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Just saw this and found it interesting:
Optionable (OPBL.OB) – If I had to highlight the biggest problem with this company, it is the excessive CEO compensation and the inability of shareholders to do anything about it since NYMEX and insiders own the majority of the company. I don’t really understand why the CEO received about $1 million in CASH compensation, and another $400k in stock compensation, for a company with a net income of just over $6 million for 2006. OPBL is committed to returning money to insiders rather than shareholders at present. True, the growth rate is impressive, but it will inevitably slow, and when it starts to slow, that executive compensation is going to start looking a bit excessive. Maybe we should think about tying his pay to net income rather than to revenues? The only way to change this fact is to rally the shareholders and clamor for change, and I hope that shareholders will take a good hard look at the proxy statement this year and express their thoughts on the matter.
http://smallcap.seekingalpha.com/article/31298
Stemming the tide
State outpaced in race to open stem-cell centers
By Lisa Eckelbecker TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
leckelbecker@telegram.com
In a Hartford hotel ballroom last week, scientists crammed awkwardly into narrow chairs to listen to presentations on laboratory breakthroughs while young workers handed out tote bags and biomedical vendors filled tables with brochures.
As conferences go, it was pretty standard stuff.
But StemCONN ’07, as it was known, was more than just another meeting for the lab-coat and microscope set. The two-day event, which included presentations to state legislators, was designed to mark Connecticut’s arrival in the high-profile world of state-funded stem-cell research. With nearly $20 million in grants already awarded, some of the officials instrumental in Connecticut’s stem-cell policies wanted to celebrate.
“There will only be a few places that will be stem-cell centers,” said Paul R. Pescatello, chief executive of Connecticut United for Research Excellence, the state’s bioscience group. “This event is to bring everybody together as a showcase of what we’re doing.”
Connecticut’s effort stands out because just across the state line in Massachusetts, no similar public initiative exists. That causes concern in some quarters.
The University of Massachusetts is seeking $66.4 million in state funding for a UMass Stem Cell Institute, an initiative that would boost the field with grants, new faculty and lab construction. But the proposal also raises questions about how a state facing a $1 billion deficit could afford to keep up with a wave of public stem-cell initiatives.
“It becomes a challenge when you are faced with communities that are cutting teachers and policemen, an immediate need as opposed to a long-term investment,” said state Sen. Edward M. Augustus Jr., D-Worcester, a member of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, which wrestles with the state’s spending matters. “We need to figure out how to do both.”
Sometimes misunderstood and controversial, stem cells are a hot topic in statehouses across the country.
Stem cells are master cells that can replicate and differentiate into other kinds of cells. They can be found in humans and animals. The earliest stem cells are found in embryos. Other kinds of “adult” stem cells can be found in the body and umbilical cord blood.
Some scientists believe human stem cells could be harnessed to grow cells that could treat difficult ailments, such as Parkinson’s disease or spinal-cord injuries. Although a number of U.S. researchers are working on animal and human stem cells, human embryonic stem-cell work is controversial because some critics believe that creating, destroying or manipulating human embryos to generate stem cells is immoral.
Under President Bush’s administration, the federal government will only fund research on human embryonic stem cells if scientists work with lines of cells created before August 2001. But some scientists argue those lines are inadequate, and several states have jumped in with public money for experiments and facilities.
California voters approved the sale of $3 billion in bonds, with proceeds to go to stem-cell research. Connecticut has created a $100 million program funded by bonds. New Jersey has approved $500 million in bonds for research grants and facilities, and other states have fashioned a variety of initiatives.
Theodore Rasmussen, a scientist at the University of Connecticut Center for Regenerative Biology, who was awarded $200,000 in Connecticut funding for research into epigenetic changes in human embryonic stem-cell lines, said state money makes it possible for him to work with newer stem-cell lines.
“I can’t use federal funds for some of this research,” he said. “That’s why it’s important.”
