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Consider the following excerpt from a PR issued almost a year ago (11/15/04), at which time they claimed to have digital products already shipping:
”Company made a shipment of twenty digital powerline surveillance systems as initial fulfillment of our UGC contract.”
Now, almost a full year after claiming to have shipped twenty digital systems, they state the following:
”PowerLinx will also introduce its first digital PLC products”
Does anyone even question why these guys have no credibility?
This company is a joke.
Give it up Biz. You're not fooling anyone but yourself.
You already told us you're sixteen years old. There's no point in proving it further.
I was a shareholder for quite a while. I'd love to see them eventually deliver on that which I once believed was their potential, but those days are long gone. Now I just find it amusing to witness the steady flow of gullible newbies wishing for a windfall profit.
Either that or someone pays me to manipulate the stock. Hmmm
Because “the company” isn’t whining about their losses on a message board! You complain about your losses and beg others to help you fix it. PWLX has a ton of faults and failures, but you’re the one who overlooked the obvious and invested anyway. The folks at PWLX may be idiots, but you’re the one who ignored the facts and invested in them. Then again, they have taken money from many people so maybe they're not so dumb after all.
As for your suggestion to call the companies, I’m sure any of us can call 1800SHELLOIL (or whatever) and the call center will be fully aware of the dealings with a mom and pop garage company and the story that PWLX made them wait.
I have already secured the “Moron” alias, but perhaps “Gullible Idiot” is still available if you’d like to change again.
If you’re not Bigbiz you may want to check your family tree. Regardless of whether UGC is a real company or not, the terms of the agreement that were disclosed to the public clearly revealed that PWLX had no assurance of any revenue. Not even a dime! Also, can you explain why a no name company with no verifiable assets or track record would commit to a multi million dollar deal without first ensuring that the products work? Finally, your comments re: Shell and Exxon. Aside from the absurdity of anyone from either of those companies expressing any interest in PWLX (and how you would know about the details of the meeting), your story isn’t even remotely believable. It’s too bad you lost money on this stock, but it’s not hard to see how it happened. Better luck next time.
Out of curiosity, what specifically are you upset about?
PWLX made a sale?
Where did they claim to have made a sale? The PR says the "DC power-line camera system will be specified for all new refuse-hauling vehicles purchased by the City of Tampa".
For starters, they don't claim to have made a sale. Secondly, they don't claim to be required for future sales. This PR is just like so many we have seen in the past. It's obvious why it doesn't move the stock. Why should it? These guys don't need promises or alliances. They need actual, verifiable, profitable sales. If they have failed to do that for the past nineteen years it's unlikely anyone will get too excited about the possibility of being installed on a handful of garbage trucks.
This company has been around almost twenty years, during which time they have made countless predictions and promises, and failed to deliver in just about every case. They have repeatedly mislead investors, diluted their stock, and never reported even a single meaningful sale. Their “technology” is archaic at best, and not even their own. They have no money, a very questionable product line, and have done nothing to demonstrate marketable products or even a viable business plan!
These stellar results may be attributed to a company with only 24 employees and FOURTEEN executives at or above the Director level! You suggest that someone or some group may be trying to keep this down. Have you considered that perhaps they’re lucky the lights are still on?
Too little too late?
Good strategy Biz!
Kiss up to the Moderator like that. I'm sure that will help.
The multi-million dollar question.
I think most of us see their potential. Some of us have even made some decent money on them, but the track record of the company is dismal at best. They have a history of countless false starts, lies, and a CA lawsuit. They managed to get their SecureView product on at least one notable retailers shelves (Costco), but they didn't sell well enough and were returned to SEVU (pwlx). They appeared a couple times on HSN but the sales weren't enough to be noticable on the SEC Filings and they eventually ended up on the HSN Clearance page. Tonight they're resuming on Shop at Home. This was promised throughout December but didn't happen. The CEO has made more bonehead statements than Ralph Nader and they can't seem to focus on a business plan long enough to let a beer go flat.
Does that sound bad enough? I could go on and on. HOWEVER.... They do have a unique product which some of us believe has market appeal, particularly in the OEM market. My personal opinion about them today is that the most likely way to make money on the stock would be if someone were to acquire the company and replace the current mgmt team. Another possibility would be to leverage the pop if they ever announce something meaningful. Lots of people see the potential of the products, and they tend to attract quite a bit of attention when they're in the spotlight, but IMO, the mgmt team isn't capable of delivering on the potential.
