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Perish the thought...
I was just information gathering...and in later posts I reiterated that we still need to see the things I posted come to fruition (i.e. proof the tubes have been shipped to IA, groundbreaking on the new facility, announcement of $$$ and length of contract of fuel to the tugboat operator, blah, blah, blah)...
I will repeat...I am cautiously optimistic...
However, I think lack of information leaves a void that we (myself included) fill with negative speculation because we aren't getting the information on progress...and then the stock non-owners come in and kick us while we're down...that doesn't make us feel any better...
Shareholders need to continue to talk to management and confirm with reliable third parties...
I'm humbled that some here on the board have "hoisted" me on their shoulders as though I just took a half court shot that won the big game...
Nothing can be further from the truth, but it's nice to see that it has at least generated some positive response...
Now, I'm hoping JR makes me look good...
Are you that guy who just woke up from his coma after 19 years?... ;) ...sorry, couldn't resist...
Dude...that issue was hacked to death and is long over...
In lieu of an SSTP dividend (which, for whatever reason wasn't doable or wasn't doable in the way management wanted it done), shareholders of record May 4, 2007 received a
1:1 dividend of USSE shares...
USSE holds about 600 million shares of SSTP shares in its treasury...so, the story goes that if SSTP share price is rising, USSE is getting the benefit by holding an investment in SSTP shares...
I want to be clear here....I am NOT pumping these stocks based on one conversation with John Rivera...I have been saying that even with my original post...
But, I am somewhat surprised by this post (that I'm replying to)...
First, I never said the 100 million gallon plant was already under construction...nor did I say it would be completed in five months....
And I am not implying in any way/shape/form that overnight USSE/SSTP is going to be booking large scale profits...only that with JR's announcement that a tanker of fuel was shipped to a tugboat company that has 400 tugboats in its fleet, it implies that revenue is finally being produced by the company...how much revenue I (stupidly) did not ask...I am assuming (I know, ass-u-me) it was sizably more than $200..
I only repeated what Mr. Rivera told me regarding Freedom Fuels having what he referred to as "off-take" contracts for every gallon of biofuel produced...when I asked him what that meant, he said they have long term contracts for every gallon of biofuel produced...HOW long I (stupidly) did not ask...
My post was not meant or should it be implied that the ship has suddenly turned on a dime, full speed ahead and it will be happening by Friday...so load your boat with shares...it was a starting point that we need to be asking management every question we can...as shareholders (oops, bashers can skip reading this), we own part of these companies...
I accepted Mr. Rivera's comments at face value for now (as usual, he seemed sincere and in this case, I did not feel he overstated his case)...and will look (as everyone else will) as how things proceed...
For now, I wouldn't be tapping my home equity line to load up here...
But, the information, at face value, may be indicative that the company has indeed been working toward some viable end to get its product to market...it indicates (as have the announcement of JV's for the product's use as a fuel additive) that the shift in strategy is to the fuel markets over, but not exclusive of, its use in power generation...
I don't care if they find you can use it as an additive to toothpaste...as long as they're making it...selling it...and selling it for more than the expenses needed to produce it...
As to the comment about the Iowa facility being built in 14 months rather than 8, I am only repeating what JR told me...still, at 14 months, that is less than the timeframes he gave me as "industry standard"...
Again, to all, it's your money...you have to decide what to do with it...
Dave...(et al)
If USSE is holding some what, 600 million shares of SSTP, then I think both companies will benefit from an increase in share price of SSTP...
At this point, I don't see one having an edge over the other....
That's my opinion...I could be wrong...
Geepers...
No...he did not speculate on what the stock price would/could be...
There were simply questions on my part and answers on his part...my questions did not have anything to do with pps...it is my opinion that pps will resolve itself if the company delivers...and will resolve itself (to zero) if it can't...
I would hope that everything he told me will come to fruition (i.e. backed by public announcements)....and a credit in the ledger for fuel sales...
I know the company and management does not necessarily deserve the benefit of the doubt based on past experience...JR did tell me as I was questioning him about the company's past strategies that he had no idea how long and how difficult this road would be...
I am not trying to hold up this one discussion with JR as the light...
That's up to each investor to decide for him/herself...
I would think, if you (as I am) are holding a position, you have nothing more to lose by seeing if the company can finally deliver and restore lost credibility...(unless of course you bet the farm, no pun intended, in which case you need to reassess your own investing strategies)...
I would humbly recommend to any having follow-up questions on anything I posted to call JR yourself and pose those questions...and report your answers here...
