CSKH - waiting for the sun to shine
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Installers, homeowners cash in on solar industry slump
richard blackwell
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, Dec. 04, 2011 7:20PM EST
Last updated Wednesday, Dec. 07, 2011 2:01PM EST
168 comments
The dramatically falling price of solar panels worldwide is giving a lift to companies installing them in fields and on factory and home roofs in Canada.
In the past year, over-production of panels, along with intense competition and weak markets, has sharply pushed down the price of solar modules and panels.
Those slipping prices are making life difficult for manufacturers of solar equipment – many of whom are struggling and seeing their stock prices plunge. But those buying their products are getting bargains that are making solar installations much more economical.
Most of the action on the Canadian solar front is in Ontario, where a provincial government program that pays high, fixed prices for solar-generated power has prompted a spate of activity. Dozens of companies are installing solar panels on factory roofs and new houses, while others are constructing huge fields of panels mounted on racks just above the ground, designed to provide enough power for thousands of homes.
While the high power rates are the main factor behind the expansion of Ontario’s solar sector, the low cost of panels is accelerating that growth.
Chris Stern, vice-president of business development at Pure Energy Inc., a company that installs solar panels on residential rooftops in Ontario, said the price of solar panels his company buys has dropped from about $2.50 per watt in 2010 to around $1.50 per watt.
From the developers’ point of view, “it is certainly a better situation,” Mr. Stern said. However, there is also concern that some of the companies making panels may not survive because of the falling prices, which could disrupt the supply chain in the months ahead, he said. “We’re going to see huge consolidation [among panel makers].”
Under the Ontario “feed-in-tariff” (FIT) program that pays the high rates for renewable power, solar developers must source 60 per cent of their goods and labour within Ontario. That means they must buy from the Ontario manufacturers that have sprung up to make solar panels, and these local panel prices are often somewhat higher than Asian imports.
Mr. Stern also noted that there are many other costs to a solar installation beyond the price of panels. Inverters (the electronics that turn the power generated by a solar panel into a useable current) have fallen slightly in price recently, but labour costs have risen sharply. When the entire installation process is taken into account, he said, total costs have fallen about 15 per cent in the past year.
Ian Robertson, CEO of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., a company with a large portfolio of hydro, wind, gas and biomass plants that plans to build its first solar farm next year near Cornwall, Ont., said panels make up about one-third of the total cost of a solar installation. Consequently, “the reduction in the panel prices just makes our projects look much more attractive and our return much higher,” he said.
However, Mr. Robertson noted that Ontario’s FIT program – like similar schemes around the world – was designed so that the price developers get for the renewable power they generate falls as the cost of producing it declines.
To that end, the Ontario Power Authority is currently reviewing the FIT pricing structure, and is expected to announce in January new, lower prices for future contracts for renewable power, including solar. The government has to balance concerns about potentially higher consumer prices with its desire to keep the province’s renewable industry flourishing. The FIT program is meant to light a fire under renewable equipment manufacturing in Ontario, and cutting the premium price too much could stem that expansion.
The challenge for the provincial government in setting the FIT rate, Mr. Robertson said, is to determine whether solar panel prices will continue on a precipitous decline, or if they might bounce up again after a shakeout among manufacturers.
Virtually everyone in the sector believes the time will come – likely within the next decade – when the price of solar power equipment falls to the point where solar is competitive with other forms of power generation. At that point FIT-like support won’t be needed and the sector will have reached the Holy Grail of “grid-parity.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/installers-homeowners-cash-in-on-solar-industry-slump/article2259666/
we're the ones that need the knee pads, and a prayer card.
What do you mean when, Matt has $5M+ open line of credit with Tangiers...
#msg-69628356
As long as Matt's perpetual share printing parks its butt on the best offer, CBAI's pps will continue to be suffocated.
Why can't he find financing investors that believe enough in his Business plan to buy restricted shares....
