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I have no idea what the internal communication between KBLB and Polartec is. But Maybe the extent of their relationship is that Polartec is willing to collaborate on a fabric with KBLB, not help them create a yarn. I'm not sure.
But I think very few people on this board understand the intricate process of creating a desirable and highly differentiated yarn composite. Maybe 80 years ago it would have been easy to compete with the natural fibers out there. But now a fiber>yarn>fabric>product has a much higher bar to pass in order to have something marketable.
This is why I would have rather Kim just create 100% spider silk products, but the decision was made to target performance apparel first. I'm not privvy to the reasons why.
I think there is something pretty interesting disclosed in this letter.
The process for creating a silk/cotton composite is a bit more complicated than most here would believe.
The nature of how silkworms are immediately spun from boiled cocoons necessitates a process where the raw silk is a spun fiber consisting of usually 8-12 individual filaments.
It's possible to create a composite silk/cotton yarn by simply twisting a (spider)silk thread with a cotton thread and getting a yarn. The only issue is that it wouldn't feel consistent or fine enough. It would feel bulby almost like 3 strand rope.
However, if you want to make a fine and seamless composite, you would need a process to open up or "untwist" the silk fiber before you twist in the cotton. This process would make an excellent fiber and is exactly what Dorton was brought in for. When He was first contracted, he informed Kim and Jon that hardly any performance apparels are created solely out of a single material. They are all composites, so if that's the space they'd like to sell to, they would need to make an excellent one that integrated the cotton in between the individual silk filaments.
It looks like we now have the process and equipment to do that. I'm hoping they didn't lose to much spider silk during this R&D process and have enough for a launch (like they indicated last year).
Nonetheless, it looks like Kim is holding out for the perfect materials instead of moving ahead with materials that could be seen as ones that don't highlight the amazingness of spider silk. We'll see how this goes from here, but it seems like Dorton's expertise, connections, and past positions at The North Face, has been very valuable so far.
There has been a concerted effort today to try and keep the 50 day moving average from crossing the 200 day moving average. That indicator is called a golden cross, and it is one of the strongest indicators of a long term bull run that technical analysts use when studying charts. The indicator usually brings a lot of buying interest into a stock.
Whoever is short KBLB shares is terrified of this happening, hence the massive effort to drop the share price this morning. But it's not a bad thing really, because the shares sold this morning were likely more short sells, which will eventually turn that shorter into a guaranteed buyer, and if they get squeezed, then the price will run up much faster, just like it did in 2019.
We haven't had a 200/50 golden cross on KBLBs chart for years. It's going to touch today, and likely cross tomorrow. Whoever shorted those shares this morning did it out of desperation. I don't think the near future is going to be very fun for them.
I will add that there is a difference in the AF funding development of the production of spider silk, and the AF funding research in spider silk. The AF would like a source of spider silk so they can conduct their own research on how to apply it to their needs. The only issue is they don't have a source. Which is where Kraig Labs comes in. So the AF will give Kraig Labs funding to build a domestic source of spider silk.
This is no different than semiconductors. The US military isn't in the business of creating their own manufacturing facilities that produce semiconductors. But they need semiconductors for their own research and applications in microchips for computing and weapons systems. This was the basis of the CHIPS act. These federal programs that were created in response to the embarrassing supply chain issues caused by the pandemic all have the same theme: Grant funding for important technologies that need to be on-shored for domestic production, and do it at all costs. This way the U.S. can be self sufficient in sourcing important components.
KBLB doesn't need to do research into making ballistic armor, ropes, or tents, etc. They will get funding to become a domestic source of spider silk, and the AF will do research into making spider silk into products they can use. KBLB just needs the funding to make spider silk domestically, and spider silk is a resource that the DOD has specifically named as an important component.
To think the AF would not be interested in funding Kraig Labs is ludicrous.
At least you threw out another theory, which I appreciate. But I don't think that's what happened. At least that's not what it looked like from the action on Friday. Although, it was spurred by a single million share buy so maybe it's possible he was the buyer.
those numbers aren't correct. That's because finra only requires registered broker/dealers in the U.S. to report their short interests. And that's really only on the major exchanges. Anything on the OTC is largely voluntary, which you could imagine, would not be very accurate. Especially if the entity is trying to hide their short interests, which most do.
someone is using a program to disguise the bid. It's to make it look like there isn't as much buying interest as there really is. That's why they've been able to accumulate about 500k shares at .06 in the past hour, but only show 10k shares as "available". A short is trying to cover without driving the price up
a short is definitely trying to cover a bunch of shares at .06 without putting out a bid. It's and effort to be able to disguise support. Making people think there are only 10,000 shares available at .06 rather than the hundreds of thousands that they are currently accumulating. People are getting their shares taken from them at .06 instead of holding out.
