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Pence vs Pounds and 1:1
WOW, thank you for the quick reply! I figured that no one here was still following this thread because there a very few new posts.
I knew that this was an OTC listing but wasn’t sure of the relationship because I don’t trade a lot of International stocks. Your information about the London shares being listed in Pence instead of Pounds certainly clears up a lot.
Thank you so much for sharing this information!
Best regards,
Robear
What is the ratio of PCRTF to PURE.L shares?
PCRTF appears to be an OTC proxy for PURE.L but trades near 1/100 the price of PURE.L.
Does anyone here know if PCRTF is a proxy for 1/100th of a share of PURE.L or does it represent slightly more/less shares?
Does anyone here have a link that verifies the relationship of the two securities?
Thank you for any information you can share!
By the way, I see that a number of people here have tried to pick up shares on the London exchange. Personally I prefer to invest in the OTC because its much easier and given enough time the slight premium I'll pay isn't much compared to the potential growth I'm hoping for here.
The following is an excellent article on OTC investments for those who want to learn more:
Going Global: Trading Foreign Stocks OTC
Hopefully someone here is still participating in conversations about PureCircle.
Thank you again for any information you can share... By the way, if my questions were already answered in another thread then I would truly appreciate a link for that thread.
Cheers!
This was clearly a pump and dump. I've never witnessed a pump and dump before but this one was interesting. I received nearly daily phone calls (for two weeks) from a group claiming to be Wall Street Active. They claimed to be trying to help me catch a run that was going from $1 to $5 and they assured me over and over again that I’d be getting in early. They claimed that they were doing so because I was a valued client. They wanted me to invest ASAP and to let them know exactly when and how much. Better yet they wanted to help me lock in a block... When I mentioned that I’m not a client they claimed that they want me to be and this investment will show me how good they are at picking winners. ROFL, when I tried to find out the reason why the stock had tanked before they mentioned lockup expiration, insiders taking a few gains, nothing to worry about, etc... All they wanted to point to was two weeks of continuous gains and how that was the new trend... This thing always smelled of pump and dump so I told them I’d track the stocks progress and might invest in their next recommendation if this one went well... At that time the stock was trading at $1.05 and they still claimed it was just the beginning.
I’m certain that the same people who pumped also went short right before the dump. A stock doesn't fall that fast and that hard without a lot of assistance. FYI, the group that kept calling kept saying that they would call with a sell recommendation the minute the start was starting to peak. They called on the day of the sell off, with the price around 65 cents, to say that the founder was now selling shares and investors should too... No apologies for trying to take my money... Simply a call to say it was time to get out ASAP when the prior call was to buy some ASAP... It simply goes to show you that one should never accept tips from strangers.
FYI, the number they called from was 877-551-4436. If you were taken by this group then you might want to give that number to authorities as a starting place for determining who profited from the pump and dump.
Bill is the most positive person who I've talked to and his recent blog entry gives me lots of hope:
May 25, 2012
I wanted to share with you some highlights from the conference call we held for Vu1 investors this week. In short, we are making tremendous progress in overcoming the challenges we’ve experienced, and now feel we are building a lighting alternative – and company – that will meet and exceed the expectations of shareholders and consumers.
First, I have taken a more active role with the company – I’ve been named Executive Chairman and President, and I have spent the greater part of the last six weeks addressing the issues we’ve experienced with communications regarding our manufacturing process as well as efforts in North America.
We are no longer sourcing any components from Europe – we believe we have consolidated manufacturing in China and are now relying on Chinese manufacturers for the sourcing of our components. This means we will obtain these materials in a cost-effective manner, and without further delay.
With all key equipment needed for manufacturing either identified or installed, we expect production to ramp within the next several weeks. The final piece of this process – hiring our own quality control and manufacturing engineers to oversee our interests at the Huayi plant – should also be complete shortly.
