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A chicken farmer goes into a local bar, sits next to a woman and orders a glass of champagne. The woman perks up and says, "How about that? I just ordered a glass of champagne, too!"
"What a coincidence," he says, "This is a special day for me. I'm celebrating."
"This is a special day for me, too, and I'm also celebrating!" says the woman.
"What a coincidence," says the man. As they clink glasses he asks, "What are you celebrating?"
"My husband and I have been trying to have a child, and today my gynecologist told me I'm pregnant!"
"What a coincidence," says the man. "I'm a chicken farmer. For years all my hens were infertile, but today they're finally laying fertilized eggs."
"That's great!" says the woman, "How did your chickens become fertile?"
"I switched cocks," he replies.
She smiles and says, "What a coincidence!"
This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm
Cubist Pharmaceuticals Appoints Sylvie Gregoire, Pharm. D., to Its Board of Directors
Monday June 12, 12:15 pm ET
LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 12, 2006--Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBST - News) today announced the appointment of Sylvie Gregoire, Pharm. D., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Gregoire, who has twenty years of pharmaceutical and biotech industry experience, also serves on the boards of IDM-Pharma, a publicly traded company headquartered in San Diego, CA and Caprion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately-owned biotechnology company in Montreal, Canada
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Dr. Gregoire was President and Chief Executive Officer, as well as Executive Member of the Board of Directors, of GlycoFi, Inc., from October of 2004 to August of 2005. Prior to joining GlycoFi, Dr. Gregoire served as a consultant to the biopharmaceutical industry following nine years with Biogen Idec Inc. both in the United States and, earlier, in France. While in France for Biogen, Dr. Gregoire served as Director of International Regulatory Affairs (1995-1998). Dr. Gregoire then moved to Biogen's headquarters where her responsibilities started in Program Management before she joined the management team as head of Regulatory Affairs and then head of Manufacturing. Immediately prior to leaving Biogen in 2005, Dr. Gregoire was EVP, Technical Operations (2001-2003) and a member of the Executive Management Team. Prior to Biogen, Dr. Gregoire spent eight years with Merck & Co., in various positions in clinical research and in European regulatory affairs in Canada, the US and Europe.
Dr. Gregoire has published papers and presented abstracts in the United States and Canada on pharmacokinetics of pharmaceutical drugs including antibacterials. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and her pharmacy graduate degree (Bachalaureat en Pharmacie) from the Universite Laval, Quebec City.
Subject: Fw: Cinderella.....(MG)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cinderella is now 95 years old.
After a fulfilling life with the now dead prince, she happily sits upon her rocking chair, watching the world go by from her front porch, with a cat named Bob for companionship.
One sunny afternoon out of nowhere, appeared the fairy godmother.
Cinderella said, "Fairy Godmother, what are you doing here after all these years"?
The fairy godmother replied, "Cinderella, you have lived an exemplary life since I last saw you. Is there anything for which your heart still yearns?"
Cinderella was taken aback, overjoyed, and after some thoughtful consideration, she uttered her first wish:
"The prince was wonderful, but not much of an investor. I'm living hand to mouth on my disability checks, and I wish I were wealthy beyond comprehension. Instantly her rocking chair turned into solid gold.
Cinderella said, "Ooh, thank you, Fairy Godmother"
The fairy godmother replied, "It is the least that I can do. What do you want for your second wish?"
Cinderella looked down at her frail body, and said, "I wish I were young and full of the beauty and youth I once had."
At once, her wish became reality, and her beautiful young visage returned. Cinderella felt stirrings inside of her that had been dormant for years.
And then the fairy godmother spoke once more: "You have one more wish; what shall it be?"
Cinderella looks over to the frightened cat in the corner and says, "I wish for you to transform Bob, my old cat, into a kind and handsome young man." Magically, Bob suddenly underwent so fundamental a change in his biological make-up that, when he stood before her, he was a man so beautiful the likes of him neither she nor the world had ever seen.
The fairy godmother said, "Congratulations, Cinderella, enjoy your new life."
With a blazing shock of bright blue electricity, the fairy godmother was gone as suddenly as she appeared.
For a few eerie moments,
Bob and Cinderella looked into each other's eyes.
Cinderella sat, breathless, gazing at the most beautiful, stunningly perfect man she had ever seen.
Then Bob walked over to Cinderella, who sat transfixed in her rocking chair, &held her close in his young muscular arms.
He leaned in close, blowing her golden hair with his warm breath as he whispered...
"Bet you're sorry you neutered me."
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Because we all could use a little inner peace.....
You too can find inner peace...I am passing this on to you because it
definitely worked for me and we could all use more calm in our lives. By
following this simple advice, I have finally found inner peace.
Dr. Phil proclaimed the way to achieve inner peace is to simply finish all
the things you have started in life. So I looked around my house to see
things I started and hadn't finished; and, before leaving the house this
morning I finished off a bottle of wine, a bottle of vodka, a bottle of
Kahlua, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my Valium prescription,
the rest of the cheesecake, some crackers and cheese, and my Easter candy.
You have no idea how freaking good I feel!
Please pass this on to those you feel are in need of inner peace.