Regulation D
Rule 505
Rule 505 provides an exemption for offers and sales of securities totaling up to $5 million in any 12-month period. Under this exemption, securities may be sold to an unlimited number of "accredited investors" and up to 35 "unaccredited investors" who do not need to satisfy the sophistication or wealth standards associated with other exemptions. Purchasers must buy for investment only, and not for resale. The issued securities are restricted, in that the investors may not sell for at least two years without registering the transaction. General solicitation or advertising to sell the securities is not allowed.
I wonder if this is customers not paying their due or Jim not paying his. Either way it doesn't look good and the pps reflects that.
direct links to Matt's specific interviews definitely belong in the information-box imo.
I just restored the last "new" version. Can we all now put our differences aside for the good of the board?
does anyone know a neutral way of displaying the share structure? lol.
#msg-69646156
board test
#board-504
this pps nose dive (on no volume) looks like the lights are being turned off. I wonder if the pilot-trial restaurants (Nepo42, Trio) are still using the software?
https://signup.firms.lecere.com/getstarted.html
http://lecere.otcpromo.com/
nice find, that story was from today along with some interesting photos....
Inside the Strange Science of Cord Blood Banking
wired.com
By Danielle Venton Email Author
December 8, 2011 |
6:30 am |
Categories: Biotech, Medicine
View as gallery
In a nondescript commercial park on the outskirts of Las Vegas, a large cryogenic stem cell storage facility is ready to accept your baby’s blood.
Cord Blood America in Las Vegas is one of dozens of private cord blood banks in the United States that, for a fee, will store stem cell-rich blood taken from a newborn baby’s umbilical cord.
Over one hundred thousand families save or donate cord blood annually, in the hopes it will one day provide medical help to their child or someone else.
“My vision is within the next 10 years we’ll see organizations like this develop into cellular therapy labs,” said Dr. Geoffrey O’Neill, vice president of CorCell, the subsidiary company that runs Cord Blood America’s Las Vegas facility. It’s beginning to happen now in countries like China and Mexico, he says.
But while banking cord blood is legal and safe, many health care professionals question the value of private banks. Regenerative therapies based on stem cells from cord blood have had mixed preliminary success, and researchers are split over when and whether they’ll ever come through.
In the meantime, private cord blood banks are expensive, their marketing can be misleading and their practicality is suspect.
Using cord blood medically began in Paris in 1988 with a transplantation to regenerate blood and immune cells in a young child with Fanconi’s anemia, a blood disorder. The blood came from the umbilical cord of a sibling who didn’t suffer from the disease. The patient’s own cord blood wouldn’t have helped him.
For parents, the details of cord blood use aren’t always clear, said Dr. Lawrence Goldstein, a University of California, San Diego cell biologist and author of Stem Cells for Dummies.
Walk into an obstetrician’s office, scan the advertisements for private banks, and “you see these wonderful promises: ‘Your child might die someday, and you should get them a transplant of cord blood ready,’” Goldstein said. Implied is a promise that “we’ll be able to treat everything under the sun with cord blood.”
Reality is different. Leukemia, bone marrow failure, immune deficiency, metabolic diseases and sickle cell anemia — the diseases cord blood is typically needed for — require transplants of healthy cells. The cord blood of a child with leukemia would also carry the disease.
“If you have the money, and you want to bank your child’s own cord blood, you’re essentially investing in one of two things,” said Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, director of the Duke Pediatric Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Program. “One, the possibility that another child in your family will need that cord blood, and that it matches. Or two, that somewhere in the future there will be new developments and new uses for your child’s cord blood — say in regenerative medicine or cell therapy. But to date, none of those exist.”
While a few rare diseases, such as multiple myeloma and lymphoma, use stem cells taken from a patient’s own body, the chances of a child having these are vanishingly small. The chances are so small, in fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend private cord blood storing. Parents should only consider it, they say, if a family member has a disease that could be treated with stem cell transplants.
