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Axion International appoints two new board members
Axion International appoints two new board members
Sep. 23, 2010 (M2 Communications Ltd.) --
Recycled plastic building products supplier Axion International (OTCBB:AXIH) reported on Wednesday the appointments of Perry Jacobson and Michael Dodd to its board of directors.
Jacobson is managing director at Brookstone Partners and previously was a specialist on the New York Stock Exchange from 1982 to 2004.
Dodd serves as CEO of 3D Global Solutions, prior to which he was a managing director of the Federal Technology Group of Audio Visual Innovations Inc.
(Comments on this story may be sent to info@m2.com)
Source: M2 Presswire (September 23, 2010 - 4:26 AM EDT)
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ViryaNet partners with Vodafone UK to provide mobile workforce management solution to Molson Coors
ViryaNet partners with Vodafone UK to provide mobile workforce management solution to Molson Coors
Sep. 23, 2010 (M2 Communications Ltd.) --
Mobile workforce management solutions supplier ViryaNet Ltd (OTCBB:VRYAF.OB) has announced it is working with mobile network operator Vodafone UK to help brewery Molson Coors (UK) improve the efficiency of its maintenance service for customers.
No financial details were disclosed.
According to the company, the ViryaNet G4 solution is hosted and managed by Vodafone UK and is part of the company’s field service management application for mobile devices. It will help 170 field service engineers manage their customers’ maintenance requests faster and more effectively, enabling Molson Coors (UK) to deliver more efficient service to its customers.
Molson Coors technicians will be able to report job status, update customer records and access site information, as well performing on-site maintenance. By optimising scheduling and automating field service processes, the company will be able to respond more quickly with technicians who are better equipped to complete the job.
(Comments on this story may be sent to tww.feedback@m2.com)
Source: M2 Presswire (September 23, 2010 - 4:30 AM EDT)
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ViryaNet partners with Vodafone UK to provide mobile workforce management solution to Molson Coors
ViryaNet partners with Vodafone UK to provide mobile workforce management solution to Molson Coors
Sep. 23, 2010 (M2 Communications Ltd.) --
Mobile workforce management solutions supplier ViryaNet Ltd (OTCBB:VRYAF.OB) has announced it is working with mobile network operator Vodafone UK to help brewery Molson Coors (UK) improve the efficiency of its maintenance service for customers.
No financial details were disclosed.
According to the company, the ViryaNet G4 solution is hosted and managed by Vodafone UK and is part of the company’s field service management application for mobile devices. It will help 170 field service engineers manage their customers’ maintenance requests faster and more effectively, enabling Molson Coors (UK) to deliver more efficient service to its customers.
Molson Coors technicians will be able to report job status, update customer records and access site information, as well performing on-site maintenance. By optimising scheduling and automating field service processes, the company will be able to respond more quickly with technicians who are better equipped to complete the job.
(Comments on this story may be sent to tww.feedback@m2.com)
Source: M2 Presswire (September 23, 2010 - 4:30 AM EDT)
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ViryaNet partners with Vodafone UK to provide mobile workforce management solution to Molson Coors
ViryaNet partners with Vodafone UK to provide mobile workforce management solution to Molson Coors
Sep. 23, 2010 (M2 Communications Ltd.) --
Mobile workforce management solutions supplier ViryaNet Ltd (OTCBB:VRYAF.OB) has announced it is working with mobile network operator Vodafone UK to help brewery Molson Coors (UK) improve the efficiency of its maintenance service for customers.
No financial details were disclosed.
According to the company, the ViryaNet G4 solution is hosted and managed by Vodafone UK and is part of the company’s field service management application for mobile devices. It will help 170 field service engineers manage their customers’ maintenance requests faster and more effectively, enabling Molson Coors (UK) to deliver more efficient service to its customers.
Molson Coors technicians will be able to report job status, update customer records and access site information, as well performing on-site maintenance. By optimising scheduling and automating field service processes, the company will be able to respond more quickly with technicians who are better equipped to complete the job.
(Comments on this story may be sent to tww.feedback@m2.com)
Source: M2 Presswire (September 23, 2010 - 4:37 AM EDT)
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Encore Renaissance Negotiating for Property in New Gold Belt Discovery in Tanzania
Encore Renaissance Negotiating for Property in New Gold Belt Discovery in Tanzania
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Sep. 23, 2010 (Marketwire) -- ENCORE RENAISSANCE RESOURCES CORP. (TSX VENTURE:EZ) (FRANKFURT:OUH1) (PINK SHEETS:ERRCF) Encore Renaissance Resources Corp. (the "Company" ) announces that in recognition of its management team's experience and presence in Tanzania, the Company has identified a prospective property adjacent to the Canaco (CAN-V) property in the Handeni area of Tanzania. The property borders the western boundary of the Canaco property.
The Company is currently negotiating the terms to acquire an option to purchase a 80% interest in the property.
On September 13, 2010 Canaco announced significant new exploration developments including the identification of important new parallel trends of gold mineralization and discovery of a new mineralized zone five kilometres W/NW of the Magambazi Gold Discovery. Early results from the regional exploration on the Handeni Gold Trend indicate the work program has already made significant progress in identifying new gold targets and upgrading the potential of previously identified gold zones. Over the past month, the regional program has included over 3000 metres of Reverse Circulation ("RC") drilling, approximately 10,000 metres of reconnaissance Rotary Air Blast ("RAB") drilling, a detailed airborne survey, detailed mapping of some of the key target areas defined to date and geochemical interpretation. The Handeni Gold trend is now recognized as consisting of two, parallel gold trends with a combined strike length of over 15 kilometres (Source: Canaco Resources).
Significant drill results have recently been reported by Canaco, in their 2010-09-17 News Release:
Canaco drills 27 m of 4.29 g/t Au at Magambazi
Results from the project continue to provide steady growth to the mineralization at Magambazi with new intercepts from the high-grade shoot component of the Magambazi Main lode, including:
-- 15.6 metres at 6.6 grams per tonne gold (MGZD0082), including 10.6 metres at 8.39 g/t gold (Section 60,560N). Results from the Magambazi Central area include: -- 27 metres at 4.29 g/t gold (MGZD0079), including 14 metres at 6.21 g/t gold; -- 18 metres at 3.4 g/t gold (MGZD0076), including 7.3 metres at 5.7 g/t gold; -- 18.4 metres at 3.01 g/t gold (MGZD0077), including 4.9 metres at 6.45 g/t gold.
The new results from Magambazi Central are from 80-metre-spaced infill drilling of sections previously spaced at 120 to 200 metres and prove the continuity of the Magambazi Main lode to be over 860 metres of strike and still remaining open to the north.
A program of sampling the wall rocks above and around the Magambazi Main lode has defined an important new zone of mineralization in hangingwall gneiss, approximately 100 metres above the Magambazi Main lode, with the intercept of nine metres at 1.13 g/t gold (MGZD0010, from 81 metres). These results confirm the presence of mineralization in a new geological setting at Magambazi, and sampling of the hangingwall gneiss along the 860-metre strike length is in progress to define additional mineralization within the Magambazi system.
Exploration is gaining momentum with the diamond drilling capacity now at approximately 4,000 metres a month, increasing to approximately 5,500 metres with the arrival of a third rig in the near future. Extensional drilling to the north and exploration drilling testing the targets on the western side of Magambazi Hill will be combined with infill drilling along the trend in the coming months".- end quote
Canaco may have a major discovery, including 23 metres of 19.14 grams per tonne gold (see Canaco news release in Stockwatch of July 12, 2010), on their Handeni Tanzanian property. This discovery has created significant market attention recently in regard to Tanzania. Our immediate plan is to aggressively explore this project.
In April 2010, TD Newcrest, A Division of TD Securities, initiated coverage of Canaco Resources and announced a speculative buy recommendation with a $1.25 target price. They now believe that $175/oz is an appropriate resource multiple given the forecast high grade/low cost nature of the ounces discovered to date by Canaco. They have revised their target price to $6 per share and maintain their speculative buy rating.
Encore Renaissance expects to conclude negotiations, within the next 10 days, and will announce the terms of the agreement, in that time.
Exploration work, at Encore Renaissance's own White Gold Yukon Property is presently underway. See EZ press release, Sept 17, 2010: "Encore Joins White Gold Area Goldrush, Yukon Territory".
Encore Renaissance is enthusiastic about their Bonaparte, Yukon and Tanzanian projects.
Encore Renaissance will be updating and reporting developments, at the Bonaparte Gold Project and Yukon Exploration, over the next 3 weeks.
Michael Mulberry, President and Director
The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the content of this press release.
