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Quiet periods for Sam can last years, stretching into decades. Expect nothing. You will not be disappointed.
As for last quarter, Sam bought sales. He dropped prices to bring in volume. Don't take my word for it. Look at the gross margins last quarter versus those of prior quarters. I hope this tactic has seen its last. Dropping prices should be a last resort.
Someone has been on the bid most of the week looking for 10,000 - 40,000 shares. Looks like someone is positioning to scoop up whatever they can get their hands on. And today, the asked moved up 20%.
Still able to buy small lots for less than the asked. Don't know how or why unless someone has some all or nothing orders in that don't show up on my Level 2.
Let's see what happens next week, but I sense their is some momentum building here. The percentage gains could be beautiful. There can't be much float left out there.
Ameriturd is destroying my portfolio with their accounting also. At least I'll have a great day when they get it right.
Promoting the company would require a basic knowledge of marketing. Won't happen.
Insurance tables give me 31.7 years to live, on average. If we keep waiting for .01, for the May RS, for the stock buy back, I may not live to round trip this stock another 50 times.
The bid would not be .0062 if the believers you have identified truly believe.
BTW - another MM horror story. About three weeks ago, back when IVFH was trading for almost twice it's current price, I offered 100,000 shares for sale at 0.0107. It was not an all or none. It was a vanilla order.
A trade crossed the wire at 0.0120 for 50,000 share. Naturally, I figured I got out at 0.0107 for 50,000. But no. I didn't sell and the buyer paid more than he should have. We both got screwed by the MM.
So I call my very large discount broker. I am informed that unless the company is on a listed exchange (NASDAQ, Amex, or NYSE), you are at the mercy of the MM who can ignore just about any order they chose to. I asked if my $9.95/trade discount broker was going to accept their clients being mistreated by MMs. They indicated that it was my fault for buying an unlisted stock. I naturally called the SEC, but they don't give a damn either. They are so far above their ability to manage the process, I was told to write a letter and see what happens. Been there. Done that. Nothing happens.
There are at least 5 roll up disasters for every success. One acquisition does not a roll up make. One step at a time. We still have a stock that trades weekly, with a spread you can drive a truck through, a company that offers zero information to shareholders it doesn't absolutely have to, and it lost money last quarter. A bit of restraint is clearly warranted.
I think this didn't move the stock because it did not show up on many stock tickers. I use TD Ameritrade and this news was not on my news ticker today.
I agree with the popular wisdom. Once the acquisition and the RS are behind us, this can begin to flourish. But Sam cannot continue to sacrifice profitability for growth. If he is able to grow by acquisition, that's great. But he needs to do it while earning profits. He has to show that by adding product to his existing business, he can create incremental shareholder value. Without that demonstration, he is simply buying sales. The market will not reward profitless growth.
Personally, I am willing to continue to accumulate shares under the assumption that this strategy is well thought out. We get a report card every 90 days. Here's where it gets more complicated. I hope IVFH has the horses to make this strategy work. If it does, we will all be rewarded, especially Sam.
Interesting that you have such a low opinion of marketing. BTW, exactly what kind of company do you think IVFH is? A food company? If that's what you think, then you deserve a finance guy making decisions on how to sell product.
You'll note that the well run companies use promotion and advertising to gain share. Price cutting is a slippery slope that tends to lead to more price cutting. It's a horrible way to grow a business unless the price cuts are offset by cost reductions as volume grows.
No, companies run by marketing professionals do not cut prices to introduce new products. They may offer coupons or some other discounting technique coupled with a big advertising budget, but costs are charged to marketing and not COGS.
Finance guy playing marketing guy resorts to price slashing to introduce products in new markets because he doesn't know any alternative. Price discounting results in unsustainable consumer expectations and price resistance when the price is increased. There is a difference. And it is meaningful. It's why marketing guy also gets paid the big bucks.
Wouldn't be surprised at all if Tom reads this thread from time to time. He might just stop in and say hello without any prompting from me.
I can assure you that if and when he finishes the deal by selling ENRG to Honeywell or someone else, he will be buying a rather large boat and shoving off for a well deserved long vacation. Tom had a boat when he lived on Miami Beach. Don't know if he still has one in St. Augustine.
Not surprised the C of C guy never heard of Tom. You have to know Tom to appreciate why. Tom works. That's what he does. He thinks and he works. He networks when he has to, but he's not going to a meeting to run a gauntlet of insurance agents, bankers, real estate agents and stock jockeys. That isn't Tom.
