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You laughed, but 69 cents isn't that far away....
Looking for 69 cents to make a 200% gain..... Miracles do happen - lol.
OT: Irons - How does someone in the National Guard go AWOL unless they are on active duty? Do you have a link? Don't bother with the politically motivated bash Bush page.... I'm talking about real information.
OT: Maybe she should move....
Madonna thanks France for opposition to Iraq war
Madonna has thanked France for its opposition to the Iraqi war, during a private performance for 200 guests of a radio station in Paris.
Dressed in a low-cut black top and black glittery trousers, she performed the title track to her album, American Life.
The exclusive event, held at the city's Nobel restaurant, lasted 40 minutes.
But for those not invited to the venue, the concert was broadcast by the radio station live over the internet and to nine European countries.
As she thanked the French for opposing conflict in Iraq, she told fans: "Here in France I feel at home."
Obviously not everyone has a direct line to Madam Lulu....
Is boatgirl still out of town? lol
Ahhhh.... Profits. My favorite reading material - lol.
The stores look pretty good.
I am more interested in ROI, cash flow and profits if we are going to keep the stock price moving up. The dotcoms had lots of revenue but you see what happened to them. You can't lose money forever.....
Of course it will help if you are able to read Chinese.
I didn't see any mention of profits for Guowei.
GuoWei has a nice website offering computer products.
www.12diy.com
You sure are quick!
NEWS - Hartcourt Acquires GuoWei Group, a Major PC Retailer and Distributor in Shanghai
May 08, 2003 03:26:00 AM ET
LOS ANGELES, May 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Hartcourt Companies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: HRCT, Frankfurt: 900009), www.hartcourt.com , today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase 45 percent of Shanghai GuoWei Science and Technology Ltd., www.guowei.com.cn , a major PC retailer and distributor based in Shanghai, China. Furthermore, Hartcourt has obtained a voting proxy for an additional 10 percent of outstanding shares of GuoWei to effectively control the Board of Directors.
The purchase price for the 45 percent acquisition is RMB35.85 Million (US$4.35Mil) payable in 10,863,792 restricted common shares of Hartcourt at US$0.40 per share.
In 2002, GuoWei recorded sale revenue of RMB310 Million (US$37.6 Million). It was one of the top PC retailers in Shanghai, specializing in DIY (do-it- yourself) PC assembly and online PC sales.
GuoWei, founded in 1996, owns and operates 13 stores in Shanghai area and surrounding areas, completed with service centers and warehouse distribution. The stores provide customers with latest computer hardware, software, technical services and other digital products. It is also the leading online PC retailer in Shanghai for computer products at www.12diy.com .
GuoWei's business model is very similar to that of HuaQing and NewHuaSun, two other Hartcourt subsidiaries. Recently acquired by Hartcourt, HuaQing and NewHuaSun recorded a combined US$120 Million in sales and US$2.2 Million in net profit in 2002. Adding GuoWei, the three subsidiaries should give Hartcourt over US$165 Million in sales for the next 12 months. In Q1 of 2003, GuoWei recorded RMB99.5Mil (US$12Mil) in revenue.
China has experienced explosive growth in PC sales for the last 10 years from 670,000 PC sold in 1994 to 7,260,000 in 2001. IDC predicts China's PC sales will grow at 18-22% for the next 5 year, with sales reaching 19,800,000 PC in 2006 (global PC sales is 131,800,000 in 2002 vs. China's 9,280,000). Experts believe the huge market potential will come from the low PC penetration in home uses (5% in China compared to 49% in the US), as well as demand from technology upgrades and adoption of information technology by SMEs (small medium enterprises) and government sectors.
More details on GuoWei and the PC market in China could be obtained from Hartcourt Website, www.hartcourt.com or GuoWei website, www.guowei.com.cn .
Mr. Zhou Jian, Chairman and President of GuoWei, comments, "We are pleased to join HuaQing and NewHuaSun to create a major PC marketing group in China under Hartcourt's leadership. Undoubtedly, there are more companies out there anxious to join us. Our combined purchasing power and marketing budget will improve our profit margin. The acquisition strategy of Hartcourt will enable us to expand more aggressively. Bringing China's future growth into the present is Hartcourt's mission. We only just begin."
About Hartcourt
The Hartcourt Companies, Inc. is an investment holding and developing company specializing in the acquisition and development of private companies within high-growth industries in China. Hartcourt's business strategy is to add substantial value in terms of financial restructuring and corporate governance to enable these subsidiaries goes public via IPO or reverse merger. Detailed information on Hartcourt can be obtained via the company's Web site: www.hartcourt.com .