Encore Renaissance Resources Corp. President and Director 778-994-6453 or 778-891-2702 Encore Renaissance Resources Corp. Suite 809 - 27 Alexander Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 1B27 info@encorerenaissance.com www.encorerenaissance.com
Source: Marketwire Canada (September 23, 2010 - 5:00 AM EDT)
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Canasia Industries Corporation: Bulk Sampling Now Underway at Clone Gold Prospect
Canasia Industries Corporation: Bulk Sampling Now Underway at Clone Gold Prospect
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Sep. 23, 2010 (Marketwire) -- Canasia Industries Corporation ("Canasia" and the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:CAJ)(PINK SHEETS:CANSF)(FRANKFURT:45C) wishes to announce that it has been informed by the operator of the Clone Gold Prospect that bulk sampling is now underway. To date ten tons of material has been shipped to Stewart for testing and an additional 18 tons are stockpiled at the drill site. Initial assays from this sample are anticipated to be received within 3-6 weeks.
At this time cores from the first four holes have been shipped to the lab for assaying. It is anticipated that it will be a minimum of 10-14 days before these initial assays are received back, which is a standard time frame.
Negar Adam, president of Canasia stated, "We are pleased to have the bulk sampling now underway and we are optimistic regarding the results from this and from the drill holes that have been completed so far."
If you would like to be added to Canasia's news distribution list, please send your email address to info@canasiaind.com.
Canasia has a well diversified portfolio of prospects. Canasia's current prospects include the following: (a) the Clone Gold prospect in Stewart, BC, that has returned grades as high as 44.75 g/t Au over 12.80 metres (announced October 22, 2009); (b) the Debut Gold prospect in NE Nevada; (c) 55,300 contiguous acres at Reed Lake, Manitoba; (d) significant acreage of Potash claims, bordering Alberta and Saskatchewan, which has been optioned out; (e) 130,500 acres prospective for Coal in SE Saskatchewan; (f) 180,000 acres prospective for Lithium in Alberta; (g) and mineral claims covering an area of approximately 9,200 hectares, located within the El Oro -- Tlalpujahua Gold/Silver belt in the states of Guanajuato and Michoacan, Mexico.
Negar Adam, President, Director
Canasia Industries Corporation
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
Canasia Industries Corporation President, Director 1-877-225-6755 1-604-689-1733 (FAX) info@canasiaind.com www.canasiaind.com
Source: Marketwire Canada (September 23, 2010 - 3:01 AM EDT)
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UnderSea Recovery Corporation Invited to Port-au-Prince, Republic of Haiti for Important Meeting
UnderSea Recovery Corporation Invited to Port-au-Prince, Republic of Haiti for Important Meeting
Sep. 22, 2010 (GlobeNewswire) --
ATLANTA, Sept. 22, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UnderSea Recovery Corporation ("UNSR") (Pink Sheets:LGAL) announced today that it has been invited to meet with the senior government officials of the Republic of Haiti on Friday, September 24, 2010 in the capital city of Port-au-Prince to sign a Joint Venture and License Agreement for the search and recovery of shipwrecks in the territorial waters of the Republic. The CEO of UNSR and a three-member team of associates spent six days in Haiti (September 8-13). During this trip, a press conference was held by Haitian government officials announcing the intent of the Republic of Haiti to sign an agreement with UNSR.
In the press conference held on Thursday, September 9th in Cap-Haitien, it was announced by governmental representatives that UNSR would be attending a meeting in Port-au-Prince with the Republic of Haiti's senior officials. This is the meeting scheduled for this Friday. UNSR has been assured that the Haitian government intends to move forward with this important Joint Venture and License Agreement.
In making this announcement, Herbert Leeming, UNSR's CEO, stated: "UNSR is obviously elated with this meeting and the proposed historic agreement with the Republic of Haiti. We pledge to move forward to begin operations in Haiti this year. We are confident this exciting development will prove to be extremely valuable for the government and, more importantly, the people of Haiti. We will not only be conducting our mainstream business of historic shipwreck recovery in Haiti, but we also plan to help bring other business ventures into Haiti which we believe will be highly beneficial to the overall economy and provide jobs and new sources of financing for the citizens of Haiti. We will release information about these additional projects as they become available. We see our involvement in Haiti as a long-term partnership with the national and local governments of Haiti and the people of Haiti as we move forward with this important partnership this year."
About the Company
The Company is engaged in the business of locating and recovering historical shipwrecks, primarily those from the 15th through 19th centuries, and other cultural resources (artifacts and other objects of historical and archaeological interest) from the world's oceans and large lakes by applying advanced technologies in an environmentally responsible manner.
Forward-Looking Statements Caution:
This release includes forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and reflects management's current expectations. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
CONTACT: UnderSea Recovery Corporation
Bobby Goldman, VP - Business Development
212-628-8777
(404) 826-1164
bobby777@rcn.com
P.O. Box 28961
Atlanta, GA 30358
Source: Globe Newswire (September 22, 2010 - 3:29 PM EDT)
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Degama Software Solutions, Inc. Guided to Prospective Customer Base in Brazil
Degama Software Solutions, Inc. Guided to Prospective Customer Base in Brazil
DGMA Strategic Relationships Lead to Negotiations in Additional Industries Base
Sep. 22, 2010 (GlobeNewswire) --
TORONTO, Sept. 22, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Degama Software Solutions, Inc. (Pink Sheets:DGMA) is pleased to update shareholders with news that its relationship with both Brazcan, SA and Absoluta Imóveis has resulted in substantial positive attention to its IP capabilities and application. Brazcan, SA and Absoluta have both made warm introductions to counterparts and businesses they believe would be served well with Degama IP supplementing existing models.
CEO Seijin Ki comments, "Thanks to successful agreement negotiation and a growing base of strategic relations, several companies have identified a potential use for Degama software services. We have, since our last release, entered into negotiations with a number of Brazilian companies that would be of great mutual benefit." He continues, "The rate at which this has been achieved is tremendous, let alone unanticipated, but nothing we aren't prepared to take on full force."
Degama has initiated its focus in Brazil with the booming Real Estate industry and its providers in LOIs, Agreements and/or Service Contracts with Brazcan, S.A. and Absoluta Imóveis. "These new introductions have continued on this path, but, in addition, have helped us venture outside the real estate sector into other exciting industries that our proprietary technology would be a great fit," states Ki.
As a result, Degama executives feel that their previously released projections of $3-4 million in additional revenues for the company are now overly conservative and will prepare projections in line with additional clients in tow as they enter contract stages, accordingly. "I am confident that these figures will be at least double the original outlook within 12 months after the launch in both North and South Brazil," adds Ki.
Degama is anticipating several new clients in the region in the very near future and will release additional details in regards to Absoluta and others in Brazil in the coming days.
According to Wikipedia, dated April 2010, the economy of Brazil is the world's eighth largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth largest by purchasing power. Brazil has moderately free markets and an inward-oriented economy. Its economy is the largest among all South American nations and the second largest in the western hemisphere. Brazil is one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world with an average annual GDP growth rate of 5%. In Reais (Brazilian currency), its GDP is estimated at R$2.9 trillion in 2009. The Brazilian economy has been predicted to become one of the five largest economies in the world in the decades to come, the GDP per capita following and growing.
About Degama Software Solutions, Inc.
Degama Software Solutions, Inc. is a leading edge technology company that develops and markets proprietary location based software solutions and applications for consumers and businesses. Degama Software Solutions, Inc. is a publicly listed company (Pink Sheets:DGMA)
Degama Software Solutions Inc. (Degama) markets and builds applications, or "apps" to make it simpler and more enjoyable for people to share information and get things done together. In a vast world, Degama helps people navigate through their days and travels while at the same time staying connected to their friends, family and the world.
Degama is committed to developing and delivering the best products. As mobile devices become increasingly central to people's lives, we work hard to help you get the information you need when you are on the go. For more information about Degama Software Solutions, please visit www.degamasoftwaresolutions.com
Safe Harbor: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Actual performance and results may differ materially from that projected or suggested herein due to certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, ability to obtain financing and regulatory and shareholder approvals for anticipated actions.
Release Prepared by NMR, LLC
CONTACT: Gerrard Hollister Investor Relations
Degama Contact:
1 (310) 909-7988
DGMA@gerrardhollister.com
www.gerrardhollister.com
Source: Globe Newswire (September 22, 2010 - 1:30 PM EDT)
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Winscon Electronics Announces Name Change
Winscon Electronics Announces Name Change
MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, Sep. 22, 2010 (Marketwire) -- Winscon Electronics Co. Ltd. a Delaware Corporation, is pleased to announce that the company has effectively changed its name to Uniwell Electronic Corporation (PINK SHEETS:UNWL). The company also received FINRA notification of its new trading symbol. Effective September 16th, 2010, Uniwell will trade as UNWL on the Over the Counter quotation system.
Uniwell specializes in the manufacturing of printed circuits used in electronic devices; such as cellular phones, MP3 players, portable hard drives, digital cameras, medical equipment and on-board automotive computers for many technology manufacturers including GE (USA), Panasonic (USA), Liteon (Taiwan) and Foxcom (China).
