Saturday, December 31, 2011

Entering 02012 Tier 3 Stocks

The following need to move from 3rd tier to 2nd tier: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (#21 to #14); iParty (#22 to #17); Capstone Therapeutics (#23 to #16); Altair Nanotechnologies (#24 to #12); Mace Security Intl. (#26 to #15); StemCells (#29 to #13).

The following stay 3rd tier holdings: Isotechnika (#31 to #25); AT&T (#25 to #29); Axion Power Intl. (#28 to #20); Alcatel-Lucent (#30 to #23).

Red Hat moves from 1st to 3rd tier at #24. Amazon.com moves from 2nd tier to 3rd tier at #28. Concast is #27.

The following 3rd tier stocks are liquidated: Digital Angel #27 and Adamis Pharmaceutical #32.

The following is how the GDT::Portfolio should look at the end of 02012.

Geeknet #1, iRobot #2, Google #3, Illumina #4, Cray #5, Nanosphere #6, Bruker #7, Level 3 Communications #8, Spire #9, Aastrom Biosciences #10, NeuroMetrix #11, Altair Nanotechnologies #12, StemCells #13, Kratos #14, Mace Security #15, Capstone Therapeutics #16, iParty #17, LookSmart #18, Hanger Orthopedic #19, Axion Power #20, Trimble Navigation #21, Stewart Enterprises #22, Alcatel-Lucent #23, Red Hat #24, Isotechnika #25, US Airways #26, Comcast #27, Amazon.com #28, AT&T #29.

Entering 02012 Tier 2 Stocks

This posting contains some comments about the 2nd tier of GDT::Portfolio stocks as we enter in the year 02012.

LookSmart (LOOK) at #11 and that is a signal that the GDT::Portfolio had a tough 02011.

Stewart Enterprises (STEI) at #12 is fun because this one of the future low-tech stocks in the GDT::Portfolio. STEI should be a third tier stock.

Level 3 Communications (LVLT) is at #13, but it should be a top 10 holding.

Trimble Navigation (TRMB) is at #14. There have been numerous times when I've considered liquidating our TRMB holdings, but I just can't do it.

US Airways (LCC) is at #15 and that's after the stock lost almost 50% of its value during 02011. LCC ended 02011 at $5.07. LCC needs to a third tier GDT::Portfolio stock.

Amazon.com (AMZN) is at #16, but it should be a third tier GDT::Portfolio stock. The plan is to never sell another AMZN share.

Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM) is at #17, but it should be at least #10. ASTM ended 02011 at $1.82, but my average cost per share is $2.67. Huge bummer.

NeuroMetrix (NURO) is at #18. I added to our NURO holdings yesterday (02011.11.30); therefore, I must feel as though the stock is worth buying and holding.

Spire (SPIR) at #19 is a major disappointment. SPIR ended 02010 at #10 and it needs to return to that position. SPIR ended 02011 at $0.63. Yes! It's a penny stock much to my chagrin.

Comcast (CMCSA) is at #20, but this stock should be a third tier GDT::Portfolio stock.

The following 2nd tier stocks need to move to the 3rd tier: STEI (#12 to #22), LCC (#15 to #26), AMZN (#16 to #28), CMCSA (#20 to #27) and TRMB (#14 to #21).

The following 2nd tier stocks need to move to the 1st tier: LVLT (#13 to #8), SPIR (#19 to #9) and ASTM (#17 to #10).

The following 2nd tier stocks should stay in the 2nd tier, but LOOK at #11 and NURO at #18 should swap positions.

Entering 02012 Tier 1 Stocks

The GDT::Portfolio had a tough 02011. I could spend hours writing about the year that is ending today (02011.12.31), but I won't. Instead, I will spend some time studying the GDT::Portfolio to review how is it positioned to prosper some time within the next decade. I think it's possible we'll have exa-scale computing by 02018.

02011 data: DJIA up 5.53%; S&P 500 up 0.00318%; NASDAQ down 1.8%; Russell 2000 down 5.45%.

The GDT::Portfolio is a heavily weighted NASDAQ/Russell 2000 collection of investment seeds (i.e. stocks).

The GDT::Portfolio rankings starting year 02012.

iRobot #1, Google #2, Geeknet #3, Cray #4, Yahoo! #5, Red Hat #6, Bruker #7, Illumina #8, Hanger Orthopedic #9, Nanosphere #10, LookSmart #11, Stewart Enterprises #12, Level 3 Communications #13, Trimble Navigation #14, US Airways #15, Amazon.com #16, Aastrom Biosciences #17, NeuroMetrix #18, Spire #19, Comcast #20, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions #21, iParty #22, Capstone Therapeutics #23, Altair Nanotechnologies #24, AT&T #25, Mace Security Intl. #26, Digital Angel #27, Axion Power Intl. #28, StemCells #29, Alcatel-Lucent #30, Isotechnika #31, Adamis Pharmaceutical #32.

iRobot (IRBT) at #1 is a bit bothersome because our Roomba robotic vacuum isn't doing its job. I am hoping to never sell another IRBT share for under $40.

Google (GOOG) at #2 is--in a nutshell--exciting. To me Google as a 21st century Informatics company. GOOG ended 02011 at $645.90. My 1st GOOG target price is $1,869.37.

Geeknet (GKNT) at #3 is a major frustration and it should be starting 02012 at #1. GKNT ended 02011 at $17.05 and my 1st target price is $30.94.

Cray (CRAY) at #4 is a super risky supercomputing investment seed. Cray is helping enable exa-scale computing by the end of the current decade. The GDT::Portfolio got hit hard when SGI (my other supercomputing seed) died. I'm CRAzY about CRAY. CRAY ended 02011 at $6.47. PSR is at 0.64 and I can see it at 1.92, which puts CRAY at $19.41. I add a few cents to make the 1st target price $19.57.