Forward-looking statements
The statements made in this press release, which are not historical facts, contain certain forward-looking statements concerning potential developments affecting the business, prospects, financial condition and other aspects of the company to which this release pertains. The actual results of the specific items described in this release, and the company's operations generally, may differ materially from what is projected in such forward- looking statements. Although such statements are based upon the best judgments of management of the company as of the date of this release, significant deviations in magnitude, timing and other factors may result from business risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, the company's dependence on third parties, general market and economic conditions, technical factors, the availability of outside capital, receipt of revenues and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the company. The company disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward- looking statement.
For further information, please contact: Mr. Richard Yan, 8621 5213 0673, or fax, 8621 5213 0664, richard.yan@hartcourt.com, for The Hartcourt Companies, Inc.
LOL. Well.... if it is too late for you - you can always work with a young person to help them on the path to being financially independant.
The rules of the game are always changing - you have to stay alert - lol.
A 3 paragraph post only allows for so much detail - lol. I would qualify my comments on debt to exclude certain appreciating assets like real estate and education expenses since those fall into the "investment" catagory. Simply put, If it depreciates, don't borrow to buy it. I will also allow an exception for basic transportation but a new Honda, Lexus, Porsche, etc, do not fall into the "basic transportation" catagory.
tempaussie - Good points. I don't talk about debt very much when speaking to the 10 year olds (they don't have very many credit cards) but maybe I should add a little demonstration on how devastating debt can be to financial health.
Since you are in my age bracket (I'm sorry to say) you can remember that when we were kids, no mention of investing (other than buying savings bonds) was made in the schools when we were young. They are doing a bit better nowdays but it is still very limited. Most parents seldom discussed real budgeting of investing since most of them didn't do any investing except for pension plans. No 401k's, IRA's, Roth IRA's, etc. Most kids were even unaware how much rent or mortgage payments were until they left home.
As you pointed out, budgeting is all important for financial independence. Once you get used to saving 10% or more of your gross earnings and just taking it off the top each payday before spending anything, you find that it doesn't really affect your lifestyle that much. If you try to save after you allocate (read spend) your money it will be difficult to accumulate a pile.
Your other point (getting out of debt) is harder for people to get a handle on. Everyone wants things and initially the debt seems to be within their means. What it is really is, is negative investing. There isn't much point in trying to make 10% annually on an investment if you are paying 12%, or 15%, or 22% on credit card debt. It works out to be a net loss. Married couples often go into debt for furniture, new cars, etc. instead of saving for them. It is a never ending downward spiral. If they buy furniture using a loan they end up paying back $17,000 for $10,000 worth of furniture instead of saving and paying $10,000 for the furniture and making the interest on it while they are saving.
Immediate gratification is expensive.
The timeline was interesting. Amazing that these services have only been around for 11 years - it seems like forever.
From the timeline:
March 19, 1992 AOL goes public on the NASDAQ offering two million shares for $11.50 each.
Sorry, I didn't mean to get on my soapbox again. I donate time at several middle schools giving talks on saving and investing to eighth graders. They are always amazed at what 40 years of compounding will do to very little investment. It is the old tortise and hare story just modified to apply to investing.
I don't know if AOL ever traded on the pink sheets, but to the best of my recollection when AOL had its IPO on the big board the share price was $15.00. If you bought it then you are in pretty good shape - if you bought it 3 years ago you are probably contemplating suicide - lol.
I am obviously a conservative investor and I only expect to average 15% to 20% annually over the long term. If I was as savvy as Buffet I would expect to make 20% to 25% annually. But, "A man has to know his limitations." (Why are all my posts beginning to sound like Clint Eastwood movies?)
I have no argument with any method you choose to use. If you have made an adequate return over time when you look back on your investments 5 or 10 years from now then that is all that counts.
On the other hand, if you are just gambling - Las Vegas has better floor shows and free drinks - lol.
I recognize that my style of investing is different than that of most people. It has worked for me for the past 28 years so I stick with it. My portfolio has increased in value every one of those 28 years (some more than others - lol) including each of the past 3 years. I like to describe my style as "investing" as opposed to "trading" (read gambling). I know a couple of traders that actually make money consistantly but they are both very experienced and spend 50 hours a week staying on top of all the factors that influence the value of their holdings. Too much work for me and I don't have the stress of worrying about my money when my head hits the pillow.
Investing for me is like planning a career or making long term plans for life..... I didn't try to become a millionaire by the time I was 30 or retire by the time I was 40. I just set long term goals and more or less worked toward them as I went along. Some of my short term plans worked out better than others and some were discarded because they didn't move me forward toward the long term goals. Overall, my plan worked better than I expected it to 20 years ago so I have no complaints.