Uniwell Electronic Corporation CEO uniwellelectronics@gmail.com
Source: Marketwire Canada (September 22, 2010 - 11:35 AM EDT)
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SUFFER Apparel Announces a Collaboration With Frank Mir and Pop Evil
SUFFER Apparel Announces a Collaboration With Frank Mir and Pop Evil
Sep. 22, 2010 (GlobeNewswire) --
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 22, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SUFFER (Pink Sheets:ENTK) today announced that company Director Frank Mir was contacted by reps at Universal Republic about being featured in a Music Video featuring Frank training for his fight against Mirko Cro Cop.
Filming of the video occurred at the SUFFER Training Center last week and the video itself has just been put out.
"We are excited to debut our new single with such an amazing UFC fighter. Frank Mir is a proven warrior, and we are proud to have him as a fan of Pop Evil!" exclaimed Pop Evil vocalist Leigh Kakaty. When asked about his participation in the video, Mir stated, "Once I heard the song, I immediately wanted to be a part of this. Pop Evil has a great sound and I think they are about to blow up!"
Representatives of Universal Republic claim to have a marketing strategy to get the video marketed to over 16 million impressions, as it plans to take Pop Evil more into the mainstream with the new album.
To view the video, head over to http://www.facebook.com/popevil and 'Like' the band if you are not already a fan on Facebook.
The SUFFER logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=7466
Safe Harbor Statement: This release includes forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as SUFFER (ENTK) or its management "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "foresees," "forecasts," "estimates" or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly, statements herein that describe the Company's business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: SUFFER
Investor Relations:
IR@SUFFERAPPAREL.COM
Source: Globe Newswire (September 22, 2010 - 10:47 AM EDT)
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Golden Hope Intersects 34m at 3.68 Au g/t and Significantly Expands the Mineralized Structures at Bellechasse-Timmins
Golden Hope Intersects 34m at 3.68 Au g/t and Significantly Expands the Mineralized Structures at Bellechasse-Timmins
TORONTO, ONTARIO, Sep. 22, 2010 (Marketwire) -- Golden Hope Mines Limited (TSX VENTURE:GNH)(PINK SHEETS:GOLHF) is pleased to announce that it has significantly expanded the mineralized structures at Bellechasse-Timmins in southeastern Quebec. A previously unknown quartz-bearing breccia zone in the order of 70m true thickness was intersected in the 88 Zone diorite. The style of mineralization is similar to that observed in the T1 Zone.
Significant intersections from the new drill holes include;
DDH From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au g/tBD2010-116 222 226 4 1.44BD2010-117 255 289 34 3.68Incl. 260 261 1 103.00
Additional assaying is in progress to give continuous values for the entire intersection. Stripping of the surface projection of the zone is underway to permit bulk sampling.
The previously known T2A Zone was further extended by approximately 100m and remains open to the northeast and southwest and to depth. Significant intersections from the new drill holes include;
DDH From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au g/tBD2010-115 102 112 10 7.19Incl. 104 105 1 69.5BD2010-119 167 174 7 4.84
Golden Hope has also traced the Ascot/Road Zone for over 825 metres.
Significant intersections from the new drill holes include;
DDH From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au g/tBD2010-98 175 184 9 1.35BD2010-105 82.7 89.3 6.6 1.41BD2010-106 46 54 8 1.09BD2010-113 154 160 6 1.11BD2010-118 101 104 3 1.71
The zone remains open to the northeast, to the southwest, and to depth.
Golden Hope has also confirmed significant values for gold at the Beland 6.2 km southwest step out. The exploration diamond drill results from BB2010-02 include from 193m to 194m grading 1.06 g/t with visible gold present and from 210m to 211m grading 2.28 g/t.
Assay results to date continue to confirm significant mineralized structures within the immediate area of the Bellechasse-Timmins deposit as the diamond drill campaign continues to progress well.
As the drill campaign continues, visible gold has been encountered on a more frequent basis, reflecting the difference between the style of mineralization characteristic of Ascot-type zones and T1 and T2 type zones. Visible gold has been observed in 11 out of 40 (approximately 27%) of the holes. There are multiple occurrences of visible gold in many of these holes as well.
The occurrence of visible gold and assays of drill core that return values are significant only to the extent that both suggest the structures are mineralized. Grade estimators must be derived from much larger samples, as has been demonstrated by results from the 2009 bulk sampling of the T1 Zone surface exposure which gave an average grade of 2.99g/t compared with a drill core sample average of somewhat less than 2.0g/t.
The assay results from the holes reported confirm widespread mineralization but cannot be taken as reliable estimators of grade, due to the demonstrated inadequacy of core samples for grade estimation purposes due to the nature of the primary distribution of gold from which treatment of small samples produces the so-called 'nugget effect'.
"The goal of the 2010 drill campaign is to define the mineralized structures in the Bellechasse-Timmins area. As the campaign progresses, the company continues to enjoy success in its efforts to define significantly more tonnage of mineralized rock at Bellechasse-Timmins", states Frank Candido, President of Golden Hope Mines Limited.
The Company has posted a complete table of these results and a compilation map on its website at http://goldenhopemines.com/exploration/bellechase_timmins_gold/ with up to date notes describing observations on all drill holes logged and sampled to date, including those for which assay data are not yet available.
James E. Tilsley, P.Eng is acting as the qualified person (QP) for Golden Hope in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed the technical contents of this release.
About Golden Hope Mines Limited:
Golden Hope is a mineral exploration company that seeks to grow shareholder value through the acquisition, exploration and development of potentially large-scale gold and base metal projects suitable for underground and/or open-pit mining. The company's focus is in Quebec, Canada. The Bellechasse gold project in Southeastern Quebec includes the Timmins 1, Timmins 2 and Ascot gold zones, the new FSG volcanic environment targets and a number of recently claimed ultra basic/serpentine bodies. For further information on Golden Hope Mines Limited please visit www.goldenhopemines.com.
Forward-Looking Information:
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future production, reserve potential, exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the company believes the expectations expressed in such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the statements. Various factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. These include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the company, investors should review Golden Hope's registered filings at www.sedar.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Golden Hope Mines Limited President, Director 514-750-8218 416-864-0175 (FAX) fcandido@goldenhopemines.com or info@goldenhopemines.com www.goldenhopemines.com Paradox Public Relations 1-866-460-0408
Source: Marketwire Canada (September 22, 2010 - 8:31 AM EDT)
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Bill Clinton's Plan to Save the Economy
Here's former President Bill Clinton last week on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart:
For the first time in my lifetime, literally in my lifetime, when coming out of a recession, posted job openings -- that means they'll hire you tomorrow morning if you can do the job ... are going up at twice the rate of job hires. ...
There are two reasons for this. One is more than 10% of us are living in houses where the mortgage is worth more than the home, so we can't move. And that's cutting down on labor mobility, which has always been a big strength of America. But that's way the smaller problem.
By far the bigger problem is the jobs that are open don't have applicants that are qualified to do them. There's this huge skills mismatch. [There was a] huge college dropout in the last decade because costs went up 75% after inflation, and because the economy went down people had to drop out to work, and they cut back on a lot of intensive skills training.
We ought to have a list of every job that's been vacant for more than three weeks, by state, and just give 'em the money to train people immediately. And they ought to be able to do it while they're on unemployment. Give it to the employers if the community colleges and the vocational programs won't do it. ... You know how many jobs that is? Five million. The unemployment rate could go down under 7% if no bank made a single loan [and] if no corporation invested any of their surplus cash -- if we just made sure that tomorrow we had qualified applicants to go fill every posted job opening.
I think Clinton is on the right track here. There are a few indisputable facts about this recession. One is that the job market is strangely bad given the rebound in gross domestic product and corporate profits. Another is that the burden of joblessness has fallen disproportionally on the less educated. In 2007, the unemployment rate for those with bachelor's degrees was about 2 percentage points lower than for those that only had high school diplomas. Today, it's roughly 6 percentage points lower.
Another detail you may accept or reject as you wish: The government doesn't focus enough on education and training. Out of 19 major line items in the federal budget, just one department (besides interest payments) had its budget cut in 2009: education and training. Just the annual increase in 2009's defense spending amounted to almost two-thirds of what the federal government spends on education and training. (Although to be fair, states pull most of the education weight).
So I think Clinton's proposal is entirely laudable. But I'm not sure it's the cure-all he makes it out to be. First, college dropout rates may be rising. Costs certainly are soaring. But the fact is that more people have degrees today than ever before. The percentage of workers with bachelor's degrees or higher has been on an unabated surge since the 1940s:
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, author's calculations.
