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This is good!! We have 11 MMs supporting the PPS over 0.06 and waiting for the confirmation!!! There is a fake wall between 0.063 and 0.067......going back to 0.067.....
We need to know the next bid after Google offer, If the next offer surpass $1.2 Billion is a great indication that $3 Billion could be reach by EOD!!! Speculation time!!! Market is loading in anticipation of the next offer.......
Forbes: Patents War Continues....
Nortel Patent Firesale
Bankrupt telecom-maker Nortel is discovering one company’s pain is another’s gain. The company plans to sell more than 6,000 patents to any number of lucky bidders next week. Apple, Intel and several other companies are expected to open their checkbooks for what RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis is calling a “national treasure trove.”
The patents cover technology relating to Wi-Fi, social networking and Internet search technology.
Google, which proposed a strong starting bid of $900 million, plans to use Nortel’s patents to protect itself from lawsuits related to its Android software.
Patents a-Plenty
Oracle is suing Google for $6.1 billion over patent violations, continuing the wave of litigation now spreading through the tech world. Oracle claims Google used unlicensed Java software, which it purchased Sun Microsystems last year, for its Android mobile platform.
Apple, no stranger to the patent lawsuits, is continuing the fight with Samsung over which company stole the other’s designs. Apple has gone as far as to prevent Samsung from having early access to its iPhone 5 and iPad 3 designs, and even filed a lawsuit against Samsung in its own country.
This week, though, Judge Lucy Koh suggested the two companies stop fighting and come to an agreement outside the court to help restore their working relationship.
Apple is also suing Amazon over the rights to the “App Store” name. The two companies have been deadlocked since March, but new reports suggest Apple’s claim that Amazon’s “AppStore” will confuse consumers is falling on deaf ears and will likely be denied in court.
Finally, Best Buy is taking a page out of Apple’s lawsuit playbook by claiming Newegg’s “Geek On” ad slogan would confuse potential Best Buy customers. The company said Newegg’s black-and-orange “Geek” logo is too similar to Best Buy’s “Geek Squad” technical support logo.
http://blogs.forbes.com/mobiledia/2011/06/26/nuts-hackers-run-amok-patent-wars-continue/
AUCTION OF THE CENTURY: NORTEL'S PATENTS SALE STARTS MONDAY
by Rahul K. Chaudhary - June 26, 2011
The Intel Corp. has gained approval from the Justice Department of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to bid on the pot of around 6,000 patents held by the waning Nortel Networks Corp., a firm that was soaring in the late 1990s.
Minutes after Intel’s anti-trust approval, Apple Inc. got the green signal to jump in too.
This auction may well be the ‘auction of the century’. Apple and Intel have now joined Google Inc., Ericsson and Research In Motion Ltd. as the most publicized bidders interested in the patents.
The much-awaited final bidding is scheduled to start Monday in which a swarm of bidders is likely to swoop down at the patents jar.
A high-profile, high-priced auction
Nokia will probably be on the frontier along with Google, but may be short of cash after throwing in with Redmond’s Microsoft Corp.
The patents are mostly concerned with wireless assets, including Wi-Fi, LTE and specific types of social-networking resources.
Google is already in at $900 million, an amount which it offered to Nortel for the entire patent suit, facing the Intel and Apple approvals.
Though Nortel has not yet disclosed about some of the key patents useful for all kinds of leverage, the package of these patents is likely to go as inflated as $1 billion.
Nortel has more than $3 billion in debt. The stock may easily become a 10-bagger immediately if the auction goes its extreme.
The suit contains revolutionary patents
During Nortel’s peak, it had developed the most promising and forward-thinking strategies, and yet was broken by the dot-com collapse of 2000. Nortel hardly recovered from there, but its patents and basic strategies are still valuable and in play.
The company had a basic future-perception that the wide-area networks (WAN), such as the Internet would soon gain such high-speed that the local-area network (LAN) would vanish, as it could not compete with the astonishing speed of WAN.
It was a very essential thought at that time, and perhaps it still is. But the patents bracing up that idea (and other innovative theories) are lying amid the 6,000 to be auctioned Monday.
The patent-pack has something for everyone
Though its hard to judge which bidder would better benefit from the intellectual patent property, Intel seems best because it reportedly hosts the broadest base of engineering endowment to comprehend and commercialize most of the patents.
Ericsson is the other potential buyer that makes a good fit, as it runs nearly the same type of business as Nortel does. It makes sense.
The Swedes Ericsson has a slight disadvantage by being from a cultural setup not recognized for splurging. It may be outbid easily by almost all other aspirants.
Apple and Research in Motion (RIM) would certainly jump on to the revolutionary wireless patents to enhance their handset offerings and score an edge in the competitive market. They are then likely to spin off the nonessential patents possession to recover costs.
The final countdown has already started and the list of approved bidders is still surging. Some patent-trolls are likely to show up for the auction to buy whatever they could, just to create a collection of high-priced licensing deals.
Watch out an action-packed auction on Monday.
http://www.themoneytimes.com/featured/20110626/auction-century-nortel’s-patents-sale-starts-monday-id-101701710630.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheMoneyTimes+%28The+Money+Times%29
another reason why "Nortel patents and IP ownership" is so important for Apple,RIMM, GOOGLE, INTEL etc....
"March that a favorable ruling could be worth $1 billion because Cuprtino-based Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Canada's RIM (NASDAQ:RIMM) would be forced to settle, Bloomberg said."
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2011/06/25/Apple-RIM-patent-decision-next-week.html
Speculation and Billions coming:
Follow the Hedge Funds and MMs!!! The latest data of SI(JUN-15-2011) is AGAIN below 0.5% of the total O/S(500M).To be more specific is like 0.25%!!!!! That is the amount of SI(+/-1%) that you use to control the PPS not to short and screw traders and retail investors.....