Yahoo! (YHOO) at #5 is pure frustration. Yahoo! has a great web brand. Yahoo! should not be in the top 10. There is a chance that YHOO will exit the GDT::Portfolio during 02012. YHOO ended 02011 at $16.13 down 3% for the year. To me YHOO is a $52 stock.

Red Hat (RHT) at #6 should not be in the top 10. 02011 was a growth year for Red Hat, yet RHT was down 9.6% for the year. I am hoping to continue to be a long-term investor in Red Hat because it is a FLOSS company. FLOSS is the acronym I use when referencing Free/Libre Open Source Software. RHT ended 02011 at $41.29. Next target price is $67.48.

Bruker (BRKR) at #7 is nice. Bruker makes instrumentation that enables scientists and researchers to see the very, very, very small. I sold some BRKR at $18.07 and $21.45 during 02011. BRKR ended 02011 at $12.42.

Illumina (ILMN) at #8 is strange because it probably should be #1. It's as if we made a quick exit out of the Genomics Age. Illumina lost 52% of the its market value during 02011. I'd be extremely happy if I never sold another ILMN share.

Hanger Orthopedic (HGR) at #9 means the GDT::Portfolio is struggling. If only I could find some more Hanger Orthopedics...

Nanosphere (NSPH) at #10 is highly speculative and investors bailed ship during 02011. If NSPH could break into the top 5, then it would probably mean the GDT::Portfolio as a whole is doing well.

The top 10 is the top tier of three tiers. I'll document the second and third tiers in separate postings.

The following stocks should stay in the 1st tier, but be moved as follows: GKNT from #3 to #1; IRBT from #1 to #2; GOOG from #2 to #3; ILMN from #8 to #4; CRAY from #4 to #5; NSPH from #10 to #6; BRKR stays at #7.

Hanger Orthopedics moves from 1st tier to 2nd tier (#9 to #19). Red Hat (RHT) moves from the 1st tier to the 3rd tier (#6 to #24). YHOO is liquidated. The following stocks move from 2nd tier into 1st tier: LVLT #8; SPIR #9 and ASTM #10.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Bought More NeuroMetrix (NURO)

I felt like buying some stock on the last trading day of the year, so I bought a tiny bit of NeuroMetrix (NURO) at $1.29 per share. 52-week range: $1.15 - $4.20. PSR (Price-Sales-Ratio): 0.45

NeuroMetrix executed a 1:6 stock split on 02011.09.02. There 3.89M NURO shares outstanding with ~22% of them closely held (i.e. NURO has a thin float of ~2.2M).

Balance sheet data: $3.01 in cash; minimal debt (debt/equity ratio of 0.33); current ratio 5:22.

A couple of days ago, NeuroMetrix issued a press release titled "Commercial Milestone 100th NC-stat® DPNCheck™ Order". The following was copied from the press release.

“We are pleased with initial market reaction to NC-stat DPNCheck” said Shai N. Gozani M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer. “Approximately 200 physicians, mostly endocrinologists and podiatrists, in 100 medical practices are now using the device to improve their management of DPN. This achievement comes three months after commercial launch."

I would have liked to bought more, but cash was a limiting factor.

Notes: Web Brands and Stock Market Values

Comparing web brands to market values...

Google top online destination of 2011

Google #1 and YouTube #5; Yahoo! #3; MSN/Windows Live/Bing #4 and Microsoft #6.

Google+YouTube #1; MSN/Windows Live/Bing+Microsoft #2; Yahoo! 130.1 #3,

Market values on 02011.12.30: Google Inc. $208.07B; Microsoft Corp. $218.88B; Yahoo! Inc. $20.01B.

For comparison purposes: Apple Inc. $376.52B; IBM Corp. $219.44B; Amazon.com $79.06B.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

A Yahoo! Tidbit and a Cray Tidbit

Financial Times reported this morning (02011.12.29) that Alibaba Group has hired a U.S. lobby firm to help it acquire Yahoo! Inc. I've lost patience with YHOO as a shareholder; nonetheless, I don't want a major Internet company like Yahoo! becoming a Chinese company. YHOO closed yesterday (02011.12.28) at $15.78. 52-week range: $11.09 - $18.84.

It's been a while since I wrote anything about Cray (CRAY). Today, 02011.12.29, hit $6.66 (it's a number thing). Yesterday (02011.12.28), CRAY closed at $6.60. 52-week range: $4.96 - $8.38. Back on 02011.12.01, SeekingAlpha.com had a posting about Cray Inc. titled "Cray's Big Contract Wins Not Priced In" and on that day CRAY closed at $5.99. The SeekingAlpha.com posting by Vince Martin ended with the following: "But the company's expertise and strong balance sheet make Cray stock worth owning. Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned." D'oh! At $6.60, CRAY has a PSR (price-sales-ratio) of 0.64. Balance sheet wise, Cray has $2.50 per share in cash and $0 of debt.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Nanosphere: Must Be More Good News

Nanosphere (NSPH) issued this press release today (02011.12.27): Nanosphere Receives FDA Clearance of Gram-Positive Blood Culture Test for Staphylococcus. Today, NSPH closed at $1.53, up 20.5% for the day. NSPH hit an intra-day high of $1.70. Volume was 1.1 million vs. 0.3 million. 52-week range: $0.89 - $5.54
"With this clearance we continue expansion of our product offering, enabling microbiologists to replace century-old methods with rapid, accurate molecular diagnostic tests," said CEO Bill Moffitt.

Rewind about a week...

On 02011.12.19, Nanosphere issused this press release: Nanosphere Obtains CE Mark for Gram-Positive Blood Culture Test. After announcing this news, NSPH spiked from a close of $1.25 on 02011.12.20 to an intra-day high of $1.55 before closing at $1.38. NSPH closed at $1.30 on 02011.2.21 and $1.27 on 02011.12.22 (the last of of trading since today's [02011.12.27] news).