Why the skills mismatch Clinton mentions if degree-attainment is at an all-time high? One reason is that education isn't what employers look for. It's experience. That's why the negative correlation between age and unemployment is so strong. The more experienced you are, the more valuable you are. Another reason is that the degrees people are attaining might not be training them for anything useful. The hard reality is that a degree in 18th-century German literature increases your marketable job skills by roughly nothing. That's also one of the big gripes about degrees at for-profit schools like those owned by Apollo Group (Nasdaq: APOL) and Career Education (Nasdaq: CECO). They make you minimally, at best, more attractive to employers.
So then we move to the details of Clinton's proposal: Skip the schools and just give the money to employers. Let them do the training. Cut out the middle man and let those actually hiring permanent workers -- the current ranks include companies such as UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) -- do the dirty work. But the problem with this argument is that corporations are holding record amounts of cash, and corporate profits are at an all-time high. Companies have plenty of money to train workers on their own. They're just choosing not to.
Why? Maybe because the workers can't come to them. This is what Clinton pointed out yet pooh-poohed: labor mobility. With 10% of homes underwater (so Clinton says; other statistics put it at more like 22% of mortgages), the ability to move to where the jobs are is hindered. How much this affects unemployment, no one really knows. No study I've seen has even attempted to answer the question. One comparative example, though, is to look at our neighbors to the north. Due to structural differences, Canada's unemployment rate is typically a few percentage points higher than ours. Today, it's almost 2 percentage points lower. Why? Perhaps because they basically had no housing bust, and thus aren't drowning in the labor mobility constraints we are.
I do like Clinton's proposal, if only because it's the rare idea to come from a politician (or former one) that's slightly pragmatic and acknowledges our problems are structural, not cyclical. Still, as we're now keenly aware, there is only so much stimulus can do. And it's usually not much. Well-thought-out stimulus plans can help move a recovery along, but the only thing that actually heals a recession is letting the damn thing work itself out.
3 Hefty Yields From High Performers
Many investors lost money over the past couple of years, but the endowments at prestigious universities suffered even worse. Investment performance at Harvard and Yale "badly trailed" the results at the average college, as The Wall Street Journal so delicately put it. I'm shocked -- but not because of these endowments' lackluster returns.
With exotic strategies and illiquid investments, Princeton registered a 24% loss in 2009, while Cornell took a 26% hit, and Harvard suffered a 27% drop. Compare those losses to the 18% drop for the median large endowment. Worse yet, many such institutions fund their operating expenses with the capital from endowments like these. If they don't generate capital gains, they may be forced to cut budgets and slash salaries.
So what?
Rather than relying on capital gains to sustain our own budgets, we need to seek additional safety in the power of ever-increasing dividend streams. With such a strategy, you'll never have to float debt in order to avoid whittling down your principal. Princeton only wishes it could say the same.
The companies below provide a dividend yield at least as high as that of the S&P 500 (about 2%), and they've grown their dividends at more than 5% per year over the last half-decade:
Company
Trailing Dividend Yield
5-Year Avg. Annual Dividend Growth Rate
FCF Payout Ratio
Sustainable Dividend Growth
sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY)
4.7%
14.9%
47.1%
6%
Mattel (Nasdaq: MAT)
3.2%
10.8%
33.6%
15.5%
UMB Financial (Nasdaq: UMBF)
2.1%
10.9%
20.7%
6.6%
Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. Sustainable dividend growth assumes constant payout ratio.
Sanofi-Aventis offers a nice dividend yield, but its sustainable dividend growth rate is lower than its recent growth rate, suggesting its dividend growth should slow despite a moderate payout ratio. UMB is in a similar situation, with somewhat lower returns on equity offsetting a lower payout ratio than Sanofi. Mattel, on the other hand, has a green light for further growth, thanks to its combination of strong returns on equity and low payout ratios.
Mr. Smith Goes to Sirius XM
It's time to add another cult icon to Sirius XM Radio's (Nasdaq: SIRI) collection of on-air talent.
The satellite-radio giant will begin broadcasting SModcast -- the weekly podcast hosted by edgy movie director Kevin Smith and his producing partner Scott Mosier -- to subscribers. Smith's writing and directing credits include Clerks, Chasing Amy, and most recently Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
No, Smith isn't replacing Howard Stern -- if Stern will even need replacing. This is just another talent grab on Sirius XM's part, and there are plenty of reasons why this shouldn't be interpreted as the satellite radio provider arming itself for Stern's potential departure.
For starters, the show will air on XM -- not Stern's Sirius home. This also isn't a weekday morning gig. Weekly installments will air on Saturday afternoons.
With the exception of a monthly episode that will be exclusive to XM, the slots will be filled by podcasts that can be streamed for free online.
Is that problematic? Sirius XM is turning to content that is actually a free program through Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iTunes. XM will offer drivers convenient access to those who lack smartphones, but we're also talking about Saturday afternoons. This isn't prime commuting time.
I still like the move, because XM can always point to the monthly hour that is exclusive to its premium subscribers. The setup also should give Smith and Mosier the ability to seamlessly promote the XM offering. Rabid fans who tune in weekly -- and SModcast has successfully branched out with several other spin-offs -- may be moved to subscribe to the service to get the whole enchilada. Having a presence in the free realm helps. If Stern still had a very limited presence in terrestrial radio, I believe it would be a positive impact for Sirius for promotional purposes.
Regardless of the uncertainty surrounding Stern's five year contract that expires in December, Sirius XM is humming along smoothly these days. Its stock price is within pennies of a two-year high. The same can't be said of its terrestrial counterparts in Cumulus (Nasdaq: CMLS), Entercom (NYSE: ETM), and Radio One (Nasdaq: ROIAK) (Nasdaq: ROIA).
Everything is trending favorably for Sirius XM, even for a cynical cinematic genius like Kevin Smith.
Enlist Your Gal Pals to Get Stuff Done
Some money worries are like low-grade fevers -- easy to ignore because you can have them and still do the laundry, build that PowerPoint presentation, be on call for homework assistance and stuff envelopes for your best friend's fundraiser.
Who has time to put your needs first when the minor discomfort (that pile of papers to file, that nagging feeling you're paying too much for car insurance or getting too little interest on your savings) isn't that urgent?
We tell ourselves that if those smoldering personal items we put on the back burner don't fizzle away on their own we'll deal with the fallout if (or, more likely, when) they turn into four-alarm fires. For the time being, however, it's OK to blow them off because there are a few dozen other demands for our attention.
Friends don't let friends blow off their finances
When a friend or loved one tells us they feel under the weather (health- or wealth-wise), we have no problem urging them to take "me" time to take care of personal business.
Well, ladies, it's time to take your own advice.
It's time to put your personal well-being and peace-of-mind on top of your "to do" list -- to take care of those bills, budgets, and other "minor" details of sprucing up your finances that you've put off for so long.
And if you can't give yourself permission to take time out for financial self-care, then there's only one solution: Girl's night in!
Use Girl Power to get stuff done
Our closest girlfriends listen with empathy. We nod and ply one another with tissues over tea. We admit to each other what we really spend on hair products and how our honey's spending is stressing our relationship. We talk back and forth and come to a consensus. We keep each other from buying unflattering jeans.
In short, we relate -- through bonds of friendship, common experience, and selfless acts of sisterhood (like letting your pal have the last pair of size-8 red-orange wedge sandals on the sales rack because you know how pretty they make her feel).
The gal get-together I propose is not just about catching up on office gossip and swapping magazines (though, by all means, put that on your agenda, but not as the sole focus). To really harness Girl Power for the greater good, the topic is, "Financial questions/worries I want to talk through."
Discuss!
Got money questions? Concerns? Advice? Warnings? Triumphs? It's all fodder for a money mixer. The point of getting together with this close-knit group is to:
•Share information -- swap stories, advice, coupons, phone numbers of trusted professionals, even personal skills -- and learn from each other's experiences. (e.g. Is it worth it to renovate the bathroom? When's the right time to start giving the kids an allowance? How do you talk to your spouse about their spending?)
•Motivate each other to get stuff done -- make a list of priorities, put them in order, and come up with a plan to overcome inertia. (e.g. Psyche up your shy friend to ask for a raise. Compare Rolodexes and see how who you know can help your pal.)
•Show-and-tell your progress since the last time you met (accountability is a powerful motivational tool!), and know that no one's going to tsk-tsk you if you were just too busy to tackle any money tasks the previous month.
You can decide to tackle a particular topic for each get-together (Hey everyone, let's have a shredding party and organize the documents in our file cabinets! Here's what to keep and what you can toss, in case this idea excites you.), or just take turns taking everyone's financial temperature.
Schedule your next money mixer
Seriously, set a time and date, put snacks and spirits on your shopping list and send word to your gal pals that one night a month the priorities are friends, fun, a financial heart-to-heart.
Double Feature at IMAX
New deals for IMAX (Nasdaq: IMAX) installations are coming so quickly, that the cinematic superstar is now announcing them two at a time.
A pair of press releases yesterday details IMAX's growing global appeal. The first deal is a stateside one, as IMAX will be teaming up with Rave -- the country's fifth largest exhibitor -- to open 13 digital systems between now and next year.
