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Windsomme, there are approximately 1,300,000 lawyers and some 3000 mafia members/associates in the U.S. today. No matter how often we manage to displace one from the FPFX feeding trough, a new one inevitably takes the spot.
Six years after elements of the Philadelphia mob loot and bankrupt FPFX, the SEC sets hearing on whether to revoke or suspend trading. Thank goodness for government watchdogs!
http://www.sec.gov/news/digest/2013/dig082613.htm
Hold the water: Some firms fracking without it
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/08/26/hold-the-water-some-firms-fracking-without-it/
BO3?
Despite "Austerity" Greek Debt Is Rising At Its Fastest Rate Since March 2010
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-26/despite-austerity-greek-debt-rising-its-fastest-rate-march-2010
Excerpt from 4 Traders article
Online Publishing Heats Up
"Mr. Bezos' confidence in unlocking the value of the Washington Post's content has left many investors looking for other undervalued online publishers. While other newspapers like The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) and Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI) are possibilities, investors may want to consider lesser known online publishers like CrowdGather Inc. (OTCQB: CRWG), a micro-cap operator of online forums and social media properties.
CrowdGather is interesting for a couple of different reasons that investors may want to carefully consider. First, its forums generated an average of 155 million monthly page views and 12.4 million monthly unique visitors during Q4 2013, with more than 75 million discussions and 1.5 billion individual replies, making it a much larger publisher than its market capitalization would suggest and comparable in unique visitors to WashingtonPost.com.
Second, Zack's Research found that these forum visitors are 3.5x more likely to recommend a particular purchase; 3.5x more likely to share links about a new product; 2x as likely to share discussions offline and in-person based on information read online; and 4x more likely to post online ratings and reviews of products that are found and discussed in online forums. These attributes make them more valuable to advertisers and could pave the way towards above-market CPM rates.
And third, CrowdGather?s stock trades with a price-book ratio of just 0.2x, compared to 4.3x for its industry, and a price-sales ratio of just 1.8x, compared to 6.1x for its industry. These figures suggest that investors can acquire the stock for less than the value of its net assets. Moreover, insiders like CEO Sanjay Sabnani have bought stock at much higher levels, while institutional investors like John Hancock Fund have acquired more than 10% of its shares.
Key Takeaway Points
Jeff Bezos' interest in the Washington Post?s newspaper business signals a renewed interest in online publishing. With Internet advertising continuing to break new highs, the underlying trend appears to be skewed towards online growth, but many publishers have yet to figure out how to effectively monetize content. The success of Mr. Bezos remains to be seen, but the financial markets will certainly be watching the Internet entrepreneur with great anticipation.
CrowdGather is unique in that it has a very large audience - approaching the size of WashingtonPost.com - that is extremely valuable to advertisers. While online forums are difficult to monetize, the company?s management has developed an innovative platform designed to efficiently boost CPM rates. And for investors, the stock itself trades at a significant discount to its peers with insiders and institutional holders already having built positions at higher levels."
http://www.4-traders.com/CROWDGATHER-INC-2995644/news/CrowdGather-Inc--Bezos-Washington-Post-Purchase-Heats-Up-Market-for-Online-Publishers-17209659/
Welcome humble. Hopefully, we'll soon have a lively board here with the upcoming RICO trial(s).
Interesting volume without news yesterday. Hopefully, we continue the "Uptrend".
You may be right about the odd trading activity, and I suspect only the company insiders, and maybe a few key shareholders, know what is really going on with CMTX. I think they probably made the right decision in going "pink", but it would be nice for us few remaining small investors if they would provide some type of disclosure at otcmarkets.com. Please post anything you find out if you are able to visit their offices.
http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/CMTX/quote
August 5, 2013
CORRECTED: Accountant Cops Plea In Mafia Takeover Of Texas Lender
A Pennsylvania accountant on Thursday pled guilty to a conspiracy to commit fraud charge in New Jersey federal court tied to his role in the allegedly extortionate takeover of FirstPlus Financial Group Inc., a Texas-based mortgage lender federal prosecutors say was bankrupted by members of the Lucchese organized crime family. Correction: An earlier story incorrectly reported the charges to which Drossner pled guilty. The error has been corrected.