How naive can ypou be-Compl;aint to the SEC is about as realistinc as your walking on the moon. What do you think you've accomplished by cluttering up this board with your dialogue with him????? In my opinion you've harmed your own credibility for anyone who would spend time engaging him bust also wasting his and our time.
On the Yahoo message board your friend and two others of his lik had their posting priviledges revoked. I believe it was due to personal attacks on Phil and Phil's lawyers worked the problem with Yahoo. I again ask you to stop replying to Carleroi-he is a sophisticated basher whom you cannot challenge with the truth. OIt is pointless to engage him. Let him hang on his own petard.
Good luck. At least I feel there is at least one who reads the posts.
Unless we can have discussions here I feel talking to myself is fruitless. I'll post elsewhere should this continue as a one way conversation.
By RANDALL SMITH and SHAWN YOUNG
June 9, 2006; Page C1
Securities regulators have launched an investigation into how short sellers may have played a role in the steep decline in the stock price of Internet phone carrier Vonage Holdings Corp. since its initial public offering last month, people familiar with the situation say.
The regulatory unit of the New York Stock Exchange sent a letter to Wall Street securities firms yesterday asking questions about how the dealers may have facilitated short sales, according to someone who had a copy of the letter. The letter asked that the information be provided no later than Wednesday, June 21.
Because some short sellers are effectively betting that a stock will decline, companies sometimes blame them when their share price slides. A spokeswoman for Vonage, based in Holmdel, N.J., declined to comment on any short selling in its stock. In a short sale, a trader or investor sells borrowed stock in hopes of buying it back later at a lower price.
Another regulator, the National Association of Securities Dealers, last week initiated a look at other aspects of the Vonage IPO, according to people familiar with the deal. The stock has fallen as much as 32% since the IPO, stirring controversy partly because 13.5% of the $531 million stock sale was earmarked for Vonage telephone customers.
Some of the NYSE regulatory questions in the letter appear aimed at determining whether dealers or their customers may have violated rules curbing the practice of "naked short selling," or selling shares without having them available or knowing how they can be provided to the buyer when the transaction settles after a few days.
The rules against naked shorting were tightened in mid-2004 by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and took effect in January 2005. They put new requirements on exchanges to police trading. As an SEC official noted at the time, naked shorting could drive down a stock price in an "abusive or manipulative way."
Founded in 2001, Vonage is among the first Internet calling start-ups, offering consumers cut-rate calls using their regular phones linked to a high-speed Internet connection. But Vonage's steep losses, heavy spending and well-funded cable and phone-company competitors have made many analysts and investors skeptical about its prospects.
Many of the NYSE questions were focused on the first day of trading in Vonage on May 24. That day the stock fell 13% from its IPO price of $17 a share to a 4 p.m. price of $14.85 on the NYSE on volume of 33.8 million shares. The stock price hit a 4 p.m. low of $11.63 June 1 and at 4 p.m. yesterday was down 20 cents on the day to $11.79.
WALL STREET JOURNAL VIDEO
Randall Smith discusses a probe into how short sellers may have played a role in Vonage's stock plunge.On the first day of trading, more than five million shares were sold short, according to someone familiar with the IPO. The bulk of such short-sale orders were placed early in the day, just as the stock began trading.
Other NYSE questions asked for information about failures to deliver stock after the offering. The questions specifically sought information about trades by prime-brokerage customers. Prime brokerage is a booming business in which Wall Street dealers provide services including stock lending to hedge funds, some of which use borrowed stock for short sales.
In recent days, Vonage has appeared on an NYSE list of companies that have significant numbers of trades that haven't settled on time, a list mandated by the new short-selling rules. Such failures to settle can be associated with naked short selling. Once a stock appears on the list, traders have 13 days to settle their trades.
Dealers are allowed to execute short sales on behalf of customers that don't actually hold the borrowed shares if the dealers have "reasonable grounds" to believe the stock can be borrowed by the time the stock is due to be delivered, according to a Big Board Web site.
However, under the new SEC rules, dealers executing short sales based on a customer's assurance that a stock had been "located" elsewhere must document the customer's source, and whether the same customer's prior assurances resulted in delivery failures.
Some Vonage customers say the stock's plunge was aggravated by missteps by the Internet phone company and the offering's underwriters. Some customers have threatened to refuse to pay for shares they pledged to buy at the $17 IPO price. Many questioned why the price was set so high, particularly as the market weakened in the weeks leading up to the offering.
But Vonage and the underwriters -- led by Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and UBS AG -- have responded that the deal was more than five times oversubscribed.
Write to Randall Smith at randall.smith@wsj.com and Shawn Young at shawn.young@wsj.com
SHORT SELLING IMPLICATED IN VONAGE IPO
By Marguerite Reardon
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: June 9, 2006, 10:39 AM PDT
TalkBack E-mail Print
The New York Stock Exchange is looking into how short sellers may have contributed to the sharp decline of Vonage's stock after it debuted two weeks ago.
Regulators from the NYSE sent a letter to Wall Street securities firms on Thursday asking how dealers may have facilitated the short sellers' trades, according to a story published Friday by The Wall Street Journal.
Short sellers make money by betting a stock will decline in value. They borrow shares of the stock and sell it. Then they buy back the stock at a lower price hoping to make a profit. Because short sellers can drive down the price of a stock, they are often blamed when share prices decline rapidly.