Korea's leading exhibitor also inked a joint-venture partnership yesterday, with plans to open 15 IMAX screens in China. It's IMAX's largest theater deal in Asia.
IMAX has signed deals for 168 installations this year, a far cry from the 35 system signings through all of last year. Even the 28 screens that were tossed yesterday into the company's growing backlog of future orders rival the total 2009 singings.
Exhibitors are turning to enhancing theatrical experiences to justify premiums. It's the obvious way to make the most of flattish attendance trends, without having to jack up the already insanely priced concessions even higher.
The move to offer moviegoers more bang for their celluloid buck has helped IMAX, sound specialist Dolby (NYSE: DLB), and 3-D licensing leader RealD (NYSE: RLD).
Theater operators don't have much of a choice. Digitally distributed piracy, narrowing release windows, and beefed up home theater systems find multiplex owners scrambling to up their game.
It doesn't end here. IMAX joined nanotechnology incubator Harris & Harris (Nasdaq: TINY) and several other investors in funding a financing round by Laser Light Engines today. IMAX is already a strategic partner with the company, working on a lighting system that is far brighter than the Xenon bulb traditionally used in 3-D projections.
Yes, even today's 3-D screenings -- blown up on IMAX -- isn't enough. Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) has been advertising 3-D flat screens heading into the critical holiday season. IMAX has some skin in that game, teaming up with Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Discovery (Nasdaq: DISCK) on a digital 3-D cable channel, but exhibitors will need to invest in making sure that their product is several steps ahead of what couch potatoes are getting.
IMAX, for one, is certainly moving pretty fast these days. After inking deals for 28 new systems yesterday, who knows what tomorrow will bring.
This Just In: Upgrades and Downgrades
At The Motley Fool, we poke plenty of fun at Wall Street analysts and their endless cycle of upgrades, downgrades, and "initiating coverage at neutral." So you might think we'd be the last people to give virtual ink to such "news." And we would be -- if that were all we were doing.
But in "This Just In," we don't simply tell you what the analysts said. We'll also show you whether they know what they're talking about. To help, we've enlisted Motley Fool CAPS, our tool for rating stocks and analysts alike. With CAPS, we track the long-term performance of Wall Street's best and brightest -- and its worst and sorriest, too.
And speaking of the worst ...
I'll give Goldman Sachs this much: They never cease to surprise. Yesterday, the most hated name in banking, and the most feared name in forecasting, caught many a tech investor off guard when it voiced a modestly bullish sentiment on GPS specialist Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN). Removing its "sell" rating on the stock, Goldman explained that while it's not particularly keen on the GPS market, "our structural concerns ... are now well understood and largely priced in to the shares."
Sure, the market for stand-alone GPS devices "is in secular decline," but now that everyone knows this and accepts it as fact, the danger has been priced into the shares. With the main reason for selling the shares now widely accepted, any good news at all should give the shares permission to rise.
And you know what? I think Goldman's right.
Let's go to the tape
Which is actually a stronger statement than you might think. After all, for all that Goldman enjoys a reputation for stockpicking genius, the facts don't always support the rep. Fact is, Goldman's picks outperform the S&P 500 less than 50% of the time. Worse -- the average Goldman rec actually loses a fraction of a percent to the market's average returns.
Scrolling through our collection of 340-odd Goldman recommendations collected to-date, it appears this analyst is wrong nearly as often as it's right when picking stocks tied (in one way or another) to the GPS industry. Goldman's been right about Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) (whose products can run "apps" produced by Garmin), but wrong about Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S). Right about Garmin partner Ford (NYSE: F); wrong about Honda (NYSE: HMC):
Companies
Goldman Says
CAPS Rating
(out of 5)
Goldman's Picks Beating
(Lagging) S&P by
Ford
Outperform
***
9 points
Research In Motion
Underperform
**
29 points
Apple
Outperform
***
42 points
Companies
Goldman Says
CAPS Says
Goldman's Picks Beating (Lagging) S&P by
Sprint Nextel
Outperform
**
(9 points)
Honda
Outperform
*****
(4 points)
So what makes me think that Goldman will turn out to be right about Garmin itself this time? Call it a mismatch between expectations and reality ...
GPS not R.I.P.
According to Goldman, the market is ascribing "very little value" to Garmin's GPS business right now. Essentially, investors seem to be assuming that, now that everyone from Apple to Nokia to RiM gives you GPS functionality on your cell phone, there's no reason to buy a stand-alone GPS device anymore.
Except, people are still doing just that. Check out the top sellers on Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), and you'll find that three of the top 10 most popular devices on the site are Garmin-brand GPS devices (they're right behind Amazon's own Kindle device, and various iterations of Apple's iPod in popularity.) What you won't find on that list are GPS devices by TomTom, Magellan, or any other maker but Garmin. Proof positive that despite what the naysayers say ("nay"), consumers are still buying Garmin devices.
Not that you could tell it from the stock price. Selling for only 9.2 times trailing earnings, and paying its shareholders a generous 5.1% dividend for their patience, Garmin shares are being priced for far less than even the modest 5% growth that analysts expect the company to produce. The shares look even cheaper relative to the seven-times-free cash flow valuation hung on this massive cash generator.
Foolish final thought
Discounts to intrinsic value this big don't come along every day, and I doubt very much they're here to stay. According to Goldman Sachs, Garmin's earnings are bound to jump once management concedes defeat in the smartphone wars and stops wasting money on its nuvifone.
3 Stocks Breaking Out
Volatile markets seem to be the norm these days, as stocks gyrate through ups and downs on a daily basis. But sometimes buyout news and other short-term forces can send individual stocks soaring by 10%, 25%, even 50% -- even on the market's worst days.
For example, shares of Cogent jumped 24% a few weeks ago after 3M offered to buy the fingerprint biometrics company for $10.50 per share.
But beyond less-predictable events like that one are stocks with fundamentally compelling reasons behind a big move. The trick is to find those stocks. That's where Motley Fool CAPS comes in.
The story behind the story
CAPS is no crowd of lemmings. Its best-performing members' opinions do more to shape each company's rating than the picks of their poorer-performing peers. Here's an example of how we can use the collective wisdom of more than 170,000 CAPS members to filter out the noise and find companies with strong potential.
We'll use CAPS' handy stock screening tool to quickly zero in on companies with a stock price increase of at least 20% in the past four weeks, a market cap of greater than $100 million, and a beta of less than three. Then we can use the insight of the CAPS investment community to add some context to these market movers.
Company
CAPS Rating
(out of 5)
4-Week
Price Change
Blue Coat Systems (Nasdaq: BCSI)
****
37.9%
A123 Systems (Nasdaq: AONE)
***
31.2%
Atmel (Nasdaq: ATML)
***
24.1%
Source: Motley Fool CAPS. Price return from Aug. 20 through Sept. 17.
Blue Coat Systems
Similar to rival McAfee's (NYSE: MFE) second-quarter results, which beat analysts' earnings expectations, Blue Coat Systems topped bottom-line estimates in its most recent quarter. But investors weren't pleased with its forward sales guidance. To help energize its growth plans, the company brought in a new CEO with a strong sales background in hopes of improving sales execution, and the market has welcomed the news by boosting its share price. With growth potential in the WAN optimization market, CAPS members have also recently become more bullish on Blue Coat Systems as 93% of the 471 CAPS members rating Blue Coat Systems today believe it will outperform the broader market.
A123 Systems
While Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) backed Chinese battery and auto maker BYD recently gained investors' attention abroad by making a move to secure raw materials for the long term, A123 Systems has been in the limelight here in the U.S. with the opening of its new plant near Detroit. A123 and peer Johnson Controls have benefited from federal grants as the government has pumped stimulus money into the industry, which A123's CEO calls instrumental to growing domestic manufacturing. With the increasing attention and capacity on the rise, CAPS members have notched up their bullish sentiment for A123 Systems, and now 88% of the 372 CAPS members rating the company see it as a market-beating investment.
Atmel
Atmel is coming off a strong second quarter, which saw a 38% jump in revenue and its highest gross margin since 2000. Like peer Cypress Semiconductor (Nasdaq: CY), the company has been successful in booking design wins for touchscreen and touchpad chips in attempts to take share of a big market from Synaptics (Nasdaq: SYNA). Some investors think more opportunities are out there for Atmel as it continues to ride the wave of demand for mobile devices of all types. The company's designs are already in a number of smartphones, and Atmel looks to gain from the up-and-coming tablet market, with its chips used in the iPad, the Dell Streak, and Samsung Galaxy Tab. In CAPS, 88% of the 262 members rating Atmel believe it will outperform the market averages.
And you?
What's your story? Whether you buy the tale of a stock that's soaring or souring, your own research is more important than collective opinions. But these collective opinions can make your due diligence a whole lot easier.
An Acquisition Helps Boston Scientific Breathe Easier
I like where this is going, Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX). I'm just not sure whether we can call it a turning point quite yet.
