CSKH - waiting for the sun to shine
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I hear ya. Only those getting in at 1/2 penny stand a chance of making a profit. My avg is .046 so I've been pretty much screwed over, as have all other CSKH longtime longs.
New money is looking to take a chance at .0051 - and to think I still hold some north of dime. We've all be lied too and screwed over bigtime
looks like you are correct
a 30k print at the 300 .008 AUTO bid removed the bidder
I stand corrected!
I think is varies from stock to stock.
I put a buy in between the spread for 68k some weeks back. The instant I hit the buy button, AUTO appeared on the new best bid displaying a 68
So, for CSKH, 68 is 68k
No trades in the last 3 hours. Peeps aren't dumping, nor are they buying. This stock is so dead right now.
The CEO needs to start earning his $234,000 yearly salary that we stuckolders have been paying buying his dilution.
OS: 231M (11-04-2011)
OS: 213M (08-03-2011)
OS: 211M (05-09-2011)
OS: 206M (03-31-2011)
OS: 179M (12-31-2010)
OS: 172M (11-16-2010)
OS: 143M (09-30-2010)
OS: 121M (08-19-2010)
OS: 85M (05-07-2010)
OS: 79M (03-24-2010)
OS: 71M (01-06-2010)
OS: 60M (11-11-2009)
OS: 42M (06-30-2009)
50 is 50k
300 is 300k
4300 is 4.3M
136k bid whackage took out NITE and AUTO in 4 prints
Now only UBSS remains looking for 4.3M at .007 (he's not getting mine)
c'mon MR. Green, its damage control time.
$438k in rev's during the 3 best weather months to get work done. Soon rooftops will be buried in snow for months on end.
ceo salary $232,000
cfo salary $145,000
and a plush office costing $121,938/yr for these shysters to add insult to injury.
Not a single new job posted on the company website in years!
Looks like shareholders are nothing more than doormats for management to wipe their feet on.
What fool is bidding for 4.3M shares (30g's)...
Nature of Operations
Clear Skies Group, Inc. (“CSG”) was formed in September 2003 for the purpose of providing turnkey solar electricity installations and renewable energy technology solutions to commercial and residential customers across the United States. CSG commenced operations in August 2005 and received its initial funding in September 2005. Through a reverse merger completed in December 2007, CSG became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. We also have proprietary and patented remote monitoring technology under the name XTRAX® with applications in the solar electricity production field and other potential markets. The XTRAX® technology is being finalized and the commercialization of it is expected to begin during 2012 through Carbon 612 Corporation (“Carbon 612”). Subsequent to September 30, 2011, our ownership of Carbon 612 was reduced from 66% to 33%. See Note 10 “Subsequent Event”. In February 2010, Carbon 612 filed a registration statement on Form 10 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and has filed amendments to that registration statement. The SEC has completed its review of that registration statement. Carbon 612 is itself subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, and its financial statements are consolidated with our financial statements in this Form 10-Q. The consolidated financial statements include the financial position and operating activities of Carbon 612, our subsidiary as of September 30, 2011. All intercompany balances have been eliminated in consolidation.
10. Subsequent Events
On October 24, 2011, we sold 15 million of our shares of the common stock of Carbon 612 reducing our holdings to 15 million shares, or about 33% of the presently outstanding shares of Carbon 612. We received $27,000 in cash and a commitment for additional consideration of a portion of any gains of the buyer if it is able to arrange for the merger or sale of Carbon 612 within the next three years.
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 (“mW”) 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. 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.
As a result of these and other factors, our independent registered accountants have included an explanatory paragraph in their audited consolidated financial statements and footnotes in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 as to the substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
The accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from the potential inability of the Company to continue as a going concern.
OS: 231,342,907 (11-04-2011)
OS: 213,635,970 (08-03-2011)
OS: 211,057,421 (05-09-2011)
OS: 206,271,976 (03-31-2011)
OS: 178,920,327 (12-31-2010)
OS: 172,435,479 (11-16-2010)
OS: 143,280,053 (09-30-2010)
OS: 121,479,279 (08-19-2010)
OS: 84,749,254 (05-07-2010)
OS: 79,373,427 (03-24-2010)
OS: 71,146,807 (01-06-2010)
OS: 59,968,922 (11-11-2009)
The Keystone XL Pipeline
The Canadian oil and gas company TransCanada hopes to begin building a new oil pipeline that would trek close to 2,000 miles from Alberta, Canada to Texas. If constructed, the pipeline, known as the Keystone XL, will carry one of the world’s dirtiest fuels: tar sands oil. Along its route from Alberta to Texas, this pipeline could devastate ecosystems and pollute water sources, and would jeopardize public health.
Giant oil corporations invested in Canada's tar sands are counting on the Keystone XL pipeline to make the expansion of oil extraction operations profitable: The pipeline would double imports of dirty tar sands oil into the United States.
Before TransCanada can begin construction, however, the company needs a presidential permit from the Obama administration.
Your voice is needed to tell the Obama administration to say “no” to the Keystone XL pipeline and the highly polluting tar sands oil that would come with it.
Dirty tar sands oil
Pollution from tar sands oil greatly eclipses that of conventional oil. During tar sands oil production alone, levels of carbon dioxide emissions are three times higher than those of conventional oil, due to more energy-intensive extraction and refining processes. The Keystone XL pipeline would carry 900,000 barrels of dirty tar sands oil into the United States daily, doubling our country's reliance on it and resulting in climate-damaging emissions equal to adding more than six million new cars to U.S. roads.
