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Archive for January, 2010

Browsers and Operating Systems Used By Small-Cap Investors

Posted by AGORACOM at 8:30 AM on Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Given the fact AGORACOM attracted over 1.1 million annual unique visitors again in 2009, I think it’s safe to assume our site represents about as good a sample of small-cap investors as any on the web.  As such, here is some information I fished out of our Google Analytics on the browser and operating systems used by small-cap investors:

BROWSERS

Internet Explorer is still the unequivocal leader with > 70% share of small-cap investors.  Personally, I abandoned IE a couple of years ago for Firefox and have recently moved onto Google’s Chrome due to better speed and all the add-ons they provide.  If you’re an AGORACOM member/visitor, you should take 3 minutes to download each browser and test it out. It certainly won’t hurt and can definitely help.

AGORACOM Visitors - Browsers 0110

Of slight concern is the fact that 20% of AGORACOM IE users are still using IE6.  If you’re an AGORACOM member/visitor that is still using IE6, do yourself a big favor and upgrade to IE8 for a significantly better browsing experience and security. Don’t just take my word for it, on January 19, 2010 Microsoft came out and advised customers to keep using IE but to upgrade from IE6.

AGORACOM Visitors - Browsers IE 0110

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Microsoft (Windows) is running away as the operating system of choice for small-cap investors (mine too). I expected a big spread but 91.5% is far greater than I expected.  The big questions are:

  • Are Mac users generally not as big into finance? OR
  • Are Mac users big into finance but – due to their tech savvy – are they using cutting edge sites such as StockTwits?  I’m very curious as to what percentage of StockTwits visitors are Mac users. Howard?

Mobile operating systems are on the grid but we personally have a lot of room to improve, which is good news for the mobile applications we’ve been working on over the past few months.  Look for big mobile news to come out of AGORACOM in the next 30 days.

AGORACOM Visitors - Operating Systems 0110

Of those small-cap investors using Windows while surfing AGORACOM, the further operating system breakdown is as follows. Am I the only one surprised to see Windows 7 at < 1%?  If I had to guess, I would have estimated 5% uptake of Windows 7 at this stage.  Clearly, small-cap investors like to stick with that works – including me who plans to be on XP for quite a while.

AGORACOM Visitors - Operating Systems Windows 0110

BROWSER AND OPERATING SYSTEM COMBINATIONS

Finally, here are the top broswer/operating system combos of small-cap investors.  Not surprisingly, Microsoft dominates here as well – but put me down in the Firefox/Windows group, though I have recently switched camps into Chrome/Windows, which makes up less than 2% of small-cap investors (ooh, I’m so cutting edge 🙂 ).

AGORACOM Visitors - Browser OS 0110

CONCLUSION

I hope you found the above information to be helpful. I’d love to hear any questions or comments, especially from AGORACOM members/visitors.

Regards,
George

From GATA: Why Gold Will Keep Going Up For Years

Posted by AGORACOM at 7:59 PM on Friday, January 29th, 2010

Good evening to you all.  I was on my way out the door for the weekend when I received the following e-mail message from Bill Murphy over at LeMetropole Cafe.  It appears to be a transcript of a speech given by John Embry, The Canadian Gold Guru of Sprott Asset management, at The Cambridge Conference in Vancouver last week.  It’s a great read, especially considering the fact Embry has been calling gold correctly for years now.  Here’s what he had to say.  I’ve reproduced the e-mail message in its’ entirety, including links back to GATA and Le Metropole:

=============

Le Metropole Members,

John Embry: Why gold will keep going up for years

John Embry

John Embry

Submitted by cpowell on 12:46PM ET Friday, January 29, 2010.  Section: Daily Dispatches Remarks by John Embry Chief Investment Strategist Sprott Asset Management, Toronto Vancouver Resource Investment Conference Hyatt Regency Hotel Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Monday, January 18, 2010

Good afternoon. It is once again a great pleasure for me to address a knowledgeable gathering at Joe Martin’s always excellent Cambridge Conference.