Either those answers will satisfy you or they won't...either way, it's better than speculating on this board...we don't do ourselves (myself included) any favors by not asking questions from the parties who need to be supplying the answers...
When I came to this board, it was in hopes of finding other investors to supply solid information on the company...let's face it, there's no sense in re-creating the wheel...
And to the credit of some, I have gotten what I felt is credible information...the problem is that the company has failed to deliver or keep investors informed that strategy was changed and for what reasons...
Again, I have no other source than JR (and the PRs that everyone else is privy to) for this information...
I am not trying to turn bashers into believers or raise everyone's hopes into the heavens only to have them dashed later...
But, I do think that a) it's good to share information received directly from management with other investors/potential investors and b) try to dispel some of the misinformation that is created through wanton speculation on this and other boards...
For myself, I am (very) cautiously optimistic...I planned to wait it through regardless of what happened anyway...but thought it was time I asked some of the questions that have nagged me and many of my fellow IHubbers...I have never believed this to be a "scam" (and some might criticize me for being naive) but only that management is not the right management to get this product to market successfully...for that, I might just be (and hope I'm) wrong...jury's still out until more evidence surfaces...but, I'd would love to start rough drafting my written apology to John Rivera if we start seeing more things heading in the right direction...
Noviembre...amigo...
I'm just repeating his exact words...
Before anyone takes them out of context, I would take that to mean that they have revenues....whether those revenues exceed costs (i.e. profit), I suppose we will find out...
Choosey...
You might want to call Redwood right now (415) 884-0348 and see if you can get him on the phone to ask your questions...
I happened to call Redwood with a list and they told me he was there and he called me back within 10 minutes...
King..
No...I didn't ask him that specific a question on that (i.e. output)...
But, if I'm reading my notes right (since I was scribbling away), Freedom Fuels is generating 90,000 gals/day...when the new plant is finished, it will be 270,000 gals/day...
I would expect that his output is whatever he needs it to be to support those numbers...
OK...first things first...All I'm providing here is what John Rivera just told me himself...because I just got off the phone with him...believe it, don't believe it...Up to you...
1) The Biocentric deal is the result of 7 months of negotiations
and testing...This is a 70(USSE/SSTP)/30(Biocentric) split
on profits...The existing Iowa plant is an already running
30 million gallon facility...the new facility to be erected
on the same site will be a 100 million gallon facility...
Biocentric built Freedom Fuels 30 million gallon plant in
8 months (and he told me it normally takes more than double
that time by industry standards)...
2) The four tubes in Natchez are complete. They are going to
be shipped by barge to the Iowa plant and according to JR,
they are making those arrangements now. Another 50 are to
be constructed at the Iowa plant by October 15th...
3) Long term contracts are already in place by Biocentric/
Freedom Fuels for every gallon of biofuel produced (i.e.
biodiesel, ethanol, E-diesel)...
4) They shipped 1,000 gallons of cellulosic ethanol to the DOE
last Friday for testing to get approved for the Blender's
Credit from the government for producing cellulosic ethanol.
JR told me he expects to hear back from the DOE by Monday.
5) The Illinois Biofuels deal is tabled for now...JR told me
they wanted USSE to put up $1.2 million for the property
that came in appraised at $ 200K...he didn't think that was
a wise investment...
6) They just shipped first tanker of fuel from Houston to a
tugboat company that has 400 tugboats...JR's comment was
"we are profitable as of today"...
7) Told me they have been generating power using the biofuel in
Natchez for months using generators...
8) Told me they have been running the reactor continuously for
7 mos./3 weeks...no problems...
9) Kelmer Smith is still running SSTP...
9) Targets SSTP for Bulletin Board within the next few months..
USSE will be next up, but expects it will take more time..
(My note: I guess that's why SSTP is first)
10) Apparently, according to Rivera and Paisano (from Redwood),
there are dozens of PRs to be released in the next few
weeks....
My aim here is not to pump USSE/SSTP...my aim is to share what information I just got from Rivera (who is in CA at Redwood today)....
As Dr J (Jon Najarian) always says..."it's your money...you have to decide what to do with it"...
For what it's worth, I just tried to call Redwood...
The guy who answered the phone, guy named Matt, told me Rivera is in the Redwood office this morning having a meeting with the Redwood gang...
Asked to have Richard call me back when he gets out of this meeting to get some updates...
Not suggesting anything either way, but thought I would let the IHub gang know what I know....
I'm getting the same message when I tried to PM you..
Are you sure it's not the other way around?
Checked my ignores...I only have three...and you're not one of them...