Not all state efforts have gone smoothly, however. The California initiative has been tied up in court, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had to loan the initiative state money to make the first round of grant awards.
At the University of Connecticut, it has taken months to get an embryonic stem-cell research oversight committee, or ESCRO, up and running. The committee, which includes community members, is responsible for the complex task of reviewing the ethical implications of proposed research, and it has the final say over what can go forward.
“The ethics and the science need to develop together,” said Anne L. Hiskes, chairwoman of the committee and an associate professor of philosophy at UConn. The goal, she said, “is the promotion of human welfare and the protection of human dignity. If we do well, we’re protecting the research.”
Massachusetts legislators last year approved millions of dollars in funding for a number of life-science initiatives, including $10 million for a bioscience center. Legislators also approved stem-cell research legislation and set up an advisory committee.
Yet the new UMass proposal seeks to go even further by requesting money that would be used over six years to hire faculty at UMass campuses, construct laboratory facilities in Amherst and Worcester, and fund research. If a new facility is constructed in Worcester, it might serve as a space where scientists could work with newer human embryonic stem-cell lines not approved by the federal government.
The money would help UMass compete for stem-cell researchers, and it might help keep students and postdoctoral researchers who are drawn to places like California after they leave UMass, said Dr. Robert W. Finberg, chairman of the department of medicine at UMass Medical School in Worcester.
“I think we’re potentially bidding for the same faculty and postdocs (with other states) and other countries,” Dr. Finberg said.
Although some states have established mechanisms to distribute funding to multiple institutions or teams of researchers, the UMass proposal focuses largely on UMass research. That’s OK with some observers.
“As a starting point, given the state’s fiscal frailty and what’s happening with city and town budgets, this is a fair starting point,” said Kevin O’Sullivan, chief executive of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, an economic development organization in Worcester.
Massachusetts has not traditionally invested in the research feeding its innovative economic sectors, but it should do so now when it comes to stem-cell research, according to Patrick J. Larkin, deputy director of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, a Westboro development agency.
“Could there be more of a strategic and expansive process around the ultimate concept for this kind of center? Yeah. Probably,” Mr. Larkin said. “But at the end of the day, building this capacity is so important to be competitive with other states that this is a good start. This is a great start.”
Others would like to see the state adopt a broader approach. Eric W. Overstrom, professor and head of the department of biology and biotechnology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, recently helped evaluate scientific funding proposals before Maryland’s $15 million stem-cell research fund, and all came from teams, he said. Massachusetts could benefit from a broad stem-cell initiative that includes multiple universities and companies, he said.
“We often, as academics, tend to be very focused on the discovery side of the work,” he said. “But if we’re trying to get therapies to market and patients, you need to integrate the full” array of institutions.
Few commercial stem-cell operations have emerged so far in Massachusetts. Advanced Cell Technology Inc. moved its headquarters from Worcester to California, partly because of California’s funding opportunities, but it kept a laboratory in Worcester. Proponents of stem-cell research suggest that funding the science could lead to commercial opportunities, plus jobs, in the future.
But the biotechnology industry may have other wishes. The most important thing the state could do is clarify regulations issued last year that create concern about whether Massachusetts researchers could face penalties for working on embryos created for research, said Alison Taunton-Rigby, president and chief executive of RiboNovix Inc. of Lexington and a member of the state’s Biomedical Research Advisory Council. Gov. Deval L. Patrick said Friday he would push public health officials to review those regulations.
In addition, the biotech industry would benefit if the state took a broader approach to investment in the life sciences beyond stem cells, especially since stagnant funding for the National Institutes of Health has left many Massachusetts researchers delayed or out of the running for grants that keep laboratories going, she said.
“The state should be financially supporting life sciences, because there is a critical funding gap,” Ms. Taunton-Rigby said. “The difficulty of getting research funding for any life-science research right now is incredibly tight.”