I'm on the sidelines right now, and glad to be here. I'm not going to buy again unless they announce a verifiable, meaningful sale. No more promises or investment on "potential".
Best of luck with it. I sincerely hope you win big!
You chose an interesting place to begin highlighting in bold.
Did you miss the first part of the statement?
"In addition, to retain these exclusive distribution rights..."
The deal was simple. Tyman had a chance to retain exclusivity for five years. They had to hit the numbers, which they failed to do. That doesn't nullify the contract, nor does it guarantee money.
Perhaps if you'd read what was stated, rather than what you wanted to see you'd be taken a little more seriously.
I debated this with Biz on a number of occasions. Why is it so hard for some people to figure it out? Please show where they lied in that PR or that the contract no longer exists. It was never guaranteed money, nor did SEVU claim that it was. The only ones believing there was an assurance of $1.7M are a couple idiots posting on message boards instead of reading what it says in the PR.
Biz - Only you could interpret an additional number of shares in the market to be "good news".
It's no wonder you've lost so much money on this stock!
Bill - Is there a reason for your trip down Memory Lane?
Bac - PWLX now! And we even retained the history!
"How long can it take to pass out 6 milllon shares?? Bonehead lawyers!!"
Excellent point Biz! They should let SEVU do it. They have proven to be able to pass out millions of shares in minutes!
"As for the way the SEC does business..it sucks!! Shareholders should have a right to know whats going on with ANY company..."
Another good point. The SEC should follow the example of SEVU since we all know they're so good at keeping us informed.
Have you ever wondered why they don't report the results of all this "good news" to the SEC?
Cabos - I wish I could say that the reason I sold at .52 was because I predicted the continued fall, but my plan was to play the swings and buy back in shortly thereafter. I lucked out by not buying back.
I don't dispute that there should be some value in the people they brought on board. I guess I just question the need for so many BOD members for a company this size. I agree that proven skills in business, sales, marketing, etc. can transfer to any of a number of product lines, which is why I wasn't overly concerned when GB came over from JCP. Besides, it was painfully obvious that Rich was over his head so anyone would have seemed like a welcome improvement at that time. In that sense, however, I'd think GB would surround himself with people whose experience and expertise are closer to that of the SEVU product line.
Maybe I've just reached a point at which I'm tired of promises with no results, and it may have obscured my objectivity, but my immediate thought when I read todays PR was that they appear to be dangling yet another carrot to keep investors hanging on a little longer. I perceive it as yet another attempt to distract us from reality. I'm not buying it.
Personally, I think they should be focusing on their sales team rather than adding to their BOD. Also, if they're going to add to their BOD, wouldn't it make more sense to enlist people with electronics expertise and networking rather than more veterans of the apparel industry?
Bar time again Kevin?
Yes, I'm still here but I no longer own shares. I'd love to see SEVU pull a rabbit out of a hat, and I may even buy back in if they do, but I believe their likelihood of failure far exceeds that of their success. Too many lies, false starts, dilution shares, and bonehead management moves to keep me hanging on.
Fortunately, by selling again I made a nice profit at the expense of some who are more gullible than myself. I don't know about you, but when I invest it's with the goal of making money, so while I may not have made as much as I'd have hoped (only about 7x in 11 months), it sure beats losing. Don't you wish you could say the same?
MORE sales? How about ANY sales????? Besides sales of dilutive stock, that is.
Let's face it: If SEVU had such a great product they'd have sold it YEARS ago. Today they appear to not only have a product that doesn't meet expectations, but a mgmt team to match!
It's one thing to make every effort to sell a product you believe in even if you fail, but to lie about reality and sales is a completely different matter.
C'mon SEVU (or whomever). Prove me wrong! I'll gladly apologize, but in the interim, I think SEVU is the place we should all look for an apology.
If three years is too long, try three months. The CEO of a publicly traded company issued a statement that they expect to break even by the end of Q4. Some may not like to read between the lines, but it seems to me that making such a statement if it wasn't already a done deal is extremely irresponsible. That being said, if they had secured a deal that would have such a monumental impact on the company (and their investors), it seems equally irresponsible (to the shareholders, if no one else) to fail to disclose such a deal for months (since GB made the statement).
If this was an isolated incident I'd be very critical and suspect, but since it's the latest in a very long list of mis-fires it's pretty hard for some of us to be supportive.
