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Is that a compliment? ;)
BTW getting close to selling the neuvo-turd and cutting my losses...I smell dilution with my InterContinental Balistic Missile...and you know what dilution smells like.
Agreed. I'm more positive than I was but I still wait an ungagging of the T/A and a complete disclosure of the share structure.
Now that the "partners" have been announced, there is simply no reason to keep the TA gagged. There is no reason not to disclose info on the O/S.
No, I don't think they will buy them all by August 10th. I am just speculating as to why $.06 was chosen specifically for the conversion price.
True, they will be buying on the open market and that is certain to drive the price up. I wonder what the average is that the new partners plan on paying over the next 6 months or so?
"Phoenix shareholders are hereby reminded that they will have a value of $.06 placed on each share of common stock they submit for conversion by August 10, 2007."
Why $.06? Hmmmm....
If this is all true (and I'd say 50% of it might be true), there might be some method to the PBLS madness over the last 12 months.
A recent article I found that shows a potential shortage for limestone and related mining products in the SE...
Ruling may rock builders
Jacksonville Business Journal - July 27, 2007by Rachel WitkowskiStaff Writer
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NORTHEAST FLORIDA -- Florida's construction industry is bracing for what could be a major loss in limestone supply for concrete if an appellate court does not overturn a U.S. District Court order.
"The order has shut down three Miami quarries and the remaining seven in the Lake Belt area of South Florida are under investigation. The 10 quarries produce about 50 percent of the state's supply of construction aggregates.
Northeast Florida could face a 25 percent to 50 percent production loss if permitting of mining in the Miami area is discontinued.
Affected aggregate suppliers, including Jacksonville-based Florida Rock Industries Inc. (NYSE: FRK), recently filed an appeal and a motion for stay in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta. If the appeal fails and the investigation stops mining permitting, it likely will create a shortage resulting in higher construction costs, incomplete and fewer projects, employee cuts and a detrimental effect on the state's growth.
Construction industry officials said a delay in the appellate court's decision also could have a short-term effect on supply and increase construction costs.
Environmentalists worry that the Lake Belt mining activity might have contributed to the destruction of 5,400 acres of wetlands and contaminated the public water supply because benzene was detected in the aquifer near the mines. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service filed the suit that led to the court order.
Sam Joiner, vice president of Archer Western Contractors Ltd., said he is watching the case closely because his company has two interstate projects in Jacksonville, requiring concrete and totaling about $175 million, under construction. The limestone miner and concrete supplier for both projects is Tarmac America LLC, one of the companies ordered to shut down its Miami-area mine July 17.
The Florida Department of Transportation contracted Archer Western, a subsidiary of Chicago-based The Walsh Group, to build the new Interstate 10 and Interstate 95 interchange and help widen I-95 north of the Trout River to Interstate 295.
Joiner said it is too early to determine the impact the case will have on the projects since an appeal is pending. But if there were an interruption in the supply of materials, the company would lose thousands of dollars each day the project was delayed.
Limestone, a main ingredient of concrete, is heavily used in the state for road projects and for building construction. It is typically more affordable than asphalt, and the limestone produced in the Miami area is a better quality, Joiner said.
The rock costs from $20 to $25 a ton in Florida.
"The cost of construction materials is already as high or higher than any other state," he said. Limited resources coupled with a growing construction market will cause "prices to get higher and the bad thing is that state budgets don't stretch as far" to pay for public projects such as roads."
I think Southern Crushing was one of them. But that is pure speculation on my part. I also think that several PR's coming "soon" will be these companies. Probably privately held companies that make money but don't have the potential of trading at a multiple of earnings in the future...the potential being a part of an publically traded company provides.
Also, buying companies that they already own is just a matter of shifting the assets into PBLS for an equivalent value in preferred & common shares and cash. They have no incentive to inflate the value of the companies they are selling (as some other companies did in 2006) as it only would make their own stock worth that much less...IMO.
"They lease the pit, and the owner is trying to terminate the lease because no subcontractors are permitted. According to the latest PR they are bringing even more subcontractors in."
Ummm...where do you get THAT from? The lease says that they are not allowed to sub-lease, which they never did. That's why that argument has been dismissed "with prejudice" by the court.
Value, again, it's okay to be ticked. The pps is down 70% since June, nothing is clear with the company and the "5 years to $5" mantra seems to be dead. Plus, I'm fat and getting old and my wife thinks the pool boy is hot and it's Sunday and instead of napping I am arguing about this rubbish. But please, please, get the few facts that we do know straight before you post.