Water waste
During the tar sands oil extraction process, vast amounts of water are needed to separate the extracted product, bitumen, from sand, silt, and clay. It takes three barrels of water to extract each single barrel of oil. At this rate, tar sands operations use roughly 400 million gallons of water a day. Ninety percent of this polluted water is dumped into large human-made pools, known as tailing ponds, after it’s used. These ponds are home to toxic sludge, full of harmful substances like cyanide and ammonia, which has worked its way into neighboring clean water supplies.
Indigenous populations
Northern Alberta, the region where tar sands oil is extracted, is home to many indigenous populations. Important parts of their cultural traditions and livelihood are coming under attack because of tar sands operations. Communities living downstream from tailing ponds have seen spikes in rates of rare cancers, renal failure, lupus, and hyperthyroidism. In the lakeside village of Fort Chipewyan, for example, 100 of the town’s 1,200 residents have died from cancer.
These problems will only get worse, unless tar sands production is halted. Unfortunately, an area the size of Florida is already set for extraction. Investing in a new pipeline would increase the rate of production, while decreasing the quality of life for indigenous populations.
Pipeline spills
TransCanada already attempted to cut corners by seeking a safety waiver to build the pipeline with thinner-than-normal steel and to pump oil at higher-than-normal pressures. Thanks to the pressure exerted by Friends of the Earth and allies, the company withdrew its safety waiver application in August 2010.
The threat of spills remains. In summer 2010, a million gallons of tar sands oil poured into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan from a pipeline run by another Canadian company, Enbridge. The spill exposed residents to toxic chemicals, coated wildlife and has caused long-term damage to the local economy and ecosystem.
Heightening concerns, TransCanada's Keystone I pipeline has spilled a dozen times in less than a year of operation, prompting a corrective action order from the Department of Transportation. Experts warn that the more acidic and corrosive consistency of the type of tar sands oil being piped into the U.S. makes spills more likely, and have joined the EPA in calling on the State Department to conduct a thorough study of these risks.
The Keystone XL pipeline would traverse six U.S. states and cross major rivers, including the Missouri River, Yellowstone, and Red Rivers, as well as key sources of drinking and agricultural water, such as the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies two million Americans.
Refining tar sands oil
After traveling through the Keystone XL pipeline, tar sands oil would be brought to facilities in Texas to be further refined. Refining tar sands oil is dirtier than refining conventional oil, and results in higher emissions of toxic sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide. These emissions cause smog and acid rain and contribute to respiratory diseases like asthma. Communities near the refineries where the Keystone XL pipeline would terminate, many of them low-income and communities of color, already live with dangerously high levels of air pollution. The Keystone XL pipeline would further exacerbate the heavy burden of pollution and environmental injustices these communities confront.
Stopping the pipeline
Tar sands oil is one of the dirtiest fuels on the Earth. Investing in tar sands oil now will delay investments in clean and safe alternatives to oil, such as better fuel economy requirements, plug-in electric cars fueled by solar power, and smart growth and public transportation infrastructure that give Americans choices other than cars.
Soon, President Obama will decide the fate of this pipeline. Tell President Obama to say “no” to dirty tar sands oil.
Take action now
Tell President Obama to halt construction of the Keystone XL
http://www.foe.org/keystone-xl-pipeline
oil dependency is going to poison us all...
A Fracking Chemical Appears in Wyoming Aquifer
The Atlantic Wire
By Ted Mann – Sat, Nov 12, 2011
An EPA study found cancerous compounds, including one used in hydraulic fracturing to harvest natural gas, in an aquifer in Wyoming, ProPublica reports.
Related: New York Subpoenas Energy Companies Over Fracking
The findings come from monitoring wells near Pavillion, Wy., an area where residents have long complained about contaminated drinking water, which some have long blamed on the hundreds of hydraulic fracturing operations in the area.
Related: House Energy Panel Curbs Federal Power to Fight Climate Change
The area's residents "have alleged for nearly a decade that the drilling -- and hydraulic fracturing in particular -- has caused their water to turn black and smell like gasoline," writes Abrahm Lustgarten, who has covered the fracking debate for ProPublica. "Some residents say they suffer neurological impairment, loss of smell, and nerve pain they associate with exposure to pollutants."
The new findings are not conclusive, but seem to strongly suggest that the fracturing of underground shale to free natural gas has, in some instances, allowed the high-pressure chemical mixtures — and the released gas itself — to leak into the aquifer that supplies the region's fresh water.
The information released yesterday by the EPA was limited to raw sampling data: The agency did not interpret the findings or make any attempt to identify the source of the pollution. From the start of its investigation, the EPA has been careful to consider all possible causes of the contamination and to distance its inquiry from the controversy around hydraulic fracturing.
Still, the chemical compounds the EPA detected are consistent with those produced from drilling processes, including one -- a solvent called 2-Butoxyethanol (2-BE) -- widely used in the process of hydraulic fracturing. The agency said it had not found contaminants such as nitrates and fertilizers that would have signaled that agricultural activities were to blame.
The wells also contained benzene at 50 times the level that is considered safe for people, as well as phenols -- another dangerous human carcinogen -- acetone, toluene, naphthalene and traces of diesel fuel.
The EPA said the water samples were saturated with methane gas that matched the deep layers of natural gas being drilled for energy. The gas did not match the shallower methane that the gas industry says is naturally occurring in water, a signal that the contamination was related to drilling and was less likely to have come from drilling waste spilled above ground.
This could provide rich new material for anti-fracking activists, who have already proved adept at spurring people into opposition. Some water-issues commentators have yet to weigh in, though if Mos Def was serious about the mission to "avoid public panic and freakiness," this might be a good time.
http://news.yahoo.com/fracking-chemical-appears-wyoming-aquifer-182813193.html
Solar Glut Worsens as Supply Surge Cuts Prices 93%: Commodities
November 09, 2011, 11:29 PM EST
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By Marc Roca and Ben Sills
Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The cost of solar cells and microchips has nowhere to go but down because of a supply glut for the commodity they’re made from, a brittle charcoal-colored semiconductor baked in ovens at 600 degrees centigrade.