In recent years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted stricter rules for short sellers, tightening regulations around what is known as "naked" short selling, which refers to the practice of selling shares that have not yet been borrowed.
According to the Journal report, the letters sent to dealers questioned whether these rules had been broken in the case of the Vonage stock.
Officials at the NYSE could not comment on the Journal article, and Vonage representatives did not return phone calls.
In other news:
Court upholds Net wiretap rules
The revolution will be vlogged
Sex, networking and video games
News.com Extra: Tech fuels radio's rebound
Video: Pocket Shorts: Brief but sweet 'Inner Shorts'
Vonage, the Internet company that turns broadband connections into phone lines, debuted on the NYSE on May 24 at $17 per share. In a little over a week, the stock had lost about 30 percent of its value. Critics have come out of the woodwork questioning the price set for the initial public offering, given that the market was already in decline, and that Vonage had taken the unusual step of offering about 13.5 percent of its IPO shares to its customers.
Some of Vonage's shareholders have threatened not to pay for the shares they were allocated. And now, some disgruntled investors armed with lawyers have filed class action lawsuits against the company.
If you thought I was a little blunt yesterday, then read this one. I’m sorry, but these people have screwed America for far too long. It’s time to pay the piper.
http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/Investing101/1059.html
The Circle of Greed: “Let us Prey”
By Mark Faulk
June 9, 2006
A few months ago, somewhere around the time that the NASAA held their forum on naked short selling in November of last year, and shortly after Patrick Byrne wandered unwittingly into the cause and became our mouthpiece on the big stage, advocates of stock market reform began discussing the issue of “critical mass.” We described this phenomenon in an article in February of this year, called “The Circle of Greed: A Voice in the Wilderness”:
What is a turning point in history? The dictionary defines it as “the point at which a very significant change occurs; a decisive moment.”
In every battle, every cause, every war, there is a turning point. At the time, that turning point might be obvious to only a few involved individuals, but the significance of those moments in history are undeniable. Some turning points involve positive developments, while others are the result of negative forces going "too far."
Critical mass is the scale or volume at which processes becomes self-perpetuating. The minimum amount of people with shared understanding or needs to tip the balance and instigate change.
Well folks, it’s official – the balance has been tipped, and sure enough, the negative forces have gone too far. In a Wall Street Journal article this morning called “NYSE Probes Whether Short Sellers Fueled Steep Decline in Vonage Shares” (you’ll have to subscribe to read that one, some people are only in it for the money), reporters told the story of Vonage, an internet calling company that went public only to have it’s stock beaten unmercilessly into the ground by hedge funds and brokers who “sold the company short” and then didn’t settle the trades…in other words, they never delivered, or in this case, never borrowed the shares that were sold. They manipulated the price of the stock by creating artificial supply though naked short selling, and now NYSE regulators want to know why and how it was allowed to happen.
And finally…FINALLY…The Wall Street Journal, and federal regulators, came out and said the “N word,” no, not the racial slur, “naked short selling.”
To read the rest of this commentary, go to: http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/Investing101/1059.html
A company such as Vonage deserves underwriters' deepest scrutiny. After all, its founder, Jeffrey Citron, was banned from the securities industry for life by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a previous venture. So one would have thought Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and UBS had crossed every "t" and dotted every "i" before bringing Vonage to market -- or even passed on the opportunity entirely.
Instead, the banks put their names to a badly priced and controversially handled float. With Vonage's stock down nearly 30%, shareholders are boiling with anger and the first in what could be a slew of class-action lawsuits against both the underwriters and the company have started flying. But it is hard to feel sorry for the banking trio.
First, look at Vonage's decision to sell 13.5% of the stock offered in the initial public offering directly to its customers. The banks gave their OK to this unusual request -- something the class-action lawyers say violated securities laws on the grounds that the banks didn't properly vet customers to see if they were financially suited for buying Vonage stock.
Then there is the prospectus itself. It omitted what angry shareholders allege were important facts in the biography of Vonage's chief executive, Mike Snyder. While it mentioned that Mr. Snyder was president of Tyco's ADT alarm unit from 1997 to 2006, it didn't say that Tyco restated its results from 1998 to 2002 by $1.4 billion or that Tyco had said the principal source of the accounting errors was ADT.
These issues might have mattered less if the float hadn't been priced at such a high level. But the program of inviting financially unsophisticated customers into the float had the effect of boosting the flotation price. As the marginal buyers, individual investors set an unrealistic price. The underwriters should arguably have persuaded Vonage to leave money on the table.
The banks obviously would prefer to chalk up the episode as experience. And, of course, there is some consolation in the hefty fees they reaped. But that is peanuts compared with the headache of fighting lawsuits and the potential damage to the banks' reputations.
Now read the next post
Read the latest news release again. Cubist restructured an old debt with 5.5% interest to 2.25% interest. So in effect the new offering is half or less of the total figure. Considering the savings from the difference in debt interest, the offering is in reality much smaller and will finance increased production of Cubicin and increased research for expanding the pipeline.And perhaps most important it provides the resources to defend the company's intellectual property should that need arise.
Smart financial management!