ENRG will be NASD listed within the year. Maybe sooner. Don't take my word for it. Just watch and wait. But you'll kick yourself in the butt if you don't own some of this when it goes through the roof.
I grabbed a few more shares today and I'll be happy to grab some more tomorrow if anyone want to dump. Tom is serious about this business. Try violating the patent provisions and see how fast Tom can jump.
Mouse - If I were doing proper DD I would hang out at the UPS store to see how many times a week Mr. Rickards checks his mail. I understand that scams are prone to check 2, 3 or 4 times a week. Real companies tend to check either 1 or 5 times or more.
I'd spend the rest of the month working on that if I were you. It's clear you have plenty of time on your hands to deal with stupid concerns like where the mail box is.
Do us all a favor - don't buy the stock, don't post, find somewhere else to invest. The rest of us seem to have a clue what ENRG is all about.
I don't care what anyone else thinks. The quarter was a major disappointment. Sam bought sales by dropping margins to a level at which he made no money. He can't market product so he resorted to price discounting. A really amateurish decision.
This is not encouraging. Just my opinion.
If you don't understand that ENRG is in the IP business and not the manufacturing business, then you should not be investing here. You obviously don't understand the business model. You don't understand how this company can thrive with a distributed work force and virtually no main office. You don't understand why a company like this can do $100 million in sales with just 10-15 employees.
If you want addresses and lots of bodies, buy stock in McDonalds. ENRG's business model is far more efficient and manageable. And because it has less assets and less people, it turns profitable all that much faster when revenue begins flowing in.
Welcome to everyone who just discovered this little gem. Today was a long time in the making, but I am certain it is far from the last act. Revenues should start in the next quarter, maybe two. It's going to be a lot of fun making some projections once we have a clue how the numbers look.
I can only tell you that CEO Rickards knows what he has and knows that the patents are worth a small fortune. The Yahoos and others are selling their patents for billions. I won't tell you ENRG's patents are worth that much, but I will tell you that once this product line gains some sales traction, those patents are going to grow in value by leaps and bounds.
Sometimes I think the product was invented to advertise the patents. Normally the products are the main focus of the company. In this case, I don't think so. I think the products are there to show people just how valuable the patents are. In a contest between product value and patent value, patent value has to be 2 to 4 times as much.
My employer maintains a post office box. We only have 255 employees, but the reason we keep a post office box is so we don't lose mail continuity if we outgrow our offices. It's also true that we are not a retail company and don't have a need to publicize our street address.
That said, if anyone has an issue as to ENRG's legitimacy, call the company. Call the auditor. Call the attorney. Call the SEC. Someone is paying about $50K per year for those audited financials. Scams don't upgrade to the BB. They stay pink.
And it just so happens that I know the CEO. I have a lot of money tied up in this myself. Tom Rickards is the real deal. But don't take my word for it. Anyone is free to verify references. ENRG will come out clean. I am absolutely certain of it.
Exit doors at a Who concert. You're showing your age, Pay. But if I remember correctly, it was open seating and they stampeded getting in, not out. I think the fire at the Great White concert in Rhode Island is a more appropriate description of how this might look for shareholders if that were to happen.
Both concert and IVFH incidents were/are avoidable.
It's just one of the issues that shareholders of IVFH have to deal with. Sam seems to take direction from no one. He kinda free forms it.
Sorry if you bought in at 1.4 cents or anything close to that. We'll be there some time around mid 2013 so you can get out even. This stock will increase 30 to 50% per year for the next three years. It's actually a very good rate, but if you are looking for a home run in 30 days, you came to the wrong place. That ain't Sam.
The Street.com lists IVFH earnings report due out on Monday. Time of day unspecified.
And how do we know the news is good? Wouldn't you assume good news would have been preceded by an announcement of earnings release, a conference call, something? Looks to me like Sam is trying to bury his earnings report.
Will he declare after the bell today? It's a Friday. And Sam will have almost no competition if he has good news because no one, absolutely no one, puts out good earnings on a Friday after the bell. Except Sam.
I will be very happy to pick up another 100K in the mid 60's. One of these days, even a guy like Sam does something right and this will pop again to 1.2 cents or so. Of course, it will retreat again because management is so concerned about maintaining control that an acquisition is out of the question.
Born, when you speak to Sam, do you get the impression that he has a clue? Or does he just parrot things that he was told or taught to say. If he has a clue, he hides it well.