When I was here last year gold was around $850 and there was the usual angst among mainstream commentators fearing a drop to $600 per ounce or worse. Today the price is roughly $300 higher and the same individuals continue to try to frighten the public with prophesies of vertiginous falls in the gold price. Despite this ongoing aggravation, I am even more bullish on the prospects for gold than I was a year ago.

However, despite my consistent enthusiasm for the yellow metal once termed a “barbarous relic” by Lord Keynes, I still have the strong feeling that the vast majority of investors outside this room still haven’t got a clue about gold and they are certainly not aware that gold is experiencing a historic bull market with much, much further to go. What we have seen to date is merely a prelude, and the appreciation we are going to see in future years is going to greatly exceed what we have seen to date. This opinion is based on a number of factors I will expand on, but the predominant theme is that gold is re-establishing itself as money.

It has been money for thousands of years, a reality that was succinctly summed up by J.P. Morgan in 1912 when he said, “Gold is money and nothing else.” But we go through periods when that reality is obscured, and the decades of the 80s and 90s represent living proof of that. Gold retreated to commodity status in that era, when disinflation was in vogue and the real returns on financial assets were truly remarkable in historic terms.

Gold fell from a peak of $850 per ounce in January 1980 to a low of $252 in July 1999 in an extended bear market. To be fair to gold, it got a significant push to the downside in the latter part of that period from the central banks that were dumping enormous quantities of gold by leasing it through their bullion bank cronies. I would contend that the gold price overshot its economic value by perhaps $150 on the downside. Contributing to this fiasco was the ludicrous auction of half the British gold reserves within 10 percent of the bottom. Today this egregious error is referred to as “the Brown bottom” in recognition of the idiocy of the current British prime minister, who was then finance minister.

However, this is all water under the bridge and I don’t particularly want to dwell on it other than to say that we are now in the phase of the gold market where we are about to benefit mightily from the central bankers’ awesome stupidity at that time.

(more…)

Chinese Small-Cap Company Feature: China Integrated Energy Inc.

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:30 AM on Thursday, January 28th, 2010

As many of you know, we are very bullish on the long-term future of Chinese small cap and mid cap companies for two reasons:

1] The obvious reason – China is the fastest growing economy on the planet and nothing is going to slow down its ascent over the next 50 years and beyond. Investing in growth companies there just makes too much sense.

2] Great Results and Valuations – Many Small Cap Chinese Companies are listing in the US (OTCBB, NYSE Alternext and NASDAQ) with great financial results. Unlike many dubious US Small Cap Companies, Chinese Companies don’t seem to believe in losing money or failing to execute in a business plan. As such, 7-digit revenues and profits are very common.

From a valuation point of view, many Chinese companies became a victim of their own success in Q4 2008 and Q1 2009. Why? When the world needed to start liquidating, one of the first places they looked were China where most investors had significant gains to sell into. This resulted in the proverbial baby being thrown out with the bathwater and some great valuations.

TODAY’S FEATURED COMPANY

China Integrated Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBEH)

Cbeh

The Company is a leading non-state-owned integrated energy company in the PRC and has engaged in three business segments: the wholesale distribution of finished oil and heavy oil products, the production and sale of biodiesel, and the operation of retail gas stations. The Company’s primary business segment is the wholesale distribution of finished oil and heavy oil products. The Company also operates a 100,000-ton biodiesel production plant and twelve retail gas stations in China.

On January 28th, 2010, the Company announced that it has signed a contract with an existing wholesale distribution customer to deliver an estimated 160,000 tons of petroleum products in 2010

Check out the full details below:

Read Full Press Release

Chinese Stocks TV Segment

YOUR RESEARCH STARTING POINTS FOR CHINESE SMALL CAP AND MID CAP COMPANIES

We’ve provided investors with two great starting points to research great Chinese small cap and mid cap companies.

1. ChinaSecurities.com – ChinaSecurities.com tracks 250 of the best small cap and mid cap companies trading on North American exchanges. It provides you with the best of the best in two ways. First, the front page lists the best news of the day coming out of the space. It does so by giving you a text view of the best press releases by industry and via Chinese Stocks TV, a 5-minute broadcast every morning just after the open. Chinese Stocks TV is archived, so you can catch up on shows you missed.