We are moving forward with purpose – it is clear from our recent reception at Lightfair that the world is eager for an alternative to CFLs and LEDs. We are scaling our operation with hopes to produce between 5 and 7 million units over the next 12 months – including not only the R30, but also the A19, and R40. We remain committed to shipping the first of these units this summer to Lowe’s and other customers. Ultimately, our manufacturing model envisions production up to 20 million units by 2014, with a total of six unique SKUs, including the above mentioned R’s and A and their 220V counterparts for Europe, Asia and South America.
Many have questioned whether the delays we have experienced were indicative of the manufacturability of our lightbulb. A bulb of our complexity, which requires the fabrication of three separate units — Glass Jug, Gun, and Electronics — in three separate facilities, takes time to refine. As with any new technology – including CFL 20 years ago and LED bulbs even at present, these technologies went through the same type of growing pains – once production processes are streamlined and refined, Vu1 will be ready to ship light bulbs.
As I have stated many times, there are two things that matter; first, manufacturing the lamps; and second, making sure we have proper quality control standards on the lamps that are ready to ship. Shipping bulbs prematurely is NOT an option.
I thank you again for your interest in Vu1, and promise that I will keep you updated as developments occur, both positive and not so positive.
Bill Smith
Executive Chairman and President
Vu1 Corporation
Source: http://www.vu1corporation.com/news-press/blog/
Good luck to all investors!
Hopefully this will finally be our month :)
Bull, sorry to post here then leave for a week (blame it on the tryptophan); I believe that at the end of 20 days the symbol will revert back to vuoc.ob. Any additional changes to the symbol and the board that Vu1 trades on are probably part of another SEC filing and may take more than 20 days.
Of course, if you want to be absolutely sure then you should try contacting the company.
VOUCD is still an .ob stock, I’m pretty sure that the name is changed for 20 days so that anyone sleeping through this split does not try to sell a $7.20 share for $0.36
The plus side of this change is that it shuts down the public yahoo boards and allows Vu1 to release press under the new symbol without having a bunch of yahoos make silly assumptions and tear at their every move (I likey :)
The negative side is that some brokers aren’t very fast at making this sort of adjustment so your (and my) shares may be in limbo until the pencil pushers catch up. In my case I tested to see if I could sell a few shares at $10 and my broker (E*Trade) wouldn’t accept the offer; on the other hand, I also put in a trade to purchase at $5 (VUOCD.ob) and E*Trade was more than happy to accept that order.
Bull, my goals here have always been pretty high yet I must admit that our odds of reaching my target (from $0.40 to $40 within 10 years) must now be split adjusted and the likelihood of my highest target seems less likely. On the plus side I still believe that we will see the value of our shares grow by a nice multiple over the next year (due to marketing, sales, etc.) and it appears that the management team is interested in creating long term value rather than a short term pop. IMHO, their actions are proper for a team trying to build a long term growth company rather than a fly by night penny stock.
If your belief has always been that the company will be bought then I should point out that (provided retail investors don’t panic and dump shares) the market cap after the split will be the same as the market cap before the split. If a buyer decides to purchase Vu1 for a multiple of the existing market cap then your share of that should be the same regardless of whether or not a split occurs.
Re: “My experience with reverse splits have so far NEVER been a pleasant experience. What generally happens the share price will also go up by the amount of the split then within weeks it is well below the share price”
The vast majority of the reverse splits that I’ve seen perform exactly as you’ve indicated; on the other hand, the vast majority of the reverse splits that I’ve seen were performed on companies with a much greater daily volume. The majority of the shareholders here appear to be holding on to their shares so I don’t foresee a significant price drop unless the retail investors start to dump under the false assumption that the price must fall. There are a number of shorts on yahoo who are trying to support that premise; personally I think the long term investors here should-not and do-not need to buy into that assumption. You should never setup yourself up for failure; FYI, I have seen reverse splits that worked as intended. In the case of Vu1 the intent is to improve Vu1’s chances of moving to the NASDAQ yet I’m certain that the intent is also to attract new investors to the stock as it moves beyond the realm of penny stocks.
