cum laude in economics from Bocconi University before taking a PhD in international economics at Harvard.
Fluent in English, Italian, Hebrew, and Persian, Roubini has one of those “international man of mystery” accents: think Henry Kissinger without the bonhomie. Single, he lives in a loft in Manhattan’s trendy Tribeca, an area popularised by Robert De Niro, and collects contemporary art.
Despite his slightly mad-professor look, he is at pains to make clear he is normal. “I’m not a geek,” said Roubini, who sounds rather concerned that people might think he is. “I mean it frankly. I’m not a geek.”
He is, however, ferociously bright. When he left Harvard, he moved quickly, holding various positions at the Treasury department, rising to become an economic adviser to Bill Clinton in the late 1990s. Then his profile seemed to plateau. His doubts about the economic outlook seemed out of tune with the times, especially when a few years ago he began predicting a meltdown in the financial markets through his blog, hosted on RGEmonitor. com, the website of his advisory company.
But it was a meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in September 2006 that earned him his nickname Dr Doom.
Roubini told an audience of fellow economists that a generational crisis was coming. A once-in-a-lifetime housing bust would lay waste to the US economy as oil prices soared, consumers stopped shopping and the country went into a deep recession.
The collapse of the mortgage market would trigger a global meltdown, as trillions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities unravelled. The shockwaves would destroy banks and other big financial institutions such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, America’s largest home loan lenders.
“I think perhaps we will need a stiff drink after that,” the moderator said. Members of the audience laughed.
Economics is not called the dismal science for nothing. While the public might be impressed by Nostradamus-like predictions, economists want figures and equations. Anirvan Banerji, economist with the New York-based Economic Cycle Research Institute, summed up the feeling of many of those at the IMF meeting when he delivered his response to Roubini’s talk.
Banerji questioned Roubini’s assumptions, said they were not based on mathematical models and dismissed his hunches as those of a Cassandra. At first, indeed, it seemed Roubini was wrong. Meltdown did not happen. Even by the end of 2007, the financial and economic outlook was grim but not disastrous.
Then, in February 2008, Roubini posted an entry on his blog headlined: “The rising risk of a systemic financial meltdown: the twelve steps to financial disaster”.
It detailed how the housing market collapse would lead to huge losses for the financial system, particularly in the vehicles used to securitise loans. It warned that “ a national bank” might go bust, and that, as trouble deepened, investment banks and hedge funds might collapse.
Even Roubini was taken aback at how quickly this scenario unfolded. The following month the US investment bank Bear Stearns went under. Since then, the pace and scale of the disaster has accelerated and, as Roubini predicted, the banking sector has been destroyed, Freddie and Fannie have collapsed, stock markets have gone mad and the economy has entered a frightening recession.
Roubini says he was able to predict the catastrophe so accurately because of his “holistic” approach to the crisis and his ability to work outside traditional economic disciplines. A long-time student of financial crises, he looked at the history and politics of past crises as well as the economic models.
“These crises don’t come out of nowhere,” he said. “Usually they arrive because of a systematic increase in a variety of asset and credit bubbles, macro-economic policies and other vulnerabilities. If you combine them, you may not get the timing right but you get an indication that you are closer to a tipping point.”
Others who claimed the economy would escape a recession had been swept up in “a critical euphoria and mania, an irrational exuberance”, he said. And many financial pundits, he believes, were just talking up their own vested interests. “I might be right or wrong, but I have never traded, bought or sold a single security in my life. I am trying to be as objective as I can.”
What does his objectivity tell him now? No end is yet in sight to the crisis.
“Every time there has been a severe crisis in the last six months, people have said this is the catastrophic event that signals the bottom. They said it after Bear Stearns, after Fannie and Freddie, after AIG [the giant US insurer that had to be rescued], and after [the $700 billion bailout plan]. Each time they have called the bottom, and the bottom has not been reached.”
Across the world, governments have taken more and more aggressive actions to stop the panic. However, Roubini believes investors appear to have lost confidence in governments’ ability to sort out the mess.