Second, if you want to research each of the 250 companies to find candidates for your portfolio, it has a very intuitive directory that lets you quickly review each company on the master list, or parse it out by industry and exchange if you have a particular sector of interest. Cool stuff.

2. Right here on AGORACOM, you can refer to our China category for other featured Chinese Small-Cap Companies. As always, we will disclose any IR relationship with any public company. Given the sheer number of great Chinese Small-Cap Companies out there, you can expect us NOT to have an IR relationship with most of these companies.

Regards,
George

George

La Mancha Announces Record Gold Production of 94,570 Ounces in 2009

Posted by AGORACOM at 4:00 PM on Monday, January 25th, 2010

La Mancha Resources Inc. announced that its consolidated gold production for 2009 reached a record 94,570 ounces, compared to 71,550 ounces of gold for 2008, in line with its production guidance. This 32% increase is due to the steady production ramp-up at the Australian Frog’s Leg mine, which more than compensated for lower African production.

HIGHLIGHTS

– Record gold production of 94,570 ounces in 2009

– Gold production target of up to 140,000 ounces for 2010

– Average cash costs expected to be US$539 per ounce of gold

– New Australian White Foil mine set to start operations in March
2010

– Frog’s Leg mine to contribute up to 70,000 ounces of gold net to La Mancha in 2010, 41% more than in 2009

La Mancha is an AGORACOM Client.

Link to Hub / Link to Profile / Link to Forum

Chinese Small-Cap Company Feature: China Transinfo

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:30 AM on Monday, January 25th, 2010

As many of you know, we are very bullish on the long-term future of Chinese small cap and mid cap companies for two reasons:

1] The obvious reason – China is the fastest growing economy on the planet and nothing is going to slow down its ascent over the next 50 years and beyond. Investing in growth companies there just makes too much sense.

2] Great Results and Valuations – Many Small Cap Chinese Companies are listing in the US (OTCBB, NYSE Alternext and NASDAQ) with great financial results. Unlike many dubious US Small Cap Companies, Chinese Companies don’t seem to believe in losing money or failing to execute in a business plan. As such, 7-digit revenues and profits are very common.

From a valuation point of view, many Chinese companies became a victim of their own success in Q4 2008 and Q1 2009. Why? When the world needed to start liquidating, one of the first places they looked were China where most investors had significant gains to sell into. This resulted in the proverbial baby being thrown out with the bathwater and some great valuations.

TODAY’S FEATURED COMPANY

China Transinfo (NASDAQ:CTFO)

Ctfo - header

China TransInfo, through its affiliate, China TransInfo Technology Group Co., Ltd., (the “Group Company”) and the Group Company’s PRC operating subsidiaries, is primarily focused on providing transportation information services and comprehensive solutions based on GIS technologies. The Company aims to become the largest transportation information products and comprehensive solutions provider, as well as the largest real time transportation information platform operator and provider in China. In addition, the Company is developing its transportation system to include Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) technology

On January 25th, 2010, the Company was awarded an intelligent transportation system contract in Zhejiang Province valued at  approximately USD $22.9 million, through its VIE Beijing UNISITS Technology Co. Ltd (“UNISITS”).

Check out the full details below:

Read Full Press Release

Chinese Stocks TV Segment

YOUR RESEARCH STARTING POINTS FOR CHINESE SMALL CAP AND MID CAP COMPANIES

We’ve provided investors with two great starting points to research great Chinese small cap and mid cap companies.

1. ChinaSecurities.com – ChinaSecurities.com tracks 250 of the best small cap and mid cap companies trading on North American exchanges. It provides you with the best of the best in two ways. First, the front page lists the best news of the day coming out of the space. It does so by giving you a text view of the best press releases by industry and via Chinese Stocks TV, a 5-minute broadcast every morning just after the open. Chinese Stocks TV is archived, so you can catch up on shows you missed.