I highly recommend that you take a look at the Wiki definition for “OTC Bulletin Board”. Here is one little excerpt: “Stocks traded in OTC markets such as the OTCBB or Pink Sheets are usually thinly traded microcap or penny stocks, and both retail and institutional investors generally avoid them, because of fears that share prices are easily manipulated and there exists a potential for fraud. The SEC issues stern warnings to investors to beware of common fraud and manipulation schemes. As such, most companies choose to list on more established exchanges such as the AMEX, NYSE, or NASDAQ once eligible”.
It should be pretty clear why management is now making small step towards their long term goal of moving up to the NASDAQ. I still believe that publicly proclaiming their intentions now is much better than waiting until after their marketing campaign, sales and any sort of pop that will go with that.
Please keep it positive and please don’t help create a self fulfilling prophesy that the price must fall.
Best regards,
Robear
P.S. Ginch, thank you for the reply… I’m off to lunch now. Hopefully I’ve given everyone another way to look at this
I'm looking for fresh perspective here...
Re: “I think it SUCKS, now lets say you might of had 100,000 shares now you only will have 5000 shares. If the stock jumps 1.00 you will only increase your portfolio 5,000.00 instead of 100,000.00 what a big no no HUGE difference. the ones who benefit........VU1. Oh and by the way the stock should increase by the same amount that they reverse us on ie if they reduce your shares by 1:20 , then the stock should increase X 20 you initially do not loose any value, but I have never seen a GOOD reverse split”
Greetings Bull, I’m with you “this could suck” but I’m not currently under the impression that it does suck. If you listened to Doctor Blackstone’s presentation to Rodman and Renshaw then you must realize that before the end of this year Vu1 intends to release product and to inform Americans about that product via a relatively large marketing campaign.
With that in mind, it is quite possible that you could see the price jump by a dollar (or more) and even if it does the stock will in-all-likelihood still be priced as a penny stock. Now if the split occurs after that jump and new investors weren’t pre warned that a split is imminent then what do you think would happen?
The SEC document clearly states that a split of “up to 20 for 1” will happen within the next 180 days (that's nearly six months) yet it also allows for a much smaller split should the share price indicate it. IMHO, their long term goal is not to destroy shareholder value but to allow their shares to eventually list on the NASDAQ with the hope of increasing both shareholder value and long term stability.
Unfortunately/fortunately we appear to have a very smart management team and a very smart board. As penny stock investors many here are all about short term gains and holding out for “the pop”, but the board appears to have a different agenda. They appear to be trying to create a company that will grow over time and provide long term value for all shareholders. Does that really suck? Yes it does if a “20 for 1” reverse split happens tomorrow, yet in my humble opinion it will not suck if a much smaller split happens soon after a big pop that allows some of the existing traders to bail while allowing long term investors to hold on for greater value.
Take care,
Robear
Who is sometimes right, sometimes wrong, and always ready to look for a fresh perspective to counter assumptions that are being made on the internet.
Companies that intend to list on the NASDAQ prepare for that via a multi step process and it rarely happens overnight. What we are seeing here is the first of many small steps towards a NASDAQ listing or offering. Typically a company needs to have a product, sales, customers and strong growth potential before a listing will be considered. Vu1 appears to be re pricing their stock from the realm of penny (anything under $4) to a price that could be considered for a NASDAQ listing hence they are taking the first little step in a much bigger journey. The higher share price relative to their current market cap isn’t just a move that will help Vu1 with their long term plan to list on the NASDAQ; it should also make an investment in Vu1 more attractive to some investors who generally (as a rule) don’t invest in penny stocks (yes, Vu1 is currently a penny stock).
