Poor gamesmanship if that's the case

But it will be forgotten when they deliver positive updates.

Could be a way for Stephenson to let his hedge fund buddies accumulate cheap shares. Seen it before, will see it again.

What's the float post RS?

I think you posted it on Twitter, but I couldn't locate the tweet.

I've been buying, but it's thin and there's some big (relatively speaking) sellers out there dumping indiscriminately. Frustrating, but this seems like a 10-20x return if one can hold for as little as a few weeks.

Celebrating what is the question

Completion of the private placement, SEC filings, OTC requirements?

That is a good sign that something will be released, but punctuality hasn't been the company's forte to this point.

The day is young. We shall see.

That's what I saw on TD Ameritrade

Bid moved up into the close after the last tweet.

New tweet Hoke

Are we finally going to get the news!

And Synergy seemingly has only held stock..

In CLHI to own TDS. Says a lot too.

Haven't heard back from IR

I suspected they might not respond, particularly given their response to you.

Stock is too cheap and at least we have the catalyst of audited financials coming up. Perhaps Ballout will release some additional PRs on Wattoz and the other technology initiatives too.

If they respond similarly to me

I will have a stern response to the contrary on basically everything they said other than the need for audited financials.

Not sure who's giving them advice, but they really don't have a clue what they're talking about.

An 8:1 RS would reduce the share count to ~8mm shares. More importantly, the float would be reduced to below 2mm shares, which is much too low. No institutional investor could take a position and it wouldn't solve any issues related to the valuation.

Where or when did he say that?

I haven't heard that. Doesn't make any sense.

Sent some comments to IR this morning as well

The lack of trading volume after reporting earnings said a lot. The IR approach of this company is a total failure in addition to the aforementioned issues with the filing. I hope they heed our advice and fix some things.

With this float and share structure

The stock can move higher very quickly if Ballout gets a clue about IR and how to present the company properly. To this point, he's done everything wrong from an IR perspective.

I hope he takes your comments seriously and starts implementing some changes soon. It's mind boggling that the stock is trading at such a low level. He really should be embarrassed.

EPS

Ballout should show EPS too. That's a standard number presented in every SEC filer's financial reports.

I shake my head at his approach to certain basic things, but I'm hopeful that these simple things can be corrected.

You have a point

One that I've raised with Kent many times and recently in a one-on-one meeting at SNN. The operating profit needs to improve to support a much higher valuation. He needs to articulate a path to 8-12% EBITDA margins. I think Q3 will show a lot of improvement over Q2 as the impact from Covid will be less and some of the cost synergies from buying Excel and Deluxe will start showing up.

If you exclude the PPP "loan" of $3.9mm from total debt- it will be forgiven and turn into equity- capital leases represent ~40-45% of total debt. This is simply capitalized rent and was incurred as acquisition financing. It is very low cost and non-recourse. Still means it is a fixed obligation, but it's not as onerous as bank debt or other obligations. It will remain a fixed part of the capital structure as long as the company is operating, and that's a good thing in my opinion as it's a low cost source of capital.

My understanding is that Kent will be meeting with more investors in September including ones in NY. August is a dead month for most institutional investors and this year is even more so given Covid.

The stock started trading much better in the Fall last year and hopefully that seasonal trading pattern repeats itself.

I saw them

The formatting in general was unprofessional and not anything close to what an SEC filer would provide. I've mentioned this to the company. I hope they are more receptive to your comments.

Ballout needs to hire a Chief Accounting Officer at the very least. Some basic steps to improve their filings and disclosures would really help the stock.

Stock should be trading at $1.50-$2 given the EPS even assuming no growth for the core solar business. That also assumes no value for Wattoz and other technology initiatives he's mentioned. If Ballout is going to uplist, the quality of presentation and IR needs to improve markedly soon.

What was the deal with the 100k ask popping up at $0.14 and then dropping?

Any thoughts?

On the bright side

There shouldn't be any overhead resistance once news hits and certain things become official. One of the advantages of taking a stair case type approach higher.

Social media fatigue

Buyers to drive the next leg up need to see PRs and filings IMO. Hope I'm wrong and we get the information we're seeking by the end of the week.

Curious if there's a decentralized finance angle here

I do a lot of work in the blockchain space and decentralized finance, or defi, is one of the big areas of growth. One of the critical components for defi applications are trusted data feeds from "oracles" to ensure fair pricing for transactions. I could envision Orion FX providing price information that TDS relays to various blockchain applications that need such data.

I mention the blockchain angle because TDS has referred to blockchain being an important component of their business plan in various tweets.

Pure speculation on my part, but some interesting possibilities.

Too premature to talk about that

We know nothing about how the private markets are valuing TDS. The recent capital raise likely set a valuation of at least $150mm if not considerably higher (based on the 30mm GBP raise that they had launched earlier in the year before ZoomInfo went public).

If they set a proper share structure at the outset, there very likely won't be a need for any subsequent share adjustments to uplist.

We're still in an information vacuum when it comes to many details, but one thing is certain, the current valuation of CLHI doesn't come anywhere close to reflecting the value of TDS.

I think the filings or a PR are key

OTC traders don't "connect the dots" too often.

Need to correct some sloppiness in the filings too

There were some silly typos and misspellings in the 10q extension filing. Perhaps that's attributable to English as a second language for whomever executed the filing, but that type of thing needs to be corrected.

There's some easy steps like producing audited financials and being more professional with their IR effort that could do wonders for this stock. Hope Ballout figures this out soon for all us shareholders.

Trader behavior on the OTC

Never ceases to amaze me, whether it be selling too cheaply or buying based on FOMO.