Dude...
I don't have you on ignore...if I do, it's a mistake...
I don't know November....
He ran a good line of BS himself...
Dolly...
You're right about the PRs...we don't want fluff PRs..
But the company isn't really giving investors the information we need to believe that this thing is headed for land..
and not an iceberg...
We need answers....
Thanks, Paul...
That's all I'm saying....the same thing you just did...
The unfortunate part, Larry, is that your blackberry plant is making more progress than USSE...
And also unfortunately, we don't own stock in your blackberry plant...
Then again, if you find you can grind the berries into a liquid that can be used as biofuel, let us know...
Now that's the way to go...at least some of us still have a sense of humor...even if we don't have our shorts !!!!
What you are reading is frustration...compounded by the company's lack of reporting on progress....for anything...
Redwood is equally to blame...they are supposed to be answering investors questions....if they don't know, they should be contacting management...no, not every day, but once/week might be nice to have a "touch-base" with management and get some of these investor questions answered...
Instead the negative energy management has created is starting to feed on itself to where people are asserting that they are seeing little green men (i.e. the Illinois deal is dead, the SEC is investigating USSE)...
Sack...among others...I really admire your unwavering support for the company and management...and I hope you are right in the end...
As for the rest of us, I understand where you're coming from 'cause I'm in the same place (and no, I don't have as much money invested as some of you), but let's try to chill out a little more...let's stick to actual, factual information...if you can't cite a third party source, please keep it to yourself...
Sack, however, you must admit...the company and its reps at Redwood aren't helping matters any...
This whole issue of only getting 18 hours of runtime from the reactor that was brought to light at the hoedown in late April...
First...that would have been a nice thing to know up front...no?...That's a pretty big thing to know and would explain why we can't get a power contract if we can't generate the juice that generates the power consistently, no?
Second....did anyone from USSE say what happened after 18 hours?....I mean, did they not run it for more than 18 hours because they didn't have a reason to?...or because the thing "froze" after that amount of time?
If there WAS a problem identified, did anyone indicate how long they thought it would take to get over THAT hump?...
You mean these guys didn't know they couldn't generate output continuously before this??
Can someone who was there and knows clarify?
Well, if you have no conscience, you certainly wouldn't be worried about investors...
And if you do have a conscience, then you're not so much worried about your personal safety as you are that you let people down and it cost them money...
Let's face it...some here are regretting telling USSE's story to family and friends who put money into it...From the tone of their posts, I don't think they are worried about personal safety...
I think that something they hoped would benefit people they care about has, at least for now, turned into something that is not only NOT benefitting them...it's hurting them...
I know most of us are not family/friends of JR, but it is my hope that a guy who's fervor for his project convinced investors to trust in him and his dream and has been painted as a guy who truly cares about investors has at least some trouble falling asleep thinking about us...
I don't know if the link to the Business West article was ever posted, but if it wasn't (for Garjian/USSE), here it is..
http://www.businesswest.com/details.asp?id=1055
The article is dated 4/30/2007....
That is a more meaningful signal when volume is huge...
Well, you did post the link so I'll wager you weren't trying to purposefully mislead...
But using the word, "Wait", to me was misleading..if you didn't click the link, someone reading that might think that meant "Hold"..
It doesn't...it means "Don't Buy"...
Look, I'm holding stock here so despite what others might think I'm not trying to bash the company or its management...
But I, like others, are frustrated with the way this whole thing is unfolding...Ultimately, we might be proven wrong (in which case I'll find JR myself and apologize for anything he took personally about my lack of confidence in his ability to get it done), but until things get meaningful here, you can't deny that faith in USSE has dropped considerably since October
2006...that's just 8 months ago...my how the mighty have fallen...
I don't think any (true) investor (meaning not traders) thought pps was going to be $30 bucks/share in 8 months, but I think we expected, at the very least, to get consistent progress...with known players...that would bolster the company's credibility (there's that word again)...
500...next countdown to credibility...June 14th...does groundbreaking occur?....does it pass unnoticed?...or with an announcement that groundbreaking is delayed until July?...
If it does occur, will there be a PR SAYING it occurred?...
What's the timetable on actual, freakin' completion of the four tubes?...
Don't start me....
If USSE really has what they say they have, this should be a slam dunk...
That the company at least appears (maybe there's a method to their madness) to be doing the "drunk-walk" down the path of success is disconcerting...
It also says it had a sell signal on 5/15...
"Wait" here means don't buy after previously announced sell signal..
C'mon, Sack...we're not relying on THAT, are we?... :)
Well, I put my money down when JR say he had "it"...