The reverse split should not be seen as a magic bullet for increasing shareholder value, nor should it be seen as a shot in the head for existing shareholders, as I’ve said before this really should be a non event (at this time) unless retail investors panic and begin to dump their shares in which case it could become an opportunity for anyone who has been waiting for a lower entry price.
Best regards,
Robear
Much ado about nothing
And the associated SEC filing:
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/906448/000114420411052188/v234548_pre14c.htm
It is funny how investors often react to stock splits… When some investors hear that a company is doing a stock split they pile on and buy up shares expecting the price to run up after the split (sometimes enabling a self fulfilling prophesy). When some investors hear that a company is doing a reverse split they flee from the company expecting the price to drop after the split (again enabling a self fulfilling prophesy). Regardless of what happens, short term price fluctuations due to a split are simply short term over reactions to a non event.
As many long term investors will point out “a stock split does not inherently change the value of company”. The market cap of a company remains unchanged right after the split. What really affects the market cap and relative price of a company after a split is supply and demand. If investors suddenly flush their shares into the market then the price will fall. If investors suddenly rush to buy the newly priced shares then the price will rise. If the split works as intended then the price will remain unchanged and hopefully rise over time as the company attempts to create value for shareholders.
Last night I took a close look at the upcoming stock split and associated changes that are also occurring.
Here are some of my notes:
1) The board has approval for “up to 20 for 1 reverse split”. It appears that their goal is to increase the share price to approximately $8 per share. They’ve mentioned they could split at “10 for 1” if the price is right but whatever they do will happen within 180 days.
2) “Everyone including the founders, private investors and retail investors will be split equally. That includes all common shares, warrants and options.”
3) The board has elected not to split 10,000,000 shares of previously authorized (but never issued) preferred shares. They retain the right to allocate those in one or more series as needed.
4) The board approved to increase the number of shares authorized for the employee incentive plan by 2x. These shares will also be subject to the reverse split.
5) The board approved a new number of authorized shares; previously there were 200,000,000 authorized shares and many of those were already issued via the form of common stock or warrants. The new number of authorized shares, (which won’t be split adjusted), is 90,000,000. This is decrease of authorized shares (as pointed out in their sec document) yet on a “split-adjusted basis” this is a 9x increase in the number of authorized shares relative to all other allocations.
6) The reason these actions have been approved is because Vu1’s majority shareholders believe that it is in the best interest of all shareholders (This is something newbie investors need to understand, the majority shareholders do not want to lose money hence they are taking actions that are meant to be in everyone’s best interest).
It appears that the board’s goals here are:
1) To increase the share price so that Vu1’s shares will satisfy the NASDAQ’s “minimum bid price and public float market value requirements”. They clearly intend to attempt a NASDAQ listing because it could “generate greater interest among professional investors and institutions and enhance prospective analyst coverage and brokerage recommendations”.
2) To protect the company possible takeover: “The large number of authorized but unissued shares of Common Stock may be construed as having an anti-takeover effect by permitting the issuance of shares to purchasers who might oppose a hostile takeover bid or oppose any efforts to amend or repeal certain provisions of the Company’s Articles of Incorporation or By-laws. Such a use of these additional authorized shares could render more difficult, or discourage, an attempt to acquire control of the Company through a transaction opposed by the Company’s Board of Directors. At this time, the Board does not have any plans to issue new shares of Common Stock resulting from the large number of authorized but unissued shares because of the reverse stock split.”
At first I couldn’t understand the motivation for the second goal because insiders currently own the majority of issued shares (making takeover nearly impossible) and with the employee stock option plan that percentage may only improve… Then I took a second look at this document and realized that “Smith and company” own a significant amount of this company hence the board may be protecting itself from the possibility of an internal takeover. Hmmm, taking that in to consideration this now makes more sense.
Personally I believe that the company’s actions are truly intended to protect and increase shareholder value, and I believe that the result will occur as intended, yet I do see the potential for problems if the board continues to take actions based upon the votes of a few shareholders without giving everyone else a chance to voice their opinions via proxy votes. I realize that a proxy vote utilizes valuable company resources (both time and cash) yet in the future I would appreciate a chance to voice my opinion.