I wrote this one today after reading Dave Patch’s blog, entitled “If you want to beat the SEC in an enforcement case, just go out and buy one of them,” at http://www.thesanitycheck.com/Blogs/DavePatchsBlog/tabid/66/EntryID/323/Default.aspx
So thanks Dave, you ruined my mood for the entire evening. Sorry about my colorful language everyone, but sometimes “This makes me quite angry” just doesn’t cut it.
Faulking Truth Editor to Hedge Funds: I’ll be Your B*tch
Mark Faulk
June 8, 2006
The system is broken. It cannot be fixed unless we dismantle it and start over. Now that the SEC has become just another pipeline to big money jobs in the very industry that they're supposed to be regulating, does anyone believe that they'll be tough on these people while they're with the SEC? It's no different than ex-congressman becoming high-paid lobbyists for the same firms that they oversee in their committee duties.
The SEC from now on will be seen as nothing more than a training ground for a lucrative job helping those that they regulate beat the very system that they’re pledged to serve. Toil for a few years as a congressman, or as a mid-level employee at the SEC, and then leap to a high-paid position with some seedy hedge fund who only goal is to bleed America dry and leave the body for the vultures. Toil for a few years as a congressman, or as a mid-level employee at the SEC, and wait for the behind-the-scenes offers to start rolling in.
Read the rest of this commentary at:
http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/LettersToEditor/1031.html
This commentary is also posted on Mark Faulk's blog, along with an excellent comment section, at:
http://www.thesanitycheck.com/Blogs/MarkFaulksBlog/tabid/86/EntryID/324/Default.aspx
Quite agree with you
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 8, 2006--NewMarket Technology Inc. (OTCBB:NMKT - News) today released a letter to shareholders from CEO Philip Verges and CFO Philip J. Rauch. The letter to shareholders is included in its entirety in this release:
ADVERTISEMENT
Dear Fellow Shareholders and Interested Investors,
Only four more weeks remain in the second fiscal quarter of 2006. NewMarket is still on track to meet or exceed the recently revised forecast of $65 million 2006 profitable revenue. Continued fundamental financial performance improvement remains our primary focus. We believe NewMarket's share price is considerably undervalued when compared to national exchange listed technology service companies of similar revenue and profitability. We believe quarter after quarter fundamental financial results are the key to shareholders recognizing a healthy investment return as the market begins to value NewMarket consistent with the market value of comparable national exchange listed technology service companies.
As we are approaching the end of the second fiscal quarter, it has become apparent that a number of shareholder questions seem to be recurring regarding the first quarter financial report. Although NewMarket's financial performance in both revenue and income growth continues to convey a message of sustainability and rapid growth, many of the key financial indicators are somewhat subtle.
We encourage shareholders and interested prospective investors to view the first quarter financial report webcast on the Company's website at www.newmarkettechnology.com. If you have difficulty viewing the webcast from the Company's web site please contact ir@newmarkettechnology.com to obtain alternative access to the webcast. The webcast thoroughly covers all aspects of the first quarter financial report.
This letter is intended to address questions regarding the reported reduction in gross profit and other issues related to our first quarter results of operations.
Compared to the same period last year the Company's total gross profit increased 8% from $4.7m in the first quarter of 2005 to $5.1m in the first quarter of 2006. However, gross profit as a percentage of revenue decreased 37% from 46% of revenue in the first quarter of 2005 to 29% of revenue in the first quarter of 2006. This decrease in the percentage of revenue has been the subject of a number of questions.
Understanding NewMarket's maturing business model is important to understanding the nature of the reduced gross profit and how the reduced gross profit is part of an overall substantial financial performance improvement. The core value of NewMarket's business model lies within its continuous acquisition, development and marketing of emerging technologies. NewMarket's approach to marketing emerging technologies is to package emerging technologies with brand name mainstream technologies. To achieve this end, NewMarket maintains marketing partnerships with brand name companies such as Cisco Systems, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems. Within these brand name marketing partnerships, NewMarket sells, integrates and maintains the products of the brand name companies. In order to increase emerging technology sales, NewMarket initially must increase brand name mainstream technology sales. The gross profit margin of the brand name mainstream technology sales is generally lower than the gross profit margin associated with the sale of emerging technology products and services.
The reduced gross profit as a percentage of revenue is a reflection of NewMarket's success in expanding the sale of its mainstream brand name products and services. In conjunction with the reduced gross profit margin, revenue substantially increased 70% from $10.2m to $17.3m. The increased revenue and reduced gross profit as a percentage of revenue demonstrates the successful expansion of mainstream brand name products that will subsequently enable NewMarket to expand the sale of its higher gross profit margin emerging technology products and services. The overall first quarter financial performance is indicative of NewMarket's successfully maturing business model.
Some shareholders have raised questions regarding the results of fourth quarter of 2005 versus the first quarter 2006. Please note that both SEC and GAAP guidelines mandate that we compare quarterly results from similar periods in the presentation of our financial statements. A company is required to provide a comparison of its current results to the comparable financial period in the previous year. Comparing first quarter results of operations one year to fourth quarter results from the prior year represents an inaccurate picture due to seasonal effects on business.
