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But of course.
Jug band and wine time:
Here's another u-tube link for the jug band.
Probably our best to date:
If IR is pretty much the same as PR, meaning public relations, than I am of the opinion that HRCT time and assets at this junction are best spent on goal specific ends, i.e acquiring profitable vocational schools. Successful acquisitions will quickly trigger revenue growth with profits to follow. PR at this level is, IMHO, a waste of shareholder equity. Finis for me on this subject.
No. Dr. Hu said each one is negotiated with HRCT aiming for at least a 51% contolling interest.
That is correct. Note that the acquistion of China Princely was negotiated at 100% and this is where additional revenue from teacher accreditation will hopefully follow.
In the 3 hour meeting less than a total of 10 minutes was spent on comments of past management. This was a bit of an exagerration on Tin's part. Dr. Hu clearly was moving forward and not delving on the past.
There were no "forward looking statments" as such, so there was no need for such a warning. He presented a business plan and hoped to execute it to the best of his capability. There were no guarantees. The future estimates of vocational school operations were based on past operations and clearly described as such.
You are essentially correct. The issue was over semantics and is now (IMHO) a dead horse.
I do not recall Dr Hu using the word guarantee in any context.
Once again the 30% net profit is one criteria the schools must meet to join the HRCT enterprise.
To help clarify the 30% net profit issue:
The business plan presented by Dr. Hu focused on acquiring vocational schools that already showed a 30% net profit. This is one of a number of criteria Dr. Hu is using to evaluate prospective acquistions. This does not mean that HRCT will show 30% net profits in any near term, and no such statement was made.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Drinking a small amount of wine appears to extend men's life expectancy by a few years, Dutch researchers said on Wednesday in the latest study to find benefits in moderate drinking.
Dutch researchers sought to gauge the impact on health and life expectancy of long-term alcohol consumption, tracking 1,373 men born between 1900 and 1920 who lived in Zutphen, an industrial town in the Netherlands.
The researchers followed alcohol intake in seven surveys carried out over four decades starting in 1960, tracking some men until they died and the rest until 2000. The men were asked about drinking, eating and smoking habits, weight, and prevalence of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and cancer.
Drinking a small amount of alcohol -- less than a glass per day -- was associated with lower rates of death from cardiovascular causes and overall causes, the study found.
Drinking wine appeared to be more protective than spirits and beer. Drinking an average of about half a glass of wine per day was associated with lowest mortality levels, it found.
Unlike other studies on health effects of alcohol consumption, this one sought to measure any extension in life expectancy, the researchers said.
The study found that men who drank wine had a life expectancy 3.8 years longer than those who drank no alcohol. These wine drinkers also had a life expectancy two years longer than those who drank other alcoholic beverages, it found.
The study was not designed to look at the well-documented health risks of heavy alcohol consumption.
"The main message is that if you already consume alcoholic beverages, do so moderately -- one or two glasses per day maximum," Martinette Streppel, lead author of the study, said in a telephone interview.
"And if you have to choose a certain beverage, then at least drink wine, because it has an additional beneficial effect above just the effect of alcohol itself," added Streppel, of Wageningen University and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands.
The researchers found men's long-term consumption of up to two glasses of alcohol a day was associated with about a one-third lower overall mortality risk and risk of cardiovascular death compared to men who drank no alcohol.
The study did not look at how alcohol may provide health benefits, but Streppel said it could be due to an increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or to a reduction in blood clotting. Also, red wine has compounds that may ward off the build-up of fatty tissue in the arteries that can cause a stroke or heart attack.
Your notes may be very clear, but they are made way out of context. Dr. Hu has already said that a PR person at this point in time is a bad use of HRCT cash, which is much better applied to acquisitions. A PR person or firm here would just be an added expense. Dr. Hu's committment to keep shareholders informed is much more valuable then an expensive PR person at this point in time.
Raincheck?
Bad timing.
Our Jug Band has a gig Sunday afternoon. I'm behind the accordion.
You must be a recent shareholder. The old HRCT spinoff SRRY was also up.
Yes.......
Hartcourt closed higher today (2/27/07) as markets around the world tanked. Some of the reasons for this are as follows:
1) Opening positive PR on sale of old IT business with funds to be used to secure new assets.
2) Recent shareholder meeting at which Pres. and CFO Dr. Hu disclosed that profits from China's vocational institution assets will be tax free for at least 2 years.