Take care,
Robear
A quick reminder, tomorrow at 11:30am PST / 2:30pm ET we get a chance to hear from two of Vu1’s bright lights.
NEW YORK, May 3, 2011 -- Vu1 Corporation… announced that it will be presenting at MDB Capital's Bright Lights Conference on Tuesday, May 10th at 2:30pm ET at Le Parker Meridien Hotel in New York City. Dr. Scott C. Blackstone, Vu1's President and Chief Executive Officer and Dr. Charles Hunt, Vu1 Director and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of California, Davis, will be presenting for the Company. A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available at http://www.wsw.com/webcast/mdb2/vuoc.ob and a replay of the presentation will be archived and available for up to 90 days…
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Vu1-Corporation-to-Present-at-prnews-2541580531.html?x=0&.v=1
What is Bright Lights?
http://www.mdb.com/2011-bright-lights-conference.html
Who is MDB?
http://www.mdb.com
Hopefully Dr. Blackstone will tell us a little about the state of Vu1, sales, distribution of bulbs shipped thus far, when we’ll see a prototype for the A19, when we’ll get the A19 and more… Anything he says will be more than we currently have.
Bull, there have been lots of interesting discussions on yahoo’s message board this week. In summary: The last round of funding valued Vu1 at $0.35 per share and new warrants at $0.10, those shares are now registered so the price could pull back to as low as $0.35, Destination Lighting may just be one of many customers and not Vu1’s primary distributor, on Vu1’s website there are three ways to order bulbs (one is for channels, one is for commercial use, and one is for the public), Vu1 may be filling orders on a first come first serve basis and DL is now waiting their turn in the queue. I know that the last one sounds wrong but there is a PR from Seattle Lighting that is dated January 13, 2011 and it says that they received their first batch of ESL Energy Efficient bulbs. It is possible that they spent so long testing those that a number of channel / commercial / general public orders slipped in ahead of their second order.
I’d also like to see something very meaty to push up the stock price and prove that my investment has legs, but I believe that is coming and we just need to have patience. Many of my best investments moved sideways for years before rocketing to incredibly high levels; hopefully that is preparing to happen here too (of course, I'd rather not wait years)
I’m planning to listen to needs week’s audio to see if the lights turn on here:
http://www.mdb.com/
About a week ago I posted the following to the Motley Fool Rule Breakers community to see what they think of this Rule Breaking penny stock. There were zero replies so I assume that they won’t be looking at it until it moves out of the penny stock realm. I’m posting this here because I’ve suggested that a friend (who used to be Motley Fool subscriber) take a look at this interesting little company and I’ve pointed him to this community as a place to begin his research.
-----
The following is not a recommendation for the Rule Breakers community, but it will be interesting to see if it turns into one during the next three to five years… Vu1 Corporation pronounced View-One is a small start-up style company (implying big risks & potential for big rewards) that is trying to outshine Thomas Edison by releasing a mercury free, fully dimmable, energy efficient light bulb that produces a light quality nearly identical to the incandescent bulb while using 70% less energy. If all goes right then their first product will begin shipping next Wednesday.