Polysilicon has plunged 93 percent to $33 a kilogram from $475 three years ago as the top five producers more than doubled output, data compiled by Bloomberg shows. The industry next year will produce 28 percent more of the raw material than will be consumed, up from 20 percent this year, said Robert Schramm- Fuchs and Shai Hill, analysts at Macquarie Group Ltd.
“Polysilicon is a grossly, grossly, grossly oversupplied commodity product,” said Paul Leming, director of research at Ticonderoga Securities in New York. “We’re staring at years of stability where polysilicon pricing sits at something approaching cost of production and doesn’t move.”
The shift is squeezing margins for manufacturers led by Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. and Wacker Chemie AG. Solar-cell makers that use the material such as JA Solar Holdings Co. and Suntech Power Holdings Co. drove down the cost of photovoltaics, tipping three U.S. manufacturers into bankruptcy this year.
“The solar PV market has certainly reached a point where some illusions are meeting reality,” Wacker Chief Executive Officer Rudolf Staudigl told investors in an Oct. 28 conference call. “About the length of the downturn in polysilicon, I simply cannot answer.”
Cells and Chips
Polysilicon accounts for a quarter of the cost of a finished solar panel. The photovoltaic industry consumes almost 90 percent of the supply, which is also is the foundation of most computer chips made by manufacturers such as Intel Corp., the world’s largest.
Price declines for products at every step in the solar supply chain triggered a 60 percent drop in the Bloomberg Global Leaders Solar Index since February tracking 37 shares. It’s led to speculation that more poly producers and panel makers may either combine or go bust in the coming months. Q-Cells SE, once the world’s biggest cell maker, has said it’s open to takeovers.
“Two-thirds of the existing 66 polysilicon producers could fall victim to the shake-out that has just started,” the Macquarie analysts wrote in a note on Nov. 8. “The total number of Chinese polysilicon producers could fall to as little as four over the next three years, down from 35 known to us today.”
About 90 percent of China’s polysilicon plants comprising half the country’s production may suspend production because of the price slump, according to Xie Chen, an analyst at the China Nonferrous Metals Industrial Association, which acts as a conduit between industry and government.
Hemlock’s Growth
Hemlock -- named for a Michigan town where it’s based and owned jointly by Dow Corning Corp. and the Japanese companies Shin-Etsu Handotai Co. and Mitsubishi Materials Corp. -- will raise its capacity 28 percent when a plant in Tennessee opens next year. It’s already increased 89 percent since 2008.
Wacker of Munich, OCI Co. of South Korea, GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd. of China and Renewable Energy Corp. ASA of Norway round out the top five makers and together had capacity to make 131,000 tons of polysilicon last year, up from 50,000 tons in 2008, Bloomberg data shows.
“I haven’t seen any industry like this,” Woo-Hyun Lee, Seoul-based OCI’s chief operating officer, told a conference in Singapore on Nov. 2. “When the price drops so suddenly it hurts. Now there is very little room for fluctuation.”
Prices Plunge
Spot prices will fall into the $20s from about $33 today and are likely to stabilize at around $30 once a shake-out reduces oversupply after 2012, according to Sean McLoughlin, an industry analyst in London at HSBC Bank Plc, echoing a similar forecast by Macquarie. Leming of Ticonderoga says prices will reach $25 within three weeks and likely remain near that level for at least two years.
About 90 percent of supplies are sold under long-term contracts, many of which are under pressure to be renegotiated. Charges for contract cancellations can be more than 20 percent of their value, HSBC said.
Chemical companies such as Hemlock and Wacker make poly by baking raw silicon that’s derived from refined sand. It´s done in bell-shaped ovens containing silane gas, which then condenses over a period of days into rod-shaped chunks of 99.9999 percent pure polysilicon.
The rods are sliced into wafers using diamond-edged saws to make solar cells that are fastened onto panels to transform the sun’s rays into electricity.
Narrowing Margins
Wacker’s profit margin will shrink by 4 percentage points to 21 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous three months, according to a Bloomberg survey of five analysts who looked at earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization compared to sales.
REC has developed a technique which works in a few hours and reduces the energy required by as much as 90 percent, making it the cheapest way of making solar-grade silicon, according to McLoughlin at HSBC. REC’s so-called fluidized bed reactor process grows beads of polysilicon from pressurized gas and tiny liquidized seeds of semi-purified material.
Polysilicon has been used as a semiconductor in computer microchips for decades. Supplies only became scarce from 2004, when European nations began introducing subsidies for clean energy. The price soared to $475 in March 2008 from about $30 in 2003. New capacity began to come on stream in 2008.
The famine turned to a glut when demand growth for panels slowed as solar-energy subsidies were cut. With plants taking at least two years to build, new factories are set to keep opening.
Expanding Capacity
Hemlock announced plans for its new factory in December 2008 when polysilicon was selling for $178 on the spot market. Wacker, the No. 2 producer, will double its capacity to about 60,000 tons by 2013, and LDK Solar Co. Ltd., the second-largest maker of wafers, will triple its poly capacity to 55,000 tons by the end of that year with a giant factory in Inner Mongolia.
The global supply of polysilicon is set to reach about 500,000 tons by 2014, Ewald Schindlbeck, head of Wacker’s polysilicon unit, said in an interview. That compares with 266,000 tons this year, according to Macquarie.
