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Small-Cap Alternative Energy Co’s Heading To Germany

Posted by AGORACOM at 12:11 PM on Sunday, March 23rd, 2008

Show of hands … how many of you knew that Germany is the world leader in renewable energy technology, manufacturing, sales and employment? Not me, that’s for sure but it’s not surprising when you think about the German reputation for innovation.

Germany has hundreds of renewable energy companies. They make photovoltaic (PV) cells, wind turbines, solar thermal panels, biofuels and technology for biomass plants and geothermal energy. The impact on the economy has been huge:

  • 240,000 jobs in the renewable energy industry, 140,000 of them since 2001.
  • Renewable energy technologies make up 4 to 5% of Germany’s GDP.
  • Germany expects the figure to rise to 16% by 2025.
  • Renewables generated 14% of the country’s electricity last year, significantly ahead of the 12.5% target set for 2010.

Germany has accomplished much of this by offering great incentives to foreign companies to set up shop in Germany.

SMALL-CAPS HEADING TO GERMANY

All of this information came from this story at GlobeInvestor.com, which talks about the German experience of Arise Technologies (APV: TSXV), a Canadian small-cap that was floundering in oil-rich Canada but quickly accelerated its business plan when the Germans “tracked him down and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse – free money, and lots of it – as long as Arise promised to build a PV factory on German soil.”

Today, Arise’s first factory is about a month away from completion. A two story, 100,000 square foot building will employ 150 people and produce enough PV cells each year to power the equivalent of 60,000 houses. The value of the annual output, based on today’s prices, will be $375-million, or more than three times the company’s current value on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

“I couldn’t build this in Canada,” said CEO Ian MacLellan. “Germany is a very high-quality environment for us. I have nothing to worry about.”

This is a great article. Highly recommended reading for investors…and mandatory reading for CEO’s of small-cap alternative energy companies in both Canada and the United States.

Regards,
George

Small-Cap Marketing Lesson: Your Website No Longer Counts

Posted by AGORACOM at 6:34 PM on Friday, March 21st, 2008

Technorati Web 2.0 YouTube Google Earth Delicious Word Press Blogger

Small-Cap Marketing Lesson Du Jour: If you don’t recognize or know how to leverage the companies above, it’s time to listen up.

In Web 1.0, the name of the game was driving as many people to your site as possible. The web was not connected. There was no syndication. Either a lot of people came to your website, or you were unheard of.

Today, in Web 2.0, the web is dominated by syndication. You don’t drive people to your website to find out about you. Rather, you let them read about you on sites they already frequent. Your job is to drop your information into a few strategic places, tag it with keywords that properly describe your business and let the web do the rest.

The process isn’t simple but invest the proper amount of time and/or money and the payoff is huge. Just look at AGORACOM. We were virtually unknown 3 years ago and we’re now serving 10,000,000 pages per month to ~ 140,000 investors….and that is just traffic on our site. This does not include the number of people that view our videos, blog posts and other content on sites around the world.

CONCLUSION

If you are a small-cap CEO, you have to start thinking about the world as your oyster. This is the greatest investor relations era of all time. Stop looking at the tape today and start planning to become one of the best small-cap brands of tomorrow.

If you are truly building a great company for the future, then 2-3 years is should be music to your ears. It has been music to ours and I want you to experience the same success.

Regards,
George

Thursday’s Big Small-Cap Movers – AGORACOM Clients On The Move

Posted by AGORACOM at 5:38 PM on Friday, March 21st, 2008

Despite gyrations in the overall equity markets, I’ve always said that small-cap and micro-cap stocks move withing a vacuum. On that note here are some big movers on Thursday.

 


AskMeNow (AKMN: OTC)
0.27+0.05 (22.73%), Vol. 1,108,400
Click here to access the AskMeNow IR Hub

 

 

First Gold Exploration (EFG: TSX-V)
0.295 +0.045 (18.00%), Vol. 52,600
Click here to access the First Gold Exploration IR Hub

 

 


Liberty Star Uranium (LBSU: OTC)
0.274 +0.038 (16.10%), Vol. 45,700
Click here to access the Liberty Star Uranium IR Hub

 

 

 


Patriot Scientific (PTSC: OTC)
0.48 +0.06 (14.29%), Vol. 1,478,000
Click here to access the Patriot Scientific IR Hub

 

DISCLSOURE: Each of the above noted companies are AGORACOM clients.