Why invent another light bulb? Apparently several countries around the world have initiated bans on inefficient incandescent style bulbs so there is a need for energy efficient alternatives:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_incandescent_light_bulbs
Who are the competitors? Currently there are three main alternatives to the incandescent bulb that is being banned; they are: Compact Fluorescent, Halogen-a (improved more efficient incandescent) and LED. Each of these has its own advantages and disadvantages and each will be chosen for different lighting applications depending upon a customer’s needs and preference. I have bought and tried several of them and thus far I’m not very impressed. IMHO, there’s plenty of room for additional products including hybrids and Vu1’s ESL technology:
http://pressroom.geconsumerproducts.com/pr/ge/_prv-three-bulbs-in-one-ge-s-hybrid-199673.aspx
When will it be available? Vu1 Corporation is now preparing to release a R30 ESL bulb for the recessed lighting market; if all goes right then they will begin production this week and will start shipping to early adopters next week. Their technology is called “Electron Stimulated Luminescence” or ESL and promises to give the consumer a new option to solve their lighting needs. The bulb’s main attractions are that it is mercury free, fully dimmable, energy efficient and produces a light quality that is nearly identical to incandescent. FYI, I ordered a set of these back in December but due to a series of delays (more on that later) my bulbs won’t arrive until next week. The company felt so bad about the delays that they sent me one of their pre-production models; only to send me an email a few days later to explain that they discovered a faulty chip in the pre-production model (DOH!). Regardless, I am very impressed with the company and with what I’ve seen of their product; in fact, the following review closely matches my opinion of the pre-production bulb:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=a-better-kind-of-light-bulb-2011-03-21&WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20110321
Why do I think that Vu1 could become a Rule Breaker? I have tried Vu1’s pre-production product and I believe that it is a disruptive technology that will shake up the lighting market and will find shelf space right next to the current technologies. IMHO, lighting is selected based upon both need and personal preference so I don’t believe that ESL will be for everyone yet its attributes put it right in a sweet spot between CFLs and LEDs and should allow it to gain a significant foothold in the lighting market. Some of the advantages of ESL over CFL are: its fast start time (zero to full brightness in less than a second), lack of mercury (many worry about the mercury content in CFLs), fully dimmable (most CFLs don’t dim and some flicker while dimming), trash can disposable (CFLs are supposed to be sent away with hazardous waste) and the light quality is nearly identical to incandescent (colors show truer than most of the alternatives)…….. Some of the advantages ESL over LED include: light quality (LEDs tend to produce a bluish light), works better in heat sensitive environments (LEDs aren’t well suited for recessed spaces), more affordable upfront costs (a R30 ESL is $20, a R30 LED is approx. $45 and up)… To be fair, both the cost of ESL and LED bulbs are expected to drop over the next several years as all lighting technologies will continue to see significant improvements. FYI, I’m sure we’ll see several new comers enter the market during that time including OLED based technologies.
I don’t expect that ESL will replace either CFLs or LEDs (albeit no one would miss the mercury contained in CFLs) but I do believe that it will gain significant acceptance for those who want to own quality, mercury free lights that look and behave similar to the traditional lighting that most of us grew up with. By the way, Vu1’s next product is an A19 ESL bulb and it should look nearly identical to the Edison style round bulb that is popular in both the US and Europe (without the airplane wings of many of the LED alternatives). If things go as planned (a big if here) then the A19 bulb should be available near the end of this summer or early this fall.
Vu1’s management has a fairly good reputation and background but appear to be a bit green as they’ve encountered their share of setbacks over the last six months and provided a few too many release dates before a production ready bulb was available. These sorts of things can and do happen with startup companies but they will have to do slightly better as their product begins to take flight (hopefully it won’t crash and burn).