PENNSYLVANIA ACCOUNTANT COPS PLEA IN MAFIOSA TAKEOVER OF TEXAS-BASED NEW JERSEY LENDER
Law360, By Joshua Alston, 08/03/13
Law360, New York (August 02, 2013, 10:23 PM ET) -- A Pennsylvania accountant on Thursday pled guilty to racketeering and fraud charges in New Jersey federal court tied to his role in the allegedly extortionate takeover of FirstPlus Financial Group Inc., a Texas-based mortgage lender federal prosecutors say was bankrupted by members of the Lucchese organized crime family.
Howard A. Drossner, a cofounder of the Elkins Park, Pa.-based accounting firm Siegal and Drossner PC, pled guilty to a count of racketeering conspiracy and a count of securities fraud in connection with an October 2011 indictment.
http://www.law360.com/whitecollar/articles/462242/accountant-cops-plea-in-mafia-takeover-of-texas-lender
Trade! 147 shares at 2.00 (with the ask at $190)
Not sure whether to laugh or to cry.
http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/CMTX/quote
At this point, almost everything is pure speculation, but there is at least the appearance of a sound business plan. I certainly hope they have enough financing already, because each round damages the share price further. The Seeking Alpha article linked below sums up the situation as well as anything I have seen so far, but no one should doubt the highly speculative nature of this enterprise.
American Vanadium Is The Watch List Stock Of The Year
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1584652-american-vanadium-is-the-watch-list-stock-of-the-year
We interrupt your regularly scheduled program, "Watching the Grass Grow", to bring you this important bulletin!
July 30, 2013 10:37 ET
Electronic Control Security, Inc. Releases Update on Contract Award Activity
CLIFTON, NJ--(Marketwired - Jul 30, 2013) - Electronic Control Security, Inc. (OTCBB: EKCS) (ECSI), a global leader in state-of-the-art integrated entry control and perimeter security systems, today released an update on its contract award activity.
Arthur Barchenko, President & CEO, stated that "we are confident in the government sector over the next five years based on the contracts that have been awarded and now appear to be finally moving forward."
On July 10, 2013, ECSI received notice that its prime contractor, ITSI Gilbane Company, on an Access Control Point (ACP) Design-Build bid was awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers valued up to $230 million. The prime contract includes a 24 month base period of performance and three 12-month options. ECSI is awaiting subsequent task orders. As a small business, ECSI will have the opportunity to bid on a small business percentage goal of 51.43% of planned subcontracting dollars that the prime contractor has allocated under this contract. During the base period, $7,200,000 is planned to be subcontracted to ECSI and the other small business on the team. For Option Year 1, 2 and 3 respectively, $3,600,000 is planned to be subcontracted to ECSI and the other small business on the team. ECSI's performance scope, dependent on task orders, will include site surveys, design and engineering, procurement and fabrication, integration, factory acceptance testing, installation supervision, commissioning, training, and depot level support.
Mr. Barchenko further stated, "On July 19, 2012, VT Milcom was awarded a prime contract under the SPAWAR National Capital Region (NCR) Security Engineering Support contract. ECSI is a subcontractor to VT Milcom on this contract. On July 16, 2013, ECSI participated in a site survey as part of a task order bid under this contract. If the task order is awarded to VT Milcom, ECSI will be responsible for site surveys, recommendation reports and installation design packages."
Prior to the NCR award, ECSI was awarded a SeaPort-e prime contract for a wide range of engineering, technical and programmatic services and solutions. Functional areas may include: Engineering, System Engineering and Process Engineering Support; Prototyping, Pre-Production, Model-Making, and Fabrication Support; System Design Documentation and Technical Data Support; Configuration Management (CM) Support; Quality Assurance (QA) Support.