Regards,
George


SEC Inquiry Into Bear Stearns Stock Manipulation Vindicates Small-Cap Stocks

Posted by AGORACOM at 10:56 AM on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

 

Paul Kedrosky reported on this story from Bloomberg earlier today. The relevant part for small and micro-cap investors is the following:

The SEC’s probe is unusual because most of the regulator’s stock-manipulation cases focus on penny stocks.

This just goes to show you that penny stocks are not the bad guys behind stock manipulation cases, they are the victims. The bad guys are the ones that take advantage of the masses through manipulation for the sole purpose of their benefit.

A small victory for small and micro-cap stocks today.

AGORACOM Sponsors 2008 Reverse Merger Conference

Posted by AGORACOM at 2:02 PM on Friday, March 14th, 2008

AGORACOM is proud to announce that we are once again sponsoring the Reverse Merger Conference in 2008. The Conference is being held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles and is the largest event of its kind. To register or find out more information, please go here.

This conference is for serious professionals in the business of alternative IPO transactions. This two-day event covers all of the technical issues relating to reverse mergers, self-underwriting, and other alternative routes to the public market.

I will once again be providing a the keynote investor relations speech. I haven’t announced the official topic but you can expect it will cover the latest developments pertaining to online investor relations. To this end, you can watch my previous presentations using the following links:

  1. PIPEs Conference 2006 – E-Mail Is Dead. How To Conduct Great IR In A Web 2.0 World
  2. PIPEs Conference 2007 – How To Use The Web To Find New Investors And Turn Them Into An IR Machine

We are very proud to be a part of these great Deal Flow Media Events and encourage you to participate if you fall into one of the following categories:

  • Structured Finance and PIPE Investors
  • Investment Bankers
  • Investor Relations Professionals
  • Private Company Management Teams
  • Accountants
  • Attorneys
  • Equity Analysts
  • Venture Capitalists

See you in Los Angeles.

Regards,
George

Why Broker Road Shows Don’t Work For Small-Cap and Micro-Cap Companies (US Version)

Posted by AGORACOM at 11:02 AM on Monday, March 10th, 2008

Time and time again I hear from new potential clients that insist on broker meetings as a part of their IR program. Time and time again I have to explain to them that broker meetings (AKA “broker tour” “dog and pony show” “rubber chicken circuit”) are of no use to them because of 2 simple facts. For the sake of not having to repeat myself in future conversations, I’ve provided the following summary for your convenience:

  1. 99% of brokers do not speculate on penny stocks. It’s hard enough for them to keep up with Citigroup, Google and Exxon, let alone trying to keep up with the typical small/micro-cap. Despite the fact you are a “good deal” at current prices, brokers would prefer paying a much higher price once you’ve separated yourself from the pack.
  2. The “Penny Stock” Rules. Even if you found that 1 in 100 broker that takes a liking to your company, he/she still won’t bother selling it to their clients due to the penny stock rules. For your convenience, here is a summary taken from a typical “related risks” section of a small-cap filing:

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

Our shares may be considered a “penny stock” within the meaning of Rule 3a-51-1 of the Securities Exchange Act which will affect your ability to sell your shares; “penny stocks” often suffer wide fluctuations and have certain disclosure requirements which make resale in the secondary market difficult.

 

 

Our shares will be subject to the Penny Stock Reform Act, which will affect your ability to sell your shares in any secondary market, which may develop. If our shares are not listed on a nationally approved exchange or the NASDAQ, do not meet certain minimum financing requirements, or have a bid price of at least $5.00 per share, they will likely be defined as a “penny stock”. Broker-dealer practices, in connection with transactions in “penny stocks”, are regulated by the SEC. Rules associated with transactions in penny stocks include the following:

·

the delivery of standardized risk disclosure documents;

·

the provision of other information such as current bid/offer quotations, compensation to be provided broker-dealer and salesperson, monthly accounting for penny stocks held in the customers account;

·

written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for purchaser;

·

written agreement to the transaction from purchaser; and

·

a two-business day delay prior to execution of a trade

 

These disclosure requirements and the wide fluctuations that “penny stocks” often experience in the market may make it difficult for you to sell your shares in any secondary market, which may develop.