The announcement of the US government’s $700 billion bailout, Gordon Brown’s grand bank rescue plan and the coordinated response of governments around the world has done little to calm the situation. “It’s been a slaughter, day after day after day,” said Roubini. “Markets are dysfunctional; they are totally unhinged.” Economic fundamentals no longer apply, he believes.
“Even using the nuclear option of guaranteeing everything, providing unlimited liquidity, nationalising the banks, making clear that nobody of importance is going to be allowed to fail, even that has not helped. We are reaching a breaking point, frankly.”
He believes governments will have to come up with an even bigger international rescue, and that the US is facing “multi-year economic stagnation”.
Given such cataclysmic talk, some experts fear his new-found influence may be a bad thing in such troubled times. One senior Wall Street figure said: “He is clearly very bright and thoughtful when he is not shooting from the hip.”
He said he found some of Roubini’s comments “slapdash and silly”. “Sometimes the rigour of his analysis seems to be missing,” he said.
Banerji still has problems with Roubini’s prescient IMF speech. “He has been very accurate in terms of what would happen,” he said. But Roubini was predicting an “imminent” recession by the start of 2007 and he was wrong. “He hurt his credibility by being so pessimistic long before it was appropriate.”
Banerji said on average the US economy had grown for five years before hitting a bad patch. “Roubini started predicting a recession four years ago and saying it was imminent. He kept changing his justification: first the trade deficit, the current account deficit, then the oil price spike, then the housing downturn and so on. But the recession actually did not arrive,” he said.
“If you are an investor or a businessman and you took him seriously four years ago, what on earth would happen to you? You would be in a foetal position for years. This is why the timing is critical. It’s not enough to know what will happen in some point in the distant future.”
Roubini says the argument about content and timing is irrelevant. “People who have been totally blinded and wrong accusing me of getting the timing wrong, it’s just a joke,” he said. “It’s a bit pathetic, frankly. I was not making generic statements. I have made very specific predictions and I have been right all along.” Maybe so, but he does not sound too happy about it, frankly
SDGL 3rd qtr guidance
staying on track:
Secured Digital Announces Revenue and Income Guidance for Q3 2008
Wednesday October 22, 10:22 am ET
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Secured Digital Applications, Inc. (OTCBB:SDGL - News), a provider of mobile communication, outsourced business and information technology consulting services today announced its revenue forecast for Q3, 2008.
Revenue and Income Forecast for Q3, 2008
Revenue is expected to increase to $16.6 million compared to $11.8 million for the corresponding period in 2007, up by 40%.
Operating income is estimated to be $520,000.
Revenue for the first nine months of 2008 is projected to be $45.6 million compared to $33.199 million for the corresponding period in 2007, up by 37%.
Key Q3 Business Developments
Successfully developed the Bluber Gateway that will:
-- enable Mobile VoIP calls "BluberChat" to be made from basic cell phones to other cell phones or landline phones globally.
-- allow cell phone users to make advertisement-sponsored Mobile VoIP long distance or international calls from their cell phones.
Successfully installed and commissioned the EyStar SOS-01 GPS tracker and fleet management system for 1100 trucks for a leading logistics operator in Guangdong, China.
Appointed Southpark Worldwide Limited as a Channel Partner. Southpark is currently working with SDGL to implement the BluberMax reward programs with their major client in Malaysia. BluberMax will help to drive customers, primarily foreign workers, to money remittance centers operated by Southpark’s client. Customers who patronize these money remittance centers will receive reward points which can be used to make long distance or international calls using SDGL’s Bluber Gateway.
The ongoing global financial turmoil is not expected to impinge on SDGL’s existing RFID and GPS contracts in China. The Chinese government has reported that its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 9.9% during the first three quarters of this year and is investing in its domestic infrastructure to boost the country’s economy. This effort by the Chinese government will augur well for SDGL’s expansion into China.
“We are doubling our efforts to roll out our BluberChat service in the U.S. and China. The Company is confident that BluberChat that will generate substantial savings will be well received by our subscribers in both countries,” said Patrick Lim, Chairman and CEO of Secured Digital.