Of relevance in relationship to the reduced gross profit as a percentage of revenue is the apparently counter-intuitive increase in net profit. Net profit increased 326% from $102k in the first quarter of 2005 to $434k in the first quarter of 2006. Net profit as a percentage of revenue increased 150% from 1% of revenue in the first quarter of 2005 to 2.5% of revenue in the first quarter of 2006. While perhaps subtle, an all around increase in net profit when gross profit as a percentage of revenue otherwise decreased is significant. For net profits to increase when gross profit as a percentage of revenue decreased indicates notable operational expense reductions as a percentage of revenue. In fact, general and administrative expenses not only decreased as a percentage of revenue, the general and administrative expenses actually decreased all together from $1.6m in the first quarter of 2005 to $1.1m in the first quarter of 2006. Additionally, it is important to note that net income for first quarter 2006 includes approximately $800k in non-cash expense for such items as inflation effects, amortization, depreciation and deferred compensation.
This decrease in general and administrative expenses is a result of NewMarket's exceptional performance in the integration of acquired companies. The ongoing acquisition of emerging technologies is a central aspect of NewMarket's business model. NewMarket's revenue does not grow substantially from these emerging technology acquisitions. On the contrary, we acquire the emerging technologies in order to develop the value of the emerging technology primarily by achieving the first notable sales of the emerging technology. However, the ongoing acquisition of emerging technologies without notable immediate revenue can amass significant operational expenses. The fact that NewMarket has otherwise reduced operational expenses is another demonstration of NewMarket's successfully maturing business model.
NewMarket's first quarter financial results are positive and demonstrative of a maturing business model. Understandably, a cursory review of a reduced gross profit margin as a percentage of revenue might create suspicion of a business performance problem. However, a broader review of overall increased revenue, increased net profits, reduced operational expenses and improving cash flows should mitigate and overcome any concern relating to business performance. The comprehensive first quarter financial picture is altogether strong and more importantly, is a clear indication of NewMarket's maturing business model.
We hope this letter has helped to further communicate the continuation of NewMarket's maturing business model and the overall positive nature of our first quarter financial results. We encourage shareholders and interested investors to continue to communicate with the company particularly in order to voice their concerns.
Press Release Source: NewMarket Technology Inc.
NewMarket Technology, Inc. Releases Letter to Shareholders Addressing Questions Regarding First Quarter 2006 Financial Report
Thursday June 8, 9:07 am ET
CEO and CFO Address Financial Issues
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 8, 2006--NewMarket Technology Inc. (OTCBB:NMKT - News) today released a letter to shareholders from CEO Philip Verges and CFO Philip J. Rauch. The letter to shareholders is included in its entirety in this release:
ADVERTISEMENT
Dear Fellow Shareholders and Interested Investors,
Only four more weeks remain in the second fiscal quarter of 2006. NewMarket is still on track to meet or exceed the recently revised forecast of $65 million 2006 profitable revenue. Continued fundamental financial performance improvement remains our primary focus. We believe NewMarket's share price is considerably undervalued when compared to national exchange listed technology service companies of similar revenue and profitability. We believe quarter after quarter fundamental financial results are the key to shareholders recognizing a healthy investment return as the market begins to value NewMarket consistent with the market value of comparable national exchange listed technology service companies.
As we are approaching the end of the second fiscal quarter, it has become apparent that a number of shareholder questions seem to be recurring regarding the first quarter financial report. Although NewMarket's financial performance in both revenue and income growth continues to convey a message of sustainability and rapid growth, many of the key financial indicators are somewhat subtle.
We encourage shareholders and interested prospective investors to view the first quarter financial report webcast on the Company's website at www.newmarkettechnology.com. If you have difficulty viewing the webcast from the Company's web site please contact ir@newmarkettechnology.com to obtain alternative access to the webcast. The webcast thoroughly covers all aspects of the first quarter financial report.
This letter is intended to address questions regarding the reported reduction in gross profit and other issues related to our first quarter results of operations.
Compared to the same period last year the Company's total gross profit increased 8% from $4.7m in the first quarter of 2005 to $5.1m in the first quarter of 2006. However, gross profit as a percentage of revenue decreased 37% from 46% of revenue in the first quarter of 2005 to 29% of revenue in the first quarter of 2006. This decrease in the percentage of revenue has been the subject of a number of questions.
Understanding NewMarket's maturing business model is important to understanding the nature of the reduced gross profit and how the reduced gross profit is part of an overall substantial financial performance improvement. The core value of NewMarket's business model lies within its continuous acquisition, development and marketing of emerging technologies. NewMarket's approach to marketing emerging technologies is to package emerging technologies with brand name mainstream technologies. To achieve this end, NewMarket maintains marketing partnerships with brand name companies such as Cisco Systems, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems. Within these brand name marketing partnerships, NewMarket sells, integrates and maintains the products of the brand name companies. In order to increase emerging technology sales, NewMarket initially must increase brand name mainstream technology sales. The gross profit margin of the brand name mainstream technology sales is generally lower than the gross profit margin associated with the sale of emerging technology products and services.