The beleaguered medical-device maker stretched its wings a little with the purchase of Asthmatx yesterday. The privately held medical-device maker sells the Alair Bronchial Thermoplasty System, which treats asthmatics by inserting a catheter that removes some of the muscle that contracts during asthma attacks.
I like the extrinsic growth away from Boston Scientific's bread and butter of heart devices. Having to make stepwise improvements to constantly stay ahead of Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ), and Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT) is hard work.
But it's a little hard to judge the acquisition since Asthmatx is a privately held company. The purchase will be dilutive to Boston Scientific's earnings in 2011 and 2012 and only break even in 2013. Part of that has to do with charges, but it seems Alair's sales aren't going to cover the added costs for a while.
Maybe Asthmatx has a lot of research and development under way increasing expenses, but I fear it's a sign that Boston Scientific expects the adoption of Alair to be slow. The system is designed for patients whose asthma isn't controlled by drugs such as GlaxoSmithKline's (NYSE: GSK) Advair and AstraZeneca's (NYSE: AZN) Symbicort, but determining when to use the device is often difficult. There are plenty of asthma drug options and combinations that can be tried before venturing into somewhat uncharted territory.
The uncertain sales might be the reason that Boston Scientific hedged its bets and only put a $193.5 million down payment on the company. The rest -- up to $250 million -- is dependent on Boston Scientific's achieving revenue-based milestones through 2019.
From media interviews and conference calls, it sounds like new CEO Ray Elliott is interested in doing more deals to diversify further. If it can stick with smaller deals like this one, and not go for Guidant 2.0, this could be the turning point investors have been looking for.
Of course, we've heard that before.
Google Is Shrinking
According to the latest data from comScore, Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) share of the search market fell four-tenths of a percentage point in August just as Bing partners Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) gained share. Thus, the headline: Google is shrinking.
Except that it isn't true. Let's take a closer look at Google's average search market share for the first and second quarters of 2010, and then compare the findings with the average revenue growth of the top three search contenders:
Search Sites
Q1 2010
Q2 2010
% Point Change
Google Sites
65.3%
63.6%
(1.7)
Yahoo! Sites
16.9%
18.3%
1.4
Microsoft Sites
11.5%
12.2%
0.7
Ask Network
3.8%
3.6%
(0.2)
AOL Network
2.5%
2.3%
(0.2)
Source: comScore.
Company
Q1 2010
(in billions)
Q2 2010
(in billions)
Sequential Change
Microsoft
$14.503
$16.039
10.59%
Google
$6.775
$6.82
0.66%
Yahoo!
$1.597
$1.601
0.28%
Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.
Google isn't shrinking it all. Sure, Bing's success seems to have created a tailwind for Microsoft, but that could just as easily be due to Windows 7.
What's important here is that The Big G's search market share doesn't correlate with revenue growth as neatly as the bears would like to believe. In simpler terms: Google isn't as dependent on search share as international peer Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is.
Google has Docs, Gmail, Apps, Android, Maps, and several other hit products that help drive revenue. The Big G's Big White Search Box is a small part of its story.
3 Smart Paths to 6-Figure Savings
You might want to sit down for this information about how college costs have been hurtling upward; you could need $100,000 or more to pay for a four-year college education.
Tuition and fees have advanced more than 6% per year on average in recent years. The annual cost for tuition and all expenses totals more than $30,000 at some schools, with some Ivy League schools breaking the $50,000 mark. How can you pay all that for four years (or more)? Well, buck up -- there are several ways.
Reasons to rejoice
First off, a little good news. Public schools remain more affordable than private ones, and many are top-rate, too. Better still, the reports of soaring costs typically reflect the "sticker price" of college, the published costs. In actuality, many students pay much less, thanks to scholarships, grants, and loans. In some recent years, the "net" cost of college has actually gone down! Still, the cost of higher education remains significant, and smart parents will need to plan for it.
Fortunately, there are a bunch of tools to help you. A state-sponsored 529 plan, for instance, can be an effective way to save, permitting you to sock away a lot of money in a tax-advantaged way.
Here are some more ways to invest for college.
Long-range choices
If your young ones have many years of homework ahead of them before they enter any ivory towers, you're in luck. You may want to take full advantage of the power of the stock market, and assemble a diversified portfolio of strong stock performers or terrific mutual funds. Here are some categories to consider:
Dividend-paying stocks make a great foundation for a portfolio, as they tend to be established companies with reliable earnings. Better still, dividends from healthy companies tend to increase over time. Two candidates you might research are Merck (NYSE: MRK) and Waste Management (NYSE: WM), offering yields of 4.2% and 3.6%, respectively. With scientific advances and our aging population, pharmaceuticals are likely to be in high demand indefinitely, no matter how the economy is faring. Having swallowed Schering-Plough, Merck has a promising pipeline full of drugs in development. Garbage collection and recycling also seem here to stay.
Including some international companies can be smart, too, as they'll offer some protection if the U.S. economy stalls for a while. You can get a degree of international exposure from American companies with significant operations abroad, such as ExxonMobil, but you'll get more foreign bang for your buck with internationally focused companies, such as Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) and General Steel (NYSE: GSI). Philip Morris offers brands that are known around the world, and it's selling them in many developing markets with growing middle classes that are likely to up their tobacco intake. General Steel is a Chinese steel company actively acquiring others. As the global economy recovers and construction and infrastructure work pick up, it's likely to do well.
Finally, consider adding a few aggressive fast growers to your mix, too. Some won't pan out, but those that do can deliver great portfolio appreciation. A lot of terrific names have been on sale lately. Perhaps look into Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) or Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD). With a five-year average annual revenue growth rate of 44%, Intuitive Surgical is a key player in the dynamic robotic surgical equipment arena. Once hospitals buy its machines, they'll keep buying necessary supplies and accessories and can't easily change to a different company's machines. Gilead is a 33% biotechnology grower, with an appealing price-to-earnings ratio near 10, and a promising pipeline with a focus on diseases such as HIV.
Keep in mind that only money you won't need for at least five years, if not seven or 10 years, should be in stocks, as years like 2008 can happen. So consider shifting your college-bound assets into short-term investments as your child turns anywhere from 8 to 13 years old.
Short-term choices
Once your kid is fast approaching college, your priority should be conserving your savings. Choices such as bonds, CDs, or money market funds can fit this bill, while offering you a little bit of interest, too.
College is expensive, but it doesn't have to be out of reach. A little planning now can save you a lot of grief later.
Do These Travel Portals Pass Buffett's Test?
We'd all like to invest as successfully as the legendary Warren Buffett. He calculates return on invested capital (ROIC) to help determine whether a company has an economic moat -- the ability to earn returns on its money beyond that money's cost.
ROIC is perhaps the most important metric in value investing. By determining a company's ROIC, you can see how well it's using the cash you entrust to it, and whether it's actually creating value for you. Simply put, ROIC divides a company's operating profit by the amount of investment it took to get that profit:
ROIC = Net operating profit after taxes / Invested capital
This one-size-fits-all calculation cuts out many of the legal accounting tricks (such as excessive debt) that managers use to boost earnings numbers, and provides you with an apples-to-apples way to evaluate businesses, even across industries. The higher the ROIC, the more efficiently the company uses capital.
Ultimately, we're looking for companies that can invest their money at rates that are higher than the cost of capital, which for most businesses lands between 8% and 12%. Ideally, we want to see ROIC greater than 12%, at minimum. We're also seeking a history of increasing returns, or at least steady returns, which indicate that the company's moat can withstand competitors' assaults.
Let's look at Priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) and two of its industry peers to see how efficiently they use capital. Here are the ROIC figures for each company over several time periods:
Company
TTM
1 year ago
3 years ago
5 years ago
Priceline.com
48.6%*
32.4%
13%*
9.7%*
Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE)
16%
12.3%**
5.2%
1.9%
Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW)
5.4%***
6%***
0.3%***
0.5%***
Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. *Uses 2008's effective tax rate of 32.7%, since there were no effective rates for these periods. **Uses 2007's effective tax rate of 40.9%. ****Uses a normalized rate of 35% for comparison purposes.
Expedia meets our 12% threshold for attractiveness, and offers us the steady growth in ROIC that we like to see. But clearly much better is Priceline, which made serious strides in the last few years, leaving competitors in the dust. Its strong gains in ROIC suggest it is developing a very strong hold on the market. But even Expedia and, to a lesser extent, Orbitz have improved from a few years ago, suggesting fortified competitive positions.
Businesses with consistently high ROIC are efficiently using capital. They can use their extra returns to buy back shares, further invest in their future success, or pay dividends to shareholders. (Warren Buffett especially likes that last part.)
To unearth more successful investments, dig a little deeper than the earnings headlines, and check up on your companies' ROIC.
Is Silver Wheaton the Perfect Stock?