"Management should have received at the most $.06 for their common shares, that means that almost 2/3 of the class III pref. should be distributed to shareholders and people who lost money."
Ummm...I often have trouble with addition and English, but where are you from? This is America, not a land of equal opportunity. Greed is king of corporate America and politics, even the boy that claims he invented the Internet and that the earth is melting has one of the largest electric and utility bills in the country at their personal residence. And as much as communism seems to work out in theory, in practice it seems to have failed quite miserably...
"The financial statements show a $30 mill. asset from the pit, even thought they don't own it. That is contrary to accounting rules, you can only use your cost as an asset, not 10% of future hoped for sales."
Ummm...I often have trouble with addition and English, but specifically where do you see this in the financials? I see $47.55M in mineral reserves and nothing that even amounts to $30M...how do you know that isn't their cost to mine the value of what they believe is in the pit? Oh, that's right, we don't know. But it seems their SEC attorney felt the numbers were satisfactory.
"If you deduct income tax and preferred dividends, there is no profit for common shareholders."
Ummm...I often have trouble with addition and English, but specifically how do you come up with such a statement? If the $100M+ Preferred 3's are owned by the Big 3 (Paul, Ron, and Carolyn), they can easily elect to not pay themselves a dividend if they so choose. We don't even know if the Preferred 3's pay a dividend. That leaves approx. $10M in Preferreds. Some of those were used for acquisitions and we know that for a fact from court docs. Even if all of these $10M in preferred paid a 6% dividend annually, that would be approx. $600k a year. Even after they paid taxes (if they in fact owed any as they could have capital loss carry forwards) this company could still be in the green.
There is plenty here to be upset about, like the fact that it appears that the Bayou Boys gave themselves a $100M bonus with the preferred 3's that you pointed out. Sadly, they don't need our permission to do that. However, if you are going to file a lawsuit, please at least have your facts straight before you waste $200 an hour seeking legal advice. Of course, you can find a law firm on the back of your phone book that will work for you for free...mine says that they are "For the People." Working for free in America...right...
"I try to be my own man. I follow no one. That way who do I have to blame but myself if I get toasted."
Agreed.
As to selling Monday, we'll see. It wouldn't surprise me if they have a PR set up to release Monday. Then again, I'm almost always wrong when it comes to news...
Do you really want shares in LDTI if it's going to be the garbage dump of PBLS would've, should've, could've companies bought by the boys with the compulsive spending habits?
Okay, I give, I want mine too. ;)
It will be nice to learn how to read the tape but developing that eye takes years. I'm just getting to the point where I can recognize MM patterns intra-day. Not to be cheesy, but it's kind of like the movie the Matrix. At first it all looks like code, then you can start to just "see it."
Most of the money I have made in pinks is by playing the chart only. Most of the money I have lost is by buying the PR hype. So I agree with you for the most part...
But every man deserves to the right to buy at least one lottery ticket once and a while, as long as he recognizes the odds and doesn't spend the grocery money buying said ticket...
Hmmmmm..."Paul Alonzo, President and CEO of Phoenix, stated, "For the past three months, Phoenix has been working with and is now partnering with two groups that are located in Florida, Ohio & New York. One of the groups has been in mining for over a hundred years and is one of the largest mining companies in the world."
(http://www.pinksheets.com/pink/quote/quote.jsp?symbol=PBLS#openEdgNews8609703)
IMO these additions were because of the influence of our new partners...
http://www.pinksheets.com/pink/quote/quote.jsp?symbol=PBLS#openEdgNews8541390
"The demolition division of Southern Concrete has over 85 years of experience in the business and 5 generations of mining experience. As a result of this acquisition, Phoenix now has contracts in Florida..."
http://www.pinksheets.com/pink/quote/quote.jsp?symbol=PBLS#openEdgNews8321740
"Phoenix indicated that adding these reserves to the existing reserves at the 820 acre Murphy Sand & Gravel site in Pearl River, Louisiana, the Company believes it will become the largest supplier of aggregate products on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi."
http://www.pinksheets.com/pink/quote/quote.jsp?symbol=PBLS#openEdgNews8289682
"New Dredge and Work Site Operation Will Increase Production by 130%; Additional Work Sites to Be Added This Year as Demand Continues to Grow in the Gulf Coast Region."
(WHAT FOLLOWS IS COMPLETE SPECULATION ON MY PART: )
What always confused me was that everytime I spoke with Ron (back when I used to call him; I haven't since prob. 1/2007), he would insist that they were going to deplete the Murphy pit and then get out of that business. Then I see all the mining related acquisitions, and none of it made sense (though they are prone to speaking out of both sides of their mouth). Now, for me, the pieces fit with the gagged TA, the increase in A/S, the increase in O/S, and the Preferred 3 deal.