As previously announced on October 24, 2012, ECSI received a contract worth up to $7.8 million to supply security systems and support services for the U.S. Navy. The contract includes a 5-year period of performance. Anticipated task orders include requirements for electronic security systems (access control systems, intrusion detection systems, surveillance systems, command and control equipment) and support services (design and engineering, fabrication and assembly, systems integration, testing and training, logistics and maintenance support).
As previously announced on February 22, 2013, ECSI was awarded a U.S. Navy prime contract with a contract ceiling of $249,590,000 over a five year period of performance. There are 13 awardees under the contract. While no assurance can be provided, ECSI anticipates capturing at least 10% of the task orders to be issued under this contract. The scope of this contract covers the entire spectrum of non-inherently governmental services and solutions (equipment and services) associated with the full system lifecycle support including research, development, test, evaluation, production and fielding of sustainable, secure, survivable, and interoperable Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Combat Systems, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (C5ISR), information operations, Enterprise Information Services (EIS) and space capabilities.
Mr. Barchenko added that, "ECSI's expected share of these task orders under these ID/IQ contracts is valued at $26.3 million and is expected to flow during Fiscal 2014 through at least 2017."
About ECSI
ECSI is a global leader in entry control and perimeter security and a quality provider to the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, nuclear power stations, and other large commercial-industrial complexes. The Company designs, manufactures and markets physical electronic security systems for high-profile, high-threat environments utilizing risk assessment and analysis to determine and address the security needs of its customers. Teaming agreements with major system integrators enable ECSI to support the installation and aftermarket of its products in the U.S. and overseas. ECSI is located at 790 Bloomfield Avenue, Bldg. C-1, Clifton, NJ 07012. Tel: 973-574-8555; Fax: 973-574-8562. For more information on ECSI and its customers, please visit http://www.ecsiinternational.com.
ECSI INTERNATIONAL, INC. SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial uncertainties and risks. These forward-looking statements are based upon our current expectations, estimates and projections about our business and our industry and reflect our beliefs and assumptions based upon information available to us at the date of this release. We caution readers that forward-looking statements are predictions based on our current expectations about future events. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including but not limited to the risk that the Company will not be awarded any work under task orders on these Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contracts and hence will not realize any revenues or that the task orders awarded will be less than expected or anticipated, changes in economic conditions generally and in our industry specifically, actual purchase orders being received under the contract, timely delivery by us of the purchase orders which may be received and timely receipt by us of payment in respect of such orders, acceptance of our proposals, changes in security technology, receipt and timing of collections from purchase orders, legislative or regulatory changes that affect us, the availability of working capital, changes in costs and the availability of goods and services, the introduction of competing products, changes in our operating strategy or development plans, sufficiency of cash reserves and the risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading "RISK FACTORS" in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement for any reason.
Contact Information
FOR CONTACT:
Daryl Holcomb
(973) 574-8555
Weiss Watchdog, a free service of Weiss Research, Inc, just upgraded Nokia from D to D+. I know it doesn't sound like much, but Weiss is normally a very conservative analyst.
http://www.weisswatchdog.com/
Of course you're correct in terms of the current business results which are clearly unsustainable without more equity debt and dilution, or greatly improved performance. The recent momentum in the stock price and volume may be totally unjustified, but such activity is usually based on specific knowledge - albeit possibly apocryphal - of future events and/or performance. Time will tell and a lower stock price is a clear risk. The only possible reason for investing in this enterprise is the admittedly remote possibility of some surprise development which propels the stock unexpectedly - "long odds" gambling, pure and simple.
Now we'll need some positive news about the business plan to keep the current momentum going. Hopefully, they saved a little dry powder.
First look.
CrowdGather, Inc. Announces 2013 Year End Results and Update on Corporate Restructuring Plan
Date : 07/24/2013 @ 8:30AM
Source : Business Wire
Stock : Crowdgather, Inc. (QB) (CRWG)
Quote : 0.0875 0.0 (0.00%) @ 5:33AM
CrowdGather, Inc. Announces 2013 Year End Results and Update on Corporate Restructuring Plan
Print
Alert
Crowdgather, Inc. (QB) (USOTC:CRWG)
Intraday Stock Chart
Today : Wednesday 24 July 2013
Click Here for more Crowdgather, Inc. (QB) Charts.