"With the BC-GP test, clinicians treating patients suspected of deadly infections now have a first-of-its-kind diagnostic tool for detecting a broad array of disease-causing bacteria while simultaneously determining antibiotic resistance within the critical timeframe for making and adjusting initial treatment decisions," said Bill Athenson, Nanosphere's Vice President of International Sales and Marketing.

If only a research firm having a significant following would issue a 'Buy' rating on NSPH.

Babble, Babble, Babble

John Perry Barlow tweeted the following.
Markets can remain irrational longer that you can remain solvent. - John Maynard Keynes

I agree with Maynard!

Now I'll quote myself.

The risk/reward ratio these days: Risk a $1 and your reward is that you'll get your $1 back.

I agree with myself!

People like to make predictions and I is-a a people, so here's a prediction: I don't know if it will happen in 02012 (I think it will), but someday Google (GOOG) will hit a new all-time high.

I'm reading The Lights In the Tunnel: Where will advancing technology, job automation, outsourcing and globalization lead? Author Martin Ford wrote that the following was "worth noting" and I agree. "The meltdown started in 02007. As we are now in 02009, we know that the power of the computers on Wall Street desks has roughly doubled, even as the crises continued." It's now 02011, which means Wall Street's computing power has probably doubled yet again.

[update::2011.12.27] In his book "The Lights In the Tunnel," Martin Ford discusses the Luddite riots of 01812. From Economist.com on 4 Nov 02011--Difference Engine: Luddite legacy

[update::2011.12.27] Google (GOOG) didn't make new all-time today, but it did make a new 52-week high of $644.49 (previous $642.96). GOOG closed today at $640.25. GOOG all-time high is $747.24.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

GDT::Portfolio Turns 11

The GDT::Portfolio was instantiated eleven years ago today on 22 December 02000 when I took $5,000 and split the money evenly into three investments: Hanger Orthopedic (HGR), Yahoo! (YHOO), and Geeknet (GKNT) [formerly SourceForge (LNUX)].

Over the span of the last 11 years, I've done some additional buying and selling of these three stocks. Today (02011.12.22), GKNT ($16.03), YHOO ($15.99) and HGR ($17.95) are #3, #5 and #8, respectively, in the GDT::Portfolio. The fact that YHOO and HGR are in the top 10 reflects on the overall weakness currently being experienced by the GDT::Portfolio.

The Stocks::Stuffer blog was started on 19 May 02003.

Yahoo! Will Eventually Do Something (I Think)

Yahoo! (YHOO) closed yesterday (02011.12.21) at $15.99, up 5.8% for the day. Volume was 45.1 million vs. t3m average of 28.2 million.

I liked Eric Jackson's "what if?" What If Yahoo! Fired 75% of Its Workforce - Starting With The Board?

I think it's possible that Yahoo! could cut its workforce by 50%-75% without hurting revenues.

And I agree with Jackson when he says:

"The fat, the lethargy, and the delays at Yahoo! have gone on too long. This incompetent board needs to start unlocking value or they need to be removed immediately." -- Eric Jackson

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Nanosphere: Must Be Good News

My last Nanosphere (NSPH) posting ("Insider Sale Recorded") was on 02011.12.08. Press release from today (02011.12.21): Nanosphere Obtains CE Mark for Gram-Positive Blood Culture Test

NSPH closed yesterday (02011.12.20) at $1.28. Opened today (02011.12.21) at $1.35; spiked to $1.55; and was at $1.48 (up 14% for the day) at 11:44am EST. Volume at 400K vs. trailing-3-day daily average of 300K.

Not much short interest in NSPH. 51+% closely held with institutions owning a good percentage of the float. Good news/thin float is frequently a bullish combination.

[Update::02011.12.21] NSPH closed at $1.38, up 7.8% for the day.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Red Hat Reports 3Q'12 Results Today

Red Hat (RHT) announces 3Q'12 results today (Monday, 02011.12.19). Last Friday RHT closed at $47.64. 52-week range: $31.77 - $53.42. Right now RHT is #5 in the GDT::Portfolio. My next target price for RHT is $67.48.

From 02011.09.22... Red Hat Continues To Grow (2Q'12 results)

[Update::2011.12.20] Red Hat's CEO Discusses Q3 2012 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

[Update::2011.12.21] Red Hat (RHT) trades on the NYSE. Yesterday, 02011.12.20, the DJIA closed up 2.87% (and 99% of the stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index close up), yet RHT close at $41.95, down 8.9%. Trading volume was 14.8 million vs. trailing-3-month average of 2.7 million. One month plus four days earlier, on 02011.11.16, RHT hit an intra-day high of $53.09.

StemCells Inc. To Float More Stock

StemCells (STEM) shareholders did not like the company floating more stock. Dilution, dilution, dilution. On Thursday, 02011.12.15, STEM hit an intra-day high of $1.71. The next day, Friday, 02011.12.16, STEM closed at $0.83.

The company anticipated STEM shares getting hit, so prior to announcing the selling of more stock, the company issued a press release having the title: "StemCells, Inc. Completes Enrollment of First Cohort in Landmark Chronic Spinal Cord Injury Trial."

StemCells, Inc. Announces Pricing of Public Offering to Raise Up to $20 Million

From the StemCells Inc. press release...

[...] 8,000,000 units and 8,000,000 Series B Warrants, each to purchase one unit, at a public offering price of $1.25 per unit for gross proceeds of $10 million, [...]

Each Unit consists of (i) one share of the common stock, par value $.01 per share, of the Company's common stock and (ii) one Series A Warrant to purchase one share of common stock.

The Series A Warrants are immediately exercisable at an initial exercise price of $1.40 per share and expire on the fifth anniversary of the date of issuance.

The Series B Warrants are exercisable immediately at an exercise price of $1.25 per Unit. The Series B Warrants will expire at the close of business on the ninetieth (90th) trading day after the date of issuance.