On investing - I figuuered that I didn't have any spiritual revelations on how to do it better than anyone else so I just looked at what methods the 4 most successful investors who displayed ethical behavior were using and copied them.
Not very exciting stuff but it is all I have to offer.
I just commented that it was not the type of investment that I would be interested in and gave my reasons. I was not trying to influence you either way.
My reasons were that company insiders had dumped 20% of the total outstanding shares in the past 4 months and they are still dumping, the stock price has already had a substantial increase, the P/E ratio is over 50 even with their rosy projections, company management appears to be skimming all the profit off for themselves so that even with a huge increase in revenues the bottom line isn't going to look like much, and the stock price and market cap look very high for the revenues they are forcasting.
If you read the SEC filings and not just the PRs, you will observe a lot of footnotes and comments that indicate potential trouble spots.
As I said, this one doesn't even make it past a quick scan. Of course if you are just buying hoping to make a quick bit on the momentum then all you have to ask yourself is, "Do you feel lucky?"
LOL. Arizona 5, Phillies 4.
There are four major Tool Categories. Each Category contains Sub Category Tools.
MY FILTERS
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You wouldn't want to ignore the 8.7% annual dividend that PTR is currently paying.
It has been encouraging to see HRCT hold its price even on lower volume.
Finally.... For those of you who can't bear to tear yourselves away from the boards for even a few minutes -
World's first internet loo planned
May 06, 2003 11:36:00 AM ET
LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - The world's first portable lavatory with internet access is due to be unveiled in Britain this summer.
The "iLoo" is being built by Microsoft Corp's (MSFT) internet arm MSN which aims to showcase its creation at Britain's summer music festivals.
"The internet is so much a part of everyday life now that surfing on the loo was the next natural step," said MSN marketing manager Tracy Blacher on Tuesday.
The converted lavatory will feature a wireless keyboard, plasma screen and quick internet access.
In 2001, MSN installed an internet-enabled park bench in Suffolk, eastern England. REUTERS
Floyd is an idiot. The best thing about IHub is not having to wade through all the crap he posts under his many aliases.
PTR is Buffet's idea of a China play. It pays an annual dividend of 8.7% while waiting for the stock price to go up.
By Allen Wan, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 5:42 AM ET May 6, 2003
HONG KONG (CBS.MW) -- You've got to hand it to Warren Buffett. The world's most famous value investor always keeps 'em guessing.
This time, it's a high-stakes investment in PetroChina -- the largest state-run oil and gas company in China but little known outside of Asia.
But since the billionaire investor disclosed late last month in a Hong Kong filing that he spent about $42 million to boost his company's stake to 9.1 percent in PetroChina (PTR: news), the oil company is quickly becoming a fund favorite as well as a hot stock.
PetroChina's Hong Kong shares, already up for the year, rose another seven percent since the disclosure was made on April 28. The company's New York-traded share performed even better, gaining slightly under 9 percent in little over a week.
Investors hoping for an explanation from Buffett as to why he recently upped Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKA: news) (BRKB: news) stake in PetroChina at a weekend annual meeting in Omaha came away disappointed.
Buffett declined to comment on his reasons for buying a stake in PetroChina, saying it was not his policy to talk about individual stocks and that he preferred to keep his strategies private.
Still, that hasn't kept people from guessing on why the billionaire has gone bullish in Chinese oil - which appears to be a marked departure from his long-held philosophy of buying stocks in U.S. businesses he knows well and are easy to assess.
"Even though Buffett is less familiar with China, he knows the oil industry very well," said Shumin Huang, analyst at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong.
Known for its insurance investments, Berkshire Hathaway has over the past few years branched heavily into energy with great success. Its purchase of MidAmerican Energy Holdings, for one, has paid off handsomely. "Already it (MEHC) has US$18 billion of assets and delivers our largest stream of non-insurance earnings. It could well grow to be huge," Buffett reportedly said in a 2002 letter to shareholders.
Analysts from Citigroup Smith Barney in Hong Kong also agree that Buffett's move may not represent such a departure at all, given his investment criteria and recent interest in energy.
"We believe the investment should be viewed as opportunistic entry into a value stock that meets Berkshire Hathaway's investment criteria, with some knowledge contributed from recent investments in U.S. natural gas pipelines," the broker said in a note.
Berkshire Hathaway has recently been buying pipelines and other strategic stakes from cash-strapped energy companies.