The reduced gross profit as a percentage of revenue is a reflection of NewMarket's success in expanding the sale of its mainstream brand name products and services. In conjunction with the reduced gross profit margin, revenue substantially increased 70% from $10.2m to $17.3m. The increased revenue and reduced gross profit as a percentage of revenue demonstrates the successful expansion of mainstream brand name products that will subsequently enable NewMarket to expand the sale of its higher gross profit margin emerging technology products and services. The overall first quarter financial performance is indicative of NewMarket's successfully maturing business model.
Some shareholders have raised questions regarding the results of fourth quarter of 2005 versus the first quarter 2006. Please note that both SEC and GAAP guidelines mandate that we compare quarterly results from similar periods in the presentation of our financial statements. A company is required to provide a comparison of its current results to the comparable financial period in the previous year. Comparing first quarter results of operations one year to fourth quarter results from the prior year represents an inaccurate picture due to seasonal effects on business.
Of relevance in relationship to the reduced gross profit as a percentage of revenue is the apparently counter-intuitive increase in net profit. Net profit increased 326% from $102k in the first quarter of 2005 to $434k in the first quarter of 2006. Net profit as a percentage of revenue increased 150% from 1% of revenue in the first quarter of 2005 to 2.5% of revenue in the first quarter of 2006. While perhaps subtle, an all around increase in net profit when gross profit as a percentage of revenue otherwise decreased is significant. For net profits to increase when gross profit as a percentage of revenue decreased indicates notable operational expense reductions as a percentage of revenue. In fact, general and administrative expenses not only decreased as a percentage of revenue, the general and administrative expenses actually decreased all together from $1.6m in the first quarter of 2005 to $1.1m in the first quarter of 2006. Additionally, it is important to note that net income for first quarter 2006 includes approximately $800k in non-cash expense for such items as inflation effects, amortization, depreciation and deferred compensation.
This decrease in general and administrative expenses is a result of NewMarket's exceptional performance in the integration of acquired companies. The ongoing acquisition of emerging technologies is a central aspect of NewMarket's business model. NewMarket's revenue does not grow substantially from these emerging technology acquisitions. On the contrary, we acquire the emerging technologies in order to develop the value of the emerging technology primarily by achieving the first notable sales of the emerging technology. However, the ongoing acquisition of emerging technologies without notable immediate revenue can amass significant operational expenses. The fact that NewMarket has otherwise reduced operational expenses is another demonstration of NewMarket's successfully maturing business model.
NewMarket's first quarter financial results are positive and demonstrative of a maturing business model. Understandably, a cursory review of a reduced gross profit margin as a percentage of revenue might create suspicion of a business performance problem. However, a broader review of overall increased revenue, increased net profits, reduced operational expenses and improving cash flows should mitigate and overcome any concern relating to business performance. The comprehensive first quarter financial picture is altogether strong and more importantly, is a clear indication of NewMarket's maturing business model.
We hope this letter has helped to further communicate the continuation of NewMarket's maturing business model and the overall positive nature of our first quarter financial results. We encourage shareholders and interested investors to continue to communicate with the company particularly in order to voice their concerns.
If his posts had any credibility I'd agree with you. But posters of his ilk are aimed at generating as much readership for their distortions as possible. Truth matters not to him. Replying to him draws other readers attention to him and IO'm sure you must be aware you'll never win over his objections. Debating him is an endless task. Ignore him or at least do tot engage him.
PS He follows the same pattern on several other message boards. Never a good word for any company.
You'r right and I'm wrong. Good connection-keep us up to date on this please
Don't we have enough to post about NMKT that we don't have to bother with all the other stocks posters tout???
I strongly suggest you follow the lead of many on this board and equivalent board on Yahoo equivalent and ignore him.I believei he has lost his posting priviledges on Yahho and hopefully he shall also be banned hereon.
Why are there so few new medicines targeted at resistant bacteria? In the past decade, many big pharmaceutical players, including Wyeth (nyse: WYE - news - people ), Roche and Eli Lilly (nyse: LLY - news - people ), backed off antibiotic research. At the same time, new antibiotics were becoming increasingly difficult to develop. For 30 years--until 2000--there were no new classes of antibiotics approved.
In the past six years, there have been two clear examples: Zyvox, from Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ), and Cubicin, from Cubist Pharmaceuticals (nasdaq: CBST - news - people ). Wyeth's Tygacil and Sanofi-Aventis' (nyse: SNY - news - people ) Ketek have been touted as new classes, and though the distinction can be argued, both were definitely better at fighting resistant bugs.
Drug companies are starting to become interested in antibiotics again. Pfizer, which always kept a presence in developing new germ-killing drugs, saw its Zyvox become a fast-growing drug in recent years. Then it bought antibiotics maker Vicuron last summer; an antifungal medicine from the deal was approved on Feb. 21. Abbott Laboratories' (nyse: ABT - news - people ) Omnicef, an antibiotic pill, saw sales increase 61% to $627 million last year, according to consulting firm IMS Health (nyse: RX - news - people ).
Biotechs are benefiting too. Shares in antibiotic maker Cubist Pharmaceuticals have more than doubled this year based on sales of Cubicin, its injectable treatment for Staphylococcus aureus, one of the bugs topping the IDSA's hit list (see: " A Better Antibiotic?").