Jack M. Wilson, UMass president, said investments in UMass pay off in economic activity, economic development and jobs, and that broader stem-cell initiatives in states such as California enjoyed bigger funding.
“If the state were to see fit to do a larger initiative like the state of California has done, I think that would be terrific,” Mr. Wilson said.
But he said the state also should see it is falling behind.
“Our competitors have reason to be excited. We’re very well positioned to do stem-cell research,” he said. “But there hasn’t been a state strategy yet, and we can’t let them get ahead of us.”
Good one!
Very cute!
Agreed, it's very scary. I was feeling kind of safe because our pets only eat dry food. But, so far, our brands have not been included in the recalls.
Nestle's Purina Pulls Some Pet Food as Recall Widens (Update1)
By Courtney Dentch
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Nestle SA's Purina Pet Care Co. became the third pet-food manufacturer to pull some of its products yesterday after learning it had received contaminated ingredients tied to a recall that has killed at least 16 animals.
Wheat gluten tainted with melamine, a substance used to make plastic kitchen utensils and fertilizer, was sold to Purina's Crete, Nebraska, plant, the St. Louis-based company said in a statement. The wheat gluten was provided by the same company that supplied Menu Foods Ltd., which recalled 60 million cans of cat and dog food earlier this month.
Purina pulled 13.2-ounce and 22-ounce cans of its Alpo Prime Cuts and Gravy wet dog food made at plant 1159 and bearing date codes from 7037 to 7053, the statement said. The company's 5.3- ounce Mighty Dog pouch products were removed from stores as part of the Menu Foods recall on March 16.
Calls from Bloomberg News to Purina weren't returned.
Yesterday, Colgate-Palmolive Co. unit Hill's Pet Nutrition, the maker of Science Diet pet foods, recalled its Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry food because it may contain gluten from the Menu Foods supplier.
8,000 Complaints
Menu Foods recalled food sold under brands such as Procter & Gamble Co.'s Iams and retailers' own labels. Iams dry food isn't made by Menu Foods and doesn't contain wheat gluten, Cincinnati- based Procter & Gamble said.
Melamine is used as a fertilizer in Asia and is a durable plastic used to make plates and spoons. Normal inspections of pet food wouldn't have detected the substance.
Officials traced the wheat gluten to China and have begun inspecting imports. The supplier of the wheat gluten wasn't identified.
New York state officials last week identified the rat poison aminopterin in tests of the pet food, although FDA investigators found no trace of the chemical.
The FDA has received more than 8,000 complaints from pet owners, although the official number of cat and dog deaths tied to the recall is 16. PetConnection.com, a Web site that is tracking the recall, has received reports from owners of 2,600 pet deaths from food-related kidney failure.
That's beautiful! Thank you.
I think when they first introduced it, it had to be played before the vote and it was never used. Then I think they changed it to after the vote for one (or two?) season(s) and then changed it back.
Did you see the 3 latest new boards? LOL!
Just saw this is the second highest day on record for the pollen count. Even worse in Charlotte, NC. Ugggghhhh!
On the top right of your screen, there should be a "search" box. After you type in the symbol, then use the drop down menu to "subjects". That should help you find the individual board.
Hey, Deann - surviving the pollen?
All is well here! Saw 5 young deer this morning on the way home from dropping my daughter off at school - it was beautiful!
Good morning, OU!
Advanced Cell’s Robert Lanza, M.D. Will Speak on 'Promise: The Future of Stem Cells' Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 7:30 PM at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT, Presented by StemConn 2007
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.’s (OTCBB: ACTC) Robert Lanza, M.D., VP of Research and Scientific Development, will participate in a panel discussion titled, “Promise: The Future of Stem Cell Research,” March 28, 2007 at 7:30 PM, at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT. The televised public forum, being presented by StemConn 2007, is for general audiences and focuses on the key issues that surround stem cell research. The panel discussion will be held in the Mancheski Executive Seminar Room, located in the Lender School of Business.