One Hong Kong-based analyst, who declined to be identified, said that Buffett is simply investing in PetroChina, which pumps about two-thirds of the oil and natural gas produced in China, because it offers a great chance for him to obtain a 10 percent pretax return.
Chinese oil companies have been reporting banner results, driven largely by booming demand in the mainland and soaring oil prices.
Last month, PetroChina reported a slightly better-than-expected net profit of 46.9 billion yuan ($5.68 billion) in 2002, up 3.2 percent from the year before. Its rival Sinopec (SNP: news), meanwhile, reported a first-quarter net profit that was 12 times higher than year-ago levels. Offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC (CEO: news) said oil and gas output jumped over 23 percent, while revenues climbed 87 percent.
But analysts believe PetroChina is still cheap relative to its peers.
"While in our opinion, PetroChina continues to represent the best price to intrinsic value among the three oil names...a number of risks remain with regard to the development of its gas business," Citigroup Smith Barney said in the note.
Goldman's Huang is another fan of the stock, though its recent run-up to near the broker's target price of HK$1.85 compelled her to downgrade the stock to "In-Line" from "Outperform."
PetroChina traded down 1.6 percent at HK$1.79 on Tuesday.
Huang said PetroChina offers a strong balance sheet, strong cash flow and a high dividend yield. "And longer term, Chinese economy should maintain good growth and Chinese oil demand growth should remain relatively higher than most peers," she said.
China is now the world's third-largest consumer of oil after the United States and Japan.
Allen Wan is the Asia bureau chief for CBS MarketWatch, based in Tokyo.
I think there might be a difference between Buffet not understanding it and us not understanding it - lol.
Comments from Buffet and Munger.....
They also want to hear the bon mots Mr. Buffett and his associate Charlie Munger are so well known for – turns of phrase that inevitably cut through a lot of the investment world’s fog. This year, for example, Mr. Munger recommended that investors who see the term EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in a company’s results should “substitute the words ‘bullshit earnings.’”
When it comes to analysts’ reports, Mr. Buffett said he never reads them. “If I read one, it’s because the funny pages weren’t available. I don’t know why anyone does it,” he told the annual meeting. As for corporate accounting: “If I can’t understand it, the management probably doesn’t want me to understand it. And if management doesn’t want me to understand it, there is probably something wrong going on.”
On the first day of Spring Training, a baseball scout brings a race horse with him to add to the starting line-up.
The coach asks, "What did you bring that horse here for?"
The scout replies, "Wait until you see him bat."
All the players are laughing, until the horse comes to bat. At this point, the horse grabs the bat, and everyone quiets down. They stare at the horse.
The pitcher, just shrugs his shoulders, and throws the ball toward home plate, when astonishingly the horse hits the ball deep in the outfield.
The horse just stands there and does not move. The manager then yells at the baseball scout to tell the horse to run to first base.
The scout looks back at the manager and yells back, "If he could run, he'd be at Belmont!"
When HRCT needs an arena for the annual shareholders meeting, then they will have arrived.....
2003 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. The meeting will be held on Friday, June 6, 2003, at 8:45 a.m. in Bud Walton Arena, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Pre-meeting activities start at 7:00 a.m. .
*** Seven shareholder proposals.
*** " If you plan to attend, please bring the Admittance Slip on the back cover and a picture I.D. "
The oracle of Omaha speaks out against overpaid CEO's
Buffett Says Some Major CEOs Are Overpaid
The Associated Press
May 4 2003 10:14AM
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Chief executives of some major companies are overpaid, according to Warren Buffett, the investment wizard who turned Berkshire Hathaway into a multibillion-dollar holding company.
And at a time of criminal investigations of corporations such as Enron, Buffett cautioned stockholders Saturday to give careful attention to company financial reports.
``If I can't understand it, the management probably doesn't want me to understand it. And if management doesn't want me to understand it, there is probably something wrong going on,'' he said at the company's annual stockholders' meeting, which he has called ``Woodstock for Capitalists.''
The meeting comes about two months after Buffett filed the company's own annual report, which said earnings per share for the period ended Dec. 31, 2002, were up 436 percent to $2,795 from $521 per share in 2001. Net worth grew by $6 billion last year, a dramatic increase from the $3.77 billion loss in value the year before.
Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, said the consumer businesses the company holds had lower earnings in the first quarter because of the struggling economy.
``I really think we've been in a recession now for over two years,'' Buffett said, but he added the recession has not been a major one.
Berkshire owns businesses and stock in a wide variety of industries, including furniture, restaurants, candy, insurance and newspapers.
Asked by a shareholder to comment on the compensation given to chief executives of major companies, Buffett said the amounts paid have been much too high. He also said stock options offered by many companies are unfair because they can compensate poor executives during good years and can hurt good leaders during bad years.