Patrick Lim further commented: “The Company is in the process of appointing an investment bank to provide the necessary operating capital for SDGL to execute its plan of action to roll out BluberChat and BluberMax services.”
SDGL has taken a real beating like most emerging markets stocks but continues to carryout its business plan.
SDGL announces 3rd qtr
Secured Digital Announces Revenue and Income Guidance for Q3 2008
Wednesday October 22, 10:22 am ET
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Secured Digital Applications, Inc. (OTCBB:SDGL - News), a provider of mobile communication, outsourced business and information technology consulting services today announced its revenue forecast for Q3, 2008.
Revenue and Income Forecast for Q3, 2008
Revenue is expected to increase to $16.6 million compared to $11.8 million for the corresponding period in 2007, up by 40%.
Operating income is estimated to be $520,000.
Revenue for the first nine months of 2008 is projected to be $45.6 million compared to $33.199 million for the corresponding period in 2007, up by 37%.
Key Q3 Business Developments
Successfully developed the Bluber Gateway that will:
-- enable Mobile VoIP calls "BluberChat" to be made from basic cell phones to other cell phones or landline phones globally.
-- allow cell phone users to make advertisement-sponsored Mobile VoIP long distance or international calls from their cell phones.
Successfully installed and commissioned the EyStar SOS-01 GPS tracker and fleet management system for 1100 trucks for a leading logistics operator in Guangdong, China.
Appointed Southpark Worldwide Limited as a Channel Partner. Southpark is currently working with SDGL to implement the BluberMax reward programs with their major client in Malaysia. BluberMax will help to drive customers, primarily foreign workers, to money remittance centers operated by Southpark’s client. Customers who patronize these money remittance centers will receive reward points which can be used to make long distance or international calls using SDGL’s Bluber Gateway.
The ongoing global financial turmoil is not expected to impinge on SDGL’s existing RFID and GPS contracts in China. The Chinese government has reported that its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 9.9% during the first three quarters of this year and is investing in its domestic infrastructure to boost the country’s economy. This effort by the Chinese government will augur well for SDGL’s expansion into China.
“We are doubling our efforts to roll out our BluberChat service in the U.S. and China. The Company is confident that BluberChat that will generate substantial savings will be well received by our subscribers in both countries,” said Patrick Lim, Chairman and CEO of Secured Digital.
Patrick Lim further commented: “The Company is in the process of appointing an investment bank to provide the necessary operating capital for SDGL to execute its plan of action to roll out BluberChat and BluberMax services.”
I was never good at fractions
but it did close at .05 today! lol
article on derivatives
this will replace subprime as the new dirty word:
http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?q=5592.3916.0.0
funny snl skit
hope this posts:
http://patdollard.com/2008/10/it-is-here-the-banned-snl-skit-cannot-hide-from-louie/
waiting for 2c myself
think I'll get it? lol Back to double digits within a year imo.
SDGL news!
Secured Digital Adds Southpark Worldwide Limited to Its Newly Launched Channel Partner Program
Wednesday October 1, 10:00 am ET
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Secured Digital Applications, Inc. (OTCBB:SDGL - News), a provider of mobile communication, outsourced business and information technology consulting services announced today the addition of Southpark Worldwide Limited (“Southpark”) to its newly launched Channel Partner Program.
ADVERTISEMENT
Southpark, a leading global end-to-end marketing specialist, is a privately held company headquartered in London, UK. The Company’s clients encompass a wide range of industries including financial services; hospitality and tourism; and transportation.
The joint marketing and channel relationship with Southpark will promote SDGL’s competitive BluberMax and BluberChat services that combines the reward of free mobile phone calls with the distribution of mobile advertisements to registered users. BluberMax and BluberChat will be targeted at Southpark’s new and existing customers within the financial services, hospitality and tourism; and transportation sectors.