For more information regarding StemConn 2007 including a complete program guide of the two-day event being held March 27-28, 2007, log on to http://stemconn.org/program.htm.
Wonder who they're shipping to? I've asked someone in the hotel business his thoughts on this and will let you know what he says.
May be wrong, but I thought much of this, at major chains, was already incorporated through the system used for on demand movies.
'Concierge' will start shipping in quantity, May 2007.
No, in my experience, as long as you held stock when the fraud occurred you are covered.
If you want to read the way another case is worded, here's a post of mine from whaiq. Circumstances are sort of similar with the CEO being investigated for fraud. This was a real company with real revenues (though grossly overstated) and hundreds of employees. You'll have to check what the stock was trading for on the days the lawsuit covers but if memory serves me it was somewhere between $2 - $4. Shareholders can expect approx. .07 for each share through this lawsuit. (Also I had to correct dates from this post so the "reply" has the right dates.)
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=18007168
SPZI: From the board - my bold at bottom.
Posted by: eatyourshortsms
In reply to: None Date:3/26/2007 10:12:11 AM
Post #of 10989
Good or bad I don't know but this stock is being pumped by Speculatingstocks.com
Spooz, Inc. provides a host of solutions to simplify financial trading for for traders and hedgers.
Spooz's flagship product SpoozToolz(TM) is becoming increasingly popular with the investment community by creating a trading screen out of Microsoft Excel.
This company's trading system, Fractalz3, is continuing to be a huge success for traders enabling several winning trades in a row. The company offers a two week trial then charges $89 per month for the use of its software. Those using it cover the cost of the software with greater trading success rates.
Their flagship product and other top trading technology is translating to rapid growth. The company projects $3.27 million in total income to be generated this year, $29.47 million income in 2008 and $102.32 million income in 2009! This is huge growth projections!
SPZI is such a huge opportunity trading at a market cap of only $572,355!
SPZI is at the perfect point in its chart with a reversal occurring in its last trading session.
Of all our featured profiles in the past that have performed so strongly, we are most excited about SPZI because of its pure potential for extreme percentage point gains!
We will be discussing SPZI significantly further in the Stock Hub and Stock Updates area as well as in email alerts.
Disclosure:
SpeculatingStocks.com, Inc. has been compensated by a third party (The Kauderer Group) eight million five hundred thousand free trading shares of SPZI for a one-month SPZI investor relations contract. TryStockOptions.com has been compensated three million four hundred thousand SPZI free trading shares of this total eight million five hundred thousand free trading SPZI share amount. This equates to five million one hundred thousand free trading shares of SPZI compensated to SpeculatingStocks.com. We may sell our SPZI shares at anytime. Russ Urban personally owns 425,000 shares of SPZI. He may sell his position at anytime.
SpeculatingStocks
That was soooo sweet! Thanks for sharing!
3rd Annual Stem Cell Research and Therapeutics Summit
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.’s (OTCBB: ACTC) Michael D. West, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer, will discuss “Strategies for the Accelerated Development of Therapeutics from hES Cells” at the 3rd Annual Stem Cell Research and Therapeutics Summit hosted by GTCbio today March 23, 2007, at 2:30 PM PT in California. The conference is being held at the San Diego Marriott La Jolla Conference Center and will run from March 22-23, 2007.
In his discussion, Dr. West will discuss the company’s ACTCellerate technology and the heart muscle progenitor SK17 that is being studied under a recently funded CIRM grant.
Dr. West’s presentation will be available for viewing at the Company’s web site http://www.advancedcell.com/conference-presentations.
Article mentions Offor:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200703220246.html
Well, if you don't have time for the moderating part, sounds like you have most of the info for the Ibox already. You could set it up with "no moderator" and then if someone wants to take over moderating to keep the box updated, they can ask Matt.
Thanks for another great pick, Bridget. I have followed quite a few and have yet to see one that didn't do well. Just wish I'd played all of them!
Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
Why don't you set up an Ihub board? That way anyone who has info can post it there and you can keep an updated list in the Ibox. Just a suggestion.
WOW! High $4.49! Glad I got back in!
Advanced Cell Technology hESC lines to be used in CIRM-Funded Study To Test Development of New Therapies For Heart Disease
Preclinical studies using hESCs derived from Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.’s (OTCBB: ACTC) proprietary ACTcellerate technology (a means of accelerating the discovery of products from hESC) will be used as part of a study to determine if hESCs are safe and effective in animal models for heart attacks and heart failure.
The studies will be funded under a $2.52 million grant awarded to University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) scientist Randall Lee, M.D, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The grant is for four years of study. CIRM, the governing body of Proposition 71, manages the $3 billion California initiative.
Michael D. West, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer of ACTC, said, “We are encouraged that CIRM’s funding will potentially speed therapies to the bedside for the 400,000 Americans who die suddenly from new or recurring heart attacks each year. We are pleased to provide the ACTCellerate platform in an effort to provide an alternative to heart transplantation for individuals with severely injured hearts, a treatment that is limited by the availability of donor hearts.” William M. Caldwell, IV, Chairman and CEO of ACTC, added, “We are excited about the implications this current grant has for cardiovascular disease and pleased to be working with academia to help find a solution.” About Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.
Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. is a biotechnology company applying embryonic stem cell technology in the emerging field of regenerative medicine. The company operates facilities in Alameda, California and Worcester, Massachusetts. For more information about the company, please visit http://www.advancedcell.com.
Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this news release regarding future financial and operating results, future growth in research and development programs, potential applications of our technology, opportunities for the company and any other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "will," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates," and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including: limited operating history, need for future capital, risks inherent in the development and commercialization of potential products, protection of our intellectual property, and economic conditions generally. Additional information on potential factors that could affect our results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in the company's periodic reports, including the Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the company's management at the time they are made, and the company does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions, expectations, or other circumstances should change.
UC Disclaimer The information stated above was prepared by Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., to report the outcome of their product and reflects solely the opinion of ACT. Nothing in this statement shall be construed to imply any support or endorsement of ACT, or any of its products, by The Regents of the University of California, its officers, agents and employees.
No idea. But, it's still not even close to what most of those folks over there are holding at. Geez, I feel badly for them.
New to following this but this guy, Plant, has some big (stupid) cajones. Who lies about a contract with Homeland Security? Isn't this extreme even for scamming CEO's?
CKYS: Unbelievable.
Posted by: amsource
In reply to: upndwninnout who wrote msg# 73523 Date:3/20/2007 10:10:08 AM
Post #of 73525
Litigation Release No. 20049 / March 20, 2007
SEC v. Cyberkey Solutions, Inc. and James E. Plant, Civ. Action No. 07 1084 (CMR) (E.D. Pa)
SEC Charges That Company and CEO Promoted Stock With Phony Homeland Security Deal
The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") today announced the filing of a civil injunctive action alleging that a Utah-based corporation and its Chief Executive Officer made at least $1.5 million selling shares while disseminating false claims of a lucrative purchase order from the Department of Homeland Security.
In its complaint, filed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Commission alleged that CyberKey Solutions, Inc. of St. George, Utah ("CyberKey") and its CEO James E. Plant ("Plant," collectively, the "Defendants"), between November 2005 and the present, have engaged in an ongoing unregistered offering of Cyberkey shares, promoted with a series of false press releases describing a putative purchase order worth in excess of $24 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") to buy CyberKey's flash memory drives. In fact, the Commission's complaint alleges, CyberKey had no business relationship at all, either directly or indirectly, with DHS. Additionally, according to the complaint, CyberKey and Plant made other false statements to unsuspecting investors, including statements claiming CyberKey had shipped products to DHS and received payments pursuant to the phony purchase order, and that CyberKey was in the process of preparing and releasing audited financials.