Second, if you want to research each of the 250 companies to find candidates for your portfolio, it has a very intuitive directory that lets you quickly review each company on the master list, or parse it out by industry and exchange if you have a particular sector of interest. Cool stuff.

2. Right here on AGORACOM, you can refer to our China category for other featured Chinese Small-Cap Companies. As always, we will disclose any IR relationship with any public company. Given the sheer number of great Chinese Small-Cap Companies out there, you can expect us NOT to have an IR relationship with most of these companies.

Regards,
George

Conan O’Brien Says “Fuck You” To NBC Using The Rolling Stones + $1.7M Bugatti Veyron To Nail NBC With “Expensive But Not Funny” Skits

Posted by AGORACOM at 2:54 PM on Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Whether you think Conan O’Brien got shafted by NBC or not (I think he did), you have to love his way of saying “Fuck You” to NBC.  The more you watch, the more it costs NBC.

This is simply genius. No griping, just giving it to the man. A smart way of appealing to the people for his next show.

Regards,
George

UPDATE:  The video above was from Wednesday night’s episode. Thursday night’s episode rings in at $4.8 million thanks to the Kentucky Derby winner being dressed in a mink snuggie and watching restricted NFL Football clips.  Here it is.  Too much!

Chinese Small-Cap Company Feature: Hartcourt Companies Inc.

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:30 AM on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

As many of you know, we are very bullish on the long-term future of Chinese small cap and mid cap companies for two reasons:

1] The obvious reason – China is the fastest growing economy on the planet and nothing is going to slow down its ascent over the next 50 years and beyond. Investing in growth companies there just makes too much sense.

2] Great Results and Valuations – Many Small Cap Chinese Companies are listing in the US (OTCBB, NYSE Alternext and NASDAQ) with great financial results. Unlike many dubious US Small Cap Companies, Chinese Companies don’t seem to believe in losing money or failing to execute in a business plan. As such, 7-digit revenues and profits are very common.

From a valuation point of view, many Chinese companies became a victim of their own success in Q4 2008 and Q1 2009. Why? When the world needed to start liquidating, one of the first places they looked were China where most investors had significant gains to sell into. This resulted in the proverbial baby being thrown out with the bathwater and some great valuations.

TODAY’S FEATURED COMPANY

Hartcourt Companies Inc. (OTC.BB:HRCT)

Hartcourt - header

Founded in 1983, Hartcourt is a U.S. corporation with subsidiaries in China and other jurisdictions. Hartcourt moved its headquarters to Shanghai, China in 2002. In August 2006, Hartcourt changed its business model to focus on the education market in China. From May 2007 to October 2008, Hartcourt completed the acquisition of China Princely Education Technology Development Company Limited, an authorized accrediting organization for China vocational education located in Beijing, PRC sixty percent of the outstanding equity of Beijing Yanyuan Rapido Education Company, a well-known training institution in China and sixty percent of the outstanding equity of China E & I Development Co. Ltd., which does business as the China Arts and Science Academy.

On January 20th, 2010 the Company announced that it obtained profits in financial results for the second quarter ended November 30, 2009.

Check out the full details below:

Read Full Press Release

Chinese Stocks TV Segment

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Total revenues were $955,847 for the six months ended November 30, 2009, increased 11% from $859,963 in the same period 2008;
  • Gross profit in the second quarter was $378,992 and gross margin was 76.0%;
  • For the six months ended November 30, 2009, gross profit was $727,948 and gross margin was 76%;
  • Net income was $55,829 for the three months ended November 30, 2009;

YOUR RESEARCH STARTING POINTS FOR CHINESE SMALL CAP AND MID CAP COMPANIES

We’ve provided investors with two great starting points to research great Chinese small cap and mid cap companies.

1. ChinaSecurities.com – ChinaSecurities.com tracks 250 of the best small cap and mid cap companies trading on North American exchanges. It provides you with the best of the best in two ways. First, the front page lists the best news of the day coming out of the space. It does so by giving you a text view of the best press releases by industry and via Chinese Stocks TV, a 5-minute broadcast every morning just after the open. Chinese Stocks TV is archived, so you can catch up on shows you missed.