Even in an industry used to profit margins higher than 40 percent, the drop is hurting smaller producers. PV Crystalox Solar Plc last month cut production and fired workers at its poly ingot plant in Britain. It has costs of about $37 a kilo, according to McLoughlin.
Staudigl said that Wacker is negotiating individual agreements with clients and assessing issues such as their credit-worthiness. The company has contracts to sell almost all its planned production through 2015, spokesman Christof Bachmair said in a telephone interview.
Price Protection
While Wacker and the leading polysilicon producers may have fixed prices with clients for the next few years, that may offer them little protection should those prices push their clients into bankruptcy before they can make good on their commitments, said Gordon Johnson, an analyst at Axiom Capital Management Inc.
“Prices are going to go significantly lower,” he said in a Nov. 4 phone interview from his office in New York. “There will be certain people that go out of business.”
--Editors: Reed Landberg, Todd White
For the money these guy's pay themselves you'd think they could actually produce something of value...
We have entered into employment agreements with Ezra J. Green to serve as our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, with Thomas J. Oliveri to serve as our President and Chief Operating Officer and with Arthur L. Goldberg to serve as our Chief Financial Officer. These agreements were entered into in December 2007, March 2008 and January 2008, respectively, and were all amended and restated in November 2008. The initial terms of the amended and restated agreements (the “Agreements”) are three years, with automatic one-year renewals following this three-year period in the absence of a notice of non-renewal as provided for in the Agreements. Pursuant to the Agreements Messrs. Green, Oliveri and Goldberg are to receive minimum annual base salaries of $250,000, $200,000 and $200,000, respectively, for the first three years, and then an agreed upon salary (of not less than the amount specified above) for each future year of employment. Each of Messrs. Green, Oliveri and Goldberg were entitled to an annual bonuses based on the financial results of the Company for each of the twelve month periods ended March 31, 2009 and 2010. Neither bonus was earned nor paid. If any of such executives’ employment is terminated without cause or if any resign for good reason (as defined in his employment agreements), then we will be obligated to pay the terminated executive, as severance, his then current annual base salary and annual bonuses (as such is defined within the Agreements) for the remainder of the term.
On February 15, 2011, all outstanding stock options (entitling the holders to purchase an aggregate of 10,215,000 shares of our common stock) were modified by our Board of Directors by reducing the exercise price to $.025 per share (the fair market value on that date) and all options became fully vested as of that date. Messrs. Green, Oliveri and Goldberg have options, as modified, to purchase 2,525,000 shares, 1,800,000 shares and 2,000,000 shares, respectively. The duration of all options is ten years from the date of the original grant except for options to purchase 925,000 shares granted to Mr. Green (included in his total noted above) expire five years from date of the original grant.
In addition, on January 19, 2010 the Board of Directors granted Messrs. Green, Oliveri and Goldberg 1,200,000 shares, 10,000 shares and 25,000 shares, respectively, of our Class B preferred stock, each share of which was convertible into ten shares of our common stock. All of these shares were converted during 2010.
We lease approximately 3,356 square feet of office space at 200 Old Country Road, Mineola, New York from HUB Properties Trust at an initial base rental of $7,831 per month increasing annually to $9,626 per month pursuant to a seven year lease.
A HUNDRED GRAND PER YEAR FOR AN OFFICE TO PUT A DESK AND A PHONE IN ....PLEASE!
I wonder what Clear Skies is up to selling 15M shares of its carbon 612 subsidiary back on 10/26/2011 ??? Code "s" (ie sold) (raising capital)?
http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1402857/000107878211003127/xslF345X03/primary_doc.xml
If only Mr. Green could be photographed with Congressman Barry Frank at a solar installation. That would move the pps!
Matouk & Co. unveils 84 kilo-watt solar system
Photo by/Beth Perdue Fall River-based Matouk unveiled its new solar powered energy system at an April 6 event that included: (l-r) Fall River Mayor William Flanagan, company president George Matouk Jr., and U.S. Congressman Barney Frank.
By By Beth Perdue
Bulletin editor
April 23, 2010 5:22 PM
FALL RIVER, Mass. — A Fall River linen manufacturer celebrated its new solar powered energy system last month, touting the system as a solution to both environmental challenges and rising business costs.
John Matouk & Co., which manufactures high-end bed and bath linens, installed an 84 kilo-watt solar powered system, the largest solar installation in Southeastern Massachusetts, on the roof of its Fall River manufacturing plant.
The system, designed and installed by Lowell-based Borrego Solar Systems, began producing energy in January.
George Matouk Jr., the company's CEO, decided to go solar when the company was retrofitting its roof and learned that the large south-facing roof-top was perfect for a solar system.
The system will generate about 35 percent of the power needed to run the factory, Matouk said, and, with government incentives, will pay for itself in about five to six years.
"From then on, the energy we use will be free of charge," he said.
At the April 6 official unveiling of the system, U.S. Congressman Barney Frank, Fall River Mayor William Flanagan, and representatives Michael Rodrigues and David Sullivan were present in support of the project. In his comments, Flanagan called Matouk a leader in clean energy and praised the company for its commitment to the local economy.
Making the switch to solar helps keep Matouk employees working and therefore keeps the city's unemployment rate down, Flanagan said, adding, "To use clean energy and renewable energy to power your plant makes a commitment to the community and to the state."
Matouk's solar system will reduce carbon emissions by 176,022 lbs of CO2 annually, according to a company statement. This is equivalent to the emissions from an average passenger car driving 336,373 miles every year for 30 years, and the CO2 that would be removed by planting 70 acres of trees. The system will also reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 15,300 pounds over the life of the system.
According to Matouk, partial financing for the system, about $300,000, is coming from the Commonwealth Solar Program.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100423/NEBULLETIN/5010342/1036
That office was a waste of investor money imo.