The Commission's complaint further alleges, that, as a result of their scheme, the Defendants violated Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and seeks as relief permanent injunctions against future violations of these provisions by the Defendants, and disgorgement of all the Defendants' ill-gotten gains, including prejudgment interest and civil penalties.
In a related criminal action, Plant was arrested on March 13, 2006, in St. George, Utah, by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Philadelphia Economic Crimes Squad on charges of securities fraud and aiding and abetting securities fraud.
The Commission acknowledges the assistance and cooperation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the National Association of Securities Dealers in the investigation of this matter.
You can also just type in the ticker. If the symbol trades on more than one exchange you have a chance to designate the one you want.
Wellll, I thought so but can't say for sure.
Did you check down on the watchlist? It places all of the tickers you add under the exchange it's traded on alphabetically. USBB is for otcbb and USOTC is for pinks.
Nope -
"Carrying on Lou's vision of providing great food at reasonable prices Lou Malnati's has grown to include 21 family owned Chicagoland pizzerias. In recent years the Malnati's have felt blessed by their success and wanted to do something to give back to the community. In the fall of 1995 the Malnati's opened a restaurant on the West side of Chicago in an effort to help rejuvenate a neighborhood that has not had much success in recovering from the riots of 1967 which ravaged the area. Lou Malnati's Lawndale pizzeria is unique in that all profits will be given back to the community to benefit children's educational and recreational programs.
Absolute best pizza ANYWHERE! No longer in Chicago and once a year we have it shipped to us. Thanks for the link!
Mistake in previous post. Elgibility is for those "who purchased shares on or after 8/17/04 and held those shares until 8/16/05".
FWIW, got a "Notice of proposed class action settlement, right to exclusion, hearing and request for attorney's fees and costs" mailed to me last week. I never contacted anyone so first time I've seen anything re: the class action suit.
Here's what it says - apologize in advance for punctuation, typing it free hand:
What is the Settlement Fund?" In the proposed settlement, the Individual Defendants have agreed to contribute to a settlement fund in the amount $1.7 million, plus whatever interest accrues after the fund's creation. Defendant Daszkal Bolton agreed to contribute to the settlement fund an additional $1m. Defendant Richard McDonald agreed to contribute restricted common stock he held in three companies: 60k shares in American Defense Systems; 350k shares in Corner Stone Pictures Corp; and 25k shares in Legend Motors Worldwide. These shares are not listed on an y exchange and it is not know when, if ever, the settlement fund will be able to sell them. Plaintiffs' Counsel intends to sell these when feasible sot that the proceeds of the stock sale will be added to the Settlement Fund. Up to 30% of the Fund will be used to pay attorneys' fees and Plaintiff's Counsel will also seek reimbursement of reasonable costs and expenses and for costs of the Claim Administrator administering the settlement. Then, the amount remaining will be distributed to Class Members who submit valid claims.
Fees/Expenses - I'm not going to re-type this, just summarize:
Attorneys asking for $810k plus 30% of the proceeds on McDonald's stock.
Also asking for reimbursement of actual expenses plus accrued interest not to exceed $100k.
If you held stock between 8/17 2004 and held through 8/16 2006 the "per-share recovery" is approximately .11 or .074 after deductions. But, depends on # of claims filed.
One of the admin's must've wiped the posts. It was about a Jim Cramer video on at least 6 or 7 boards.
My guess is it (the new board) was deleted because Ihub's rules only allow for one board per ticker.
LOL! I really enjoyed that one!
"As to our Audited Financials. We have retained Green Tree Financial and have paid them to finalize and audit our financials."
After a quick search, I can't find this in Utah. There's a similar company "Green Tree Professional Services".
Green Tree Professional Services
Bountiful UT 84010
Phone: 801-296-5852
Headings: Accounting & Bookkeeping-General Svces. , Business Svces.