StemCells Inc. executed a 1:10 stock split on 02011.07.06 and has approximately 14.33 million STEM shares.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Aastrom Biosciences: Not Yet a Penny Stock

Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM) has dropped below $2 closing yesterday (02011.12.15) at $1.91. 52-week range: $1.85 - $3.47. The last couple of insider buys were recorded during early August 02011 at $2.11 - $2.36. It would be nice to see some more insider buying at ASTM's current price. Insider ownership appears to be less that one-half of one percent.

Yesterday (02011.12.16) Have Aastrom Shares Finally Bottomed Out? was posted to SeekingAlpha.com.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Stewart Enterprises and StemCells: Death and Life

Stewart Enterprises (STEI) closed yesterday (02011.12.12) at $5.80. 52-week range: $5.14 - $8.39. The Short Interest Ratio (SIR) in STEI is a whopping 31.3. Stewart reports 4th-quarter results after the markets close on Thursday, 02011.12.15. If the company exceeds expectations, then STEI could experience a short squeeze.

StemCells Inc. (STEM) hit a new 52-week low of $1.32 yesterday (02011.12.12) before closing at $1.35. Trading volume was 300k+ vs. t3m avg. of 83k+. Today, STEM opened at $1.43 and spiked to $1.78. Trading volume is already 230k+. The last press release posted to StemCellsInc.com is dated 11/28/02011. The SIR (Short Interest Ratio) in STEM is somewhat high at 10.1, but I am not expecting any type of short squeeze on STEM shares.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Nanosphere: Insider Sale Recorded

I checked to see if there had been any new insider buying at Nanosphere (NPSH), but was bummed to see an insider sale. There is usually only one reason for an insider buy, but there are an array of reasons for why an insider sells.

NSPH had a volatile day yesterday (02011.12.07). Previous close was $1.56; opened at $1.59; hit an intra-day low of $1.38 before closing the day at $1.52. Right now (9:32am MST on 02011.12.08), NSPH is down 5+% at $1.44.

NSPH hit a low at $0.08 on 2011.10.03 and its most recent high was $1.75 on 2011.11.21. 52-week range: $0.89 - $5.62.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Illumina: We're Living in the Genomics Age

Illumina (ILMN) showed signs of life yesterday (02011.12.05). Previous close was $27.78; intra-day high $32.00; close $29.44, up ~% for the day. Trading volume was 7.58 million vs. trailing-3-month average of 3.04 million. 52-week range: $25.57 - $79.40.

I read this yesterday (02011.12.05): Illumina Climbs on Speculation Gene-Analysis Toolmaker Is Takeover Target. It is no surprised that ILMN's depressed stock price is causing some big companies (e.g. General Electric and Samsung) to take a closer look at acquiring Illumina.

I read this today (02011.12.06): 5 New Buys From Colombia Professor John Griffin. From the SeekingAlpha.com posting: Griffin holds 865,000 shares of Illumina, buying the entire holding in third-quarter 2011. The average purchase price per share was $56.80.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Kratos: Is $5.45 a Bottom for KTOS?

I tend to ignore certain stocks in the GDT::Portfolio and San Diego-based Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (KTOS) is one of those stocks. Press release from yesterday (02011.12.01): Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. Announces Repurchase of 2,000,000 Shares. The shares were bought at $5.45 per share. KTOS closed yesterday at $6.01. 52-week range: $4.61 - $14.77.

Our investment in KTOS has drowned, but I remain optimistic that will eventually float to the top (break even). Right now KTOS has a low PSR (price-sales-ratio) of 0.33. 13% of the approximate 34.4 million KTOS shares are closely held. SIR (short-interest-ratio) is high at 13.2.

Back on 14 November 02007, Wireless Facilities, Inc. changed its name to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. in order to better reflect its focus on being a "defense contractor and security systems integrator for the federal government and for state and local agencies."

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Yahoo! For PIPEs? I Don't Know

If I've said it 'n' times, I've said it 'n+1' times... Being a Yahoo! (YHOO) shareholder is like being a resident of Peyton Place.

Learned a new acronym this morning... PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity). PIPE is an investment in a company that results in less than 20% ownership. PIPEs can be Board approved without a vote of the shareholders.

It appears as though there have been two PIPE offerings priced at $16.50 and $17.50, respectively. YHOO closed yesterday (02011.11.30) at $15.71. 52-week range: $11.09 - $18.84. Back in late-September of 02007, my target price for YHOO was $52. These days my YHOO target price is $26 and I frequently think this price is a pipe dream.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Spire: Not an Insider Buy, But CEO Owns More SPIR

Spire (SPIR) is a penny stock these days. Yahoo! Finance reported that Roger Little (Spire's CEO and chairman) had indirectly acquired 200,000 SPIR shares at $0.78. (SecForm4.com filing) The following is copied from the filing.
( 2 )On November 17, 2011, Mr. Little elected (and the Compensation Committee approved such election) to receive aggregate accumulated deferred compensation of $500,000 for 2010 and 2011 in shares of common stock, which, based on the closing sale price of the issuer's common stock on such date ($0.78), is equal to approximately 641,025 shares. Because of limitations on awards under the 2007 Plan, Mr. Little is entitled to have 200,000 of such shares credited to the Plan in 2011. ( 3 )Includes 2,109,305 shares of common stock in the Roger G. Little Family Trust of which Mr. Little is the primary beneficiary.

Roger Little currently "owns" approximately 2,138,205 SPIR shares. There are approximately 8.36 million SPIR shares.