I think the new partners are big and bad enough to freak out the Bayou boys some. I think they have been around since probably Summer 2006 and have been working with PBLS since probably Spring 2007. I think they have a very clear plan for PBLS' mining buisness; probably much clearer and professional than the Bayou boys ever could be due to their experience...
Either this is all PR lies. Or something has changed hopefully for the better with our screwed up company...
Now here's a question for the board: Why put the preferred common conversion at $.06? Why $.06 specifically? Hmmmm...
Ren
"But still, why hide everything including the company names and ceos working there?"
IMO it is to keep a run from happening on the stock based on pure speculation alone. If the "partners" are looking to buy on the open market, the less information about them the better as the pps continues to flounder around sub-penny.
However, if PBLS doesn't give us the "explanation PR" we've been looking for since June 15th, the restless natives might find an attorney.
So it could be a catch-22...can't tell too much or we lose our new partners (and the cash infusion they bring)...can't tell too little or a bag holding long might file a lawsuit that kills all deals.
Either way, there's HUGE risk IMO. That's why it says .OTC next to the symbol. No risk, no reward and almost every company is a liar down here.
Agreed. Try not to marry 'em if you don't have to. My problem is I am a sucker for cheapies and liable to drink whatever they are buying...
Agreed. Maybe ugly in the short term (1-2 weeks) and maybe bright in the long term (3-6 months).
Calling the company is a waste of time IMO.
Cutting...
For me, DD starts with PR's and works backwards verifying their claims. I also look long and deep at the management team, their background and who they do buisness with. In this case, other DD pointed to what this PR said before it came out. It was BIG confirmation. And most who followed this at least expected an increase in the A/S.
I am either a liar and a pumper or I am telling the truth. You decide. Either way, for me, yesterday's PR confirmed what I had heard from what I now consider trustworthy sources. And I don't personally consider calling PBLS a trustworthy source for information or DD. I don't like being cussed at. I don't like listening to a car salesman and his lies about "Hollywood contacts." I don't want to hear about NSS (though I believe it exists). I want verifiable facts and figures.
Want to do some needed DD...go find me a list of employees that work at the Murphy pit. I'll just take names and positions to start with. That's where my DD is going...how about yours?
Ren
Good luck and no one blames you.
I hope so...this PR to me is the best news we've had since June 15. I don't care about acquisitions as much as I care about getting some oversite in place for Ron and Paul. If the PR is true, we might finally have some BOD influence that is long over due.
I wasn't planning on buying any more as I have way too many eggs in the PBLS basket. If it dips sub-penny next week, I will be now. I am calling their bluff too. I'm already pot committed anyway...
A: Ron, Paul & Carolyn
A: IF, and I mean IF, they had the power to based on shares owned, they could vote Ron, Paul &/or Carolyn off the BOD altogether. Especially if they don't play nice.
Again, this PR to me is the best news I've had on PBLS since June 15. I baited Ron B and John Hayden to tell me about this but they didn't and were cagey. No, I heard this rumor from some big boy common shareholders that were pissed at PBLS plus a few friends here from the board. I hope that this PR is the first real evidence that they can put pressure on PBLS to come clean. If clarification on the share structure comes in the next 4-6 weeks, I'll have my answer and feel much more confident about our immediate future. It means that common shareholders can get respect from management, especially the one's buying 1B shares...
I believe that they are doing it this way because PBLS fears losing control to their new "partners." Plus, the new partners want to be certain that PBLS is going to be cooperative in the new relationship.
The way we will know this is "real" and/or "truth" is by the acquisitions that come out now over the next 3-6 months. As long as we see them buying companies relating to mining, their new "partners" are still involved and directly growth.
As always, time will tell...and the burdon of proof is on Ron and Paul. But this PR does clarify that they have been fighting a take over now for at least the better part of 2007 by their new "partners."
I AM still waiting for transparency on the share structure though. This PR is as important as the one from yesterday if not slightly more so...
Agreed. But have fun convincing that to others here...
In Conclusion...
If they are telling the truth in the PR, this is our "reasons why" explanation promised by Ron. Here's why we had to gag the TA...here's why we had to do the Preferred 3...here's why though we said we're out of the mining biz soon we're going after a larger pit in MS, a concrete crushing operation etc etc.
Read between the lines. IF they are telling the truth, this was actually very good news for PBLS. There's a new family/sheriff in town who is telling PA and RB who, what and where to buy. I wonder what the plan is with all the mining related companies after the new sheriff has bought their 1B shares...hmmmm....I wonder.