Management at this company marches to its own beat. Think of them as managerially developmentally challenged. Wait until Sam buries an outstanding earnings report. If you liked the RS bomb, you'll love the Friday after the bell 8K.
Rational expectations, Grasshopper. Miracles are still a few years off.
Bought almost all my shares back. Thanks Sam. Think I'll grab another 100,000 or so and then wait for the next run. Sam, you make this too easy.
Last I looked, unless this stock has zero par value, a stock split always affects par value.
And just why would Sam want to discourage a take-over. Why does the Board assume that they have the right to discourage the majority of shareholders from realizing appreciation from a possible acquirer?
Unless a separate provision was made to increase the number of shares authorized, they are supposed to reflect any stock split. At least that's what my accounting classes always taught.
Anyone have a definite explanation?
But that's Sam. There are some things he obviously does well. He seems to be a fine negotiator with the company's debtors and others.
And then there's the 'if he was smarter, he could be an idiot' Sam. Ignoring and minimizing shareholder interest. Delaying a RS. Issuing positive earnings announcements after the close on Fridays. Not making a huge push to promote the molecular product lines when he is one of the few with the size and product to do so. There are times when Sam looks like a Junior Achievement flunk-out.
But we have to take the good with the bad. We have to tell him when he screws up and hope he understands what he's done wrong and why. If he doesn't read this board, shame on him. If he does, he might become a better CEO for it. All in all, we are right on the schedule I assumed more than a year ago. Don't expect monster growth from this company for another 2-3 years. But you will see decent growth of 30-60% annually. And that's not bad.
It made sense to do the RS as soon as possible after the shareholder vote approved it. I cannot imagine any scenario in which having this non-event hanging out there is a positive.
Let's not give Sam too much credit here. He's done a fine job dealing with the debtors and other internal issues. He has not been a superstar in terms of diversification, aggressively pushing growth, expanding margins, etc. He's done fine. But let's keep some perspective here. As far as this company has come, it is still one distributor cancellation away from immediate bankruptcy. There is much more work to do.
A RS does not have to be a negative event. In most cases it is simply because the company had to do a RS for one reason or another. Almost all companies doing a RS are in trouble. But that is not the case here.
The IVFH RS is strictly voluntary and part of the building process. Personally, I wonder why it has taken so long to announce the details and just do it already. But that's part of Sam's charm. He is utterly clueless when it comes to investor concerns and proves it on a weekly basis. Thankfully, he seems to be doing a decent job on other fronts, so all in all, this is a stock to own for the long haul. Just don't let hopes and expectations get ahead of reality. Sell when that happens. Buy when reality catches up.
Buying back in slowly. I was concerned there when the stock got to 1.4 cents that my flipping strategy had come to end and that I got out too early. But Sam is still in charge so we only have another year, maybe three before this really takes off.
Loading back up at these prices. Waiting for a decent Q1 report. Rinse and repeat. One of these days, I'm going to kick myself for selling way too early. I just hope I'm young enough to make it hurt when the time comes.
Wouldn't that require Sam to talk to us shareholders as if we were, what's the word I'm looking for, co-owners? That ain't gonna happen. Haven't you figured Sam out yet?
Yes, technically you are correct. Even if a large chunk of the income came from non-cash and non-operating income adjustments and a tax loss carry forward.
The picture is improving. Clearly. But there is more to be done. I don't see a massive breakout on this report.
Don't confuse EBITDA with net income. They are not the same. And EPS needs to be based on fully diluted, not primary shares. This pulls the numbers down considerably.
Yet even after all that, I estimate we are selling at 3.5 time earnings per share. That is still a great figure. This is easily worth a penny or more right now.
Took advantage of the huge spread today to sell near the high of the day and then buy it all back 25% cheaper just an hour later. Won't get rich playing this game, but it's all green.
Looking much nicer. Sam still needs to clean up the balance sheet as penny stock investors cannot deal with convertible debt. They can't price things cleanly.
RS coming. Should help. But Sam still has a lot more clean-up work to do. I can see this trading in the .009 to .013 range in just a few months. A good Q1 report should do the trick. It doesn't sound like much, but it's a 50% jump in maybe 90 days. Can't beat that.
Totally agree with Paytheask. This company should be priced higher, but no one knows it exists.
Yeah, last 10Q was not good. Losses where gains used to be. But if Sam is going to continue to build up these reports with the huge fanfare that has accompanied this one, we're going to need nodoz to stay awake to read the filing.