SPIR at $0.87 at 12:05pm MST on 02011.11.29. 52-week range: $0.72 - $6.20

Geeknet: I Hope Geeks are Buying Geeky Stuff

Geeknet (GKNT) is a top five GDT::Portfolio stock and having it priced at $17.49 is beyond frustrating. 52-week range: $14.82 - $30.50. These days Geeknet, via ThinkGeek, is an e-commerce company and I can only hope that a record "Cyber Monday" was a good day for ThinkGeek. The following was reported by USAToday.com.
Online traffic was up 43% from last year, says content delivery network Akamai, and online sales were up 18% over Cyber Monday 2010 as of 9 p.m. ET, says IBM Smarter Commerce, a Web performance analytics firm for 500 of the largest retail websites.

I keep looking for some new insider buying at Geeknet, but it's not happening. During 02011 number there were number insider buys and they were at prices in the mid-20s.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Are Spire and Axion Heading For Extinction?

Spire (SPIR) became a penny stock yesterday (02011.11.16) hitting an intra-day low of $0.89 before closing at $0.96. 52-week range: $0.89 - $6.20. I've placed a limit order to add to our SPIR holdings at $1.00. SPIR is an important stock in the GDT::Portfolio and it is frustrating that it has become a penny stock.

Axion Power International (AXPW.OB) reported 3Q'11 results on Tuesday, 02011.11.15, and yesterday (02011.11.16) AXPW.OB hit a new 52-week of $0.30 before closing at $0.38. 52-week range: $0.30 - $1.27. The following was copied from the company's 3Q'11 press release.

"[...] although we have made very significant progress with our PbC technology, the adoption process, and the general path to commercial viability, has been longer than we originally anticipated. In addition, we will need working capital to fund our anticipated continued growth of sales in traditional batteries and PbC products. Consequently, we initiated prudent and proactive steps in the second quarter that we have continued since that time, namely - to explore funding strategies that will ensure that we have the flexibility to access capital resources when they are needed to meet our business goals. We believe that currently available funds at September 30, 2011 , along with internally generated funds, will provide sufficient financial resources for ongoing operations, working capital and capital expenditures through the second quarter of 2012. Subsequent financings will be required to fund the Company's ongoing operations, working capital, and capital expenditures beyond June 30 , 2012."

Key phrases the Axion press release: "longer than we originally anticipated" and "subsequent financings will be required" and a drop dead date of 30 June 02012.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Aastrom Bioscience Reports Good News

Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM) is making forward progress, but financing remains a huge concern for many investors. Aastrom released the following yesterday on 02011.11.14: Aastrom Reports Positive 12-Month Results from the RESTORE-CLI Phase 2 Clinical Trial for Ixmyelocel-T in Patients with Critical Limb Ischemia

"We were one event [amputation] away from reaching statistical significance," says Aastrom CEO Tim Mayleben. [source: TheStreet.com]

Headline at TheStreet.com: "Aastrom Cell Therapy Reverses Effects of Blocked Leg Arteries".

The importance of a trail being statistically significant is significant.

ASTM on Monday, 02011.11.14. Previous close: $2.75; open $2.80; intra-day high $2.91; intra-day low $2.43; close $2.58. For the day ASTM was down 6.2%. Trading volume was 1,021,500 vs. trailing-3-month average of 262,702.

After the markets closed yesterday (02011.11.14), I saw Stem cells help regenerate damaged heart on the CBS Evening News. Nutshell: Stem cells generated by heart tissue help repair damaged heart.

"It's like someone gave me a magic pill," he said. "I felt better all over suddenly. It's science fiction basically to me. That's what it feels like." [source: CBSNews.com]

Cray is Our Investment in Supercomputing

IBM is not in the GDT::Portfolio, but GDT is a fan of IBM and so is Warren Buffett. Headline: "Buffett reveals $10.7bn stake in IBM." On 16 June 02008, I had a blog posting on AzCentral.com titled "IBM remains a great American company."

Cray (CRAY) is in the GDT::Portfolio and they issued a couple of press releases yesterday (02011.11.14). (a) "Cray gets $188M contract, replaces IBM on Illinois project" and (b) "Cray Enters the Integrated Storage Market." From press release (b).

From press release (a): "This is a transformational contract for the company," CEO Ungaro said. "It's a very big deal for us. It's a huge contract based on the size of the company and we couldn't be more excited about it."

From press release (b): Designed specifically for a wide range of HPC workloads, the Cray Sonexion 1300 system cost-effectively scales from approximately 50 terabytes to more than 50 petabytes of useable capacity without a compromise in performance. The storage system also features data rates of more than a terabyte-per-second.

Cray competes against IBM. CRAY closed yesterday (02011.11.14) at $6.02. 52-week range: $4.96 - $8.38.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Aastrom Biosciences: 14 Nov 02011 is a Big Day

Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM) is having a good day today on Friday, 02011.11.11, thanks to traders speculating about what the company will announce on Monday, 02011.11.14. Headline: "Final 12-Month Results From the Aastrom RESTORE-CLI Phase 2b Clinical Trial to be Presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2011 on Monday, November 14, 2011." Right now at 11:09 MST on 02011.11.11, ASTM is at $2.72, up 6.25% for the day. Intra-day high has been $2.84. 52-week range: $2.01 - $4.45. With 2+ hours left before the market closes, trading volume was almost four times the trailing-3-month daily average.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Nothing to Yahoo! About on 9 November 02011

Yesterday (02011.11.09 or 11/9) was 22nd anniversary of the fall of the Berlin, but Wall Street didn't give a hoot. DJIA down 3.2%; NASDAQ down 3.88%; S&P 500 down 3.67%; Russell 2000 down 4.82%. Ouch!

Yahoo! (YHOO) is such a soap opera. Today (02011.11.10) Reuters reported that Capital Research and Management, Yahoo Inc's top shareholder, is "extremely unhappy" with the way the Internet company is handling sale discussions. Duh!