But the IDSA authors say the antibiotics in development simply aren't enough. A review of new medicines finds few that work in new ways, meaning that some of the new drugs may hit the market already facing some resistant bugs. And the authors say the drug companies are not developing drugs to treat the organisms that are the biggest health threat. Market forces, they worry, may not take care of the problem.
Click here for a list of the six scariest germs.
Monday, Jun 05, 2006 (generated at 08:05 AM)
CBST: Cubist Pharmaceuticals Announces Underwriters Have Exercised
Option to Purchase Additional $25 Million in 2.25% Convertible
Subordinated Notes Due 2013
- Jun 5 2006 7:30AM (BusinessWire)
- http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=58956662
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
Drug-resistant "staph" causes 102,000 hospital infections a year, more than any other. For sick patients, it can be a killer. Recently, S. aureus has escaped the hospital. The number of children infected jumped 28% in three years. Now, athletes are being infected. In 2003, five football players on the St. Louis Rams suffered staph-infected turf burns that resisted multiple antibiotics.
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sorry -deleted
In Pictures: The Six Scariest Germs
Forbes Sun, 04 Jun 2006 3:15 AM PDT
Infectious diseases experts release a hit list of the most worrisome germs.
I hate stock service touts. If their investment advice was worth a damn why aren't they on their power boats fishing???
win. Win. Win. Situation.
Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border,
Take the dirt and raise the levies in New Orleans
And put the Florida alligators in the moat.
Any other problems you have for me to solve?
You hit on the major problem. The large majority of American and Foreign Investors are totally unaware of what is really going on. There has to be a very determioned effort-somehow-to make the public aware. Any ideas in this regard??
Dave works hard at the office and spends most evenings bowling or playing basketball at the gym.
His wife thinks he is pushing himself too hard, so for his birthday she takes him to a local strip club.
The doorman at the club greets them and says, "Hey, Dave! How ya doin'?"
His wife is puzzled and asks if he's been to this club before. "Oh no," says Dave. "He's on my bowling team."
When they are seated, a waitress asks Dave if he'd like his usual and brings over a Budweiser.
His wife is becoming increasingly uncomfortable and says, "How did she know that you drink Budweiser?"
She's in the Ladies' Bowling League, honey. We share lanes with them."
A stripper then comes over to their table, throws her arms around Dave, starts to rub herself all over him and says
"Hi Davey!" Want your usual table dance, big boy?"
Dave's wife, now furious, grabs her purse and storms out of the club.
Dave follows and spots her getting into a cab.
Before she can slam the door, he jumps in beside her.
Dave tries desperately to explain how the stripper must have mistaken him for someone else, but his wife is having none of it.
She is screaming at him at the top of her lungs, calling him every cuss word in the book.
The cabby turns around and says, "Geez Dave, you picked up a real bitch this time."
Funeral services for Davey to be announced later.
But I wonder why you poot about other than NMKT on this board and you continue to engage the most sophisticated basher yet identified. Charleroi.You lose on both counts.
http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/Investing101/1058.html
The CMKX Story: When Too Much Isn’t Enough
by Mark Faulk
June 1, 2005
“..every stockholder is entitled to have a certificate, signed by officers or agents designated by the corporation for the purpose, certifying the number of shares owned by him in the corporation.”
On October 28, 2005, CMKM Diamonds, Inc. (best known by its trading symbol CMKX) was delisted by the SEC for non reporting violations, halting trading of the stock in a company that had issued an incredible 703 billion shares of “real” stock, sold to over 50,000 shareholders. Shortly afterwards, the company appointed a three person task force, consisting of Attorney Bill Frizzell, Attorney Don Stoecklein, and Howard Hughes’ former right-hand man Bob Maheu, to “identify bonafide shareholders” of the company’s stock, a process that after seven months, and three deadline extensions, still has not been completed, as brokers have used excuse after excuse to delay delivery of shareholders’ stock certificates.
Yesterday, Bill Frizzell sent a complaint letter to the NASD, along with copies to the SEC, Nevada state securities regulators, and several key members of Congress, claiming that there is “indisputable evidence of large numbers of failed deliveries in this stock,” and that brokers are trying to undermine shareholders rights by denying them their rights to ownership, stating that:
Nevada law NRS 78.235 mandates that each shareholder has the right to request and receive certificates of ownership from the company for their stock. Specifically, the statute states “..every stockholder is entitled to have a certificate, signed by officers or agents designated by the corporation for the purpose, certifying the number of shares owned by him in the corporation.”
In his complaint letter to the NASD, Frizzell lists a few of the reasons that brokers have given their clients for failing to deliver the stock certificates to their rightful owners. It is a list worthy of David Letterman’s Top Ten:
The most alarming problems are represented by those shareholders who have been requesting certs from their brokers since the company’s first announcement of a distribution seven months ago. Here is a sampling of excuses being given to shareholders as reasons for their inability to obtain a cert:
1. “We had your cert, but it is now lost. It will take us another 6 to 8 weeks to obtain another one.”
2. “This stock purchase was a book entry only and no certificate is available.”
3. “Your stock was classified as a worthless security and is no longer in your account.”
4. “Our clearing firm has not been able to deliver these certificates due to a backlog of requests at the transfer agency.”
5. “I have been instructed we are no longer pulling certs for CMKM and there is nothing I can do. You need to contact the company.”