The gamble, as always, is any of this pinky PR stuff TRUTH. I'm taking the gamble for a little while longer now MOSTLY because of this PR. It took them guts to take this to the open market and yes, the late Friday release is b/c of the A/S increase...
Have a great weekend. Look's like I'm "bag holding" this now for another 6 months...
Ren
The Good News is, even if they could sell all of the new 750M shares into the market in Monday (which they can't), it would only be worth approx. $7.5M in cash to the company assuming the price plummets to an average of .01 as they buy on the way down.
The Bad news is PBLS can sell into the opn market if they want with and with a gagged TA, we wouldn't know about it.
The Good News is, based on financials, I don't see why they would need to sell those shares to raise cash.
The Bad news is PBLS can sell into the open market if they want with and with a gagged TA, we wouldn't know about it.
The Good News is that this PR basically confirms the craziest rumors that have been flying around and provides "proof" (I guess) for the logic behind the so called Preferred 3 "poison pill." Someone with $1.5B is buying power is after control of our little PBLS...and if PBLS will buy x, y, and z companies in the rock and mining industry, they will buy 1B in PBLS common shares on the open market and pay...hmmm...I wonder what they are willing to pay on average per share of common...hmmm...I wonder where Paul and Ron got the common value of $.06 for the preferred conversion deal...hmmm....
The Bad news is PBLS can sell into the open market if they want with and with a gagged TA, we wouldn't know about it.
The Good News is that this hasn't been much of a momo play since June 15th, so aside from a bunch of bad holders already down 50-60% on average, who is there that is left to sell for a loss who already hasn't on Monday? And if it goes sub-penny again, I will buy more though I hadn't planned on it...
The Bad News...well, you get the point.
I personally expected the A/S increase and have since June 15th. Still stupid and crazy enough to not have sold. This PR for me personally was really good news. It confirms from some sources who are really, really negative on Ron and Paul what is really going on behind the PBLS scene. At least what the rumors say...
Here here to that!
And to SPZI...yep, intraday shows a completely different pattern than the rest of the week...could be a Friday thing, but it looks to me like instead of keeping a lid on the run, MM's are working to pull it down now...
That's fine for me as I am already on free shares and looking for my next entry on that one. I think it is going to be a great trading stock for at least the next 60-90 days.
Have a great weekend.
Ren
Good catch Roach...I believe that long term PBLS sees Best Areo as the oil & gas play with 9 figure revenues but 7 figure profits (what Pro Gas was supposed to be)...
In today's world, having a "Net Worth" of $1M is not very difficult. I sell to tons of California RE investors who make less than $100k a year (not rich by CA standards) but have enough equity in their Primary Residence and rental properties to qualify for the $1M net worth. Of course they are now discovering that as much as Real Estate can appreciate in value, it can also decrease in value, but that's besides the point...point is, they don't have deep wallets but would qualify as an accredited investor for a private placement.
That last quote is mine, and by it I mean I will sell once I have proven beyond shadow of a doubt that these guys are manipulating the share price by PRing buy backs while selling into the open market at the same time.
At this point I don't believe that, so I hold knowing the risk I took when I bought this stock to begin with. Nothing's changed for me with PBLS except that delays are frustrating and I'm starting to wonder about their true intentions.
http://www.seclaw.com/docs/pplace.htm
---" "Accredited Investor" is defined in Rule 501(a). The principal categories of accredited investors are as follows: (1) Directors, executive officers, and general partners of the issuer, including general partners of general partners in two-tier syndicating. (The term "executive officers" is more fully defined in the Regulation.) (2) Purchasers whose net worth either individually or jointly with their spouse equals or exceeds $1 million. It is important to note that while there is no definition of "net worth" in Regulation D, there similarly is no requirement of liquidity in the calculation of net worth for this accreditation standard. Thus, a purchaser's home, furnishings, etc. are includable in the determination of net worth. (3) Natural person purchasers who have "income" in excess of $200,000 in each of the two most recent years and who reasonably expect an income in excess of $200,000 in current year (or $300,000, jointly with their spouse). (4) A business entity will be treated as a single accredited investor unless it was organized for the specific purpose of acquiring the securities offered, in which case each beneficial owner of the security is counted separately.---"
Again, private placements are just small stock offerings to folks with big wallets. They don't have to be registered.
Again, my eyes are open. I see exactly what you see. Am I happy that the O/S seems to be what it is. No. But the key word is 'seems to be.' You have no idea what the "true O/S" is except what is posted on the pinkseets website, and most of that information does look written by a team of 5th graders.