One of the leading networks of forum communities on the Internet, CrowdGather, Inc. (OTCQB:CRWG) today announced financial results for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2013.
For the fiscal year ended April 30, 2013, the Company reported revenues of $1,933,298, compared to revenues of $1,932,798 reported for fiscal 2012. Gross profit for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2013, was $1,880,493, an increase of 4% from the $1,811,464 reported for fiscal 2012. Net loss for the 2013 fiscal year was $2,782,451 or $.05 per share, versus a net loss of $3,106,723 or $.05 for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2012.
CrowdGather ended fiscal 2013 with approximately $0.4 million of cash and $14.4 million of shareholders’ equity.
The Company remains fully dedicated to its restructuring plan, and has slashed operating expenses from $4.0 million to $2.5 million on an annualized basis. The Company’s net burn has been reduced to approximately $60,000 per month from over $120,000 per month prior to execution of the restructuring plan. The Company continues to diligently review all costs and expects additional savings in the coming months.
Pursuant to the previously disclosed securities purchase agreement, dated April 8, 2013, and as amended on July 16, 2013, the Company expects to close an additional $150,000 in proceeds for 150,000 shares of Preferred Stock by August 2, 2013, in addition to the $150,000 in proceeds received on July 16, 2013 for 150,000 shares of Preferred Stock. The current Preferred Stock investor has the right of first refusal on the remaining, unallocated 400,000 shares of Preferred Stock, until October 12, 2013.
“We are pleased to report stable results for fiscal 2013 despite working with fewer resources as a result of our restructuring plan,” said Sanjay Sabnani, CrowdGather’s Chairman and CEO. “We believe we have built a stable foundation upon which to build additional high-margin revenue growth. We are preparing to optimize our network of forums across desktop and mobile devices to earn greater revenues and capitalize on higher advertising rates during the upcoming fall and winter holiday seasons. We are also continuing our cost reduction efforts and we have carefully managed and reduced our net cash burn by over 50%. Additionally, we are continuing with the development of our advertising marketplace, and still anticipate that full deployment of the platform may contribute to revenues by the end of calendar year 2013.”
Sabnani continued, “Our entire focus is on improving the financial and operating metrics of our business and towards that end, we are willing to rapidly shift resources from non-performing assets to those that provide a sustainable return. As the summer months are typically our slowest, both in terms of users online and lower advertising payouts, we do not anticipate any lift during the current first quarter of fiscal 2014. However, we believe that the net cash burn toward the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2014 will be closer to approximately $50,000 per month, and in the coming fall and winter, when momentum returns to the online advertising marketplace, we believe an increase of approximately $50,000 per month in revenues from current levels will put the company into breakeven territory.”
During April 2013, the Company reached over 150 million monthly page views across all properties, and had over 12 million monthly unique visitors according to Google Analytics.
During the third quarter of fiscal 2013, CrowdGather also received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a patent application for systems and methods of targeted advertising. The claims underlying this patent relate to a system for generating targeted advertisement recommendations based upon the social momentum between associated keywords.