3) Same recent shareholder meeting at which CFO Dr. Hu disclosed that 2 Chinese vocational schools are essentially now under the HRCT umbrella. One of these assets, China Princeley, holds China's only accreditation rights to certify vocational school teachers. Dr Hu said HRCT planned to have 20 vocational schools by the end of 2008 and 50 by 2010.
4) The declining US dollar bodes well for assets denominated in Chinese yuan.
I have always always enjoyed a good game of poker. Next to the bottles of empty beer on the tables were always stacks of the chips held by each player. This face to face encounter always played a role in the game. The stock market tends to be very faceless. However in this case we have major players with eyeballs on each other, and especially on the dealer and banker. I believe the house here is honest and plan to increase my stake to well beyond my current million share level.
OT: Not so subtle come-on:
If you let me know in advance when you plan to make it, I'll try to come by with a bottle of your favorite wine.
Easy come, easy go. The market took it all away today, but I now have the recipe! Thankyou
Sounds like it was lot of fun.
Make it easier on us next time and post the link to the recipe.
That $7.50 Merlot is on the pricey side for me, where cheap is under $5.00, but it's all relative to what you can afford... eh.
The market gave me 31k today so I am considering raising my cheap wine cost limit to $5.50/bottle (750 ml). With the new splits on the market, one has to be specific.
Re:
"I do not care about the US share price" and "I cannot guarantee a share price of 50 cents in one year"
These were not Dr. Hu's exact words and the context of his statements is very important. He said that he could not guarantee a 50 cent share price, as that would not be legal. This discussion was part his explanation on structuring acquisitions. He went on to say that a 50 cent share price is not all that critical; that it is a goal to strive for in that it would make future acquisitions cheaper if the share value was higher. However if share value did not reach 50 cents by the end of the year, HRCT would just have to compensate by restructuring acquisition parameters.
Nice close!!
Yes, we had an excellent lunch, during which Dr. Hu fielded more questions.
Dr. Hu did provide some estimates of profits and they were substantial. I do not recall the exact figures aside from the revenue numbers already given. The estimated profits were clearly projections and did not reflect operating costs. Perhaps some of the others present will recall the estimates.
No hedge funds at meeting.
No press at meeting.
Nobody brought that question up. But it was clear to that he intends to stay as long as it takes to get HRCT well established. He made a few references to his reputation, which he holds in high regard.
The HRCT meeting in SF started with some 15 shareholders in attendance.
It began with an introductory report by CEO Victor Zhou. He was very upbeat about Hartcourt prospects and soon turned the meeting over to Dr. Hu.
Dr. Hu laid out his business plan emphasizing a very active, centralized management plan.
He presented a slide show to accompany his executive summary, which described HRCT as a holding company for vocational education in China. He noted that as of 2005 there were 28 million students in Chinese vocational schools with the number rising to 52 million over the next 5 years.
HRCT's immediate goal was to acquire about 20 schools by 2008 and 50 by 2010. Revenues from 10 schools were forecast at $40 million, thus $200 million for 50. He described his numbers and estimates as conservative. Dr. Hu reiterated his goal of seeing a shareprice of .50 by the end of this year, but noted that his was a target and not a guarantee.
Dr. Hu noted the new HRCT 6-member Strategic Advisory Committee and planned to have them all meet in China in the near future.
He planned to expand his current Technical Expert Committee to 10 people. These people would oversee the educational structures at Hartcourt schools.
Dr. Hu considered that the current acquisitions of Yucai and China Princely were essentially done deals, with some bureaucratic formalities left to conclude. Numbers from this institutions will begin appearing in the next annual report.
Dr. Hu fielded questions throughout his presentation as well as at the end.
Q&A:
As to the mechanics of acquisitions, he outlined deals that would mix shares and cash, minimising use of current cash and locking distributed shares for at least one year.
As to the types of vocational schools under consideration, most were seen to be within 1-2 hours flying time of Shanghai. Each of these schools currently offered a broad mix of vocational training and he saw it as part of Hartcourt's plan to
steer them into more specialized categories.
As to marketing and acquisition he looked to offer incentives to teachers and to work with real estate developers to establish new educational centers.