The company office should be in an industrial park were they house equipment and material.
We lease approximately 3,356 square feet of office space at 200 Old Country Road, Mineola, New York from HUB Properties Trust at a current base rental of $9,521 per month increasing to $9,824 per month on June 1, 2012 and annually thereafter, pursuant to a seven year lease. We also lease approximately 1,740 square feet in Berlin, New Jersey since March 1, 2011 for a sales office pursuant to a 15 month lease at an initial monthly rent of $515 that increased to $1,087 on June 1, 2011.
I just witnessed a decent sized rooftop solar installation that took just a few days on and old mill building in Fall River Mass. A large crane was on on site to get everything to the roof. If these installations are so quick why aren't we hearing about CSKH's? Why isn't CSKH's website chock full of installations? (like this one)
http://www.munroelectric.com/silvereclipse/index.jsp?path=solar_success_stories&prev=home
Judge OKs $410M settlement for Bank of America
By CURT ANDERSON - AP Legal Affairs Writer
November 07, 2011
MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge on Monday gave final approval to a $410 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit affecting more than 13 million Bank of America customers who had debit card overdrafts during the past decade.
Senior U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King said the agreement was fair and reasonable, even though it drew criticism from some customers because they would only receive a fraction of what they paid in overdraft fees. The fees were usually $35 per occurrence.
"It's really undisputed that this is one of the largest settlements ever in a consumer case," said Aaron Podhurst, a lead attorney for the customer class.
The settlement became final a week after Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America backed off a plan to charge a $5 monthly fee for debit-card purchases. The outcry prompted other major banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., to cancel trial tests of their own debit card fees.
Bank attorney Laurence Hutt said 13.2 million Bank of America customers who had debit cards between January 2001 and May 2011 would get some payment. Those who still have accounts would get an automatic credit and the others would get a check mailed to them. No one would have to take any action or fill out any paperwork.
Barry Himmelstein, an attorney for customers who objected to the deal, said he calculated that the bank actually raked in $4.5 billion through the overdraft fees and was repaying less than 10 percent. He said the average customer in the case had $300 in overdraft fees, making them eligible for a $27 award — less than one overdraft charge — from the lawsuit.
"It's $4.5 billion that's gone missing from people's accounts," Himmelstein said.
Hutt said only 46 customers filed formal objections to the settlement and 350 decided to opt out, meaning they could take separate legal action on their own.
"It's very easy for people to say on the sidelines, 'I could do better,'" Hutt said. "Never is a settlement at 100 percent of what somebody thinks they can receive at trial. It's always a compromise."
Customers will receive a minimum of 9 percent of the fees they paid through the settlement, Hutt added. The bank has already paid the money into an escrow account.
The lawsuit claimed that Bank of America processed its debit card transactions in the order of highest to lowest dollar amount so it could maximize the overdraft fees customers paid. An overdraft occurs when the account doesn't have enough money in it to cover a debit card transaction. Similar lawsuits have been filed against more than 30 other banks.
Despite the settlement, Bank of America insists there was nothing improper about the processing sequence. New regulations enacted following the recent financial crisis prohibit banks from charging overdraft fees on debit cards without first getting customer permission.
Many of the objections concerned the fees for the team of class-action attorneys, which would amount to about $123 million. Lawyers for people opposed to the settlement said that amount should be cut down by at least $50 million, with the money going back to the wronged customers.
"The best use is to provide compensation to the class members," said Elliott Kula, who represents some of the objectors.
But King sided with the plaintiffs' attorneys, noting that they spent thousands of hours on the case and achieved "a superb result" for the customers.
"I don't see anything about this case that's simple or garden variety," the judge said.
Another complaint concerned missing records for customers from 2001 through 2003, which has made them impossible to identify. The settlement will take about 14 percent of the total — representing an estimate for the fees paid by those customers — and put the money into nonprofit financial literacy programs.
In addition, the 32 original named plaintiffs who represented the larger class will get bonuses of up to $5,000 each, $2,500 each if both plaintiffs are a married couple.
http://news.yahoo.com/judge-oks-410m-settlement-bank-america-214423478.html
Israeli Strike on Iran Would be 'Serious Mistake,' Says Russia
By Daniel Tovrov | November 7, 2011 3:44 PM EST
Russia thinks that a pre-emptive military strike against Iran and Iran's nuclear weapons program by Israel or any Western power would be an extremely bad idea.
"This would be a very serious mistake fraught with unpredictable consequences," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow on Monday.
Two days before United Nations' watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency is set to deliver a report on the progress of Iran's nuclear program, Israel has indicated that an attack on Iran is imminent.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have remained steadfast in their assertion that a strike on Iran is necessary for the future of Israel, and now Israeli President Shimon Peres has said that an attack on Iran in the immediate future is not unlikely.
"The possibility of a military attack against Iran is now closer to being applied than the application of a diplomatic option," Peres told the newspaper Israel Hayom.
Peres did add that the country needs to "consider every alternative" first.
Israel is not the only country taking a hard line, and Iran has promised that any military action against the country will be met with an immediate response.
"Before (being able to take) any action against Iran, the Israelis will feel our wrath in Tel Aviv," Hossein Ebrahimi, senior member of the Tehran's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, stated.
"If the threat is carried out they will see the political might of the [Islamic] establishment, the solidarity of the Iranian nation, and the strength of the country," Ebrahimi added.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad added that he considers any attack by Israel also an attack by the United States, concluding that the nuclear rumors are just being used as a "Zionist" excuse to attack the Arab world.
"Israel and the West, particularly the U.S. are afraid of the role and capabilities of Iran, and therefore are attempting to drum up international support for a military campaign against Iran, which is meant to" deter Iran, Ahmadinejad said, according to the Tehran Times.