When Berkshire purchased insurance company General Re, it inherited a stock option system that had General Re executives benefiting from the wider success at Berkshire - even as General Re struggled, Buffett said.
``That's not an indictment of General Re, but an analysis of an option system that's like a lottery ticket,'' he said.
Some have called for corporate reform to include more diversity on boards of directors, but ``what happens with compensation is the acid test of reform,'' Buffett said.
Rules are likely to go into effect within the next year aimed at improving the independence of corporate boards that will require adding four people to Berkshire's seven-member board, Buffett said.
Berkshire will choose people who have large holdings in the company and business savvy, Buffett said.
``We'll have people who have a lot of money on the line, like you do,'' Buffett said.
Buffett defended the nation's Social Security system as a promise of base level subsistence upon retirement to people who have contributed to society. It would not be wise to direct some of those funds into the vagaries of the stock market as a way to bolster the system, Buffett said.
``A lot of people thought it was a good idea a few years ago,'' Buffett said. ``I think it's a very bad idea, frankly.''
Among the shareholders at Saturday's meeting was Disney chairman Michael Eisner.
``It's always invigorating. They make things sound very clear and very simple, which, of course, it is not,'' Eisner said.
Buffett to report best ever quarterly profit
May 03, 2003 6:45:00 PM ET
By Bill Rigby
OMAHA, Neb, May 3 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, said on Saturday his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKa) (BRKb) conglomerate made record operating profits of $1.7 billion in the first quarter, more than twice that of the year ago quarter, helped by a jump in earnings from its insurance businesses.
"It's the best earnings we've ever had," Buffett, 72, told more than 15,000 shareholders packed into Omaha's Civic Auditorium for Berkshire's annual meeting. Berkshire, which made a record annual operating profit of $3.9 billion in 2002, is scheduled to report first-quarter results on Friday, May 9.
Berkshire now has about $16 billion in cash on its balance sheets, Buffett said. At the end of last year, Berkshire was holding $10 billion in cash.
Buffett was downbeat on the stock market, as he has been for some time. "I have not thought stocks were cheap for quite some years," he said. Buffett, who made large corporate bond purchases last year, said that market was no longer as attractive as more buyers had flooded the market. "If there's nothing smart to do, cash is the default option," he said.
Buffett elaborated a little on some recent moves which have puzzled some observers.
Commenting on his $1.5 billion purchase of McLane Co., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)'s grocery delivery unit, announced on Friday, Buffett said, "It's a narrow margin business. But McLane knows how to do it."
Buffett was coy on his recent buildup of a stake in China's PetroChina Ltd. , "We think we understand the oil business in China reasonably well," he said. "We don't make any great judgments about China."
On the subject of corporate governance, Buffett said that by next year's meeting, Berkshire would probably have appointed some more independent directors in order to meet proposed rules on board membership. He announced in March that he is looking for large Berkshire shareholders to join the board. REUTERS
CKCM will pay the dividend...... The stock price will drop dramatically immediately following - probably to the sub 25 cent range. This company has a very small float - over 3/4 of it is owned by the officers and venture capital firms and it only has a total of 8 million shares outstanding. The true float is probably under 1 million shares. The CEO will also get another 400,000 shares issued to him immediately following the dividend. After the dividend you would probably have difficulty finding a buyer for your shares at any price.
CKCM is one of the more creative scams going at the moment. If you had bought shares 2 days ago at $2.79 you would probably have come out ok. At $4.02 you will probably lose your shirt. This is a method for the officers and venture capitalists to loot the company legally.
Good to see you posting...
The aircraft carrier landing this afternoon should be fun to watch. If the President had insisted on a F-18 the Secret Service probably would have had heart failure en masse.
Becase without looking you knew the D-backs whupped the Marlins tonight.
I don't want to belabor the point.... I just don't want the facts to get lost in enthusiastic hype. I have owned HRCT longer than most everyone and I am still here.
I don't know how many people are on the accountant's staff but since they are responsible for the 10k they should know what they are doing. HRCT's letter doesn't say who gave them the misinformation but it doesn't say that the OTC did. In any case the accountant or the lawyer should have known.
I hope you are right about things going smoother this time. We have endured 4 years of speed bumps. I am aware of the handicaps they have to work under and have hoped that they will overcome them and succeed in the end. The economic downturn hasn't helped their efforts but they didn't have any cash before the downturn started so it has had little effect other than to prevent raising cash via the bubble.
I am enjoying the recent stock price increase..... I just want to see it hold this time.