Jun 15, 2011....... 1,215,711
http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/NRTLQ/short-sales
This only prove one thing. They know the stock is too volatile to be SHORT RIGHT NOW!!! They understand that this auction is going to be crazy!! and in the Billions!!! But some $#@#$# still think this auction will be lower than 1B. HEY #$#@#$# THE GUYS(HF AND MMs) IN THE KNOW AND WITH ACCESS TO DATA BEFORE YOU!!!!! ARE NOT SHORTING THIS BK STOCK, WHY????? Because they know that the pps will fly by more than 500% once the news hit the street about the auction going into the Billions!!!!( whether the commons get something or not at the end)!!!
"Whoever acquires the portfolio is not going to make a ton of money licensing it and getting royalties from it. I really think it's more of a defensive kind of thing...so you can't get sued." =BILLIONS
"Chinese telecom ZTE Corp. as well as U.S..-based RPX Corp., which could represent a consortium of companies possibly including Canada's RIM (TSX:RIM), could also be bidders. " = BILLIONS
"The Nortel patents include advanced wireless network technology called Long-Term Evolution networks, which are starting to rollout globally and are able to handle lots of data for TV watching, music listening and video streaming." = BILLIONS
"The LTE patents are considered jewels in the remaining Nortel assets due to the popularity of mobile devices like smartphones and computer tablets. " = BILLIONS
"He said Google would likely be interested in patents that apply to smartphones and smartphone applications. Google's Android operating system runs in smartphones brands such as HTC, Samsung and Motorola and these phones are taking a bite out of RIM and even the iPhone's popularity." = BILLIONS
End of an era for Nortel as the last of its technology goes on the auction block
By LuAnn LaSalle, The Canadian Press | June 26, 2011
MONTREAL - The last of Nortel's assets — patents for Internet search, mobile video and wireless networks that can be used in consumer technology — go up for auction Monday, ending an era for the bankrupt Canadian telecom company.
Internet search engine giant Google has started the bidding at $US900 million. iPhone maker Apple, Swedish telecom company Ericsson and chipmaker Intel are also expected to bid on Nortel's 6,000 patent and patent applications, which could fetch as much as $1.5 billion in the U.S. auction.
"There was a lot of research and development going on at Nortel in its heyday," said Mark Tauschek of Info-Tech Research Group in London, Ont.
Nortel was prolific in getting patents for a "wide swath" of technologies they were working on or would be working to defend itself against patent infringement lawsuits, Tauschek said.
"They were pretty savvy in that respect," said Tauschek, director of research. "That's why the portfolio is as valuable as it is."
The Nortel patents include advanced wireless network technology called Long-Term Evolution networks, which are starting to rollout globally and are able to handle lots of data for TV watching, music listening and video streaming.
The LTE patents are considered jewels in the remaining Nortel assets due to the popularity of mobile devices like smartphones and computer tablets.
The patents also include Wi-Fi technology that connects devices to the Internet when in range of a wireless network as well as data networking, Web search and social networking technology.
The winning bidder will be able to defend itself against potential litigation from other companies who say they had a particular technology first and allege it's being used without a licence, Tauschek said. Or the winner could licence the technology.
Google, also a leading force in the smartphone business with its Android operating system, has said as much. The California company has said it views the acquisition of the Nortel patents as a defence against "an explosion" of patent litigation.
Chinese telecom ZTE Corp. as well as U.S..-based RPX Corp., which could represent a consortium of companies possibly including Canada's RIM (TSX:RIM), could also be bidders.
Nortel had more than 10,000 employees devoted to research and development.
At its height a decade ago, it was among the world's most advanced developers of telecom equipment but was felled by numerous problems, including challenging market conditions, economic upheaval and an accounting scandal. Former Nortel executives didn't respond to requests for interviews.
Anne Clark-Stewart, spokeswoman for Nortel Retirees and Former Employees Protection Canada, said pensioners hope to get a chunk of proceeds from all of the sales of Nortel's assets to help top up their underfunded company pensions.
Sales of Nortel's assets have totalled about $3.2 billion so far.
Clark-Stewart noted most of Nortel's technology was developed in Canada.
It was, in the majority, developed by Canadian scientists and engineers," she said from Ottawa. "And that money isn't necessarily going to come back to help us."
Pensioner Leo Strawczynski, who developed a number of patents, said Nortel was involved in leading-edge research and worked in conjunction with universities and various standards bodies.
"I spent most of my professional life at Nortel and it's sort of sad to see it all waste away," he said from Ottawa.
"The companies that have acquired Nortel technology have done very well with it, by and large."
Over the last couple of years, Nortel has sold its wireless network business to Sweden's Ericsson for $1.13 billion and its enterprise solutions business to U.S.-based Avaya Inc for $689 million, among others.
Tauschek said Google is the strongest contender for the patents so far.
He said Google would likely be interested in patents that apply to smartphones and smartphone applications. Google's Android operating system runs in smartphones brands such as HTC, Samsung and Motorola and these phones are taking a bite out of RIM and even the iPhone's popularity.
He said if Google is the successful bidder, it could end up selling the wireless technology patents.
"Whoever acquires the portfolio is not going to make a ton of money licensing it and getting royalties from it. I really think it's more of a defensive kind of thing...so you can't get sued."
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/31116--end-of-an-era-for-nortel-as-the-last-of-its-technology-goes-on-the-auction-block
Nortel patents: Tech giants slug it out
Jun 25, 2011, 12.10pm IST
TORONTO: Valuable broadband and networking patents developed by bankrupt Nortel Networks go up for sale next week, with tech giants like Google, Apple and Intel heading the list of would-be buyers.