Here's a current mention of EKCS, albeit with little new information other than than the fact they still exist, but in the current environment that may be saying a lot.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/216537851_Defense_companies_adapt_to_sequester_cuts.html?c=y&page=1
AMERICAN VANADIUM ANNOUNCES ENERGY STORAGE AND RENEWABLE MICROGRID INITIATIVE FOR REMOTE COMMUNITIES ACROSS NORTHERN CANADA
ROBERT NAULT, FORMER CANADIAN MINISTER OF ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS,TO LEAD INITIATIVE
July 22, 2013 - AMERICAN VANADIUM CORP. (“American Vanadium” or the “Company”) (TSX.V: AVC)
(OTCQX: AVCVF) announces it has engaged Hon. Robert Nault to develop energy storage and renewable microgrids for remote communities and First Nations in Canada and the United States. This is a key initiative for American Vanadium which recently became the Master Sales Agent in North America for Gildemeister’s CellCube energy storage system, the world’s leading vanadium redox flow battery. “Currently there are hundreds of communities across the United States and Canada that are operating off grid and relying on very expensive diesel generation” said Ron MacDonald, Executive Chairman of American Vanadium. “These communities pay, both directly and indirectly, more for their power than anywhere else in North America, even with government subsidies and programs. We are honored to be able to attract the talent and expertise of Robert Nault who is respected by the Aboriginal communities and government alike, to develop the plan we will execute together using the CellCube energy storage systems.” “Clean and sustainable energy is of vital importance to the prosperity of Aboriginal communities as well as North America’s economic and environmental future,” said Robert “Bob” Nault, who served as Canada’s Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development from 1999 to 2003. “I look forward to working with American Vanadium to offer renewable energy generation combined with their CellCube energy storage system as a viable means for meeting community needs, as well as contributing to Canada’s future electrical supply to serve First Nations.
Perhaps the recent activity has something to do with the upcoming 10K due at the end of this month.
Second quarter 2013 highlights:
Nokia Group non-IFRS EPS in Q2 2013 was EUR 0.00; reported EPS was EUR -0.06.
- Nokia Group achieved underlying operating profitability for the fourth consecutive quarter, with a Q2 non-IFRS
operating margin of 5.3%, driven by strong performance of Nokia Siemens Networks.
- Nokia Group ended Q2 with a strong balance sheet and solid cash position, with gross cash of EUR 9.5 billion
and net cash of EUR 4.1 billion. Nokia Siemens Networks’ contribution to Nokia Group gross and net cash was
EUR 2.5 billion and EUR 1.4 billion respectively.
- Nokia Siemens Networks achieved underlying profitability for the fifth consecutive quarter, with a Q2 non-IFRS
operating margin of 11.8%, reflecting record non-IFRS gross margin and continued progress relative to its
strategy. This exceeded the earlier expectation for Nokia Siemens Networks non-IFRS operating margin to be
approximately 5%, plus or minus four percentage points.
- Devices & Services achieved Q2 non-IFRS operating margin of negative 1.2%, which was consistent with the
earlier expectation for approximately negative 2%, plus or minus four percentage points.
- HERE achieved Q2 non-IFRS operating margin of 3.4%. This exceeded the earlier expectation for a negative
non-IFRS operating margin.
Nokia Group net sales in Q2 2013 were EUR 5.7 billion, down 3% quarter-on-quarter
- Nokia Siemens Networks Q2 net sales decreased 1% quarter-on-quarter to EUR 2.8 billion, reflecting Nokia
Siemens Networks’ focused strategy.
- Devices & Services Q2 net sales decreased 6% quarter-on-quarter to EUR 2.7 billion.
- Lumia Q2 volumes increased 32% quarter-on-quarter to 7.4 million units, reflecting strong demand
from customers for a broadened Lumia product range.
- Mobile Phones Q2 volumes decreased 4% quarter-on-quarter to 53.7 million units, but demonstrated
some signs of recovery in the latter part of the quarter.
- HERE Q2 net sales increased 8% quarter-on-quarter to EUR 0.2 billion.
http://www.results.nokia.com/results/Nokia_results2013Q2e.pdf
Do market makers ever load inventory for their own speculation, based on increased activity of a particular stock rather than on active orders coming in from outside? As I say, I'm relatively clueless about how market makers work their magic.
Trading has slowed down dramatically, but the volume is already above the 10 day average
I'm pretty clueless on the subject of why marketmakers do what they do, but ETRF just moved their bid up to .08 from .07. Previously, CSTI had the only bid above .07.
Good point, and no one should ever doubt the extreme riskiness of this investment.
Over 50,000 shares traded at or above the ask in the first 4 minutes of trading.