Second, if you want to research each of the 250 companies to find candidates for your portfolio, it has a very intuitive directory that lets you quickly review each company on the master list, or parse it out by industry and exchange if you have a particular sector of interest. Cool stuff.

2. Right here on AGORACOM, you can refer to our China category for other featured Chinese Small-Cap Companies. As always, we will disclose any IR relationship with any public company. Given the sheer number of great Chinese Small-Cap Companies out there, you can expect us NOT to have an IR relationship with most of these companies.

Regards,
George

Chinese Small-Cap Company Feature: Gold Horse International

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:30 AM on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

As many of you know, we are very bullish on the long-term future of Chinese small cap and mid cap companies for two reasons:

1] The obvious reason – China is the fastest growing economy on the planet and nothing is going to slow down its ascent over the next 50 years and beyond. Investing in growth companies there just makes too much sense.

2] Great Results and Valuations – Many Small Cap Chinese Companies are listing in the US (OTCBB, NYSE Alternext and NASDAQ) with great financial results. Unlike many dubious US Small Cap Companies, Chinese Companies don’t seem to believe in losing money or failing to execute in a business plan. As such, 7-digit revenues and profits are very common.

From a valuation point of view, many Chinese companies became a victim of their own success in Q4 2008 and Q1 2009. Why? When the world needed to start liquidating, one of the first places they looked were China where most investors had significant gains to sell into. This resulted in the proverbial baby being thrown out with the bathwater and some great valuations.

TODAY’S FEATURED COMPANY

Gold Horse International (OTC.BB:GHII)

Ghii

Gold Horse International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries (the “Company”), is an engineering and construction company that offers general contracting, construction management and design-building services to private clients and public agencies.  Regarded as one of China’s safest contractors in Western China, the Company’s primary objective is to develop, execute, and maintain projects on schedule, within budget, and with excellence. In the tradition of China’s master builders, the Company designs, executes and maintains the infrastructures that support the progress and expansion of China.

On January 20th 2010, the Company successfully completed the Lanyu Garden (No.3 Residential Building) project

Check out the full details below:

Read Full Press Release

Chinese Stocks TV Segment

HIGHLIGHTS

  • The Company has completed the Inner Mongolia Chemistry College Chemistry School and received the initial annual installment of approximately $1,500,000
  • Gold Horse has secured new construction work valued at $44.2 million with an expected gross profit of $8.8 million

YOUR RESEARCH STARTING POINTS FOR CHINESE SMALL CAP AND MID CAP COMPANIES

We’ve provided investors with two great starting points to research great Chinese small cap and mid cap companies.

1. ChinaSecurities.com – ChinaSecurities.com tracks 250 of the best small cap and mid cap companies trading on North American exchanges. It provides you with the best of the best in two ways. First, the front page lists the best news of the day coming out of the space. It does so by giving you a text view of the best press releases by industry and via Chinese Stocks TV, a 5-minute broadcast every morning just after the open. Chinese Stocks TV is archived, so you can catch up on shows you missed.

Second, if you want to research each of the 250 companies to find candidates for your portfolio, it has a very intuitive directory that lets you quickly review each company on the master list, or parse it out by industry and exchange if you have a particular sector of interest. Cool stuff.

2. Right here on AGORACOM, you can refer to our China category for other featured Chinese Small-Cap Companies. As always, we will disclose any IR relationship with any public company. Given the sheer number of great Chinese Small-Cap Companies out there, you can expect us NOT to have an IR relationship with most of these companies.

Regards,
George

AGORACOM Client Garibaldi Resources Stock Up 40% Since Jan. 1, 2010

Posted by AGORACOM at 4:19 PM on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Garibaldi Resources Corp. (GGI: TSX-V) stock has traded with a lot of momentum in 2010 and closed today at a new 52 week high of 24.5 cents. In fact, during today’s trading the stock hit an intra-day high of 29.5 cents.