Under the Agreement, Southpark will receive training and sales support; access to SDGL’s partner Web site, marketing artwork, joint marketing opportunities and programs. A major client of Southpark that is currently involved in remitting monies overseas on behalf of foreign workers in Malaysia will be implementing the BluberMax reward program to promote their financial services to foreign workers during the first quarter of 2009. The total number of documented foreign workers, according to the Immigration Department of Malaysia, is approximately 1.8 million. The largest group of foreign workers is from Indonesia, followed by Nepal and India.
The channel partner agreement is a win-win value proposition to Southpark’s client, the foreign workers and advertisers.
Southpark's Client BluberMax will help drive traffic to their client's service centers as foreign workers will need to be present to remit funds to their respective countries and to redeem reward points for the free telephone calls.
Foreign Workers These budget conscious workers will be able to make free international calls and enjoy access to the right information at the right time to take advantage of supermarket or retail store promotions
SDGL news!
Secured Digital Adds Southpark Worldwide Limited to Its Newly Launched Channel Partner Program
Wednesday October 1, 10:00 am ET
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Secured Digital Applications, Inc. (OTCBB:SDGL - News), a provider of mobile communication, outsourced business and information technology consulting services announced today the addition of Southpark Worldwide Limited (“Southpark”) to its newly launched Channel Partner Program.
ADVERTISEMENT
Southpark, a leading global end-to-end marketing specialist, is a privately held company headquartered in London, UK. The Company’s clients encompass a wide range of industries including financial services; hospitality and tourism; and transportation.
The joint marketing and channel relationship with Southpark will promote SDGL’s competitive BluberMax and BluberChat services that combines the reward of free mobile phone calls with the distribution of mobile advertisements to registered users. BluberMax and BluberChat will be targeted at Southpark’s new and existing customers within the financial services, hospitality and tourism; and transportation sectors.
Under the Agreement, Southpark will receive training and sales support; access to SDGL’s partner Web site, marketing artwork, joint marketing opportunities and programs. A major client of Southpark that is currently involved in remitting monies overseas on behalf of foreign workers in Malaysia will be implementing the BluberMax reward program to promote their financial services to foreign workers during the first quarter of 2009. The total number of documented foreign workers, according to the Immigration Department of Malaysia, is approximately 1.8 million. The largest group of foreign workers is from Indonesia, followed by Nepal and India.
The channel partner agreement is a win-win value proposition to Southpark’s client, the foreign workers and advertisers.
Southpark's Client BluberMax will help drive traffic to their client's service centers as foreign workers will need to be present to remit funds to their respective countries and to redeem reward points for the free telephone calls.
Foreign Workers These budget conscious workers will be able to make free international calls and enjoy access to the right information at the right time to take advantage of supermarket or retail store promotions
defintely bargains out there now
There are some great buys out there right now with many stocks. UTVG says they'll make $.31 for 2008 and the stock is $1.30. ALIF just made $.055 last qtr, and is growing nicely and is $1.47, LTUS just made $.05 for the June qtr, says they'll still make $.30 for 2008($.21 over the next two qtrs), and the stock is $.40(thats a 1 PE going forward)! CHGY may have earnings of $.19/qtr, stock is only $.68(that's less than a 1 PE going forward)! Then there is CNEH(3 PE going forward), CXPO(2 PE going forward), CSIQ(6 PE going forward), AGU(7 PE going forward), CPHI(3 PE going forward), RAME(4 PE going forward)
Also check out SDGL, DAAT, and AYSI which are also in the bargain bins!
"The worst is yet to come"
September 14, 2008
The title is actually the assessment of banking analyst Meredith Whitney, regarding where we are in the banking crisis. In this report, I run through a scenario of what a banking crisis might look and feel like, and run through the reasons why I consider myself in full agreement with this quote.
The title is actually the assessment of banking analyst Meredith Whitney, regarding where we are in the banking crisis. In this report, I run through a scenario of what a banking crisis might look and feel like, and run through the reasons why I consider myself in full agreement with this quote.
Executive summary:
• The damage so far: Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros
• The damage still to come: Washington Mutual, AIG, Merrill Lynch, Citibank, and many others
• The risk of a major systemic banking crisis is very high at this time
• While we wait to see what develops, cash out of the bank is a good idea.