As to revenue the schools would pay Hartcourt management fees as well as a percentage of their profits. A significant revenue stream potential was seen in the China Princely acquisition, because it is the only institution in China that has the right from the Ministry of Education to issue certification to teachers. Dr. Hu negotiated 100% ownership in China Princely.
As to competition there was some local competition, but HRCT appears to be in the leading position due to its early entry into this market. Privatization by the government was only approved in October 2005. Some comparisons were made with New Oriental, which Dr. Hu noted specialized in short term training programs, like for chefs, that lasted months rather than years.
As to a move to Nasdaq Dr. Hu hoped to get there in 2 years and that if necessary he would not rule out a reverse split to attain a requisite share price for the move.
I am sure that other shareholders who were present will be happy to add to the above summary.
I was very impressed with Dr. Hu's presentation, his diligence, his attentiona to detail, and his efforts to answer all questions as directly as possible. I remain a committed shareholder and look forward to the shareholder meeting next year in Hawaii.
2007 Feb 10, It was reported that researchers in Bolivia had found that the more education a Tsimane villager had, the longer he was willing to delay gratification in return for a bigger reward.
(Econ, 2/10/07, p.86)
Buying opportunities are always part of downward trends if you see underlying value. This will later translate to selling opportunities when the trend reverses.
Buy incrementally as it declines. This will not last long.
Those stop-loss orders from yesterday are getting eaten up.
Re: Seagate:
--A.G. Edwards said (today) fundamental improvements at the world's top computer hard disk-drive maker are not reflected in its recent share price.
--The brokerage, which set a price target of $33 on the stock, noted that Seagate's shares have fallen about 6 percent since it reported quarterly earnings in late January.
--A.G. Edwards sees sentiment over the company's growth opportunities and its operatingleverage improving, despite near-term seasonal demand trends and lingering concerns over an aggressive notebook pricing environment.
--The brokerage said it believes current consensusearnings expectations could offer further room for upward revisions going into mid-2007.
--Seagate will gain a position in Apple Inc.'s (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile , Research) iPod with the company's 1.8 inch drives, A.G. Edwards added. (Reporting by Tenzin Pema in Bangalore)
The most interesting part of that article was that the projected growth was described with no mention of encrypted drives.
With an order like that you could well see the shares taken followed by an immediate move to the upside.
Seagate has been rising for the past week, which I take as a good sign for WAVX.
Hotels will often remove discounts a week in advance of events.
How much was it?
Here is that paragraph:
Steven Sprague
Well, I think they could in time. They are not there today. I mean -- this is the perfect question in my opinion. So, on paper, what's your plan? There is going to be 1 billion machines that need Key Management for Trusted Platform Modules, what's your plan? And what's fascinating is, this is not in any of the presentations, you didn't see the letter TPM anywhere. We've never seen a solution that operates Key Management for a TPM. So, at some point in time, they are getting way behind the curve. I am on Generation II, maybe Generation III of Key Management infrastructure for TPM, and I just finished building Key Management infrastructure for consumer Seagate drives. If you ask EMC why they spent $2.1 billion in RSA, they will tell you, it's for Key Management, as a part of storage solutions. Where are they?
So, I look at consumer drives at a 170 million drives a year doesn't take very long before you start to touch everybody's machines and it's getting way late in the game. I am working on how do I get my software completely bundled in the box and packaged with the solution it just derives. And so, you as a user or as a corporation going to have mentally uninstall that and what we've learned is it has to be somewhat customized on an OEM-by-OEM basis to really effectively work as well you'd like it to work. So, it's not going to be that trivial that show up with the solution later on in the market and then roll it out across an enterprise. And if you break the stuff, it's a huge mess. Right, like the CEO's machine goes, because you lost the keys to your drive. They don't like that.
So, we think key management is a very important area in this space. We are very heavily invested in it. There is a ton more work to be done. I think we have a very rich patent portfolio in the space and we have -- something we are doing for five or six years. I think we have an awareness of what people are building. Just a simple fact, that all strong authentications are moving pre-OS. Nobody here is saying that. Your army just discovered this. They just went on and said we are going to put all our machines to have data protection in the machines and then they discovered that in the act of that they are fundamentally breaking all of their strong authentication solutions. So, it's a fascinating space to watch.
So, I think my time is up. So, thank you very much and we are around all afternoon if anybody has any questions.
The Deakin rated a little less than the Lindemans. I found one of each to try. Will report back later.