Agoracom Blog Home

Author Archive

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

1,114,000 Investors Hit AGORACOM In 2009. Online Investor Relations Is Here To Stay!

Posted by AGORACOM at 2:40 PM on Friday, January 15th, 2010

As you know, we like to report AGORACOM traffic results on a regular basis, especially our annual results.  In the world of online investor relations, nothing speaks more about your ability to meet a client’s needs than the amount of traffic and overall engagement you are able to deliver.  This is especially true in the small-cap space, which is full of investor relations pretenders that throw around all the right jargon but offer little to no substance.

To this end, I am very happy to announce our traffic results for the full year 2009.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, this snapshot from our Google analytics is worth several million

[PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGE, CLEAR GRAPH]

AGORACOM - Traffic 2009

THE TALE OF THE TAPE

(Figures for January 1, 2009 – December 31, 2009. All figures reported by Google Analytics)

  • Unique Visitors 1,114,905
  • Visits 7,777,197
  • Page Views 72,582,304
  • Pages Per Visit 9.33
  • Avg Time On Site 8:05
  • Number Of Countries/Territories 212
  • Top 10 (Canada, USA, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Belgium, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway)

The numbers look even better when you consider

  • We built our model on quality vs quantity. As such, this is pure discussion. No spam, flaming and bickering traffic.
  • We are only focusing on small-cap and mid-cap stocks …for now.

What is even more encouraging are the Q4 numbers which, if extrapolated out, point to rapidly accelerating traffic of close to 10M visits, 100M page views and 1.4M unique visitors.

AGORACOM - Traffic Q4 2009

Suffice it to say, we are once again ecstatic with the results. This is especially true given the state of the markets in H1 2009. We attribute much of this success to practicing what we preach. Specifically, when times are tough and your competitors are running for cover, crank up the marketing. AGORACOM did just that with the continuation of TV ads on Bloomberg, CNBC and BNN that we had begun in 2008.

In addition, 2009 was the year in which we continued upgrading site features – but we really increased time, energy and resources on extending our content far beyond AGORACOM.  Specifically, we are now extremely active in terms of:

Where are we going in 2010?  Mobile, Mobile, Mobile baby.  Look for good stuff to start coming out in the next 30 days or so.

CLIENTS AND MEMBERS THAT BELIEVED

I want to thank all of our great clients and members that believed in our model and breathed unbelievable life into this paradigm shifting platform. Without them, this would be one hell of an application with no users. A special thanks goes out to all HUB Leaders that abandoned their former communities at Stockhouse, Raging Bull, Yahoo Finance and others in hopes of a better experience. I’m glad our promises to you have been fulfilled.  We know we’re not perfect – but together we’ve created a financial community that come as close to perfect as possible.  Thank-You!

REPUTATION AND RANKING SYSTEM

When we created our community by combining UGC, Wiki and reputation based tools, we set out to destroy the stock discussion forum status quo that we have all come to hate over the past 10 years thanks to unrelenting spam, profanity, stock bashing, stock hyping and the unacceptable. Many thought it could not be done because we could neither change habits nor unseat the incumbents. We not only knew we could, we knew investors wanted us to. All they needed was a solution that focused on quality over quantity.  By refusing to sacrifice quality for quantity, we will continue to attract great investing minds that have a lot to offer. Quality begets quality. As a result, we now have a massive community that both generates its own content and moderates itself to replace the status quo.

CONCLUSION

This is Wiki meets IGC (investor generated content), meets reputation based systems at their finest. There are bigger communities to be sure – but can you find another vertical in which the need for a drastically more efficient model is needed more? As I’ve stated since October 2007, Trillions of dollars are at stake. People’s futures are at stake. The implications of inefficient or imperfect information are severe. We now know it to be true.

Electronic shareholder forums are vital to the lives of so many people. With the advent of top-notch financial bloggers such as Kedrosky and Ritholtz and Grandich, as well as, the StockTwits financial micro-blog and online investor conferences, we are witnessing another paradigm shift in the way investors communicate and make decisions – and we plan to keep pushing that change for the foreseeable future. Stay tuned for more.

Regards,
George

First Bauxite Corp. – On Track To Become North America’s First Refractory “A” Grade Bauxite Producer

Posted by AGORACOM at 3:38 PM on Thursday, January 14th, 2010

First bauxite header

First Bauxite Corporation (FBX- TSX-V) is taking all the right steps towards becoming a near term, medium size producer of high quality Refractory A grade Super Calcined (RASC) bauxite.

What is bauxite and what are it’s uses? Bauxite is a sedimentary rock most commonly used in the production of aluminum and is classified according to it’s commercial application which includes Metallurgical, Abrasive, Cement, Chemical and Refractory. Raw bauxite sells between US $35-$45/Mt, but First Bauxite is focused on the niche market of Refractory A grade Super Calcined (RASC) bauxite used in the steel industry to line high temperature furnaces and it sells for much more, ~ US $500/Mt.

As an AGORACOM client, assume I’m horribly conflicted but the numbers speak for themselves and warrant taking a closer look.  Specifically, initial production is estimated to begin as early as Q1/2011 with projected annual production levels of 100,000 Mt of RASC at an estimated all in production cost of US $200/Mt.

It certainly looks like the market has noticed this Company and it shows with the stock up an impressive 66% since October 2009.

FBXchart14jan09

FIRST BAUXITE CORP. HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Two advanced projects in Guyana, Bonasika and Waratilla Projects. Strong pipeline of projects.FBX controls half the Guyanese bauxite belt (Essequibo Project – Option agreement with Rio Tinto Alcan over Essequibo)
  • Feasibility Study on Bonasika project in progress; to be completed in Q1 2010
  • FBX already in direct and indirect discussions with consumers – Marketing agreements expected well before commencement of production
  • Unique product: only Guyana & China supply the non-China world’s demand for Refractory bauxite

For an in-depth look at First Bauxite, please click on the image below to view a 10 minute comprehensive presentation on FBX, narrated by First bauxite President, Mr. Ioannis Tsitos.

First Bauxite Corp. Profile

First Bauxite Corp. IR Hub