http://www.vu1corporation.com/management/
Vu1’s board is actually a bit more impressive than their management team; including a few that I am personally impressed with those being: Chairman William B. Smith (Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Smith Asset Management), Bill Hamlin (Former The Home Depot Inc. Group President) and Professor Charles Hunt (Professor UCDavis, Vu1 CTO, researcher for California Lighting Technology Center CLTC)
Smith: http://www.smithassetmanagement.com/our_team.php
Hamlin: http://www.globalebs.com/content/aboutgebs.html
Hunt: http://www.ece.ucdavis.edu/people/profiles/hunt.html
The following is a quote from Bill Hamlin who was once credited with making The Home Depot a success:
“I have seen a number of new and innovative products during the course of my career, and I believe the potential for Vu1's unique lighting technology surpasses anything I've seen before," commented Bill Hamlin, Vu1 Board Member. "Vu1's lighting technology addresses an immediate consumer need for an affordable, clean, energy efficient light bulb that produces good light quality. It's a particularly timely opportunity because Vu1's R30 ESL™ bulb is a direct replacement for the 65W incandescent flood bulb and will therefore be able to fill the massive void left when the traditional incandescent light bulb is banned in the US in 2012”
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/retail-industry-veteran-bill-hamlin-joins-vu1s-board-of-directors-104487159.html
BTW, it appears that Vu1 may be in discussions with the Home Depot:
The following is from an interview with the CEO Philip Styles: “ We’re in discussion with major retailers here in the United States… We’re currently in discussions with two and I’m trying to line up a third one. It’s the big boys here in the States,” he said, declining to name the potential customers
http://vu1corp.blogspot.com/2011/01/vu1-in-bloomberg-news.html
Regarding delays mentioned in today’s New York Times and mentioned briefly above. In the middle of last year Vu1 announced that they would have a product before the end of the year and that a Northwest Electrical Distributor had placed an order with them. In the fourth quarter of last year they announced that they would deliver product by the end of the year. They shipped product to Seattle Lighting in late December and Seattle Lighting began testing that product in early January (like a typical beta test site for a startup company), Seattle Lighting then told Vu1 that they would like to see some changes to their product including a shorter bulb length (it was approximately 6”). Vu1 gave a public ship date of March 23 for their new shorter bulb but during the testing of that bulb discovered a supplier gave them set of faulty chips so the bulbs were delayed in order to test out the replacement chip. Their testing process is apparently now complete, production should begin any hour now and product should begin shipping next week… Assuming all goes according to the new plan.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/finance/external/nytimes/SIG=12gtjtq1d/*http%3A//gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/vu1-light-bulb-delayed-again/?partner=yahoofinance
I’m looking forward to seeing the light (next week?)
Hopefully it shines bright and true for many years.
Robear
P.S. On an amusing note; the lifespan of the bulb does not appear to be set in stone. They have a number of test bulbs that have been running for several years yet you can only expect a bulb to run for as long as your tests indicate it will run. Up until a few days ago the targeted lifespan of the bulb was 10,000 hours; now it is 11,000… I imaging that in another month and a half they might be able to say it lasts up to 12,000 hours… It would be really impressive if someday it matched or exceeded the 25,000 hours listed on most LEDs.
I currently have a foolish level investment in Vu1 and am hoping that they succeed in capturing a slice of the worldwide lighting market but am aware that this is a penny stock and a risky investment so I have not invested more than I can afford to lose. Anyone who decides to invest in Vu1 at this time should look at it as a highly speculative investment and keep the size of their investment to a minimum; in fact, you might want to wait and watch to see if the market accepts their product or gives it a collective thumbs down. Personally I think it should be a winner.
FYI, Vu1 is a penny stock and currently trades at 45 cents
Ginch, there is a suggestion on the Yahoo boards to keep quiet about the charges and let the annoying shorts learn about the shipments at the exact same time everyone else does; that is, once an official press release announces it. I tend to agree with that idea as I’d rather not give the shorts advance notice and would rather enjoy watching a squeeze happen once the official press release is presented. Do you think you will be able to contain your enthusiasm until then? How about everyone else? I realize that it is going to be difficult to control my enthusiasm once I am billed, yet “He who controls the Spice controls the universe” (Knowledge is power :)
ginchinchili, I liked your post much better before the disclaimer.
Your first post increased my confidence that:
+ “Everything is going exceedingly well”
+ “we definitely will get some good news very soon”
+ “Just a little more waiting and this rough period will be long forgotten”
Unfortunately your follow thru brought things back to earth:
- “this is just my opinion”
- “these are my own deductions”
- “I don't see a delay as being cause for concern”
FYI, I’m also keeping a close eye on my credit card charges and thus far Vu1 has not charged me; just like you, I don’t currently see a big cause for concern yet that could change at any point.