Are you now suggesting that we place an "sh" in front of that?....
Not only that, but if JR spoke to counsel AFTER speaking to Paul and was advised not to send the fuel, a call back to Paul or short note informing Paul of the change in circumstances might have restored some...
credibility....
paperisaliar posted something about calling the company...
Well, apparently, posters here have...and haven't gotten much (at least that's what they're saying) in the way of callbacks...
Does this mean the company is a scam?....No...not necessarily...
What it means is that they've got a lot to learn about investors and what they expect...
And we're not getting it...
Gee....seems like the stuff SHOULD SELL ITSELF !!!!
Again...
All you're posting is your hopes....
It's a free country (thanks to all our veterans) and you can post what you want...
Not an attack, but I'm getting really tired of people who post that they think something is going to happen "next week"....
Why don't we just react to actual news?...or lack of real progress (i.e. revenues) by the company?....
I will agree the political climate is right....but can USSE take advantage of it?....or just flutter in the wind?....
Al...
I agree...to a point...
If the pictures showed progress that culminates in real actions (producing/selling fuel), then with a small company like this, I think it's a good thing to show progress to investors...
It CAN be credible evidence that things are happening...
Where it falls down is when they're not dated and not updated to show additional progress...nor have they (up to this point) lead up to real action...
You're right...I don't want management spending time taking snapshots, but I'm sure having some lackey take pictures and post them to a website for investors can be...if used correctly...helpful...
I'm not saying that is necessarily the case here...
Got news...
I read an article some time ago in Worth magazine...
That article said that even if you acted on information that someone gave you, even though they didn't disclose the nature of that information, and you acted on it, you're in hot water...
An real example was given about a guy who had inside information and only said to his friend...buy XYZ company...
The friend did...in the meantime, the friend passed on the information to friends and relatives...and so on and on...
And they all acted on it....the article then diagramed out everybody the SEC went after....
Use inside information or those who "give" it to you at your own peril...
I am...and they have no bearing here...
Weese...
I think that's pretty obvious...
Not an attack on you (or anyone else), but why would you even bother to make such a statement?
Do you have any substantial INFORMATION that would lead you to believe there might be substantial NEWS...
Honestly, I know posts like yours are based on hope...
But, with all due respect, I think they are pointless...
This reminds me of the posts that say "I've got a feeling something's going to happen next week"...
Bid = lowest price seller is willing to accept for selling
Ask = highest price buyer is willing to accept for buying
If trades are going off at the bid, then more than likely sellers are more interested in selling...they are willing to accept a lower price to get out (for any reason, profit taking, bad news driving price down, etc)
If trades are going off at the ask, then more than likely buyers are interested in buying...(don't care if they pay up a little more because they want IN)....
The 4,999 ?....maybe somebody is trying to stay off the radar (the radar being 5,000 share blocks)...but, that's just my opinion...
And there's been some speculation here on the board that these tubes are somehow being packaged to transport?...
How?....they look pretty big to me to be transporting...
No?
Somebody help me....there are NO new pics on Rivera's site...
The pics that are there have been there for the last month or so....
I'm not seeing anything new...
Of course, if the entries were dated, that would help...
But, it all looks the same to me...
Illinois Biofuels and AgriMax Fuels...
They were both PR'd as joint ventures, no?
Ah...500...
Joint Ventures to date.... Two, no?
Paul...
For whatever good it might do, I e-mailed Rivera asking him to have Gary Brant contact you....
I am constantly amazed by investors who are forward-looking..
I sure hope you're right...about fuel production (the spike in pps would be nice too)...
But, frankly, I think you're too far ahead of yourself...
If you read my profile, my favorite line is "I'll wait for the movie"...meaning...I'm not making any predictions about when pps "might" start moving higher based on any event much less an event, that since management has blown their credibility, doesn't even appear to be on the horizon...
and may never be...
Not to be a smart-a**...but...
"USSE has begun to dedicate a portion of their oil production to other high-value-added products."
WHAT oil production ?.....that statement implies they have been producing "oil" for other uses (power generation?) and are now rededicating some of that production to the fuels industry...
In all honesty, thanks for posting, but I read that press release through Yahoo when it was originally posted...
And in all fairness, Dr. Z. may be the catalyst driving USSE toward the fuel industry rather than for power generation...
That's fine....but it would be nice to know if power generation is still being actively pursued and what, if any, headway they are making....anywhere...
I mean...that WAS the strategy to get revenue streams more quickly than the fuel markets...wasn't it?