Parents also have the option of donating cord blood to the National Marrow Donor Program. The NMDP is a large, partially government-funded public system existing alongside the private banking system. It supports a nationwide registry of 9.5 million potential bone marrow donors. Marrow is a concentrated source of stem cells; when needed, this program supplements bone marrow transfusions with stem cells from cord blood.
The NMDP is able to find a match for patients 66 to 93 percent of the time, depending on race or ethnicity, before cord blood is taken into account, said Dr. Willis Navarro, the NMDP’s medical director of transplant services. The addition of cord blood improves the likelihood of finding a match for all races and ethnicities.
Parents can donate to the public registry at no cost to themselves. They don’t, however, own the blood after it has been donated. If their child or a relative became sick, they would need to apply to the NMDP like anyone else. This is one reason why families might decide to use the private banking system.
“It’s a real reassurance not just for the child,” O’Neill said, “but for the extended family.”
After contacting CorCell and signing up for their services, expectant parents receive a collection package in the mail — essentially a box with a sterile bag and needle, which they bring with them to the hospital. After the baby is delivered and the umbilical cord clamped and detached, a doctor or nurse inserts the needle into the umbilical cord vein, letting the blood drain into the bag. Parents then send the bag back to CorCell, keeping it at ambient temperature, via a medical courier.
Parents pay $2,075 for the kit, courier fees and one year’s storage. CorCell charges a $125 annual storage fee after that. Some insurance companies offer discounts. CorCell has been in business for six years and stores about 30,000 samples; Geoffrey O’Neill, the vice president, says he recalls seven or eight samples being pulled for use. A CorCell customer service representative later estimated this at 25 to 30 samples.
Inside the Cord Blood America facility, quotes painted on the walls are the first thing to capture the visitors’ attention: “The entire history of science is a progression of exploded fallacies,” proclaims Ayn Rand on one wall. “Do or do not, there is no try,” says Yoda on another. On another wall, Mickey Rooney offers some advice: “You always pass failure on the way to success.”
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/cord-blood-banking/?pid=2595&pageid=86673&viewall=true
direct to the point moneyTV interviews with Matt.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/89g7dn4
When you go to the MoneyTV's website, to hear Matt's interviews you have to listen to an entire show looking for where Matt is on the tape.
In hindsight I should have followed your exit.
I'm officially down 90% from my .048 cost average.
tax loss selling should drive this into the locked basement
I see LCRE is on that list
as well as many other well known stocks. Thanks for posting it!
http://www.equities.com/blog/non%C2%ADdtcc-eligible-securities-execution-discontinued
the problem now is that no one is in charge anymore. All my kids want to be Mods now so they can have carte blanche too, lol.
carte blanche
[kahrt blanch, blahnch; Fr. kart blahnsh]
1.
unconditional authority; full discretionary power: The government appears to have given the military carte blanche in Afghanistan. She was given carte blanche to decorate her room as she wished, perhaps an unwise decision on the part of her parents.
Synonyms: license, free rein, blank check, free hand.
and ibox wars! I'd like to know the logic behind this change. How is letting the foxes in the hen house going to improve an investors experience on Investors hub?
seven people adding and deleting from the ibox (and deleting each others posts) - egads
I wonder if the new concept was test driven on a few select boards to see the result? Maybe this new "free-for-all" concept of 7 captains per ship will backfire like coke's white Christmas can, lol.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/12/02/the-new-new-coke-coca-cola-ditches-white-cans-after-one-month/
Definition of FREE-FOR-ALL
: a competition, dispute, or fight open to all comers and usually with no rules : brawl; also : a chaotic situation resembling a free-for-all especially in lacking rules or structure <the press conference deteriorated into a free–for–all>
I have a strong feeling IH_admin's work load will now increase exponentially.
There is plenty of room in the ever adjustable AS. When the OS nears 250M, the CEO will just up it to 750M or something like that so that the share selling business continues unabated.
The OS is headed for billions (again)....
Pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreement, we may, at our discretion, periodically issue and sell to Tangiers shares of our common stock for a total purchase price of $8,000,000. We have obtained $2,457,813.34 in cash advances under the Securities Purchase Agreement which means we have $5,542,186.66 available to us under the Securities Purchase Agreement.