Before I get into the gory details below, I want to begin with the conclusion. What I mean by a “major, systemic banking crisis” is the complete shutdown of the banking system. All banks closed, none operating, no way for you to access your funds. Because of this possibility, you need to get out at least one month’s worth of cash to have on hand (three months is better). Keep it in a safe place.
If the banking system shuts down, your ability to conduct transactions will be severely limited. Cash will be in extremely short supply, as it represents roughly 2% - 3% of total bank account holdings.
When you withdraw actual cash, there are a couple of realities of which you need to be aware. The first is that for any amount over $10,000, a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) must be filed by the bank with the Treasury Department. No ifs, ands, or buts. Your name will go into the system. Next, even for amounts under $10k, it is at a bank’s discretion as to whether or not they fill one out.
Second, you need to be aware that most bank branches keep very little cash on hand. Large withdrawals of cash represent an operational difficulty for banks, because they are usually on a timed system of deliveries, often just once a week. The way I prefer to handle this is to ask to speak to the bank manager, let them know my intentions, and give them some time to adjust. They always appreciate this courtesy. As a note, in the past I’ve had a couple of people write to me who were very shocked and confused by their reception at the bank when they tried to withdraw more money than was available. Frayed nerves all around.
Okay, here’s a scenario that could play out. I offer it not as the most likely thing that could happen, but only as a means of illustrating the mechanisms and consequences that could transpire if this weekend’s Lehman rescue/dissolution fails. Obviously, I would be utterly surprised if the situation developed exactly like this, as it could unfold in thousands of different ways. I just thought that it might make it “more real” if I could lay out a plausible sequence of events.
Your job is to assign your own weighting to the likeliness of a banking failure and take actions accordingly. If you happen to assign it a zero percent chance? Then do nothing.
++++++++++++++++ Bank Crisis Scenario ++++++++++++++++
Day 1: Four major banks are suddenly revealed to be insolvent, and money begins to be withdrawn from these banks at increasing rates. That night, foreign investors quietly begin to retreat from a stricken US banking system, and the withdrawals spread beyond the four stricken banks. As bank servers begin to log more and more withdrawals, alarm bells go off, and late-night emergency meetings are convened.
Day 2: The next morning, US government and banking officials assure the world that everything is fine and that a new program has been put in place guaranteeing the solvency of the US banking system. Behind the scenes, foreign money continues to leave, as the deep connections of wealthier individuals offer them a better view of the real state of affairs.
Days 3-7: The expatriated money is converted into anything other than dollars, resulting in a dollar slump that confuses all but the most astute of observers. Simultaneously, US interest rates begin to climb, as US bonds are sold off in preference for non-US assets.
Day 14: Fearing a massive run on the dollar and a collapse of the capital markets, the US imposes an emergency order, requiring a 2-week delay in money flows out of the country. This is, of course, nothing more than a capital control, a favored but ultimately inflammatory tactic of countries suffering a currency run. Around this time, a growing proportion of domestic bank account holders realize that, because of the interlocked nature of the banking system, simply moving money from one bank to ‘a better one’ is not a fool-proof strategy.
Days 15-21: Over the next week, cash is demanded with increasing frequency, exacerbating the troubles of an already beleaguered banking system. A cash shortage rapidly develops, leading the Treasury Department to make a high profile show (on television, of course) of armored trucks pulling up to banks with large bags of cash. Assurances are made that everything is fine and that there is enough cash for everyone. Commentators on television make snide comments about the people lining up for cash, suggesting that they are overacting. But the Treasury is caught off guard, and even a 24/7 printing regimen cannot keep pace with cash withdrawals.
Day 25: Currency controls are announced over the weekend, limiting cash withdrawals to no more than $250 over every 48 hour period. A few days later, the government announces that the US banking system, and, by extension, the US stock markets, will be closed for a period of two weeks while the situation is “evaluated” and solutions are identified.