In one of its last asset sales in a drawn-out bankruptcy break-up, Nortel is selling 6,000 patents and patent applications, ranging across its whole spectrum of expertise in wireless, data and optical networking, voice, Internet, semiconductors and other technologies.
The sale could fetch $1.5 billion, said Josh Walker, CEO of Lex Machina Inc, which consults on intellectual property litigation. "This is one of the largest and one of the most strategically significant ones," he said.
The most prized patents in the collection relate to next-generation mobile broadband technology used in emerging 4G standards such as long term evolution (LTE).
Mike Lazaridis, the co-chief of Canada's Research In Motion, once described these patents as a "national treasure."
But RIM will likely be outbid by deep-pocketed mobile companies including Google and Apple.
A source at chipmaker Intel called the portfolio a "gold mine" for its own push into mobile. Several sources have said likely bidders also include Sweden's Ericsson and U.S.-based RPX Corp, which licenses patents on behalf of member clients for a fee.
Chinese network equipment maker ZTE has also expressed interest in the LTE portion.
The auction, almost certainly the largest public sale of its kind, comes amid strong mobile industry growth -- and soaring litigation -- as relative latecomers Apple and Google seek to bolster weaker collections of patents versus rivals.
Walker said a $1.5 billion price tag was not excessive, considering licensing and royalty deals can cost a company between $500 million and $1 billion.
The sale of Nortel's patents could take days to thrash out and must then be approved by a Delaware bankruptcy court on July 11. The court will likely hear objections from losing bidders and companies that reached licensing deals with Nortel while it was solvent, such as Microsoft .
A new world
In earlier days, tech companies would quietly hash out licensing deals to share their technical know-how, and those with the most patents got the best terms.
This history makes it easier to value the radio patents, which Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt described as "a much more mature market for royalties" than exists for some of the other Nortel patents.
But the ground rules are being rewritten as smartphones and tablet computers promise new riches and bring new players into the wireless industry.
"You need to add in a fear premium from most of the people you hear that are attached to this auction," said a source close to the situation. "I think for certain people it would be a bad thing if other people got their hands on these patents."
Google opened bidding in April with a $900 million "stalking horse" bid, and said it hopes the patents will ward off litigation from more established rivals.
Its Android mobile software has attracted a lawsuit from Oracle, while handset makers using the software have also been sued by both Apple and Microsoft, which claims an existing, perpetual license to Nortel patents.
Microsoft receives money from deals reached with some Android handset makers but is pressing for more.
The industry's fear of litigation could help RPX, which can reduce risk for its customers -- including major chip and handset makers, network builders and carriers -- by ensuring they are licensed to use the related technologies.
The patent sale is a last gasp for Nortel, which was once Canada's biggest company by market capitalization before imploding as the tech bubble burst. It filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2009.
Nortel raised around $3.2 billion for creditors by selling business units since then.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/telecom/Nortel-patents-Tech-giants-slug-it-out/articleshow/8987924.cms
To the PM message; your right and thank you!. What I found really interesting about this Auction is that I don't remember since the horrible dot-com era, so much interest from the Big Tech Corps with over $100 BILLION in CASH(together)( INTEL, GOOG, APPLE, ERICSSON) in collusion mode!! like in this case..... IP( patents,etc) segment is the new cash cow business for lawyers and some companies!!! Also this is why IMO Nortel Auction is going to surprise so many people with the insane amount of money this Big Techs are going to spit.....
yes, you have a very valid point, " volatile trading and speculators" with an offer over $3 billion the speculation about whether the commons are in the game or not could be enormous and if the HF and MMs are ready to play and feed that speculation Im expecting a PPS over 0.50 cents to maybe $1 on pure madness......
Im just being sarcastic with the "dumb" comment thing.... but if you really think that GOOG is playing the "bluff card" you need to do more DD into the rules about "stalking horse bid". I dont know if you have any experience playing "patent" stocks and BK stocks but Nortel is an unique opportunity.... in less than 48 hours we will see if the bidding war is for real...... IMO if Apple or Intel double Google bid then Im pretty confident that we are going to see over $3 Billion in this auction and remember is all about speculation and what the HEDGE FUNDS AND MMs believe and decide is NRTLQ speculation price..... maybe is 10c maybe 50 cents or maybe $1, we dont know yet but Monday we shall see..... happy trading
FAQ: What You Need To Know About Monday’s Mobile Patent Auction
By Tom Krazit
@tomkrazit
Jun 25, 2011 5:00 AM ET
Why does Google want the patents?
When revealing that it had struck the stalking-horse deal with Nortel, Google’s Kent Walker said that Google hoped to fend off patent trolls lawsuits with the Nortel patents, writing in a blog post that “… as things stand today, one of a company’s best defenses against this kind of litigation is (ironically) to have a formidable patent portfolio, as this helps maintain your freedom to develop new products and services. Google is a relatively young company, and although we have a growing number of patents, many of our competitors have larger portfolios given their longer histories.” (Update 11:35 a.m. PT: Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents wrote in to point out that patent trolls aren’t really deterred by patent portfolios, since you can’t assert your own patents against somebody who doesn’t make anything. Duly noted.)
Should we believe them?
Probably. Google doesn’t have much of a history as a patent-assertive company, although it’s playing defense on a number of fronts against patent claims from companies like Oracle as well as those that are suing its Android partners over mobile patents. Pretty much everybody is suing everybody these days in the mobile world, even though Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) recently agreed to settle their differences. Google could use the Nortel patents to countersue people who sued it first as to improve its leverage, but they’d face a huge backlash if they went on the offense with the Nortel patents after making those types of public statements.
Who else is going to be involved in this auction?
Just about any modern mobile company you can envision. In recent weeks, Apple, Intel (NSDQ: INTC), Research in Motion (NSDQ: RIMM), Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC), Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), ZTE, and patent holding company RPX have all been rumored or confirmed to be interested in the patent portfolio. In court filings, Nortel said that 105 parties expressed initial interest in the patents, and it whittled down that number to 40 parties who were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements and allowed to review the patents before deciding whether to bid.