Prior to this registration statement, the Company has filed registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission, to register a total of 706,195,119 shares of common stock issuable pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreement, which said shares were registered prior to the recent 100 to 1 reverse split of our common stock. Under this registration statement we are registering an additional 32,234,668 shares of our common stock. We will issue these additional shares to Tangiers in order to receive advances under the Securities Purchase Agreement. This registration statement must be declared effective prior to us being able to issue those additional shares to Tangiers so that we may obtain cash advances under the Securities Purchase Agreement.
On January 22, 2009, we entered into Amendment No.1 to Securities Purchase Agreement with Tangiers (“Amendment No. 1”). Amendment No. 1 removed the Floor Price under the Securities Purchase Agreement which was previously set at $0.01, which meant that if our stock price fell below $0.01 we could not sell our stock to Tangiers in order to receive cash advances under the Securities Purchase Agreement. By removing this limitation we can now sell shares of our common stock to Tangiers if the stock price falls below $0.01. Amendment No. 1 also revised the “Maximum Advance Amount” under the Securities Purchase Agreement so that the maximum amount of each advance that the Company could draw under the Securities Purchase Agreement would be limited to the average daily trading volume in dollar amount during the 10 trading days preceding the advance date. No advance will be made in an amount lower than the $10,000 or higher than $250,000. Finally, Amendment No. 1 eliminated the Company’s right to terminate the Securities Purchase Agreement with 45 days written notice in the event the Company’s stock price remained at an amount equal to 50% of the floor price of $0.01 and remained there for a period of at least 90 days.
http://filings.issuerdirect.com/data/1289496/000135448811003998/cbai_s1a.htm
THE COMPANY AND THE PPS ARE THE SAME THINGS.
if the pps goes to .0001 the company will go bust. The company needs a pps that partakes value!
The ones who short are the dilution selling MM's. They are generally allowed to hold no more than 5% or 10% of the OS. So they have to sell what they have before they can get more. Now if they are low on inventory and volume suddenly comes into the stock (news maybe) they sell anyway, knowing Matt will electronically deposit more shares when requested.
Notice the daily Finra short list never makes it to the fail list. Its because they get 30days to cover and the company supplies the shares to cover with.
Lets just be honest here. This may be a great company, but the only reason it exists is because we buy the shares that Matt manufactures. If we by and hold, we have, and will continue to loose our money.
c'mon man, its dilution sellers that manipulate the pps. They always have more to sell than the market can bear. They sit on the offer and never move off. If the the ask volume dries up they will harvest the bids.
The pps can only move up if dilution sellers allow it by selling very little and moving off the best offer. Ever notice how the pps always seems to fall on a news day? Its because dilution sellers unload all they can into the volume generated by the news.
I always thought the pps was a reflection of a company's performance. Contrast American Airlines and Apple Computer. In one, the pps death spirals, while in the other, the pps marches upward. In my book the pps is a barometer of a company's health.
egads. I don't believe investors are the problem.
Ezra ran a contractor company prior to starting this company. I wonder if that was a money looser as well? If he couldn't dump stock on us his company would have been bankrupted long ago. He started Clear Skies in 2003 and here we are 8 years later still losing money. Why bother?
No amount negative posting on this stock board could make this situation any worse. The stock is at 1/2 a penny because Ezra is back to selling discounted warrants. Private placement investors lost their asses here. Now the only way to pay Ezra his undeserved over inflated salary it to dump discounted stock on us. Too bad swearing is a TOS because I could let let it rip!
http://people.forbes.com/profile/ezra-j-green/20236
http://www.google.com/search?q=TAL+Design+%26+Construction returns NOTHING!
What a play on words to name a company...