Day 50+: A month later, the markets finally open up again, with the Dow down several thousand points, the dollar worth 50% of its pre-close price, and people everywhere suddenly trying to convert their cash holdings into things. Rampant inflation ensues. The dollar continues to fall.
++++++++++++++++ End Scenario ++++++++++++++++
And here’s why I think something like this could happen.
At the very highest level, we have an insolvent federal government borrowing money from an insolvent financial system as a means of providing capital to bankrupt companies. This strikes me as fundamentally unworkable.
The simple fact is that the entire US banking system is now insolvent. This does not necessarily apply to every company individually – some banks are in fine shape – but when we add up the likely losses and match those against all the known bank capital, we find that the losses are larger. This mean that the entire industry is currently insolvent, and that makes it pretty much a mathematical impossibility that it could ever bail itself out.
So, either massive losses have to be recognized, or massive amounts of new capital have to be (either) found or created. The ‘finding’ part is turning out to be tricky, now that the sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) that were tapped last spring have all been badly burned on their initial capital infusions.
This leaves ‘creating’ the capital, which is something the Federal Reserve has been very reluctant to do. And rightly so, since that opens the prospect of a disorderly flight from the dollar, as investors suddenly wonder what a dollar is worth when so many are being created out of thin air.
So we’re currently at something of a stalemate in terms of how banks, the government, and the Federal Reserve would each like to proceed, but the market continues to march on, destroying more and more financial institutions with every passing day. Something has to be done.
The problem is, a slight misstep in one direction will lead to a massive deflationary wipeout of the entire banking system, and in the other direction to hyperinflation of imported products, fueled by the destruction of the dollar.
Against this backdrop, we have this news.
From the New York Times we find this excellent summary of the developing situation with the failure of Lehman Brothers (link to article):
Quote:
The fate of Lehman Brothers, the beleaguered investment bank, hung in the balance on Sunday as Federal Reserve officials and the leaders of major financial institutions continued to gather in emergency meetings trying to complete a plan to rescue the stricken bank.
The talks took on even greater urgency on Sunday as government officials push for a deal to be completed before the markets open. The leading proposal would divide Lehman into two entities, a “good bank” and a “bad bank.” Barclays of Britain would buy the parts of Lehman that have been performing well, while a group of 10 to 15 Wall Street companies would agree to absorb losses from the bank’s troubled assets, according to two people briefed on the proposal. Taxpayer money would not be included in such a deal, they said. Under that plan, the Wall Street banks would agree to provide up to $30 billion of support to absorb the losses of the bad bank.
As mentioned above, the urgency is to get all this worked out prior to the opening of the Asian stock markets. That’s the world we live in now. Government officials in the US are worried about the impact of their decision on the Asian stock markets. Not because they are altruistic or care about the Asians stock market holdings, but because our markets are so interlinked that a failure in one can spread to another and then back home again.
Also, I wonder about the additional $30 billion figure that the banks are being asked to absorb. First, I wonder where they are going to get that capital from, and second, I think the number is entirely too low. It only represents about a 5% decline in the value of the Lehman asset base. While I understand that the “good assets” are going to head off in one direction, leaving the “bad” assets behind, it seems improbable to me that $30 billion is going to be sufficient.
At any rate, if you read between the lines, this next bit (from the same article) captures the mood of the meetings quite well.
Quote:
Both Barclays and Bank of America expressed interest in buying Lehman and were negotiating hard, initially insisting that the government provide financial support. But federal officials were adamant that no public money be used — a big point of contention because many of the top Wall Street executives believe that their banks, which have each written down tens of billions of dollars in assets, do not have the capacity to lead the rescue on their own. The main problem for the banks here is this:
The overarching goal was to prevent a quick liquidation of Lehman, a bank that is so big and so interconnected with others that its abrupt failure would send shock waves through the financial world. Of deep concern is what impact a Lehman failure would have on other securities firms, insurance companies and banks, notably Merrill Lynch and the American International Group, both of which have come under mounting pressure in the markets.