Other Iran officials reiterated the claim, saying the nuclear reporters were fabricated to give Israel a justifiable reason to attack.
"I believe that these documents lack authenticity. But if they insist, they should go ahead and publish. Better to face danger once than be always in danger," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters at a conference in Moscow.
"We have said repeatedly that their documents are baseless. For example one can counterfeit money, but it remains counterfeit. These documents are like that," Salehi declared.
Washington has remained quiet on the Iran issue in recent weeks, and the Obama administration is happy to wait until the I.A.E.A report comes out before making any proclamations. Nonetheless, Ahmadinejad is certain that "the Zionist regime [Israel] is destined to collapse, and that collapse will happen soon enough."(LOL)
The stand-off in the Middle East has serious international implications, and both an attack on Iran and an Iran with nuclear capabilities would have dire regional consequences.
"A nuclear Iran would pose a terrible threat on the Middle East and on the entire world. And of course, it poses a great, direct threat on us too.... Netanyahu said on Oct. 31, adding that "a security philosophy cannot rely on defense alone. It must also include offensive capabilities, which is the very foundation of deterrence."
William Martel, an associate professor of International Security Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston, Mass., told IBTimes last week that if Iran successfully develops nuclear weapons, it could ignite a regional arms race. As soon as Iran has a nuclear missile, other countries will clamber to develop sufficient nuclear weapons that could withstand an Iranian attack.
"The tenor, rhetoric and discourse in the Middle East will approach levels comparable to the Cold War," Martel said.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/244831/20111107/israeli-strike-iran-mistake-says-russia.htm?cid=5
Dear Professor Mankiw
November 7, 2011
Today, we are walking out of your class, Economics 10, in order to express our discontent with the bias inherent in this introductory economics course. We are deeply concerned about the way that this bias affects students, the University, and our greater society.
As Harvard undergraduates, we enrolled in Economics 10 hoping to gain a broad and introductory foundation of economic theory that would assist us in our various intellectual pursuits and diverse disciplines, which range from Economics, to Government, to Environmental Sciences and Public Policy, and beyond. Instead, we found a course that espouses a specific-and limited-view of economics that we believe perpetuates problematic and inefficient systems of economic inequality in our society today.
A legitimate academic study of economics must include a critical discussion of both the benefits and flaws of different economic simplifying models. As your class does not include primary sources and rarely features articles from academic journals, we have very little access to alternative approaches to economics. There is no justification for presenting Adam Smith's economic theories as more fundamental or basic than, for example, Keynesian theory.
Care in presenting an unbiased perspective on economics is particularly important for an introductory course of 700 students that nominally provides a sound foundation for further study in economics. Many Harvard students do not have the ability to opt out of Economics 10. This class is required for Economics and Environmental Science and Public Policy concentrators, while Social Studies concentrators must take an introductory economics course-and the only other eligible class, Professor Steven Margolin's class Critical Perspectives on Economics, is only offered every other year (and not this year). Many other students simply desire an analytic understanding of economics as part of a quality liberal arts education. Furthermore, Economics 10 makes it difficult for subsequent economics courses to teach effectively as it offers only one heavily skewed perspective rather than a solid grounding on which other courses can expand. Students should not be expected to avoid this class-or the whole discipline of economics-as a method of expressing discontent.
Harvard graduates play major roles in the financial institutions and in shaping public policy around the world. If Harvard fails to equip its students with a broad and critical understanding of economics, their actions are likely to harm the global financial system. The last five years of economic turmoil have been proof enough of this.
We are walking out today to join a Boston-wide march protesting the corporatization of higher education as part of the global Occupy movement. Since the biased nature of Economics 10 contributes to and symbolizes the increasing economic inequality in America, we are walking out of your class today both to protest your inadequate discussion of basic economic theory and to lend our support to a movement that is changing American discourse on economic injustice. Professor Mankiw, we ask that you take our concerns and our walk-out seriously.
Sincerely,
Concerned students of Economics 10
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/244991/20111107/occupy-wall-street-demand-harvard-mankiw-students.htm?cid=5
and way over paid for programing!
Bit by Bit, Work Exchange Site Aims to Get Jobs Done
By QUENTIN HARDY
Published: November 6, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO — Philip Rosedale tried to change the nature of play with Second Life, a virtual world of colorful online avatars that got a lot of attention a few years ago.
Now he wants to change the nature of work.
While Second Life is still around, it never lived up to its hype. But Mr. Rosedale, 43, is back with a new business called Coffee and Power, where people buy and sell most any kind of task, like making Halloween costumes or writing sophisticated software.
To prove his point that a work exchange could function, Mr. Rosedale built the software for his new company by hiring programmers from around the world and dividing up the work into about 1,600 individual tasks, from setting up databases to fixing bugs.
“We think it’s the new model for how software will be written,” he said. “It worked so well that we decided to extend it to all sorts of work.”
Coffee and Power has storefront space in a nondescript part of San Francisco’s Market Street where people can drop in and offer to do jobs or hire people for tasks. They can even start working together on the spot. Mr. Rosedale works upstairs, along with a handful of full-time staff members.
On a recent day, the public space had three groups of people making use of the human and laptop fuels behind the company name. The groups were working on software projects, business planning and tutorials.
As with Second Life, the business has a virtual currency for buying, selling or bestowing tasks as gifts. Coffee and Power takes a 15 percent fee for moving the money back into real dollars.
The site has been active since spring with little fanfare. It attracted fewer than 700 transactions, but is now starting to actively solicit buyers and sellers.