But I'm patient enough to not jump to conclusions. And if they were selling shares on the open market, they better have a damn good reason for doing so. To me, knowing the cash status of the company and looking at the volumes over the past year, there is no way they could have sold 800M shares on the open market(not with the daily max limitations based on volume). As for what they did in 2005...I think they took advantage of Katrina and sold a ton of stock into the run. Again, I have no proof of that, and also have no problem with that.
Please do correct me on that last part if I am wrong. I do want to "see." ;)
Just gave MCCY a cursory look...
1) Seems that the TA is gagged
2) Looking at the chart it has seen some serious issues in the past and is currently way over due for a big correction that might have started
3) 12 PR's in 16 trading days (June 18 to July 10) = PUMP!
4) Same story..."audited financials coming" for a bunch of business that they claim ownership in and yet said businesses are completely unrelated...
5) A couple of member-marked "guru's" running the iHub board...hmmm...
That's actually 5 strikes for me. I'll pass but after a necessary correction (and I could see that correction being $.30+) it might make for a possible bounce trade candidate.
Ren
First of all, I didn't know that it took special accreditation to be able to participate in a pink sheet private placement. I have been under the impression that it just takes a check book, but correct me if I am wrong with legal documents please. Private placements are modis operandi for public companies during start-up.
Secondly, from a fundamental stand point, if they did sell into the Katrina spike, selling into it was perhaps the best business move these boys have made yet. I also believe that they did. I feel so bad for the longs who bought into the spike and have been trapped here for 2 years. That really sucks; there's no polite way to say it. But this is business and business can be ruthless, and selling shares into that spike was a huge capital infusion that allowed this cash strapped pinky to really ramp up at least pit production. The spike was also fundamentally non-sustainable. It wasn't tied to anything but raw emotion that was certain to wane as it did.
Third, just because they sold during the Katrina spike doesn't mean that they were selling during the buy back. The first buy back was amended in August 2005 and that's the last we heard of it. If and when it is demonstrated that they were selling into the open market during a buy back, I will personally sell all of my shares and move on to other investments. I don't like being manipulated. But I will not sell on rumor or would-be missed expectations given in PR's. There is still potential here in this stock.
Ren
PS Feel free to stick around...just play nice, okay? ;)
I'm not a Level 2 expert, but I believe that some of what you see on the tape is the market makers communicating to themselves. You see small buys and sell like that all the time that I consider painting the tape at closing.
However, I'll let one of the vets here give you a more solid answer if they so choose. I suggest Lowfloat, Airdale or Jim Charts for this subject...
Ren
More fun in ICBM land...
Posted by: loganwolverine
In reply to: None Date:7/26/2007 1:13:40 PM
Post #of 2143
A/S is unfortunately 950 mil now. Just got off phone with Garth. He claims its for current deals on the table and we will know soon enough and it's very Big? That's all I got for you all. Good LUCK.
OT - Cdaniel
State *Rank 1-Yr Qtr. 5-Yr. Since 1980
Alaska, (AK) 14 7.02 1.41 53.69 178.74
I'm going to have to start charging for this stuff...oh wait, I already do so you guys and gals are off the hook...
PS One of my mentors and best friends grew up as a missionary's son in the Yukon in the 1960's. Crazy bear stories and pictures...they had to take a gun to the out-house to use the bathroom. That's worse than South central L.A....
State *Rank 1-Yr Qtr. 5-Yr. Since 1980
Oregon, (OR) 7 10.77 1.26 69.00 361.52
Though I am expecting a new report in the next 2 weeks. These numbers are from a March 31st data set.
All I keep hearing is that they truly gagged the T/A for 1 of 2 reasons:
A) to sell shares into the open market to raise capital
B) to stave off a potential buy out on the open market by someone hungry for the pit and related assets
All the BS about gagging it to help with Naked Shorting was just posturing. My personal bet is on B, though the chart after they cancelled the second buy back sure looks like A.
Either way, the clock is ticking for them to come clean whether they want to or not. There are bigger fish who want what they were promised in the 2003-2005 private placements. They want answers and can lean on management more than any of us.
I also think now that when they made the 815M projection for O/S they expected a lot more folks to take the Preferred conversion offer on the table. Apparently common sense was lacking on that on their part as most investors will not sacrifice liquidity when there is so much lack of transparency on a company. For those of you who took the conversion, good for you. It just helps everyone here.
Just my thoughts.
Ren
Yep...$2M+ revenues per year with about a 20% profit margin to start with.
You are a braver man than me.