A.I.G., one of the world’s largest insurers, may need to raise $30 billion to $40 billion to avoid a severe downgrade to its credit rating, according to people briefed on the situation.
On the one hand, if banks don’t come up with a workable Lehman solution, the whole mess could come tumbling down. On the other hand, they may be taking on too much, too soon, leaving nothing for downstream problems that might ensue, such as a failure of Merrill Lynch or AIG.
If I were the captain of a large bank that was still in relatively good shape, there is no possible way you could entice me to catch the falling knife that is Lehman Bros. without a big old guarantee. I would want to leave my powder dry for another day.
This brings me back to my original statement. The entire banking system is insolvent. There is no way for an insolvent industry to bail itself out. That’s the hard reality. A “major banking crisis” means that banks cannot do business with each other, because they don’t know who is insolvent and who isn’t. Heck, some of them might not even know if they themselves are insolvent. Just like you would not accept a check for your car if I told you there was a 50% chance it was written by a homeless person, banks cannot do business with firms they suspect of being insolvent.
At this point, all we can do is watch, remain aware, and seek to limit our own exposure to what may come. And no matter what happens on Monday in our markets, whether it is a big up day (engineered for our benefit) or a big down day, I would counsel you to think for yourself and avoid taking too seriously any of the soothing comments that are sure to come from Paulson/Bernanke, et al. This crisis is far from over.
One analyst I trust, and who uses real numbers that I can understand, is Meredith Whitney of Oppenheimer. Here is her most recent assessment (link to article):
Quote:
Meredith Whitney, the Oppenheimer & Co. analyst who called Wall Street's mortgage market meltdown last fall, now says the worst is yet to come for the global financial industry.
"What's ahead is much more severe than what we've seen so far," Whitney told Fortune magazine.
She submits that banks are facing dramatically larger credit losses than they have reported so far and thinks the economy is about to sink into an "early 1980s-style recession," that will "devastate 10 percent of the population," which became financially overextended during the housing boom.
"It feels like I am at the epicenter of the biggest financial crisis in history," she says.
"While my loss estimates are much more severe than those of my peers, my biggest concern is that they are way too low," she said.
I am in full agreement with her assessments.
Your faithful information scout,
Chris Martenson
SDGL annual meeting
Wisemom reported this:
"Meeting went well. Patrick talked for about 25 minutes and then took about an hour and half of questions (many from me). I went out to dinner along with some other shareholders so it's been a long day and my flight leaves tomorrow noon. I will hopefully post a synopsis in the am.
Bottom line is the core business is still very strong with growth in revenues and margin improvement. New business development is being aggressively pursued and we will get information on its progress closer to the end of this year.
Patrick is committed to ending the share price erosion continuing at these levels and increasing the stocks visibility. He was given many suggestions by participants at the shareholder meeting and will be acting to implement some of them soon.
I'll give some specifics tomorrow to these points. I left encouraged as an investor that SDGL is good stock to be invested in at this time. I hope one day I will look back and say, SDGL was a great buy here."
Ipii is also good
but being over 3$ is somewhat rich for me. It should still have a good run here tho imo. Pdge could give you a bigger bang for your buck from its .43sp imo. Also, the qtr. comes out 9/12 and there is this pr from the 1st qtr:
"...two contracts in New York are now going strong, the California contract is beginning to generate additional revenues and we have recently received a number of significant awards on the reconstruction side that will be starting this quarter. Backlog remains strong at about $57 million and we continue to trim overhead costs where appropriate with recent cuts projected to save nearly $700,000 annually. On the strength of the recent backlog additions and ramp-up of existing contracts, we look forward to much improved results for the second quarter," said John C. Regan, chairman and chief executive officer of FlagshipPDG.
I would expect
them to land some extra business between Gustav and Hanna.
some people never came back
after katrina. Also, homes in certain areas were never rebuilt from what I understand. Smaller population this time and I hope they are playing it smarter with no stadium to ride it out they must leave. I just hope the evacuation plan works well. I pray that N.O. is spared a direct hit. Some good picks btw.