As a result, The AmLaw Daily thinks that Monday’s auction “could set a record for the most money ever raised in a single public sale of intellectual property assets.”
How is this going to work?
The parties other than Google that are interested in the patents have already submitted bids to Nortel, which is in the process of evaluating whether or not those bids are qualified to participate in the first round of the auction. That’s probably why we’re doing this a week later than originally anticipated: Nortel announced last week that due to “the significant level of interest” in the process, it would need an additional week to make sure everything went smoothly.
On Monday representatives from Nortel will start the auction, revealing the subsequent bids received after Google’s initial $900 million offer. The best offer of those initial submissions will be declared the starting bid, and bidding will commence in $5 million increments from thereafter. It’s not clear if everybody will get little placards with their corporate logos to hold up when they wish to bid, or if one of the guys from the Mecum classic car auctions will be tapped to call the bids in staccato fashion.
When will we know who won?
Nortel and its creditors will evaluate each bid and decide whether or not it’s worthy before moving onto the next one. It’s not clear how many rounds they are prepared to go, but everybody who has submitted a qualified bid will be given the opportunity to top whoever is in the lead at the end of a round of bids. Complicating matters further, it would appear that the patents can be sold as a complete package or in pieces, according to one of the court filings.
A winning bid and an alternative runner-up bid will be selected and submitted for approval by both the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Nortel’s home country of Canada. A “sale hearing” is currently scheduled for July 11th to approve the final sale, and objections can be filed to the propose sale until July 6th, so it will be a few weeks before everything is set in stone.
Why should I care about this?
The winner of these patents could be poised to unleash a new wave of lawsuits against the mobile industry, or effectively blunt the mobile patent attacks that have become increasingly common over the last few years. This industry has evolved so quickly and has so far to go that the financial stakes are huge: billions of dollars are already being made on the sale of mobile devices and mobile software, and it’s only the beginning.
A mobile patent lawsuit arguably forced RIM of course in the middle of the last decade as they were forced to content with the pesky challenge from NTP, and the company has really never been the same since. Things are a bit different now that the industry is more mature and patent trolls are better understood, but every major company involved in the mobile industry wants to make sure they are protected against a similar outcome. RIM was forced to pay NTP $612 million for patents that may or may not have actually been legitimate, and that doesn’t even count the amount of money the company spent over six or seven years defending itself in court. (Update 11:35 a.m. PT: As noted above, existing patents wouldn’t have necessarily protected RIM against NTP.)
Hopefully, the process has forced the U.S. government to finally examine how patents are granted in this country and come up with some sort of reform that protects individual inventors while discouraging the frivolous lawsuits that seemingly make up the majority of patent cases these days. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a patent-reform bill this week, and President Obama has said he’ll sign it if the House and Senate can work out the differences between two similar bills.
Either way, it’s a turning point in the development of the modern mobile computing industry. As Google put it, like it or not, patent law is often a numbers game, and it’s not very often that such a large block of relevant patents comes up for sale at a time when companies like Apple and Google are sitting on piles of cash. They can afford to make this auction very lucrative for Nortel and very expensive for competitors.
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-faq-what-you-need-to-know-about-mondays-mobile-patent-auction/
With Cleary Presiding, Nortel Patent Auction Could be Biggest Ever
Posted by Julie Triedman
Two and a half years after Nortel Networks Corporation filed for bankruptcy protection, the estate of the insolvent Canadian telecom is scheduled on Monday to sell off its last valuable asset: a portfolio of nearly 6,000 patents that could be key to the future of mobile computing.
The patent trove--which covers technologies used in smartphones and tablet computers, as well as in cellular infrastructure, online search, and even social networking--is expected to bring in more than any of Nortel's previous asset sales and could set a record for the most money ever raised in a single public sale of intellectual property assets, lawyers familiar with the auction process say.
In addition to Google, whose so-called stalking horse offer of $900 million represents the minimum bid, other high-tech companies expected to vie for the Nortel patents include Apple and Intel. All three companies have received approval from federal antitrust regulators to participate in the bidding, as has Rockstar Bidco LP, according to Bloomberg.
Other potential suitors include Ericsson and defensive patent aggregator RPX. As of Friday, it was unclear whether another reported bidder, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, will ultimately enter the fray.
Interest in the portfolio, which Nortel says includes about 3,650 U.S. patents and 1,650 patents in other countries, has been so intense that the auction--originally scheduled for June 20--was pushed back a week.
Those eyeing the Nortel patents have different reasons for doing so. In announcing its bid in April, for example, Google noted on a company blog that its interest is twofold. Winning the portfolio, the company said, "will not only create a disincentive for others to sue Google, but also help us...continue to innovate." Intel, meanwhile, views the patents as a potential "gold mine" for its own push into the wireless maket, according to Reuters.
http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2011/06/nortelpatentauction.html
Bidding war seen at Nortel patent auction
By Marie Beaudette
Nortel Networks Corp. will auction off its portfolio of patents on Monday, with Internet giant Google Inc. GOOG -1.11% expected to open bidding with a $900 million lead offer.
Nortel has said that it has about 6,000 patents and patent applications. Both Google and Apple Inc. AAPL -1.47% have received antitrust clearance to bid on the patent trove at the auction, which is also expected to feature fierce competition from the likes of Microsoft Corp. MSFT -1.34% , BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. RIMM -4.03% , and possibly Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson of Sweden, Intel Corp. INTC -2.35% and China's ZTE Corp. ZTCOY +3.05% .
Google's move to buy the patents is seen by some as a bid by the company to protect itself against patent litigation, which has been on the rise recently as so-called "patent trolls" file lawsuits against big technology companies.