“About 25 percent of our site is needs, and the rest is offers,” Mr. Rosedale said. “We’ll need about 10,000 jobs before we know what the final balance is like.”
Other online services have similar ideas — Task Rabbit, Freelancer.com and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk among them. One of the striking things about these services is how inexpensive it is to get something done.
Translation services on Coffee and Power currently sell for $10 a job, and a bike messenger can be had for $15. Much of the time, the people involved are already in these professions and are looking to make a few extra dollars on the side.
Besides putting downward pressure on what people can charge, the low prices also raise questions about the quality of the services. That is one reason that Mr. Rosedale is publicizing that he used cheap labor to build his own site.
He paid about $200,000 to build Coffee and Power, he said, using an earlier version of the service called Worklist. Every step in the development process is visible on the site, including the amount people have been paid for their work. An Australian working under the name Lithium has earned $46,523 since January, for example.
Another test project, called Hudat, is an iPhone application that converts pictures of Facebook and LinkedIn friends into online flashcards. The idea is that a person can review images before attending a party. It cost $2,600 to build, a fraction of what work like this normally costs, and was built in two weeks. The process is open for anyone to see.
“We work on total transparency,” Mr. Rosedale said. “If you don’t want anyone to see what you are working on, this is not for you.”
Second Life, in its heyday, held similar promise. While it became notorious for sexual chatter, it has over the years attracted a Reuters news bureau, now defunct, as well as emporiums of several companies like American Apparel and Starwood Hotels. Cisco Systems also held meetings there. Second Life still exists, but is much quieter now, offering virtual currency, meetings and digital real estate, among other services.
While he is still chairman of Linden Lab, the company that created Second life, Mr. Rosedale talks about that venture in the past tense.
“The problem with creating an immersive 3-D experience is that it is just too involved, and so it’s hard to get people to engage,” he said. “Smart people in rural areas, the handicapped, people looking for companionship, they love it. But you have to be highly motivated to get on and learn to use it.”
Mr. Rosedale, who raised about $1 million for Coffee and Power from investors including Jeff Bezos, Catamount Ventures and Greylock Partners, sees the trend of breaking work into smaller pieces — both in software and for physical tasks — as one that will continue to gain traction.
“I would rather hire a kid in Brazil who is hungry for work for a project than hire a Stanford graduate,” he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/technology/coffee-and-power-site-aims-to-get-jobs-done-bit-by-bit.html?ref=technology
could this happen here?
Small Businesses in Greece Are Being Devastated
By LANDON THOMAS Jr.
Published: November 6, 2011
ATHENS — The tiny jewelry shop in the working-class Athens neighborhood was open for business — barely.
The shop’s proprietor, Tasos (he preferred not to disclose his last name), has not had a sale in more than three months. Because he cannot afford to pay his electricity bills, there was no light to illuminate his storefront display of jewels.
Like most shell-shocked Greeks here, he has, over the past few months, spent more time watching television than conducting commerce as Greek politicians veered from one political crisis to another. His senses have been battered with all possibilities of a disaster, not least the prospect that Greece might leave the euro.
The effect on his small business — which he says may have to close — has been devastating. His regular customers, whom he rarely sees these days, owe him €14,000, or $19,300, and those that he does see are looking to pawn their family heirlooms to get by.
“The politicians are playing games with the people,” he said, his eyes red with exhaustion and stress. “This city is boiling. I am not a protester, but soon the top on the kettle will pop.”
That the Greek economy is in a downward spiral from a relentless program of austerity is well known. Greek manufacturing saw one of its sharpest falls ever in October, and this year overall production is expected to contract by more than 6 percent. What has not yet shown up in the official figures, though, is the extent to which the crisis atmosphere has brought the economy to a virtual standstill.
Auto sales have essentially halted and are at their lowest level since 1993. People who do have cars have trouble paying to operate them. In the last three months, the number of uninsured drivers increased by 500,000, bringing the total to 1.5 million.
Small shops, in many ways the lifeblood of the Greek economy, which relies on domestic demand, are shuttering by the day. And, most acutely, the heightened speculation that Greece might have to return to the drachma has given new impetus to the flood of money leaving Greek banks — money to be deposited abroad, stashed at home or in one’s car and most certainly not spent.
Since January 2010, Greek banks have lost €46 billion in deposits — or about 20 percent of annual economic output. But bankers here say that in September and October the numbers picked up substantially, with estimates ranging from €10 billion to €15 billion for just these two months alone.
Dimitris, a retired truck driver who also did not want to have his full identity revealed, recently sent his €50,000 in life savings to Sweden because, as he put it, “Greece is going bankrupt.”
And he has no doubt where the blame lies. “I am impressed that the people have not yet stormed into Parliament and burned the politicians alive — like a souvlaki,” he said.
The vitriol toward politicians is in many ways more intense than the outrage expressed toward Europe and the International Monetary Fund. Politicians here rarely venture out into public places, and when they do, even the most obscure member of Parliament is accompanied by at least one bodyguard.
All of which is giving rise to talk that, instead of putting forward another coalition of failed parties and leaders, new people with new ideas outside the political establishment should be brought in.
They include Lucas D. Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank, and Stefanos Manos, a former economy minister for the New Democracy Party who has long argued that until Greece lays off a large chunk of its inefficient public work force any hope of true reform is hopeless.
Mr. Manos’s latest program is even more controversial. He proposes that as much as €300 billion worth of Greek assets be put into a vast “goody bag,” including plots of land, sites of historical significance and even prized islands, as collateral to secure an immediate €75 billion loan from Europe that would be used to buy discounted Greek bonds and pay off debtors. In return, Greece would agree to sell most of the assets in the goody bag within the next 10 years or so and pay back the loan — with a bit left over, he hopes.