Please keep sharing your opinions as we all need a little assurance whenever the market is acting up.
An Excellent article about ESL technology...
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=a-better-kind-of-light-bulb-2011-03-21&WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20110321
Hmmm, "A version of this article appeared in print on March 21, 2011, on page B7 of the New York edition."
Something to look forward to?
New York Times article on Vu1
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/technology/21lamp.html?partner=yahoofinance
Apparently it gets a few things wrong
http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_%28A_to_Z%29/Stocks_V/threadview?m=tm&bn=73618&tid=6833&mid=6833&tof=1&frt=2
Any coverage is good coverage!
Greetings Bull, you are welcome and thank you for sharing the short interest information.
BTW, I wonder if someone is making money off the spread. There’s been someone out there all day offering to buy shares at $0.5201 (while the ask was $0.53) and getting blocks. I’ve tried to out bid them several times (placing trades at 521, 522, 525) but somehow whenever a block comes up someone else always gets preference over my order. On the other hand, I’ve had no problem getting shares at $0.53… Is it possible that someone is playing games to make pennies?
Okay, I found part of my answer, someone from Vu1 is presenting at 12:20 on Friday… right before lunch.
“Vu1 (“view one”) Corporation is setting a new global standard for safe, sustainable, energy-efficient lighting. VU1's Electron Stimulated Luminescence™ (ESL) technology has allowed them to create a light bulb that is mercury-free like an LED, energy efficient and affordable like a CFL, but fully-featured to meet performance requirements of consumers and businesses.”
http://www.cleanequitymonaco.com/the-conference/programme
Does anyone here know if Vu1 is really going to Monaco?
If so, who is presenting and will they be presenting on Thursday or Friday?
Thanks!
Dear Vu1 R30 Customer,
After extensive testing by our company, Destination Lighting, we suggested some changes and enhancements to VU1 regarding their ESL R30 bulb. According to VU1 these changes were going to be made and the bulbs would be shipped to us by the 21st of February. VU1 then reviewed their timeline on releasing a Generation 2 version of this product. Generation 2 product changes were to include: improved dimming range, enhancements to the CRI when dimmed, and shorter length to better fit in standard recessed cans. They decided to push our changes and enhancements into the Generation 2 product, thereby creating a delivery delay of up to 5 weeks. We apologize for any inconvenience to our customers regarding these decisions but agree with VU1 that delivering the better Generation 2 product is the correct course of action. We believe that this product continues to offer promise for the future of energy efficient lighting solutions.
Best regards,
Destination Lighting
Call Center Staff
1.800.653.6556
www.destinationlighting.com
---------------------------
Any comments?
Greetings Bull,
I don’t really believe that the company wants the PPS to stay low. The recent private placement appears to be about half of what they told us they need for their strategic plan (they were looking for $5 Mil). The rest of the money they need to fulfill their 2011 plan can come in multiple ways yet the easiest would be if the new investors exercised their warrants early ($2.2Mil + Warrants – commissions = approx. $5Mil). That’s only going to happen if the price begins to run above sixty and stays above sixty cents. I’m guessing that will happen sometime after Vu1 meets with world press in Monaco. I also suspect that the new investors are looking forward to the same thing hence they requirement to get the current shares registered ASAP… It wouldn’t surprise me to see them sell their current shares and exercise all of their warrants sometime between now and Earth Day this year (assuming volume picks up between now and then).
Re: "A couple of weeks ago I sold $6,000 worth of shares so that I could transfer the proceeds into my Roth account"
Hmmm, I never really think about my Roth (I’ve just been letting it go and grow), but "now I am!"
Thank you for mentioning that!
Hopefully the price stays down on Monday
P.S. I don’t plan to switch to this board but I often come here to check things out. I had to reply to this post because you got me thinking about my Roth again and for that I am thankful.