"This is an unprecedented opportunity to acquire one of the most extensive and compelling patent portfolios to ever come on the market," said George Riedel, Nortel's chief strategy officer, in a statement.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bidding-war-seen-at-nortel-patent-auction-2011-06-24
Nortel patents auction is an unique case, no retail investor or trader can predict what is going to happen next week. Just follow what the HFs and MMs are thinking right now....
SI is lower than 0.5%. In other words, They don't want to short NRTLQ because they know this auction could raise billions and commons could be in the money. Remember with NORTEL 6000+ patents....
GOOGLE can neutralize their competitors, advance in new technology and sue many Companies.
APPLE will stop being the most sued company in the tech-world!,advance in new technology, etc,etc
INTEL well...... Super comeback!!! New technology, etc,etc
What about RIMM, Microsoft, HP, Ericsson,others????
Winners will protect their technology, losers will get sue or pay billions in royalties and fees!!!!!
Intel and Apple jump into Nortel patent fracas
Commentary: With Google in at $900 million, bids will go way north
BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) — In Friday’s news, I find that Intel Corp. now has approval from the Justice Department to bid on the pot of 6,000-plus patents held by moribund Nortel Networks Corp., a company that in the late 1990s was soaring.
Minutes later, Apple Inc. got the OK to jump in too.This could be the auction of the century.
Apple AAPL and Intel INTC join Google Inc. GOOG , Ericsson ERIC and Research In Motion Ltd. RIMM as the most publicized bidders interested in the patents. I assume any number of companies might show up for the final bidding, which starts Monday. Nokia Corp. NOK should be in on the action, but may be strapped for cash after throwing in with Microsoft Corp. MSFT. The patents are devoted to most things wireless, including LTE, WiFi and certain kinds of social-networking interactivity. Google already has bid a preemptive $900 million to see if it can stymie some of the competition.With Google in at $900 million before the Apple and Intel approvals, you can be sure these patents will go for way north of $1 billion. If someone already knows about some key patents that could be useful for all sorts of leverage, I would not be shocked if the package was sold for more than $3 billion.
Once you get that high, a new possibility comes into play — a side bet, if you will.Nortel’s stock NRTLQ is sitting (as this is written) at 5 cents. The company has just more than $3 billion in debt. The stock could become a 10-bagger instantly if the auction goes crazy. Speculators, take note.
Then again, at 5 cents the auction already may be factored in. Grim.The beneficiaries will be the winners of the patents. There must be some gems in there. During Nortel’s heyday, I was fortunate enough to follow the company closely. It had developed one of the most modern and forwarding-thinking strategies, and yet was thwarted by the dot-com crash of 2000.Nortel never recovered, but its patents and basic ideas are still in play.
The company’s basic concept was that at some point in the future, the WAN or wide-area networks, such as the Internet itself, would be so fast that the LAN or local-area network would disappear, because it could not keep up with the extraordinary speeds of the WAN.
This new reality would change the way everything is done. At that point, the vision gets murky. It was a very radical idea, and apparently still is. But the patents that went into that idea (and other futuristic concepts) are sitting among the 6,000 to be auctioned.
It’s hard to say which company would benefit the most from the intellectual property. I’m of the opinion that Intel would offer the best stewardship, because it may have the broadest base of engineering talent to understand and commercialize more of the patents than other companies.
Ericsson is the other name that’s a good fit, since it is in almost the same business as Nortel. It seems natural.
But Ericsson has the disadvantage of being from a cultural background not known for splurging, and will easily be outbid by just about all the other firms. However, I will not count the Swedes out yet.
RIM and Apple obviously would glom on to the wireless patents to improve their handset offerings and gain an edge in the competitive marketplace. It’s possible that they would then spin off the other nonessential patents to recoup costs.
We do not know who else may show up for the patent auction, including some of the patent-troll operations that would buy what they could in hopes of creating a pool of expensive licensing deals.
I’m looking forward to seeing the bidders’ list if it’s made available. These will be the companies that will be the most affected by the results of the auction.
Look for a bidding war on Monday.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/intel-and-apple-jump-into-nortel-patent-fracas-2011-06-24?siteid=yhoof
"facts are facts" BS!!! This is a BK play!! pure speculation!! Unless you are a MMs or HF manager, no retail investor or trader can push the PPS, only the MMs and their bosses... And the only true things here are...
1- Apple, Intel,Google and others want those patents....
2- The latest SI short interest is below 0.5%....http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/NRTLQ/short-sales
3- With the low almost 0 SI-% = HF and MMs understand that there is a possibility the commons will get something, so they aren't shorting, just holding the PPS with less than 0.05% short shares( which they can cover in a second)
4- Monday is Auction day( one of the few opportunities to see so many Tech giants fighting between them for the last remaining "fundamental and foundational patents available for 4G and LTE technology"
Agree!! A lot of people dont understand the value of Nortel patents. There is a reason why they left the patents until the end. Some of the 6000 patents are "fundamental and foundational patents" From those patents Nortel and others developed hundreds of patents that are in use today( and from those patents Microsoft, Google, Intel, Apple and others make Billions). Even the shorts and MMs understand this( review the SI, is now below 0.05%!!!). IMO, After $2.8B commons will be in the money for sure!!. IMO ( Apple or Google) will offer between $5-8 Billion for those patents( IMO I dont expect anything over $8B due to BK discount auction), anybody please take a look at one company that their Market Cap is based on the value of their patents not their business( V.H.C), Nortel is holding 600x+ more patents than V.H.C..... and V.H.C value is over 1.3B and they are suing everybody( already got $200M from Microsoft)....