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

I’m also compelled to throw in another major practical impediment – waste. Touring like the Rolling Stones and picking up every expense related to travel, meals, lodging and every stick of gum for your entourage is a colossal waste. Factor in the time and energy you take away from your business to both prep and tour – and I have to start questioning whether or not you are even a suitable officer for your company.

I know you love your baby and believe it is the most beautiful baby in the world. However, do you think there’s a small-cap CEO on the planet that doesn’t believe the same thing? Welcome to the club – they’ve even got jackets.

Once you understand all of this, you’ll finally understand why brokers don’t care about your baby’s potential. Sure, they’ll give you a pat on the back, wish you all the best and tell you to stay in touch – but they aren’t going to buy until your baby starts showing Tiger Woods talent and separating itself from the pack. Until then it’s “don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

I know this may come as a disappointment to some of you but the sooner we can get this nonsense out of the way, the sooner we can focus on a real investor relations plan with a real chance of success – focusing on retail investors.

Regards,
George

AGORACOM SURVEY: 83% Of AGORACOM Visitors Trade Via Online Broker

Posted by AGORACOM at 3:24 AM on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

As you can tell from many of posts, I’m a data fanatic. Given the fact we (AGORACOM) conduct 95% of our activities online, it only makes sense to take advantage of our digital nature and track everything.

To this end, we ran a simple 3-question survey on our site last week and had 622 people respond in less than 24 hours. Thanks to all that responded. You can view the full survey here but here are some of the highlights:

  • 46.9% have been investing in stocks for more than 10 years;
  • 83.4% trade through an online trading account (1.3% don’t trade stocks)
  • 53% have a portfolio valued at > $100,000 (do you hear that 1.3%?)

622 people in less than 24 hours. Now I’m hooked. Look for more surveys in the future.

p.s. For our members heavily invested in the resource space, we are currently running an onsite survey at the PDAC. I’ll post the results sometime next week.

Regards,
George

Small-Cap IR Lesson: Obama Ran 70,000,000 + Ads In January…Dwarfs All Candidates

Posted by AGORACOM at 7:57 PM on Thursday, February 28th, 2008

If this guy is using the web to attract voters and beat his competitors in a US Presidential election, do you think it’s a strategy that might work for your small-cap company?

Obama ran more than 70,000,000 display ads in January and coincidentally started running away with the nomination.

If you want to reach your target audience, the web is the solution. Period. No dog and pony shows, no lists. Use the web to pinpoint your audience and deliver your message. Simple as that.

Regards,
George

AGORACOM Exclusive: World’s #18 Hedge Fund Manager – “Oil Is Going To $200”

Posted by AGORACOM at 11:00 AM on Saturday, February 23rd, 2008

In this AGORACOM exclusive interview, Jean-Francois Tardif of Sprott Asset Management calls for $200 oil – and potentially higher – in the next few years.

Tardif also discusses the following:

  • $1,000 gold is inevitable in 2008
  • US sub-prime pain is only beginning, with $250 – $450 billion in write downs
  • What investors should be buying to take advantage of energy and gold
  • Why buying on the dips won’t work in this cycle
  • Why shorting has to be part of your investment strategy – but only via hedge funds

Lots of good stuff in this interview and well worth the time if you are serious about your portfolio. If you want to know more about JF, his Barron’s recognition or his HFM US award, just click on the images above.

Regards,
George

IDC – Internet Use Now Doubles TV Time

Posted by AGORACOM at 4:20 AM on Thursday, February 21st, 2008

I’m happy to say that my efforts to help educate the small-cap industry regarding the importance of online IR has yielded amazing results in the past 12 months. Nonetheless, I still find CEO’s who have their doubts about the web, so my job is never done and I’m only too happy to continue the education process.

Today’s lesson is courtesy of IDC – the premier global provider of market intelligence in the IT and consumer technology space. This is a serious and well respected organization, with more than 900 analysts in over 90 countries worldwide. As such, when they speak, you should listen. I know I do.

The latest research out of IDC indicates that Online Consumers Spend Almost Twice as Much Time Using the Internet as Watching TV. They also spend 8 times more time on the web than reading newspapers and magazines.

I could go into the details but my legal education taught me there are times when it is best to just shut up because Res Ipsa Loquiturthe thing speaks for itself.

Thus endeth the lesson.

Regards,
George

p.s. Thanks to Paul Kedrosky for finding the article.