Environmental Design & Construction
---------------------
Current Status
During the three months ended September 30, 2011, Clear Skies Solar, Inc. (the “Company”, “Clear Skies”, “we” or “our”) performed installation work on 13 solar energy projects with a total capacity of about one megawatt (note, worked on 13 jobs, implying they finished none? Think I'll put an ad in the paper and start 13 jobs at once and burn through all my cash so I can't afford to finish any them. No wonder he's being sued!) and has evaluated a number of other potential projects. We are also negotiating with several parties for the financing and construction of a number of additional solar energy projects; however, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in these negotiations or that such projects would be profitable. Even if we are successful in negotiating construction agreements after the financing arrangements have been finalized, since we recognize revenue under the percentage of completion method, it could be several months (due to the time for the necessary design and engineering work and the building permit and energy credit application process) after entering into contracts before we begin performance and we are able to report revenue in our financial statements.
Since inception, the Company has incurred losses and negative cash flows from operations and at September 30, 2011, the Company had an accumulated deficit of approximately $31.9 million. At September 30, 2011 and November 4, 2011 we had approximately $37,000 and $26,000 in cash, respectively. (At March 31, 2011 and May 9, 2011 we had approximately $452,000 and $662,000 in cash)( I think he should switch to selling girl scout cookies) Based on our current plans and assumptions, which include our expectations relating to the future sale of our equity and debt securities and entering into contracts for the financing and installation of solar energy systems and the resulting cash flows and revenues, we believe that we will have adequate resources to fund our operations for the next twelve months. Notwithstanding our sale of common stock and common stock purchase warrants during the first nine months of 2011, for total gross proceeds of $420,000 (before expenses of $24,000), we will need to raise additional funds to pay outstanding vendor invoices and to fund our operations. There can be no assurances, however, that we will be successful in entering into such contracts or arranging sales of our equity or debt securities on terms satisfactory to us, in which case we will probably not be able to continue as a going concern.
Iran says oil would go over $250 if exports banned
ReutersReuters – 3 hours ago 12/4/11
By Ramin Mostafavi and Robin Pomeroy
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran warned the West on Sunday any move to block its oil exports would more than double crude prices with devastating consequences on a fragile global economy.
"As soon as such an issue is raised seriously the oil price would soar to above $250 a barrel," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in a newspaper interview.
The comments come as Iran strives to contain international reaction to the storming of the British embassy last week, a move which drew immediate condemnation from around the world and may galvanize support for tougher action against Tehran.
Washington and EU countries were already discussing measures to restrict oil exports after the United Nations nuclear watchdog issued a report in November with what it said was evidence that Tehran had worked on designing an atom bomb.
Iran says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.
The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to penalize foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank
-- which takes payment for the 2.6 million barrels Iran exports a day. The European Union is considering a ban -- already in place in the United States -- on Iranian oil imports.
So far neither Washington nor Brussels has finalized its move against the oil trade or the central bank amid fears of the possible impact on the global economy of restricting oil flows from the world's fifth biggest exporter.
But the British embassy attack dragged relations with Europe to a long-time low and Iran is now facing rising rhetoric about a direct hit on its main source of foreign earnings.
Until recently, Iran had dismissed as ineffective mounting sanctions aimed at forcing it to halt its nuclear activities. Mehmanparast's comments show a more defensive stance.
"No one welcomes the sanctions, we know that sanctions create obstacles, but we want to say we will overcome these obstacles," Mehmanparast told Sharq daily.
"Imposing sanctions on oil and gas is among the sanctions that, if one wants to do that, the consequences should be fully considered before taking any action," Mehmanparast said.
"I do not think the situation in the world and especially in the West today is prepared enough to raise such discussions."
Britain's embassy in Tehran was ransacked on Tuesday after London announced unilateral sanctions on Iran's central bank. London evacuated staff, closed the embassy and the biggest EU states withdrew their ambassadors in protests.
Rising tensions were enough to push up crude prices with ICE Brent January crude up 95 cents on Friday to settle at $109.94 a barrel.
Mehmanparast warned the EU on Saturday to avoid tying itself to British interests.
but what is the quality of all these newly created jobs?