Agree! I see this as the last shake from MMs and their bosses to close their short positions. IMO SI could be under 15M shares and today they could drop it to single digits or maybe close it. I expect the volume to be around 20-23M by EOD. Go WAMU......
Excellent analogy!! the depositions are going to be priceless!! Go WAMU!!
and since everybody is expecting a Delay!, maybe this time we get the news! Maybe.....
don't forget the history and you will see who is going to pay for destroying WAMU shareholders..... or should I say "trying"....
agree!. And the ship is moving!!
Since we all know that with HRZ the bad news get to the public really fast!, no news means "business as usual". By now the hedge funds and Institutionals following HRZ should have all the info about the May 21 payment. Tomorrow the market should see that Hrz made the payment(IMO) and the BK thread is over....... unless we get the "recap news"
"Horizon Lines Inc. (HRZ) last week said a federal court agreed to reduce the company’s fine related to a conspiracy to fix rates and surcharges for marine freight transportation over a six-year period, meaning the company was no longer at risk of a May 21 default."
http://gcaptain.com/horizon-lines-break-charter-payments?24905
you made a good point, I agree about the "BK thread effect" and the bad management of HRZ. This stock with the current debt and DoJ issues was overvalue at a PPS over $4. But with the current progress, DoJ settlement, is an excellent opportunity below $2. I agree dont marry a stock unless you perfectly understand their business, management philosophy, and their outlook and after all that always always have an exit point. Let see what happen.... IMO HRZ will not file BK but Im ready for new notes and 40%+ dilution.
PS: I dont want to convince you. You have your philosophy and I have mine. Time will tell who is right....
one more thing "invest2win" did you know who is that guy???
Here is a Hedge Fund Manager, he did an excellent job!! he wrote every bad thing around HRZ to make almost every retail investor with almost zero knowledge about this industry nervous,panic and sell. FIrst rule of investment or trading "know what you buy and sell" and it doesn't matter if your short or not as long as you know how to profit. That guy is smart and he know how to play the market.
Horizon Lines’ empty bankruptcy threat brings US DoJ to its knees; victorious hedge funds rejoice
“The DoJ blinked,” said the hedge fund analyst. “They didn’t need to, but that’s what happened. The bondholders didn’t really want a filing because their recovery could have been 30 to 40 cents, but the company used the slight chance of bankruptcy as leverage.”
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/4f212e9c-7c6b-11e0-b9e3-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html#axzz1MuRmsa7k
HORIZON LINES IS AMONG THE COMPANIES IN THE MARINE INDUSTRY WITH A RELATIVELY HIGH EBITDA GROWTH (HRZ, ULTR, DAC, SSW, ESEA)
May 20, 2011 (SmarTrend(R) News Watch via COMTEX) -- Below are the five companies in the Marine industry with the highest EBITDA Growth (next year estimate vs. LTM). EBITDA Growth can be valuable in predicting future cash flow generation and earnings power.
Horizon Lines (NYSE:HRZ) has the highest with EBITDA Growth of 170.1%; Ultrapetrol Bahamas (NASDAQ:ULTR) is next with EBITDA Growth of 101.5%; and Danaos (NYSE:DAC) has the next highest with EBITDA Growth of 81.1%.
Seaspan (NYSE:SSW) follows with EBITDA Growth of 59.8% and Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) rounds out the group with EBITDA Growth of 56.1%.
SmarTrend currently has shares of Danaos in an Uptrend and issued the Uptrend alert on January 11, 2011 at $4.49. The stock has risen 53.4% since the Uptrend alert was issued.
http://www.zacks.com/research/get_news.php?id=140l7348
Horizon ups fuel fee, matches Matson
Horizon Lines Inc. said yesterday it will raise its fuel surcharge on?June 12 for shipments between Hawaii and the mainland by 4 percentage points to 47.5 percent, matching rival Matson Navigation Co.'s increase for the same period.
The state's second-largest ocean shipper's fuel surcharge currently is 43.5 percent. The carrier has typically matched Matson, the state's largest ocean shipper, when it raises or decreases the surcharge with the fluctuations in oil prices.
Matson announced last week that it would boost the fee to 47.5 percent, the highest since Matson first imposed the surcharge in 1999. The increase follows 8.5 percentage- point rises in March and May.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/business/businessbriefs/20110519_Business_Briefs.html
First, I just post the info from that link, Second I knew this is old news, did I start pumping like crazy??? NO.... Third when you take this old news( deal is already closed) with the recent ones....
Second Q progress:
1- Horizon Logistics SOLD- For how much??? Maybe $30-40M.= Cash for HRZ
2- CSX Corporation to reduce charter payments= HRZ saving $3M annually
3- DOJ reduce fine from $45M to 15M= HRZ saving $30M,
4- Put everything together and you will see HRZ will not file BK. Lenders will take new notes and shares in exchange for the current Debt.
You dont believe in the success of HRZ but I do, so let see who is right at the end.
"Horizon Logistics accounted for only a small part of Horizon's $1.2 billion in revenue last year. The company no longer reports the segment independently, but it had revenues of $37.7 million in 2009. A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing last year said revenue in the first nine months of 2010 was up in part because of a nearly $18 million increase in third-party logistics operating revenues. "
http://www.americanshipper.com/newweb/FC/FLC_story.asp?news=187238
News:Logistics Plus acquires Horizon Logistics
Logistics Plus has acquired Horizon Logistics, the 3PL subsidiary division of Horizon Lines.
Under terms of the agreement, Horizon Lines has transferred the majority of its Horizon Logistics staff based in Irving (Texas) as well as its operations in Lexington (North Carolina) and San Francisco (California) to Logistics Plus.
This follows Horizon Lines' announcement in February that it had decided to divest its Logistics business.
The acquisition expands Logistics Plus' portfolio of services, including international ocean transportation, airfreight forwarding, intermodal transportation management, distribution, warehousing and fulfilment, trucking and expedited delivery.