Could be a vehicle to enable trading of OTC for UK investors

Just speculating as there are a number of reasons that they might have done this.

Interesting company. I hope they hire a good IR firm to communicate the story well.

Working to increase awareness

Still can't believe the current market cap relative to other deals and the public comps. Obviously that will correct significantly in the upcoming days and weeks.

Never been a pumper, but this one is too good not to spread the word. Facts speak for themselves and looking forward to more being revealed by management soon.

CLHI- Significant updates and catalysts on the way

Eventful Friday for CLHI as TDS, the merger partner, confirmed that they are progressing towards getting listed, which should happen soon. The following are some of the recent tweets (my emphasis in bold):


The Data Source
@thedatasourceuk
·
Aug 14
Updates at TDS. We have been told we are ‘In the queue’ so patience is a virtue! #stickwithit #frustrating #inpatience #thepowersthatbe #nofaultofown #letsfly #tothemoonandback

The Data Source
@thedatasourceuk
·
Aug 14
Also just to mention and any management or employees from TDS can not communicate in a quiet period! #nogames #truth #lookitup #facts #illegal #authorities #weloveyouall #positivity #happy #millionaires #lifechanging

TDS participates in high growth markets like data management, lead generation and AI. Public comps like ZoomInfo and DataDog trade at market caps of $17-25bn! CLHI currently trades at the paltry valuation of $3.3 million. Some other shells that have no merger partner trade at valuation of over $150 million.

CLHI is poised to re-rate significantly higher in the next few weeks IMO.

Agreed

I think more visibility on Wattozz and what it means for Enerkon shareholders could provide a huge boost too. The PRs aren't necessarily vague, but it would help if Ballout would frame the opportunity (revenue, operating profit, orders etc.).

Not what I heard

I never heard of an RS and it really doesn't make any sense until the stock price organically rises to at least $2-$3. There wouldn't be enough float to meet exchange rules and they need to prove that they have the minimum number of shareholders too. At $3, they could do a 2 or 3 for one RS and then it would make some sense.

I've only heard of audited financials and partners presumably buying stock as catalysts to get the share price higher. I think audited financials would really help as it's obvious that the "market" doesn't have full confidence in the financial statements.

So you think queue means SEC filings updated?

Another cryptic tweet, but it does seem positive (particularly the hashtags)

10q and 8k

I thought the results were good particularly in light of the economic backdrop. I'd like to see higher gross margins as that's going to be the biggest driver of value creation in my view, but APF is a drag (that Kent is addressing by using capacity for QCA and Excel). Deluxe had a strange quarter too, but I chalk that up to Covid disruptions.

The PPP ($3.9mm) is really sizeable in relation to the market cap of the company. Once it's reversed, it should get recognized as other income based on commentary I've seen from knowledgeable accountants. That will be an enormous boost to book equity when Q3 results are reported.


Kent indicated to me that he was close to hiring a Chief Accounting Officer (may have already occurred). This is someone that has already been helping close the books and obviously that helped with the current quarter. Good to see results delivered on time, which should help with investor confidence as the road show continues.

I agree with you

Ultimately, whether they release an update today or not won't matter much given the company's potential. That said, it sets a bad precedent when you dangle an update (of some sort) and don't deliver. This is particularly true given how long we've waited.

No need to lecture on "quiet periods".

Need to see the 8-k

Get real confirmation that the Nexology deal closed.

Nice work

Looking forward to tomorrow to see how the stock trades.

Current on filings

And an attorney letter...get those and you too could get a $150mm+ market cap!

I'm simplifying of course, but I guess for OTC traders, it's worse to have a definitive merger candidate in a high growth, high margin business with a share structure that is incredibly accommodating for a R/M.

Strange world.

Stephenson does come from the hedge fund business

Certainly possible that some former buddies are accumulating shares knowing huge catalysts are on the horizon (sorry for using that word, but nothing else came to mind).

The slow play here is unbelievable

Perhaps a UK investment fund is accumulating and the MMs are playing along?

Interesting

I had a rather heated email exchange with IR, but it did end on a positive note. They re-iterated, as has been stated publicly, that they are going to produce audited financials and up-list (said by the end of the year, but that seems optimistic to me, but let's hope).

If you are able to communicate with Ballout

Let him know that they need to improve the tone and method of communication with shareholders. Their approach to IR is pathetic and needs to vastly improve.

I continue to hold given the low valuation and substantial discount to intrinsic value, but they don't make it easy.

Hanging in and anticipating better times ahead despite woefully poor IR.

Mining companies are heavy diluters too

It's an extremely capital intensive business and that means dilution. They may have great reserves, but it will take a long time and cost a lot to develop.

In contrast, TDS is a high margin, high growth and ultra-low capital intensity business. The valuation multiples are accordingly much, much higher.

That's good advice

Tough to do with some OTC tickers, particularly if there's dilution from convertible notes, but if the management is good and the business prospects are sound, holding leads to the best returns.

In this case, the highly favorable share structure reduces a lot of risk and we have a very good idea that the business prospects are extremely good. Data management and AI are huge areas of growth. I've done a lot of work on AI to understand the underlying technology. The application to areas that TDS is involved with is very apparent and will provide a high ROI to their customers. I imagine that there's a lot they're planning with AI that I can't even fathom.

Good to see that management finally responded in the right direction. Hope we get a PR or at least a substantive statement by the end of the week as they suggested. Regardless, I think we'll learn a lot more by the end of this month and get the significant re-rating we've been expecting.

Agree

The anger and frustration is mounting on Twitter. We know management takes notice given they've interacted with a number of posts. It doesn't reflect well on the company to allow the frustration to continue.

Hope we get an illuminating PR soon.