Everyone would love to find the perfect stock. But will you ever really find a stock that gives you everything you could possibly want?
One thing's for sure: If you don't look, you'll never find truly great investments. So let's first take a look at what you'd want to see from a perfect stock, and then decide whether Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW) fits the bill.
The quest for perfection
When you're looking for great stocks, you have to do your due diligence. It's not enough to rely on a single measure, because a stock that looks great based on one factor may turn out to be horrible in other ways. The best stocks, however, excel in many different areas, which all come together to make up a very attractive picture.
When you're looking for great stocks, you have to do your due diligence. It's not enough to rely on a single measure, because a stock that looks great based on one factor may turn out to be horrible in other ways. The best stocks excel in many different areas, which all come together to make up a very attractive picture.
Some of the most basic yet important things to look for in a stock are:
•Growth. Expanding businesses show healthy revenue growth. While past growth is no guarantee that revenue will keep rising, it's certainly a better sign than a stagnant top line.
•Margins. Higher sales don't mean anything if a company can't turn them into profits. Strong margins ensure a company is able to turn revenue into profit.
•Balance sheet. Debt-laden companies have banks and bondholders competing with shareholders for management's attention. Companies with strong balance sheets don't have to worry about the distraction of debt.
•Money-making opportunities. Companies need to be able to turn their resources into profitable business opportunities. Return on equity helps measure how well a company is finding those opportunities.
•Valuation. You can't afford to pay too much for even the best companies. Earnings multiples are simple, but using normalized figures gives you a sense of how valuation fits into a longer-term context.
•Dividends. Investors are demanding tangible proof of profits, and there's nothing more tangible than getting a check every three months. Companies with solid dividends and strong commitments to increasing payouts treat shareholders well.
With those factors in mind, let's take a closer look at Silver Wheaton.
Factor
What We Want to See
Actual
Pass or Fail?
Growth
5-Year Annual Revenue Growth > 15%
48.7%*
Pass
1-Year Revenue Growth > 12%
132%
Pass
Margins
Gross Margin > 35%
76.5%
Pass
Net Margin > 15%
53.4%
Pass
Balance Sheet
Debt to Equity < 50%
6.6%
Pass
Current Ratio > 1.3
1.72
Pass
Opportunities
Return on Equity > 15%
11.6%
Fail
Valuation
Normalized P/E < 20
72.78
Fail
Dividends
Current Yield > 2%
0%
Fail
5-Year Dividend Growth > 10%
0%
Fail
Total Score (No. of passes)
6 out of 10
Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard and Poor's. *As of Dec. 2009.
A score of 6 is pretty good, even if it falls short of perfect. Silver Wheaton is still in a strong growth phase, plowing its profits into new silver streaming deals with partners like Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX). As long as such opportunities exist, Silver Wheaton probably won't pay dividends, which hurts its score here but probably doesn't bother shareholders one bit.
Although Silver Wheaton's return on equity falls short of our 15% threshold, it compares favorably to silver producer Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL), in part because of its unique business model of providing financing in exchange for rights to production streams rather than mining itself. Strong production from Goldcorp's (NYSE: GG) Penasquito mine has helped push revenues strongly higher. And while multiples to normalized earnings are high, the recent move in silver above $20 per ounce has shares looking less expensive on a forward-looking basis.
Keep searching
No stock is a sure thing, but some stocks are a lot closer to perfect than others. By looking for the perfect stock, you'll go a long way toward improving your investing prowess and learning how to separate out the best investments from the rest.
3 Top Stocks at Half-Price
You love buying your shirts when they go on sale. And who can resist a buy-one, get-one-free offer? So when our stocks go on sale, why do we bemoan their low prices?
Smart investors like Warren Buffett or Marty Whitman love it when their stocks are suddenly selling at bargain-basement prices. For them, these companies become no-brainer buys.
The investors in the Motley Fool CAPS community also like a bargain, apparently. Below, you'll find three companies whose shares are selling at least 50% below their 52-week highs, but which still earn high honors from our investor-intelligence database. Consider it a BOGO sale on stocks.
Stock
CAPS Rating (out of 5)
% Off 12-Month High
Gulf Resources (Nasdaq: GFRE)
***
54%
NIVS IntelliMedia Technology Group (AMEX: NIV)
*****
52%
The Phoenix Companies (NYSE: PNX)
****
55%
Naturally, we want you to look a bit closer at these stocks before buying. You can get low-priced appliances in the dent-and-ding section of your home-remodeling superstore, but their quality might not be so good. Same thing here: Make sure there's nothing seriously wrong with the company before you plug it into your portfolio.
Take two; they're small
After gaining a Nasdaq listing last November, shares of Chinese bromine producer Gulf Resources really haven't gone anywhere except down. They peaked at almost $15 a share at the start of the year and have straggled down to their current low point.
Not that there doesn't appear to be a strong market for bromine. It's used in flame retardants, chemical manufacturing, and even the oil and gas exploration industry, so Gulf Resources is finding particularly hot opportunities in the pharmaceutical sector. That led it to increase its full-year profit prospects for the second time this year. Rising bromine prices have allowed U.S.-based Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) to raise its prices on flame retardants, too.
What may be holding it back is the fear of investing in Chinese small-cap stocks, because accounting scandals have rocked a number of them. CAPS member megisto387 says Gulf Resources is trying to ward off being associated with that bunch of bad apples by hiring Big Four accounting firm Deloitte Touche.
Just preemptively engaged Deloitte to provide more transparency to the company. Great move as other chinese small caps are being attacked by short sellers. Buying on the dip into a P/E of 6.5 and great future growth potential. The company is trying to expand its already strong foothold in the industry and producing strong earnings to boot. The transparency measures they are taking now will instill investor confidence in this strong growth company, as management is taking an active approach to supporting its shareholders.
A reserve player
NIVS IntelliMedia Technology Group, another Chinese small cap apparently being pressured because of some peers' less than honest approach to bookkeeping, is a consumer AV electronics maker. CAPS member Option1307, commenting on another member's post recommending its shares, wonders about the numbers.
With this comes the question of, "are these numbers real"? This is a really valid question because it has come to light recently that several Chinese companies have been reporting false numbers and fluffing up their true financial standings/earnings/etc. aka lying about their true success and potential. Going along with this potential "financial statement padding" several people, including Fools around here, have questioned the validity of NIV's auditors. NIV uses a auditor that is relatively unknown and thus does raise some questions. This is something that you personally will have to decide, do you actually believe the numbers that NIV is reporting?
It's likely investors will find this is a recurring theme when they decide to dip their toe into the Chinese stock market.
Meanwhile, China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) contracted with NIVS IntelliMedia Technology Group to build its new 3G phones. With China Telecom and China Unicom (NYSE: CHU) gaining more traction in the market against China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), NIVS IntelliMedia should see more business coming its way, too.
No assurance of growth
Although fears of fraud can cause a stock to plummet, a changing business environment can do that even for domestic stocks. Life insurance provider The Phoenix Cos. reported widening losses in the latest quarter as its business deteriorated. The financial services company says its goal of improving its balance sheet remains on track, but Moody's isn't convinced and recently said the company's weak capital position further hampers its ability to gain financial flexibility. It downgraded the Phoenix Cos.' debt rating further into junk territory.
CAPS All-Star mrindependent acknowledges the financial situation is dicey here, but if the company were part of a diversified portfolio, it might be worth a small bet on the turnaround. You can add the insurer to your My Watchlist page and have all the Foolish news and analysis about this stock aggregated for you.
Have half a mind
Sign up today for the completely free CAPS service and tell us whether these stocks are twice as good at half the price.
5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Philip Morris
Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, global tobacco giant Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM), sister company of Altria (NYSE: MO), has earned a coveted five-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Philip Morris' business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Philip Morris facts
Headquarters
New York City
Market Cap
$102.5 billion
Industry
Tobacco
Trailing-12-Month Revenue
$26.9 billion
Management
Chairman/CEO Louis Camilleri (since 2008)
CFO Hermann Waldemer (since 2008)
Return on Capital (Average, Past 3 Years)
30.3%
Cash/Debt
$1.6 billion / $15.2 billion
Dividend Yield
4.6%
Competitors
British American Tobacco (NYSE: BTI)
Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI)
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS
.
On CAPS, 98% of the 2,324 members who have rated Philip Morris believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star CPACAPitalist and dcrednek.
Less than two months ago, CPACAPitalist explained why Philip Morris is a huge draw:
Apparently cigarettes are addictive! And apparently people in emerging markets like to smoke a lot! [Philip Morris sells] cigarettes to a lot of emerging markets, therefore [Philip Morris] has a captive (almost literally) and large consumer base. That, and its cheap right now. And has a sweet dividend.