Horizon Logistics network includes warehouses, terminals and offices in Lexington and Dallas.
http://www.eyefortransport.com/content/logistics-plus-acquires-horizon-logistics
Blockbuster!!! The new Mini-bestbuy worldwide..
Connect the dots!! Follow the timeline and you will see Icahn and Wattles "master" plan to transform the new BB-International in mini-bestbuy globally!
http://www.thedeal.com/newsweekly/dealwatch/blockbuster.php
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/mcgurk-game-plan-icahn-22809
2005 - Icahn had wanted Antioco dumped from the board when he mounted his proxy fight back in 2005. The one-time corporate raider turned shareholder activist reluctantly relented when Antioco said he would quit the company.
2006 - Icahn has made a career of campaigning against what he deems to be obstinate managements, most recently at Time Warner, Fairmont Hotels and Blockbuster.
2008 - The consumer electronics retailer said it will allow billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn to review its books. By W. David Gardner , InformationWeek The ongoing tense negotiations between Circuit City Stores and Blockbuster thawed suddenly when Circuit City capitulated Friday and ...
2011 - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, Dish Network and a group of debtholders were the three remaining bidders for movie-rental chain Blockbuster on Tuesday at US Bankruptcy Court in New York.
Mark Wattles Favorite Part of a Book? Chapter 11
http://wallstnation.com/BBI_03262009.html
2004 - Blockbuster said in a statement yesterday that it was ready to raise its offer of $11.50 a share, which is above the $10.25-a-share bid proposed by Leonard Green & Partners and Hollywood Entertainment Chief Executive Mark Wattles. Blockbuster and Leonard Green, along with Movie Gallery ..
2005 - Wattles founded Hollywood Video, but resigned as CEO in February 2005 when Blockbuster Video and Movie Gallery both launched offers to acquire the video chain.
2008 - Circuit City has reiterated its concern over Blockbuster's ability to finance an acquisition of the CE chain in response to another open letter issued earlier today by activist shareholder Mark Wattles. Wattles, principal of Wattles Capital Management and Ultimate Electronics, ...
2009 - By Mark Clothier - March 16, 2009 16:12 EDT March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Blockbuster Inc. rose 17 percent in New York trading after Mark Wattles took a 5.7 percent equity stake in the world's biggest video-rental chain and expressed confidence that the company can meet its obligations. ...
2011-Portland businessman and Hollywood Video founder Mark Wattles spent much of 2010 unloading Blockbuster shares as the chain declined, though he still owns a considerable chunk of the company.
BB will reveal their plan before July,2011. WHY??
Simple!. They are still in BK so they need to post their MOR at the end of every month. If they sold US business to DISH in April and is already done, Think!!!! The May MOR will show all the business in the US that wasn't sold to DISH( maybe NCR kiosks and DVDsbyMail, or some stores). So in the last week of June they will release the MOR for MAY2011, WHICH IS GOING TO BE PROFITABLE!! but also we are all going to see the rest of the business that stay with BB.! Blockbuster Inc, is now a profitable business( International Business+ $228M+ in CASH!!!!!
Blockbuster reported a net loss of $46.2 million for the four-week period from March 7 to April 3 (three days before its $320 million sale to Dish Network), according to a filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.
The Dallas-based rental chain posted revenue of $173 million during the period, which included $83.1 million in disc rentals, $64.5 million in previously rented product revenue, $21.7 million in merchandise revenue and $3.7 million in other revenue.
Blockbuster does not break out revenue from its by-mail service or license agreement with NCR Corp., which owns and operates nearly 9,000 Blockbuster Express kiosks.
From Jan. 31 through April 3, Blockbuster reported a net loss of $114.6 million as consumers gravitate toward rental kiosks, Netflix, transactional video-on-demand and, to a lesser extent, independent video stores.
Revenue for the two-month period totaled $447.8 million, including $258 million in disc rentals, $124.9 million in previously rented product revenue, $54.8 million in merchandise revenue and $10.1 million in other revenue.
Blockbuster, which posted a gross profit of $238 million during the two-month period ($83.9 million during the four-week period), again was undermined by general and administrative costs totaling a whopping $301 million ($117.5 million during the four-week period).
http://www.homemediamagazine.com/blockbuster/blockbuster-posts-four-week-462m-loss-23878
Back to PPS over $10......
Before the reverse split YRCW O/S was around 1.2 Billion.....
"The split reduced the number of outstanding common shares from 1.2 billion to 48 million. More important, the company wanted to bring its stock price to exceed the benchmark of $1 so it could continue to be listed on the Nasdaq exchange."
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2010/09/27/daily54.html
2.5% of 1.9 Billion shares is 48M shares....
So what is the market cap of YRCW with a $5 billion in Revenues and climbing and NO DEBT????
AT LEAST $6 BILLION!!!!!! PPS OVER $3 !!!!!!!!!!
NFLX- CEO "DISH bought the Blockbuster Brand" but the business....
Reed Hastings
"I think, it's pretty clear to everyone that online video is a big opportunity. There'll be a number of substantial competitors. If Dish launches something into the Blockbuster brand, that'll be the newest entrant."
"We really don't know what Dish is up to, but presumably they paid a couple hundred million for Blockbuster not for its technology but for its brand. It's a well-known brand. And they would do that, it would be consistent to do that if they had plans to launch a service with a fair amount of content and a fair amount of marketing such that it would make sense to pay $300 million to be able to use the Blockbuster brand."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/265342-netflix-s-ceo-discusses-q1-2011-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=qanda
LOL! Thank you, Im just trying to help with my DD. People need to understand that we( shareholders) are the holders of NOL worth around $630M and the new BB will need those tax credits to offset the profits they will generate in the next years unless they want to pay more money to "uncle sam".