Yesterday (02011.11.09) I read this by Eric Jackson. How a "Cash-Rich Split" Could Take Yahoo! to $41/Share

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Red Hat; Yahoo!; Daylight Saving Time

Red Hat (RHT) was downgraded from 'Buy' to 'Neutral' by an investment firm because of "valuation." RHT closed yesterday (02011.11.07) at $50.58 and this investment firm's target price was $54. I have no plans on selling any RHT until it hits $67.48.

Yahoo! (YHOO) continues to be frustrating stock to own. It closed yesterday (2011.11.07) at $15.69. Today (02011.11.08) I read an article about Yahoo!'s patents and how difficult it is to place a value on Yahoo!'s intellectual property. In a nutshell, Yahoo! appears to have some patents that have some tangible value.

The Valley of the Sun, like most of Arizona, doesn't do Daylight Saving Time. That means during the summer months the stock markets open at 6:30am MST, but when New York falls back one hour, it pushes the opening to 7:30am MST. I much prefer the markets being open at 6:30am MST.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

iParty Halloween Sales Hit By a Nor’easter

iParty (IPT) hit a new 52-week low today (02011.11.03) after the company issued a press release announcing sales for October 2011. The press release started with the following: "Early Season Snowstorm Disrupts Halloween Holiday Business." D'oh!

iParty CEO Sal Perisano stated “Historically, the last few days before Halloween are our strongest sales dates of the year. There is no question that this storm arrived at the worst possible time of the year – on our busiest day." D'oh!

The bad news in one sentence: "Total company sales of $17.6 million for the calendar month of October, 2011, a decrease of 11.1% compared to total company sales in calendar October 2010." D'oh!

At 11:03am MST on 02011.11.03, IPT was at $0.15. 52-week range: $0.15 - $0.35. Trading volume was 125,201 versus a trailing-3-month daily average of 14,047.

Megadollar Losses... Nanosphere and Altair Nanotechnologies

Altair Nanotechnologies (ALTI) reported 3Q'11 results prior to the market opening today (02011.11.03). ALTI previous close was $1.26. 52-week range: $0.72 - $3.32. 3Q'11 revenues were $0.9 million (yes, million). Net loss of $5.9 million compared to $5.3 million. $53.4 million in cash ($0.89 per ALTI share). $1.52 million debt.

Nanosphere (NSPH) reported 3Q'11 results after the market closed yesterday (02011.11.02). NSPH previous close was $1.42. 52-week range: $0.89 - $5.95. 3Q'11 revenues were $0.6 million (yes, million). Net loss of $9.5 million compared to $10.9 million.$ 46.9 million in cash ($1.08 per NSPH share). $0 debt.

Geeknet (GKNT) reports 3Q'11 results today (02011.11.03).

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

3Q'11 Results for Cray, LookSmart, StemCells, Trimble Navigation

Cray (CRAY) closed yesterday 02011.11.01 at $6.17. 52-week range: $4.96 - $8.38. Cray reported 3Q'11 results after the market closed. The "Outlook" section of the company's press release ended with "Actual results for any future period are subject to large fluctuations given the nature of Cray's business." That's an understatement. Peter Ungaro, Cray's president and CEO, was quoting saying: "I'm excited about where we're headed." The following is a news item that I had not seen: "In August, Cray signed a contract to deliver a multi-cabinet Cray XE6 supercomputer to ExxonMobil, marking a significant return to the energy segment for Cray." I'm 99.999% sure that CRAY will either open up or down today.

LookSmart (LOOK) closed yesterday 02011.11.01 at $1.35. 52-week range: $1.25 - $2.48. In a nutshell, LookSmart is still in business. From the 3Q'11 press release: "The Company ended the quarter with $25.6 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments, compared to $26.9 million at December 31, 2010. The decrease in cash includes $0.9 million in restructuring charges." Cash per share at the end of 3Q'11 is approximately $1.48.

StemCells (STEM) closed yesterday 02011.11.01 at $1.97. 52-week range: $1.70 - $12.70. Martin McGlynn, President and CEO, said: "[...] we are making real progress in containing our expenses and cash burn." And this is "real progress" that was really needed. A highlight of the quarter? "In July 2011, we received notification from The NASDAQ Stock Market that we had regained compliance with the minimum bid price requirement needed to continue listing on the NASDAQ Global Market." Big whoop! The company needed to execute 1:10 stock split to accomplish this. Owning STEM is a serious LOF (Leap Of Faith).

Trimble Navigation (TRMB) closed yesterday 02011.11.01 at $38.58. 52-week range: $31.88 - $52.30. I thought the company reported solid 3Q'11 results. "The third quarter results confirmed that Trimble can continue to grow under the current economic conditions," said Steven W. Berglund, Trimble's president and CEO. The 3Q'11 press release stated: "Effective Oct. 28, 2011, Trimble's Board of Directors approved a $100 million stock repurchase program."

Today (02011.11.02) Level 3 Communications (LVLT) and Nanosphere (NSPH) report 3Q'11 results.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

It's 3Q'11 Reporting Season

Hyperlinks from my Finance.Yahoo.com webpage on 02011.11.01.
STEM Q3 2011 StemCells Inc Earnings Release - After Market Close
TRMB Q3 2011 Trimble Navigation Ltd Earnings Release - Time Not Supplied
LOOK Q3 2011 Looksmart Ltd Earnings Release - After Market Close
CRAY Q3 2011 Cray Inc Earnings Release - Time Not Supplied

I guess I'll be busy when the markets close today.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Bruker (BRKR) Reports 3Q'11 Results

Bruker (BRKR) reported 3Q'11 results prior to the market opening on Thursday, 02011.10. 27. BRKR closed at $14.62 on the 26th, spiked to an intra-day high of $15.70 on the 27th and ended the week at $14.53 on the 28th. 52-week range: $12.15 - $21.65.
Operating cash flow for the third quarter of 2011 was $21.2 million compared to $9.6 million in the comparable period of 2010. Free cash flow was $14.0 million during the third quarter of 2011 compared to use of cash of $1.2 million during the comparable period of 2010. We ended the third quarter of 2011 with cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash of $198.8 million and in net debt of $112.6 million.