Are the majority of them non-living wage jobs at Walmart or McDonalds?
Want to see and infection spread exponentially...
http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/
do you mean this?
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=CSKH.OB+Major+Holders
The above link does not show the financiers so its not telling the whole truth.
Ezra loves to sell discounted warrants to raise cash, that's why the pps crashed through a penny. When a pps gets cut in half peeps think its a bargain and start buying. When the warrant sellers are done they'll get some more at 1/4 penny and the pps will get cut in half again, enticing peeps to buy again. This crooked game is rigged to screw us out of our hard earned cash.
There are not nearly enough white collar criminals in jail imo.
Lying, cheating, and stealing.
That’s white-collar crime in a nutshell. The term—reportedly coined in 1939—is now synonymous with the full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals.
It’s not a victimless crime. A single scam can destroy a company, devastate families by wiping out their life savings, or cost investors billions of dollars (or even all three, as in the Enron case). Today’s fraud schemes are more sophisticated than ever, and we are dedicated to using our skills to track down the culprits and stop scams before they start.
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/white_collar
I hope this is just some shorter making this up to get peeps to bail...
"...Triple zeros coming 30-Nov-11 10:15 am southpawIV
This stock is headed right to the basement. It will be in triple zero territory by Christmas.
I hope management gets sued by everyone they screwed. I know of one of their customers
who is filing a lawsuit as we speak. They are probably not the first and I am sure they won't be the last...."
Did they take take sizable deposits from all those they signed contracts with and then not deliver?
That is 10 thousand solar installations in New Jersey since June 30!
How many of these did Clear Skies do? one? two?
Very frustrating here. Management is very quiet after telling us $11M sales on signed contracts. This company has no workforce, trucks, or any equipment. They sub out all the work. My guess is with solar installations exploding Clear Skies can't find anyone qualified to do the work, hence the piss poor numbers in Q3
Longs are taking it up the tailpipe big-time here!
Mortgage Giant Halts Foreclosures for the Holidays
By Philip van Doorn 12/01/11 - 01:33 PM EST
McLean, Va. (TheStreet) -- Freddie Mac (FMCC_) on Thursday announced it would suspend evictions involving foreclosed residences from Dec. 19 to Jan 2, 2012.
The mortgage giant - which along with its sister company Fannie Mae (FNMA_) was taken under government conservatorship in September 2008 -- announced that it had "ordered all evictions involving foreclosed occupied single family and 2-4 unit properties that had Freddie Mac mortgages to be suspended from December 19, 2011 to January 2, 2012."
Tracy Mooney, Freddie's senior vice president of servicing, said that "If the property is occupied, our foreclosure attorneys will suspend the eviction to provide families a greater measure of certainty during the holidays."
The company said the suspension of evictions would "apply only to eviction lockouts related to Freddie Mac-owned [repossessed] properties and [would] not affect other pre- or post-foreclosure processes."
Fannie Mae followed up with later with its own suspension of evictions for the same period as Freddie, with Terry Edwards, Fannie's EVP of credit portfolio management saying that ""no family should have to give up their home during this holiday season," and that Fannie Mae is "committed to helping borrowers avoid foreclosure whenever possible and we encourage any homeowner who is having difficulty making their payment to reach out for help."
Freddie Mac last month announced a third-quarter net loss of $4.4 billion and said its regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, would request a $6.0 billion "draw" from the U.S. Treasury, in part to make up its capital shortfall, and in part to pay the government $1.6 billion in dividends on previous borrowings. With the third-quarter draw, Freddie said its total borrowings from the U.S. government would increase to $72.2 billion as of Dec. 31.
Fannie Mae posted a $5.1 billion third-quarter loss and increased its government borrowings by $7.8 billion, to make up its own capital shortfall and in part to pay the Treasury $2.5 billion in dividends. Fannie said its total government borrowings would increase to 112.6 billion.
The FHFA in late October projected that combined government borrowings by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae would ultimately "range from $220 billion to $311 billion."