Found it!!! BB-UK Business Profitable....
Why no 10K??? Because it will prove that International Business is profitable and not part of the BK process!!!!! Here is the prove about UK-Business....
"But today a spokesman for Blockbuster in Britain said: "We are not affected by the US filing. The Blockbuster United Kingdom business is profitable, cash generative and has substantial net assets.".....
more....
Non-US subsidiaries, including the 600 UK shops, are not involved in the bankruptcy proceedings, but hundreds more American stores could now close – on top of the 500 that have shut in the last year.
more... Icahn....
Icahn is among a number of bondholders who will swap debt for equity in a revamped company that should see borrowings slashed from $900m to little more than $100m (£64m).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/sep/23/blockbuster-chapter-11
BB-International business,NCR kiosks, Franchise Operator
The truth is revealing.....
http://www.kccllc.net/documents/1014997/1014997110421000000000021.pdf
Section 8.14 Use of Name. Sellers hereby agree that upon and following the Closing,
Sellers shall not, and shall cause their Affiliates (other than (i) the Non-Debtor Subsidiaries and,(ii) until such time as the Italian Agreement is terminated pursuant to its terms, Blockbuster Italia, S.p.A. and, (iii) until such time as the Canadian Agreement is terminated pursuant to its terms, Blockbuster Canada Co. NSULC) not to, use the name “Blockbuster” or any of the items listed in the schedule of Trademarks and Trademark Applications set forth in Schedule 5.11(a) or similar names or any service marks, trademarks, trade names, identifying symbols, logos, emblems, signs or insignia related thereto or containing or comprising the foregoing, including any name or mark confusingly similar thereto (collectively, the “Purchased Business Name Trademarks”), other than in the case of disclosures by Sellers of their former ownership of the Business. In furtherance thereof, as promptly as practicable but in no event later than one hundred twenty (120) days following the Closing Date, each Seller shall remove any Purchased Business Name Trademarks from its legal name by appropriate legal proceedings in the jurisdiction of such Seller’s organization.
*** If we sold everything, Why BB-Italy and BB-Canada and the related "Brand" specifications ??? ( Basher wrong!!!!) BB sold US, Italy and Canada but keep the "Brand" and "Business" for other countries, $$$$$ potential BB- International.....
Section 2.2 Excluded Assets. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to sell,
transfer, assign or convey the Excluded Assets to Purchaser, and Sellers shall retain all right, title and interest to, in and under the Excluded Assets. “Excluded Assets” shall mean only the following assets: (a) the Excluded Contracts, including any accounts receivable arising out of or in connection with any Excluded Contract; (b) all equity interests of Parent and the Debtor Subsidiaries;
*** NCR-BB kiosks contracts?? DVDsbyMail Comcast-BB contracts???
This is getting better and better.......
SINX already have the manufacture capabilities in place since 2010. This is good because this mean they can deliver every MWTS order.....
TechPrecision Corporation (OTC:TPCS) (BULLETIN BOARD: TPCS) ("TechPrecision", or "the Company"), a leading manufacturer of large-scale, high-precision machined metal fabrications with customers in the alternative energy, medical, nuclear, defense, aerospace and other commercial industries, today announced the execution of a three-year exclusive U.S. agreement to manufacture DAF-based (dissolved air flotation) water treatment systems for Sionix Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: SINX). During more than 50 years of operation, TechPrecision and its subsidiary have participated in a number of high-visibility, successful manufacturing and product development efforts spanning many of the same markets Sionix penetrates. In addition, TechPrecision's expansive facilities provide the agile workspace required for production of Sionix products.
Louis A. Winoski, CEO of TechPrecision, commented, "TechPrecision is honored and excited to be chosen by Sionix to provide their DAF-based water treatment systems. We recognize the unmet need for this technology in the marketplace, and are eager to enter this new vertical and help Sionix accelerate its business. Part of our business model involves entering new, potentially high-value market verticals and partnering with enterprises which value, and thus seek to leverage, our manufacturing prowess. This new relationship with Sionix is a perfect example of this strategy being executed. We look forward to a mutually profitable relationship that maximizes our capabilities while providing Sionix customers with the technology they need within the two to three month delivery timelines required to meet initial Sionix customer orders."
Sionix DAF water treatment systems target a wide range of niche applications for a shipping container-mounted water purification system. Sionix equipment enables water purification at any remote site or location either with limited access or insufficient infrastructure for permanent water purification facilities. Its portability and turnkey approach make it an ideal solution for remote and other situations. Potential applications include: oil and gas drilling; treatment of abandoned mine discharge; emergency and disaster relief through private contractors as well as government entities such as FEMA and military in forward deployments; developing nations and remote villages in second and third world countries; various industrial applications including cosmetics, pharmaceutical, chemical, food processing, and hospitals; agricultural applications including irrigation and recycling of water; and use by small municipalities seeking wastewater treatment facilities on limited municipal budgets. The total market size exceeds $1 billion if the technology becomes widely adopted within these target markets.
The initial agreement calls for TechPrecision to manufacture 15-25 units in the first year. The agreement has significant upside potential to TechPrecision if market penetration and uptake rates exceed initial estimates.
James R. Currier, the Chairman and CEO of Sionix, commented, "TechPrecision's manufacturing agility and responsiveness are perfectly suited for our needs as Sionix enters this exciting growth stage. Sionix products and technology fit well within TechPrecision's manufacturing expertise as an industry leading turn-key solutions provider. The agreement with TechPrecision will provide the necessary manufacturing capital and supply chain assurance required for Sionix to quickly respond to the growing market for its water treatment systems. TechPrecision's long record of high quality, attention to detail, and industry-leading customer service speaks for itself, and will provide Sionix with the flexibility to execute other aspects of our growth strategy."