Bar time in Florida!
And it's not even the week-end.
Tragic
I don't follow or understand charts so they're wasted on me.
As for my "name", I used to post as DK76 but these boards (IHub and RB) reached a level of absurdity at which I told myself I'd have to be a moron to continue to read and post. It's more appropriate on RB, but the title fits much of what I do anyway so I may as well be consistent.
Let's hope for a brighter future for SEVU.
Your final sentence speaks volumes.
Cabo and I feel pretty much the same about the potential for SEVU, but we have also both been around long enough to be skeptical until we see results rather than promises or speculation about potential.
If you're ever bored, you might find it interesting to print out a 3 year chart of the stock price then go back and read a few old PRs and message board posts. I suspect that you'll realize a new appreciation for the criticism by MadHat and others. I'm not saying that I completely agree with MadHat's views at this point, but it's pretty hard to dispute most of what he says. He used to be almost as enthusiastic about SEVU as Bigbiz, so for him to become this negative was not a minor event. The biggest difference between MH and Biz is that MH was smart enough to figure it out before being disappointed for three+ years. Sometimes I wonder how thick-headed a person has to be to continue beating his head against a wall for three years before figuring out that it's not a good idea, but that's another issue.
I wouldn't bet against it, but it's not particularly relevant to me. I made 22% on my SEVU shares today. That's the reason I buy stock!
It's pretty hard to criticize the resumes of the latest two members of the BOD.
MadHat - You need to let it go man!
I realize you lost on this one and are understandably bitter, but it's time to move on.
There are some major differences between now and the time you and I both first invested. The obvious one is that Rich is gone. Another crucial difference is that today there are actually a few products available to sell. That wasn't the case when McBride was around, regardless of what he told us. The company has supposedly survived an SEC investigation and the current mgmt team has finally followed through on a few promises. They have even been able to sign a couple of distributors (although none have proven valuable yet).
I'm certainly not going to claim that SEVU is a stellar investment opportunity, but if a person is objective I find it hard to believe they're in no better shape today than in the past. Besides, as long as people as gullible and naive as Bigbiz are willing to invest their allowance, there's money to be made.
Predicting earnings is hard enough with most companies, but it's even more difficult with SEVU. As for their expectation of achieving a record year, it appears likely, but it's also important to remember that they have never made enough money to make a difference, so they have nowhere to go but up. The good news is that they seem to be establishing some potentially lucrative revenue channels. There are some rumors floating around about an OEM deal with a pretty large trucking company which would be nice. There's also a division of AudioVox that reportedly offers their technology (although apparently not SEVU's camera or monitor). The Shop-at-Home retail channel for SecureView seems to be doing okay, but isn't likely significant enough to do much for the bottom line.
The good news is that they seem to be acting like a real company after years of flat out lies and BS. Unfortunately, they have yet to announce a single meaningful sale which I continue to find suspect. These guys need to instill investor confidence in a very big way. The benefits would travel far beyond potential profit for shareholders. A solid stock performance would also aide them when trying to sell their product to retail, OEM, and other channels, as it would be an indication of solid company performance (which is currently severely lacking).
The recent eight day skid is typical of SEVU. They ran up based largely upon the recommendation of Tom Calandra (CBS), rather than as a direct result of anything SEVU did or said. Calandra brought many new investors to the table and SEVU had a perfect opportunity to announce something while they had a large and attentive audience, but as usual they said nothing. I have a hard time believing they'd remain silent if they had anything meaningful to report, which suggests to me that they have nothing meaningful to report.
In spite of all this, I remain cautiously optimistic. Personally, I haven't been impressed by the current mgmt team, but to their credit, they inherited a very screwed up company and they seem to have quietly cleaned it up and can finally focus on becoming profitable. I don't consider their technology to be anything revolutionary or particularly special, but it certainly seems to be marketable and potentially profitable. Let's hope!
Not a cat fight. Biz and I rarely agree on much except that we both want to see SEVU succeed. The difference is that I live in the real world and Biz can't find it. I respect this board so try to keep from slinging mud, although it has been all but deserted so it's sort of like shouting (or not) in an empty room.
As for SEVU earnings, I believe they're due 11/15 (someone will correct me if I'm wrong). The company has an ugly history of reporting late, but they were on time last quarter and we're hoping to make that a trend. Hopefully they'll have some good news to report!