This is purely SPECULATION on my part, but an investment service called "SmarTrend" issued a public press release on July 12th concerning CRWG in which they IMPLIED they were reviewing the company for a possible "Uptrend" in the share price. I am, therefore, SPECULATING the public release MAY have been associated with a PRIVATE subscriber alert about CRWG. I have followed (NOT SUBSCRIBED) the "SmarTrend" brand for several years due to a prior investment in CMTX (Comtex News Network, Inc) which owns the service. Its principal investment advisor, Chip Brian, claims to be very successful in picking winners - based on specific examples and subscriber testimonials, provided from time to time in subscription solicitations I receive. I have provided the news release and appropriate links below. Please remember, this is all SPECULATION on my part.
"SmarTrend recommended that its subscribers protect gains by selling shares of CrowdGather on June 28th, 2012 by issuing a Downtrend alert when the shares were trading at $0.23. Since that call, shares of CrowdGather have fallen 81.1%. We are now looking for when a new Uptrend will commence and will alert SmarTrend subscribers in real time."
https://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2013/07/12/7270465.htm
(Scroll about three-fourths of the way day page)
http://www.comtex.com/investment.aspx
http://www.mysmartrend.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/chipbrian
The last two sales were slipped in during the final 2 minutes of regular trading at .086 (6,100) and .081 (18,900) - effectively painting the tape to show a lower final price than the previous 40 minutes above .10. Hopefully, tomorrow's trading will confirm the legitimacy of this rally.
Volume and price action today suggests something positive may in the works, and as usual, some people seem to have advance knowledge and trade on it. Of course, that "knowledge" could be incorrect or even false, but if we do get news this week, I'll have a hard time believing today's trading was just a coincidence.
This seems to be very solid news. Perhaps there was really something behind that spike to .60 in January.
AMERICAN VANADIUM TO EXHIBIT AND PRESENT AT INTERSOLAR NORTH AMERICA
http://www.intersolar.us/en/visitor-service-north-america/exhibitor-list/exhibitors.html?tx_exhibitorsv2fe_pi1[page]=detail&tx_exhibitorsv2fe_pi1[tab]=exhibitors&tx_exhibitorsv2fe_pi1[id]=18992
No wonder the Germans want their gold back from the New York Fed.
Draghi says rates will remain low for extended period
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/04/us-ecb-rates-outlook-idUSBRE9630DR20130704
Anyone up for a game of Dominoes?
Cyprus ‘defaulted’ on debt – Moody’s
http://rt.com/business/moodys-cyprus-default-debt-530/
Portugal Stocks Tumble as Political Crisis Worsens
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100861947
Italian, Spanish Debt Costs Leap as Markets Fret Over Stimulus
http://www.moneynews.com/markets/italy-spain-debt-economy/2013/06/25/id/511742#ixzz2XyfMp0dB
Urgent: Should Obamacare Be Repealed? Vote Here Now!
Okay, I'll bite. What's up with SAND today?
The ongoing equity financing keeps knocking the stock price down, but presumably they need it to fuel the business plan. I would guess .70 will be the resistance level until a revenue oriented press release comes out.
American Vanadium Announces Equity Financing of up to $2.5 Million
http://resourceinvestingnews.com/57867-american-vanadium-announces-equity-financing-of-up-to-2-5-million.html
Nokia to fully acquire Siemens' stake in Nokia Siemens
http://press.nokia.com/2013/07/01/nokia-to-fully-acquire-siemens-stake-in-nokia-siemens-networks/#sthash.wfLA2SVL.dpuf
Nokia Mugs Siemens
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1529092-nokia-mugs-siemens
Perhaps there is something to this strategy after all.
http://seekingalpha.com/currents/post/1087962
You can probably add a few more percentage points of potential today - compliments of the BOJ, et al.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/11/markets-japan-stocks-idUSL3N0EN13D20130611
It already happened, and, trust me, you're not going to like it.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/08/120820-helix-wind-collapse/