I found the following comment especially positive... Frank Laukien (President and Chief Executive Officer): "We believe that Bruker can continue to grow considerably faster than our market even in a slowing macro environment."

I think the 3Q'11 conference call gets interesting near its end...

SeekingAlpha.com::Bruker Corporation's CEO Discusses Q3 2011 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

Saturday, October 29, 2011

29 October 01929

It was 82 years ago today when Wall Street crashed; thus, giving birth to the Great Depression.
01928.10.01: 240.01 [1st date provided by Finance.Yahoo.com]
...
01928.12.31: 300.00 [end of 01928]
...
01929.05.21: 314.09 [almost hecto-Pi]
...
01929.09.03: 381.17 [highest value since 01928.10.01]
...
01929.10.25: 301.22 [Friday; down 21% since high on 01929.09.03]
01929.10.28: 260.64 [Monday; down 13.5% for the day]
01929.10.29: 230.07 [Tuesday; down 11.7% for the day]
01929.10.30: 258.47 [Wednesday; up 12.3% for the day]
01929.10.31: 273.51 [Thursday; up 5.8% for the day]
... Why no Friday? ...
01929.11.04: 257.68 [Monday]
...
01932:07.08: 41.22 [all-time low]

On 02011.10.29 the DJIA was at 12,231.11. In other words, since its all-time low of 41.22 reached on 01932.07.08 (i.e. 28,967 days ago [79 years, 3 months, 21 days]), the DJIA has increased 29,572.8%. [Approximately 7.433% per year?]

Friday, October 28, 2011

Hanger Orthopedic (HGR) Needs a Uncertainty Prosthetic

Hanger Orthopedic (HGR), the longest held stock in the GDT::Portfolio, reported 3Q'11 results and the shares got hammered on 02011.10.27. HGR closed at $17.84, down almost 16% for the day. 52-week range: $16.33 - $28.47. Trading volume on 02011.10.27 was 2.289 million shares versus a trailing-3-month average of 0.351 million. HGR, which trades on the NYSE, was down almost 16% on a day when the DJIA was up 2.86%‎.

Hanger Orthopedic reported solid 3Q'11 results, but (that damn "but") the company had to "revise" downward 02011 EPS (Earnings Per Share) guidance. Here are the killer words from Hanger's press release.

"While we are pleased with our third quarter results, we experienced increased pressure on sales volumes and operating margin this quarter compared to the first half of the year, which we attribute to the cumulative weakness in the national economy, persistent high unemployment, uncertainty in the minds of our customers on the impact of health care reforms and state governments looking for ways to cover budget shortfalls." -- Thomas F. Kirk, CEO

Hanger.com::Hanger Orthopedic Group Reports Earnings of $0.45 Per Diluted Share for the Third Quarter 2011

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Red Hat (RHT) Hits a New 52-Week High

Red Hat (RHT) hit a new 52-week today (02011.10.27) and it's been a while since a GDT::Portfolio stock (excluding Amazon.com) hit a new 52-week high. In addition, RHT hitting $50.61 today allowed me to finish writing The Case of the Accidental Triple.

RHT started trading on 11 Aug 01999 at $27.25 (adjusted for 2:1 split on 10 Jan 02000). It hit $143.12 on 9 Sep 01999. On 11 Aug 02000, one year after it started trading, RHT was at $20.06. Right now (at 2:33pm EDT on 27 Oct 02011) RHT is at $51.28 (i.e. 64% below it's all-time high of $143.12). The last time RHT was this high was on 28 Mar 02000.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

iRobot (IRBT) Reports 3Q'11 Results

iRobot (IRBT) reported 3Q'11 results after the market closed on 02011.10.25. IRBT closed at $28.30. 52-week range: $19.18 - $39.00. The following is from iRobot's 3Q'11 press release.
“Our third quarter and year-to-date results were excellent across all measures and far exceeded our expectations,” said Colin Angle, chairman and chief executive officer of iRobot. “Due to strong performance by both divisions and our expectations for the fourth quarter, we are increasing our full-year 2011 expectations for the second time this year.”

Xconomy.com::iRobot Lays Off About 55 Staff in Advance of Q3 Earnings Report. From the Xconomy.com posting.

"We can confirm that iRobot Corporation has had a reduction in force. This difficult action was taken based on our current view of future defense spending and a shift in program structure."

NASDAQ.com::IRBT Short Interest appears high to me given ~12% of IRBT is closely held with "institutions and mutual funds" owning ~67% of the float.

[update::2011.10.26] http://seekingalpha.com/article/302333-irobot-s-ceo-discusses-q3-2011-earnings-call-transcript?source=yahoo

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Amazon.com (AMZN) Reports 3Q'11 Results

Amazon.com (AZMN) was tanking in after-hours trading after the company reported 3Q'11 results. I like how Amazon.com starts every quarterly report by first reporting cash flows and then shares outstanding. The 3Q'11 report started with the following.
Operating cash flow increased 19% to $3.11 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $2.62 billion for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2010. Free cash flow decreased 17% to $1.53 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.83 billion for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2010.

Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 469 million on September 30, 2011, compared with 465 million a year ago.

Investors appear unhappy with Amazon.com's 3Q'11 results. After Hours: $195.62 Down -$31.53 (-13.88%) 4:27PM EDT on 02011.10.25. 52-week range: $156.77 - $246.71

Illumina (ILMN) Reports 3Q'11 Results

Illumina (ILMN) reported back on 02011.10.06 that 3Q'11 results were going to be disappointing. The Stocks::Stuffer posting on 02011.10.07 started with the following: Illumina (ILMN) is down 32% this morning after the company announced that the future is farther away than expected. ILMN snap shot on 02011.10.07: $27.38 Down $12.55 (-31.43%) 10:21AM EDT. Yesterday, 02011.10.24, ILMN closed at $28.72. Today, 02011.10.25, prior to the markets opening, Illumina reported the disappointing 3Q'11 results and here some notes from the company's 3Q'11 press release.