Hey Biz, consider the similarities between your post#14843 and this one from a year ago:
Posted by: bigbizz
In reply to: None Date:11/20/2002 12:48:38 PM
Post #of 14845
madhat..net revenue was UP 28% not down...and insiders bought a lot of shares and have only sold a few..look at the 144 filings...also Sevu secured funding from AJW on Sept.20 so I dont think they had time to use the funds in the 3rd quarter..and yet sales were still UP for the quarter...they also stated production cost reductions will allow better price points for LARGE consumer retailers...was hard to do anything without funding..they now have funding...bizz
Thanks Kevin. It's always a treat to receive business advice from someone who has failed as many times as even you have admitted.
Got any more of those left handed baseball gloves? How about the week-end video rental store? Perhaps you wrote about the lessons learned in your "self published" book. I'd love to read about it all, but not even your website works and no one else has ever heard of the "book"!
Most people would admit their failures if they had been touting a stock since it was trading at more than FIFTY TIMES it's current value, but as usual, you're a little(?) slow.
Thanks for the lesson, though. I'll file it appropriately.
Biz - You continue to twist words and scenarios any way you want, but all you're doing is making excuses for your errors. Yes, CSG has reportedly agreed to financing terms for SEVU production, but that doesn't mean SEVU has sold anything. That's as absurd as believing that just because you have a check book you can write as many checks as you want, regardless of whether or not there's money in the account.
As for "what you said", I simply cut and pasted the sentence from your post. That makes it pretty tough to mis-quote.
Bac - My post was in response to Biz's excuse that "China didnt start shipping until late last month so it may be a little longer before we get that first big sales contract". It's obvious that just about all companies rely upon a "Net X" payment schedule, but that has little to do with selling the product. FWIW, SEVU has forever maintained that supplying product has never been a problem. I have no doubt that the current supplier will enable them to either offer the product at lower prices or (and?) increase the margins, but I also doubt that CSG will extend credit to enable SEVU to build to stock in any significant numbers. I also have a hard time believing that SEVU's problem has ever been their ability to fill "large orders". Their problem has always been closing that big deal.
As for whether or not they're considered "unproven", I suppose it's all relative. I want to see this company do much more than sell a few hundred cameras on TV. If they take that story to Wal-Mart or Radio Shack they won't even get an appointment with an entry level Buyer.
Personally, I like their apparent focus on the OEM and VAR channels. Retail would be nice, but it obviously hasn't worked to date. It would be nice to see it happen, but the volumes sold to other channels could eclipse our most optimistic retail projections. I've watched this company for more than three years. I've reached a point where I'm not going to be picky about where they sell their products; I'd just like to see some decent revenues.
Kevin - If SEVU mgmt has even a shred of intelligence, they won't wait for inventory to be built before selling it. I'd also bet the farm that CSG won't extend credit terms to enable SEVU to build inventory prior to sales. Companies don't work that way. Building and carrying inventory is extremely expensive, inefficient, and risky (particularly for an unproven product).
We all want to see them succeed, but if you assume they're waiting for a warehouse full of inventory before they sell it you're destined for yet another disappointment.
All I'm suggesting is that it would be more appropriate to have this board moderated by someone who is interested in SEVU's success rather than their failure. If this was a forum intended to attract people who hope the company will fail, or even those with no intention of investing in SEVU stock, then it would make sense to have it chaired by a critic with no position. In reality however, most people read and post on investment boards because it's a forum for intelligent discussion and information about a company in which they hold a position or may consider investing.
There may or may not be enough interest in this board for it to ever become worthwhile, but it's obviously not worth much today. I submit that this may be partially due to having a critic at the reins. You're obviously a bright guy. I can't believe you feel a need to manage a message board that receives 15-20 posts during a busy month.
I agree with Proxime. Any knowledgeable long or even objective supporter would be an improvement.
New Board Director?
Shamus has posted twice during the past ten months. The post numbers are 14730 and 14758, neither of which is particularly meaningful.
I don't know about anyone else here, but I'd like to see this board return to the meaningful forum it once was. I submit that the most objective and reasonable member here is probably Diverdan. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd like to see him replace Shamus.
Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter?
Kevin, you should enjoy the increase in stock price and not select today to finally consider the business side of the situation.
SIC isn’t the customer here; SEVU is. It doesn’t matter to SIC if SEVU has any deals in place. They obviously expect to make money if SEVU sells enough products for them to manufacture, but they aren’t out anything if not.