“Call me a taboo killer if you will,” he said. “Fire Greek workers, sell Greek islands — politicians here have to overcome their taboos.” And, he added, they have little time to do so. “Everything has stopped here,” he continued. “People are taking their money out of the country. The bomb is ticking.”
For many in Athens, it has already gone off. In the upscale neighborhood of Kolonaki, where much of the Athenian elite live and shop, flashy clothes and luxury shops are shutting down left and right, the result of a Greek consumer strike that includes not just the lower and middle tiers of the economy but its highest as well.
In part this has been driven by the intense pressure the government has been under to meet set targets to secure its next round of loans. With tax collection still a challenge, Greece has imposed heavy doses of value-added taxes on consumers and, most controversially, a special real estate tax has been attached to Greeks’ electricity bills.
But making matters worse, shop owners say, has been the political uncertainty and the constant strikes and riots that can shut down their stores for days at a time.
“Our business is in a free fall — down 70 percent since the crisis,” said Maurizio Urcivolo, the owner of Maurizio’s, a high-end women’s clothing boutique. It’s the end of the day on a Friday, and while the street outside bustles with activity, his store is empty of customers — as it has mostly been during the past two months as the crisis reached its peak.
He is closing his flagship Kolonaki store in January and he, too, knows who is to blame. “We hate all politicians,” he said. “We think they are responsible for all this.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/business/global/small-businesses-in-greece-are-being-devastated.html
Wow, that's the clearest thinking on this mess I've read yet...
"...The entire global financial system is thus based on the equivalent of a perpetual motion machine: money can be borrowed or leveraged into existence in essentially unlimited quantities, and then deployed in risk-free skimming operations to harvest unlimited wealth.
What does this promise of using leveraged capital to skim risk-free fortunes do to the "real economy" of production and investment in plant and technology? It guts it..."
This board should be required reading for the occupiers!
Hope your wrong
Lets hope he plans on saying nothing and delivering this time around. Doing so will make raising capital a lot more palatable for private placement investors.
Presently management's .025 options are worthless. The ball is in their hands to deliver on 11/15 and move the pps to .03 and beyond.
I'll wager if they deliver we'll hear they did a private placement below one cent, giving investors an immediate triple. (They won't be able to sell though for 6 months).
It would be nice to see the pps creep up as the 15th approaches. I'm keeping a front row seat!
3-6M would kick the barn door open here in a big way!
That was fun. We should have the contest for the close of every month. I'll wager we can break 1,000 entrants!
Wasn't the ibox sorted before? That makes it impossible to create duplicate entry.
I think CSKH longs will get a nice Xmas present in 2011
From the last PR on 9/13...
After diligently evaluating the Massachusetts market, we decided to enter this market utilizing the same model that was successfully executed in New Jersey. We expect our Massachusetts sales program to have a high level of success based on the stability of the MA Renewable Energy Credits (REC's) market. REC's are derived from the production of electricity via non-fossil fuel means. In Massachusetts, this gives each kilowatt hour produced a value of not less than $0.30 but currently a value at $ 0.52 on the spot market. This "floor" is slated to last for ten years adding a unique level of security to both private as well as institutional investors.
CSS test marketed the program for Massachusetts in August 2011 with positive results. Already CSS has signed contracts for over $1 million worth of projects in Massachusetts. "As we grow our sales force and our brand in Massachusetts, we expect this rapid pace of growth to continue. We look forward to tremendous success in this market due in large part to the REC market structure in Massachusetts which was designed with a price floor to bolster investor confidence by providing a safeguard against any major downturns in the market. Additionally, we will continue to seek out new markets and opportunities as they open up in the months and years to come," said Ezra Green, CEO of Clear Skies Solar.
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This stock is a sleeper!
.01+ tomorrow!
$0.0100 1,000 OBB 15:26:59
$0.0091 50,000 OBB 14:36:45
$0.0091 2,000 OBB 14:24:05
$0.0091 400,000 OBB 12:47:24
$0.0091 24,103 OBB 12:44:37
$0.0095 5,000 OBB 12:44:30
$0.0120 5,000 OBB 11:03:36
$0.0099 10,000 OBB 10/28
$0.0099 1,000 OBB 10/28
$0.0099 4,000 OBB 10/28
$0.0086 74,500 OBB 10/28
$0.0086 1,000 OBB 10/28
$0.0085 50,000 OBB 10/28
$0.0086 198,000 OBB 10/28
$0.0086 250,000 OBB 10/28
$0.0086 4,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0080 20,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0080 50,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0086 1,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0082 32,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0082 68,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0082 5,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0082 2,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0080 55,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0080 45,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0082 5,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0080 5,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0080 10,000 OBB 10/27
$0.0075 101,700 OBB 10/27
$0.0075 16,000 OBB 10/27
learning is a life long process that can't be crammed in in four short years.
Bring back apprenticeships, diplomas are a scam, lol.
Welcome all bottom reversal players, should be an interesting week here
Financials are due in 2 weeks and dilution has been kept in check so far in 2011
AS: 300M
OS: 213,635,970 (08-03-2011)
OS: 211,057,421 (05-09-2011)
OS: 206,271,976 (03-31-2011)
OS: 178,920,327 (12-31-2010)
OS: 172,435,479 (11-16-2010)
Morgenthaler Says IPhone Siri Is `Seriously Underrated'
Looks like you nailed the bottom when you posted on the 13th. Let's hope so anyway. This company is worth way more than a penny, especially if they have sizable revenues for us on Nov. 15th (a Tuesday)
The accumulation it telling us that the stock is expecting future gains. Nice to have this new up-stroke with some increasing volume as well.
Have a little faith, our simmering pot could be near a boil.