Despite sharing the iconic Marlboro brand with Altria and owning about 16% of the non-U.S. cigarette market, Philip Morris currently trades at a slight P/E discount to rivals British American and Reynolds. And while multinational giants like Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) derive 74% of their sales outside of North America, my fellow Fool Andy Louis-Charles recently reminded us that Philip Morris earns 100% of its sales outside the U.S. When you couple that "pure" international exposure with a juicy yield of 4.6%, it's easy to see why Fools like Philip Morris as an ideal way to diversify out of the dollar.
CAPS member dcrednek elaborates:
This company's earnings are strong and predictable. The cash flow generated by [Philip Morris] is monstrous. And given the current state of public finances around the world, I just don't see how many investors can conclude that an investment in [Philip Morris] is a greater risk than, say, US Treasuries, where the 10-year yield is hovering around 2.74%. [Philip Morris] shares would have to be priced at $143.41 in order for its cash yield per share to drop to 2.74%
5 Top Dividend Growth Stocks
In terms of popularity, Lady Gaga's got nothing on dividends.
This isn't hyperbole -- according to Google News, "Lady Gaga" has appeared in 15,200 articles over the past month, while "dividends" appeared in 16,800 articles.
Going gaga for dividends
With near-record low interest rates, it's easy to understand why dividends are a hot topic today. As our Foolish colleague Morgan Housel noted here, the dividend yield on the S&P 500 recently moved above the 10-Year Treasury bond yield for the first time in over half a century.
Should this be taken as a sign that investors should go all-in on stocks today? In our opinion, no.
Forgive us, but we're not quick to give an "all clear" to stocks just yet. Yes, there are some tremendous long-term values out there (we'll get to those in a minute), but the economic recovery will likely be slow and could take a number of years to work itself out.
As a result, we prefer to buy dividend-paying stocks slowly and deliberately over time and allow our reinvested dividends to compound. This way, we can keep a decent chunk of cash on the sidelines, just in case the market takes another turn for the worse.
Dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) are an excellent vehicle for this approach and it's why Bryan and I (Todd here) brought back the Foolish DRIP portfolio, where we put our own money into the stocks we recommend.
Going gaga for dividend growth
Sure, historically dividends have made up a good chunk of long-term stock returns, but the real sweet spot is finding dividend growers and hanging on for the ride. Below, Todd and I (Bryan here) have teed up five of our favorites, which based on their payout ratio, free cash flow generation and business prospects would be great candidates for a DRIP portfolio.
The duck that will rule the world
In the United States, Aflac (NYSE: AFL) is the top duck in supplemental disability and life products, with 31% of the market. But what you may not know is that the company also has a 21% market share of supplemental insurance in Japan, thanks to a first-mover advantage and strict regulation. The company has more room to grow in both of these current markets and a bunch of the world yet to conquer. Over the past five years, Aflac has grown its dividend by 24% per year and still only pays out 35% of its earnings.
Plumbing for payments pays off
Total System Services (NYSE: TSS) rules the credit and debit payment processing infrastructure, which has led to free cash flow growth of 11% per year over the past five. TSYS, as the company is called, doesn't plan on stopping its growth and is vertically integrating merchant services through a new joint venture. As TSYS grows its revenue, earnings and cash flow we expect its dividend to grow as well. Better yet, we aren't concerned about having enough cash to fuel upgrades and new business initiatives because the company only pays out 26% of profits.
Portfolio and home improvement
With employment and home sales where they are, Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) is facing some headwinds. CEO Robert Niblock sees 2010 as "a year of transition for the home improvement industry." Nevertheless, shares look pretty cheap based on their historical EV/EBITDA, P/FCF and P/B ratios. Patient investors should see the company's already growing dividend continue to grow as home improvement spending returns to more normal levels. And because Lowe's only paid out 22% of its earnings last year it looks to have room to hammer out additional dividend growth.
Dividends with "bling"
Jewelry maker Tiffany (NYSE: TIF) is an American icon that dates back to 1837, but don't let its age fool you -- it still has plenty of room for growth. In the past quarter, while other companies were struggling to sell big ticket items, Tiffany actually had the opposite problem where sales of high-end products increased while items priced below $500 limped along. International growth has continued as sales in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Korea were up 20% year-over-year. The 2.2% dividend is well covered by free cash flow, the balance sheet is healthy, and the payout ratios are low, giving Tiffany all the makings of a good dividend growth stock.
Want some jam with that toast?
With J.M. Smucker's (NYSE: SJM) acquisition of Folgers coffee from Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) in 2008 to complement its already wide product list of jams, jellies, peanut butter, and biscuits, it secured a dominant place on your breakfast table. And now that those major acquisition costs have receded, Smucker has returned to being a free cash flow generating machine, throwing off about $575 million in free cash over the past 12 months. This puts shares near 12.8 times trailing free cash flow -- a fair price to pay. Plus, Co-CEOs Tim and Richard Smucker together own more than $200 million of company stock and have the family name sake to keep them motivated. Its 2.6% yield is also well-covered and has room to grow.
Foolish bottom line
Remember Fools, slow and steady wins the race. Invest what you can afford to when you're comfortable doing so. Each of these promising companies offers you the opportunity to add small amounts of money into their stocks each month or quarter via their DRIP plans.
Bryan and I (Todd again) will be considering each of these stocks for inclusion in our real-money DRIP portfolio in the coming months. If you'd like to follow our analysis, you can do so on Twitter or by checking our DRIP Portfolio Wiki page.
Whoa! What Just Happened to My Stock?
Resist the urge to high-five everyone in the cubicles next to you. Your stock may have just strapped on a rocket pack and taken off for the moon, but smart investors won't celebrate until they know that upward leap was justified. Without a fundamental basis for the bounce, these stocks can quickly make the return trip down.
Is now the time to lock in profits, or is this just the first step toward even higher valuations down the road? Let's examine several stocks that just hit the afterburners, and see whether they're truly headed into orbit.
Stock
CAPS Rating (out of 5)
Monday's Change
L-1 Identity Solutions (NYSE: ID)
***
20%
Gushan Environmental Energy (NYSE: GU)
****
20%
Antigenics (Nasdaq: AGEN)
*
16.9%
On a day when the market surged 1.4% higher even a high-flying blue chip can look like a volatile penny stock. Yet there was no specific news to account for some companies to run in the opposite direction. Chinese biodiesel maker Gushan Environmental Energy soared higher as did a number of other Chinese stocks, but other than it being down the day before more than 10%, there was no special reason it should have surged.
The devil's in the details
It's no surprise that secure document maker L-1 Identity Solutions was shopping itself to the highest bidder. Since February the biometrics leader has indicated a preference for some "strategic alternative" and just last month it said it had received some bids from interested parties, though it didn't name them.
While that's caused its share price to wax and wane over the months, the announcement that French aerospace and defense systems specialist Safran was buying the biometrics side of the business while BAE Systems was acquiring the intelligence services line sent the stock soaring. The deal is valued at $1.6 billion.
Making crime pay has become popular. Earlier this month 3M (NYSE: MMM) announced it was buying L-1's peer Cogent (Nasdaq: COGT) for $943 million.
CAPS All-Star edwjm was wary that with all the talk of acquisitions over the past ix months or so, it would make for a very volatile situation:
Caveat: This stock is popular with short sellers and is very speculative. There is also speculation about the company being involved in M&A activity. This stock is not for the faint of heart!
Making it to the old age home
However, if we're looking for gains that might not be able to hold their ground, we should consider Antigenics, which soared higher on the news that GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) was using its adjuvant in final stage clinical trials of its experimental shingles treatment.
That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with Antigenics' adjuvant QS-21, it's just that there's still a chance for a retrenchment. There's a possibility for some substantial revenues to be realized in this market opportunity, but the treatment hasn't been approved yet. Adjuvants help boost the body's immune system so each dose requires less quantity of the vaccine. QS-21 is being considered by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) for use in an Alzheimer's treatment, along with nearly 20 other indications. While the euphoria over Glaxo's announcement might wear off before long, there's plenty of additional occasions for Antigenics' shares to rocket upward again.
And should Glaxo make it to market, the revenue potential will certainly help lift the stock -- and the spirits of investors -- higher.
However, highly rated CAPS All-Star member and biotech guru zzlangerhans isn't convinced Antigenics has what it takes to make for a good, long-term investment:
I'm seeing a four month high, no catalyst, and an intraday volume spike and I'm calling fake out. Antigenics may be repositioning themselves as a more conventional vaccine developer for an existence post-Oncophage. Regardless, I expect Antigenics to be bankrupt within a few more years and even if I'm wrong in the short-term, a red thumb is always a good long-term play.
You can tell us on the Antigenics CAPS page whether you agree that this is just a momentary flash in the pan that will soon fizzle out. If you want to stay on top of what's happening with this biotech, add it to your My Watchlist page where all the Foolish news and analysis about this stock is aggregated for you.
Going into orbit
Just because your stock has taken to the stratosphere doesn't mean it won't lose altitude. Markets are known for overreacting. A closer look at what's happened to your stock can give you an edge over other investors who merely follow the market's lead