6. “CMKM Diamonds has a “K” code next to it, indicating that it is being held in safekeeping for the client. The clearing agent has made the decision not to issue certs but rather fax a copy of the certs it holds to the transfer agent.”
7. “Attached herewith is evidence of ownership of shares held electronically by XYZ clearing for ABC broker. ABC to confirm receipt of this proof of shares of CMKM and related companies are held with XYZ.”
8. “In light of the lack of cooperation (by the transfer agent), your May 15th, 2006 deadline must be bogus and must be extended, and Entourage shares could of course still be sent to ABC for the benefit of XYZ.”
9. “MNO said they had discussed with the Task Force the acceptability of the affidavit as proof of ownership in lieu of the certificate, and that it would be accepted.” No such conversation ever occurred with the Task Force members.
10. “We ordered your certificate, and it has been lost. You must now fill out a loss certificate.” The transfer agent confirms that no certificate was ever issued.
Each quoted statement above is taken verbatim from a shareholder’s letter or from a broker’s written response to a shareholder’s request for a cert. I could continue with pages and pages of documented incidences of these broker responses to the requests of the shareholders if such is necessary to establish the need for a full investigation.
Read the rest of this story at:
http://www.faulkingtruth.com/Articles/Investing101/1058.html
This article is also posted on Mark Faulk's blog, along with an excellent comment section, at:
http://www.thesanitycheck.com/Blogs/MarkFaulksBlog/tabid/86/EntryID/312/Default.asp
Great NEWS!!!
Subject: Preventive measures
In an attempt to thwart the spread of bird flu, President George W. Bush has bombed the Canary Islands.
Turkey is next
The farce has now moved to phase 2.
FONAR PRESIDENT RAYMOND DAMADIAN
BUYS COMPANY STOCK FOR THE THIRD TIME IN 2006
MELVILLE, NEW YORK, June 1, 2006 - FONAR Corporation
(NASDAQ-FONR), The Inventor of MR Scanning(TM), today
announced that Raymond Damadian, M.D., president and
chairman of the Company purchased 116,279 shares of
FONAR stock in the open market on May 30, 2006. This is
the second time in less than 30 days and the third time
this year that Dr. Damadian has made open market
purchases of FONAR Corporation common stock. The
purchase brings Dr. Damadian's total ownership to
2,795,053 shares. An added significance is that he has
not sold a share in about fifteen years. The purchases
were made pursuant to the Company's corporate governance
guidelines for insider stock purchases.
What a farce. The common shares of Fonar are disenfranchised. By the I mean that they carry no voting rights. Years ago Damadian sold his then common shareholders on the need for him to have a new class of stock -Class C- which had voting rights as a method to prevent a hostile take over of the company. At that time the company had no products and was opera sting on money's derived from repetitive dilutions. The shareholders voted to authorize Class C and as a result Damadian now holds 99+% of those shares and this in effect gives him total and dictatorial control of the company. With this in mind I really consider his open market purchase of common shares to add to his large total in that category another example of his naiveté and lack of knowledge of how our markets work. I doubt that any real investors will be duped by his futile attempt to share up the share price.
----- Texas Drinking Rules
A Mexican drinks his beer and suddenly throws his glass in the air, pulls out his pistol and shoots the glass to pieces. He says, "In Mexico our glass is so cheap we don't need to drink from the same glass twice."
An Iraqi, obviously impressed by this, drinks his beer, throws his glass into the air, pulls out his AK-47 and shoots the glass to pieces. He says, "In Iraq we have so much sand to make glasses that we don't need to drink out of the same glass twice either.
Then Dick Cheney, cool as a cucumber, picks up his beer and drinks it, throws his glass into the air, pulls out his shotgun and shoots the Mexican and the Iraqi, and catches his glass.
He says, "In America we have so many illegal Mexicans and Arabs that we don't have to drink with the same ones twice."
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Income Statement Get Income Statement for:
View: Annual Data | Quarterly Data All numbers in thousands
PERIOD ENDING 31-Mar-06 31-Dec-05 30-Sep-05 30-Jun-05
Total Revenue 17,330 15,320 14,211 10,419
Cost of Revenue 12,203 10,003 9,570 6,563
Gross Profit 5,127 5,317 4,641 3,856
Operating Expenses
Research Development - 40 52 7
Selling General and Administrative 4,154 3,408 3,191 3,555
Non Recurring - - - -
Others 154 177 101 172
Total Operating Expenses - - - -
Operating Income or Loss 819 1,692 1,297 122
Income from Continuing Operations
Total Other Income/Expenses Net (259) (191) 55 114
Earnings Before Interest And Taxes 560 1,501 1,352 237
Interest Expense 54 29 112 86
Income Before Tax 506 1,472 1,240 151
Income Tax Expense 72 21 (1) 36
Minority Interest - - - -
Net Income From Continuing Ops 434 1,451 1,241 115
Non-recurring Events
Discontinued Operations - - - -
Extraordinary Items - - - -
Effect Of Accounting Changes - - - -
Other Items - - - -
Net Income 434 1,451 1,241 115
Preferred Stock And Other Adjustments - - - -
Net Income Applicable To Common Shares $434 $1,451 $1,241 $115