"generated $90.0 million in cash flow from operations during the third quarter of 2011 compared to $54.8 million in the prior year period"

"ended the third quarter of 2011 with $1.1 billion in cash [...]"

"Repurchased $204.0 million of common stock [...]" But how many ILMN shares?

"Research and development (R&D) expenses for the third quarter of 2011 were $50.4 million compared to $44.8 million in the third quarter of 2010." But... "Revenue of $235.5 million, a 1% decrease compared to the $237.3 million in the third quarter of 2010."

Sign of the times...

"Given the uncertainties associated with academic and government research funding and the global economic environment, the company is implementing a restructuring to better align the company’s organization and cost structure. As a result, the company expects to record a restructuring charge of approximately $15-17 million, the majority of which will be recorded during the fourth quarter of 2011."

Sign of the times...

"As we indicated in our press release earlier this month, we believe that fourth quarter revenue will be higher than third quarter levels, as a result of the commercialization of the MiSeq platform. However, given the uncertainty surrounding budgets for government funding of research and development, the company is not providing further guidance at this time."

Illumina.com::3rd-Quarter 02011 Results

Monday, October 24, 2011

Level 3 Communications (LVLT); LookSmart (LOOK); Yahoo! (YHOO)

Level 3 Communications (LVLT) executed the 1:15 stock split and the shares are now trading on the NYSE. Prior to the reverse stock split LVLT was at $1.55. LVLT closed last week (02011.10.21) at $23.50. Post split 52-week range: $12.75 - $40.05

LookSmart (LOOK) continues to be a DumbAss investment, but at $1.28 it is selling below cash-per-share of $1.30.

Yahoo! (YHOO) rumors are running wild and rampant. YHOO closed last week (02011.10.21) at $16.12. 52-week range: $11.09 - $18.84.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Yahoo! (YHOO): Sink or Swim--I'm Holding

Yahoo! (YHOO) reported 3Q'11 results on 02011.10.018 and I thought they seemed okay. The following was copied from Yahoo!'s 3Q'11 press release.
  • Free cash flow was $247 million for the third quarter of 2011, a 1 percent decrease compared to $250 million for the same period of 2010.
  • Cash, cash equivalents, and investments in marketable debt securities were $2,870 million at September 30, 2011 compared to $3,629 million at December 31, 2010, a decrease of $759 million. During the third quarter of 2011, Yahoo! repurchased 44 million shares for $593 million. During the nine months ended September 30, 2011, Yahoo! repurchased 82 million shares for $1,203 million.

Bradley Horowitz, a VP at Google, said the following about Yahoo!: “The company is actually quite healthy. It’s not on the ropes, it’s not as if they don’t have traffic. They have number one sites in many categories."

Some Yahoo! related headlines from today (02011.10.20) and yesterday.

  • What is Yahoo? Still One of Life's Unanswerable Questions via AllThingsD
  • Yahoo Has More Options Than Sale of Company, Co-Founder Jerry Yang Says via Bloomberg
  • Alibaba’s Jack Ma Says He Is Interested in Buying Yahoo [old news] via Bloomberg
  • A $16 To $18 Private Equity Deal Would Undervalue Yahoo's Assets [I agree!] via Seeking Alpha

YHOO closed yesterday (02011.10.19) at $15.94. 52-week range: $11.09 - $18.84

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Nanosphere (NSPH): Insider Buy Recorded

I buzzed the following on 02011.09.28... Nanosphere (NSPH) hit a new 52-week low of $1.01 this morning (02011.09.28), which means it almost became a penny stock. 52-week range: $1.01 - $5.95. I don't know why the stock keeps falling; maybe its an end-of-quarter thing. Although there was lots of NSPH insider buying during the summer of this year, I'd like to see some more insider purchases right now.

I buzzed the following on 02011.10.10... Nanosphere (NSPH) saw a small amount if insider buying on 02011.10.03 (10,000 shares at $0.90) and 02011.09.30 (1,000 shares at $0.91, 3,370 shares at $0.97, and 30,000 shares in the $0.93-$1.01 range).

Today, 02011.10.19, I saw that Mark Slezak, Director, purchased (indirectly) 285,235 NSPH shares at $1.10 per share. NSPH was at $1.18 on 02011.10.19 at 1:22PM EDT. 52-week range: $0.89 - $5.95.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Geeknet (GKNT): Thin Float/High Short-Interest-Ratio

I'd like to see some more insider buying at Geeknet (GKNT). I have to believe that CEO Langone is extremely unhappy with GKNT at $18.36 (52-week range: $14.82 - $30.50). It appears as though Langone last bought some GKNT on 13 May 02011 when he bought 10,716 shares at $26.06 - $26.8 per share.

There are only 6.33 million GKNT shares and ~38% of them are closely held. The company has ~$25 million in cash with $0 of debt. I like these numbers because right now GKNT has a 13.8 short-interest-ratio (SIR). Thin float, high SIR.

The success of Geeknet is dependent on the success of ThinkGeek. The following are a couple of recent press releases from ThinkGeek.

Monday, October 17, 2011

hello, world

This blog is all about stocks. I had to start using this blogging tool because Google killed Google Buzz.

My Stocks::Stuffer blog was started on 19 May 02003. On 11 April 02010, the postings to the Stocks::Stuffer blog were hyperlinks to my stock related postings to my Google Buzz blog.

When this blog was created on 17 October 02011, the DJIA was at 11,644; S&P 500 was at 1225; and Nasdaq was at 2668.

Note: Postings to this blog use 5-digit years (e.g. 2011 is 02011 and next year is 02012).