Looks like Sam will be showing his hand after the close tomorrow. Nothing like a Friday after the close earnings announcement to insure the deadest of reactions on Monday. Unless of course the announcement is as bad as last quarters, in which case no PR is the best PR.
I am that voice in your head. Next time we speak, I may communicate through the neighbor's dog. Be observant.
As for Sam - nothing's changed. Absolutely nothing.
Greatly enjoying Sam's new policy of keeping investors informed and involved. Things sure have changed.
I note in the per se filings by some of the Big Apple officers, that they conveniently neglect several red flags they should have noted as signs of possible fraud.
1) Plant continued to pay BA in stock despite having claiming to have millions in the bank.
2) Plant continued to offer BA additional stock for sale to raise cash above and beyond his routine fees despite his claim that he had millions in the bank.
3) After Plant issued two sets of financial statements obviously compiled by a person with virtually no accounting expertise, no one at BA inquired as to why there were so many mistakes on either press release. It is beyond comprehension that BA's own accountants could have compiled these obviously amateurish attempts at financial presentation.
4) No one at BA attempted to determine how Plant financed his purchases for the DHS. Given that Plant was incapable of running a business without BA's assistance, it is unreasonable that the poorly educated Plant could have completed a financing agreement without external help.
5) Having received a 'CyberKey' from Plant, I note it did not do what it was advertised to do. One has to question whether BA's executives ever truly tested the product samples they received from Plant to determine if they did what they were supposedly designed to do.
IMO, they are GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY. They should be banned from any and all activities involving public companies for the rest of their natural lives and fined a boatload of cash. I know from personal experience, a more arrogant and greedy bunch would be difficult to find. The term smarmy aptly describes each and every one of them.
Let me tell you the story. As I previously stated, I was supposed to work for Plant as his marketing director. Plant had me sign a three year NDA when I was recruited. I quit just a few months after starting when I realized Plant was a pathological liar. Unfortunately, Plant threatened me with a lawsuit if I told anyone what I had experienced.
This was just prior to his announcement that he had the contract with the DHS. I kept my mouth shut fearing that Plant had milions behind him and could bankrupt me with legal fees. As much as I knew Plant to be a liar, even I had no idea that he would be so brazen as to lie about a government contract. He had hinted just prior to my departure that he had family friends within the Bush Admin who could get him this deal. Plant was building his story for his people. It seemed plausible, so I was very hesitant to challenge him on it.
When he put out the first set of Junior Achievement financials, I smelled a rat. Still, it was conceivable to me that between The Idiot Heaton and Plant, neither could put together a proper income statement and balance sheet. I chalked it up to stupidity and not an outright fraud. When it became clear that Plant was still selling stock to raise cash while he said he had millions in the bank, I knew something was wrong. But I still had a few months to go on the NDA so I stayed silent.
When the second set of financials came out, I knew something was drastically wrong. No one, not even those two morons, would issue financials that looked like a third grader put them together. I questioned why someone with millions in the bank wouldn't hire someone with a 12th grade education or better to put together a proper financial statement.
Still, I couldn't prove anything. Heaton said nothing yet he was still listed as the CFO. Surely something was wrong but I wasn't sure what. The SEC charge was surprising but it explained everything. I have worked for many small companies in my career. Every small company CEO checks the bank accounts several times a week. It just isn't possible that his bookkeeper was fooling him. It had to be collusion between the two of them.
How Heaton avoided prosecution is the only mystery here. He was an officer. He had to know or had to be doing absolutely nothing. Perhaps they investigated and found that he was strictly a figurehead. Or maybe they found that he was mentally incompetent. It's not for me to say. I just know that if people were doing their jobs at CKYS, then many people knew what Plant was doing and chose to say nothing.
Born - Many thanks for attending the meeting and letting Sam know that shareholders need some care and feeding at times also. It would do Sam well to pay some attention to shareholder questions and concerns.
If you've never been to an annual meeting of a minor company, what you observed is quite common. I attended an annual meeting of a small NYSE company that used to be headquartered in Great Neck, Long Island. I was 10 minutes late because I was lost (no GPS in those days). The meeting was 3/4 over when I got there. They had 3 times as many donuts as they had people show up. One softball question was asked that was so easy even Larry King would have found it amusing. Meeting ended about 14 minutes after it started.
From what I've seen, this is far more common than the zoo for a Warren Buffet annual meeting or a ATT annual event.
Let's see if Sam is a bit more forthcoming on updates and info. I have my doubts. It's not his style.