Here is a 2 week chart on Garibaldi Resources Corp. (GGI: TSX-V)

GGI19jan10

As an AGORACOM client, assume I’m horribly conflicted but here are some reasons as to why Garibaldi is off to a strong start in 2010:

  • Garibaldi Resources recently consummated a deal with Paramount Gold and Silver Corp (NYSE/TSX.PZG) where Garibaldi sold its option interest in the 54,000 hectare Temoris Concessions, in Chihuahua State, Mexico for $US 400,000 in cash and was issued  6,000,000 shares in Paramount’s capital.
  • On Jan 14, 2010 PZG traded over $2.00 for the first time since May 2008. GGI’s marketable security position from this transaction with PZG gives the Company approximately a $12 million cash value.
  • GGI has 49 million shares issued and outstanding which translates into a net cash value $.22 per share the on this asset alone.
  • Every $1.00 increase in PZG price adds an additional (minimum) $5 million to GGI’s operational/ exploration budget.

Garibaldi Resources Corp. Profile

Garibaldi Resources Corp. IR Hub

Chinese Small-Cap Company Feature: Sinobiopharma

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:30 AM on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

As many of you know, we are very bullish on the long-term future of Chinese small cap and mid cap companies for two reasons:

1] The obvious reason – China is the fastest growing economy on the planet and nothing is going to slow down its ascent over the next 50 years and beyond. Investing in growth companies there just makes too much sense.

2] Great Results and Valuations – Many Small Cap Chinese Companies are listing in the US (OTCBB, NYSE Alternext and NASDAQ) with great financial results. Unlike many dubious US Small Cap Companies, Chinese Companies don’t seem to believe in losing money or failing to execute in a business plan. As such, 7-digit revenues and profits are very common.

From a valuation point of view, many Chinese companies became a victim of their own success in Q4 2008 and Q1 2009. Why? When the world needed to start liquidating, one of the first places they looked were China where most investors had significant gains to sell into. This resulted in the proverbial baby being thrown out with the bathwater and some great valuations.

TODAY’S FEATURED COMPANY

Sinobiopharma (OTC.BB:SNBP)

Snbp

Sinobiopharma, Inc. is a fully integrated and highly innovative specialty biopharmaceutical company engaged in the research and development, manufacture and marketing of biopharmaceutical products in China, the world’s fastest growing pharmaceutical market. Known as Dong Ying (Jiangsu) Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in China, the Company’s current therapeutic focus is on anesthesia-assisted agents and cardiovascular drugs.

On January 20th 2010, the Company announced financial results for the second quarter ended November 30, 2009.

Check out the full details below:

Read Full Press Release

Chinese Stocks TV Segment

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Total revenue increased by 120% year over year to approximately $2.1 million.
  • Gross margin increased 182% year over year to approximately $1.7 million, or 80% of sales.
  • Net income increased $2.1 million from a net loss of approximately $1.0 million in the second quarter of 2009 to net income of approximately $1.1 million in the second quarter of 2010.

YOUR RESEARCH STARTING POINTS FOR CHINESE SMALL CAP AND MID CAP COMPANIES

We’ve provided investors with two great starting points to research great Chinese small cap and mid cap companies.

1. ChinaSecurities.com – ChinaSecurities.com tracks 250 of the best small cap and mid cap companies trading on North American exchanges. It provides you with the best of the best in two ways. First, the front page lists the best news of the day coming out of the space. It does so by giving you a text view of the best press releases by industry and via Chinese Stocks TV, a 5-minute broadcast every morning just after the open. Chinese Stocks TV is archived, so you can catch up on shows you missed.

Second, if you want to research each of the 250 companies to find candidates for your portfolio, it has a very intuitive directory that lets you quickly review each company on the master list, or parse it out by industry and exchange if you have a particular sector of interest. Cool stuff.

2. Right here on AGORACOM, you can refer to our China category for other featured Chinese Small-Cap Companies. As always, we will disclose any IR relationship with any public company. Given the sheer number of great Chinese Small-Cap Companies out there, you can expect us NOT to have an IR relationship with most of these companies.

Regards,
George