And I think you'll see your .14 in the very near future.
A pretty silly game is currently being played on the bid.
I'm fairly sure I know. And it was pretty evident for anyone who had been watching level 2 for the past month
I think in May we leave the single digits permanently. IMO
Yes. Coupled with the effort to frighten people with the terms "P&D" and "insider trading". It's all pretty obvious.
So where would the "pump" that you are suggesting come from? How would it be coordinated with news? Where are the articles from 3rd parties trying to pump this?
The trading has been almost all BUYS yet the share price is lower. Someone is definitely trying to buy while keeping a lid on this.
someone finally took out that 1 million share ask that was designed to suppress the share price
Once again, a University lab is producing proteins found in nature using well developed techniques for protein fermentation. This time it's Cornell University, and the target protein is keratin.
Nothing new. This team seems to be about where Bolt Threads was in 2008-2010, and where Randy lewis (and even Amsilk) was in about 2006. Those efforts never became fruitful because the product is much too expensive to produce. Someone even posted a paper on the economics behind this process. Here's a link:
Utah State-Edlund paper
This new initiative with Cornell University will see the same fate as the past failures of protein fermentation for fibers. The process for obtaining target proteins using fermentation has been around for almost 4 decades, and has never yielded a protein that was commercially viable as a fiber for clothing.
Interestingly though, this new paper focuses on keratin. Some of Kraig Labs newest patent applications focus on replacing the sericin protein with keratin. Functionally producing keratin as a waste product in the production of spider silk. Furthermore, this keratin protein would be suspended in water, which would be much easier to separate and purify, than the minimal amounts suspended in a fermentation medium consisting of thousands of other proteins along with lysed cellular debris.
Beast, I'm sorry about your father, and I know you've been disappointed in the past, but I think you are comparing two processes that are very different.
First of all, the domestic fibers built in large facilities and funded by the Air Force, will first likely be used for military applications, not medical.
2nd, medical applications would only need very small amounts that COULD be created in small sterile lab conditions, but that's not really necessary because...
3rd, regular silk has already been used in medical applications in the past. Silk can be made at normal sericulture facilities and then sterilized. Kraig Labs wouldn't be supplying medical facilities or hospitals with packaged and sterilized sutures or valves, like Millipore/Bayer. Kraig Labs would sell fibers to a medical supply company as a raw material for them to develop whatever medical device is needed. Simply, Kraig Labs isn't trying to become a Millipore/Bayer type company. They want to supply raw materials to a medical device/pharma company, and that's where the huge facility costs that you seem familiar with come into play.
The temperature and humidity levels for rearing silkworm could easily be maintained the same way indoor cannabis is grown. And if the facilities are in places like southern Texas or Florida, then maintaining an adequate range for silkworms to simply survive would not be too difficult. Capital costs would be high at first, which is why Kraig Labs has never done it. But if those capital costs are assisted by the AF RFI, then there is no reason not to produce in the U.S.
Take care, and I'm glad you are at least back in with a few shares.
I will also add that this would be in contrast to a facility developed for protein fermentation (ie Bolt Threads, Spiber, Amsilk, etc).
Their facilities would be highly sensitive to contaminations. Having competing strains of bacteria or yeast present inside their bioreactors would be devastating to their production batches.
I like how conveniently it's left out the part that shows the tensile strength of their fibers being weaker than regular silk. So Essentially a useless product.
Like I said, there is an inverse relationship between protein size and protein yield when it comes to expressing proteins with microorganisms.
That paper achieved nothing of significance in regards to material science. Someone would be better off just raising a regular silkworm.
Like I said, might as well just raise a silkworm.
I will add that the pandemic changed everything. It exposed the U.S.'s reliance on foreign countries for basic component parts. It was a national embarrassment. This entire executive order signed by the president is a response to that embarrassment.
This was not the case in 2016 during the original Army contract. Back then, they didn't care where we produced our spider silk. There were plenty of ways to circumvent the Barry amendment since there were no domestic producers of spider silk.
Kim and Jon thought we were going to get production rolling in Vietnam much sooner, and would be able to supply the army with a mass produced, uniform product, using expert sericulturists (not available in the U.S.). But in reality, they went through 5 years of red tape and getting the run-around from the Vietnamese government. Their business certificates were perpetually "just around the corner". Then they finally got the certs and licenses, and then a year later the pandemic happened. Add that to the multiple missteps that the company self-inflicted, sprinkled with some bad luck, and you get Kraig Labs riddled past. It has nothing to do with their incredible technology. And the Air Force will pay top dollar to on-shore this tech.
But no one should kid themselves thinking the 2016 situation is the same as our current one.