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Monday Jun 26, 2006
Gas Relief in the Future?
By--- Wallet-friendly Car Innovations
--- Continued Interest in IPO’s and Ethanol
Dear American Capitalist Reader,
It's summertime, and that means you're probably feeling the energy crunch more than ever. The air conditioners are running 24/7 while the paint melts off the outside of your house.
You're taking the kids to Six Flags, or piling them into the SUV to go visit their grandparents, and each time you stop at the pump, you're pretty sure you can feel your credit card having a seizure. You briefly consider selling a kidney to Texaco now, and just getting it over with.
Well, relief might be as close as an engineering lab in Western Canada. That's because a team from the University of British Columbia just won the Society of Automotive Engineers SuperMileage Competition, a race of some of the most advanced, wallet-friendly vehicles on the planet.
The winning car achieved a remarkable 3,145 miles to the gallon. That's right -- you could make it clear across the country on less than $10 worth of gas.
Granted, it required some rather extreme design elements to reach that mark. For example, to keep an aerodynamic profile, the car requires that its driver operate it lying on his or her stomach.
There's a lot of attention being directed at roundabout ways to solve the transportation energy crunch -- from alternative fuels like ethanol or biodiesel to hybrid cars and trucks. But relatively little scrutiny is being directed at the basics, like a conventional vehicles weight or aerodynamic profile.
The UBC team proved that by focusing on these fundamentals, it is possible to squeeze unheard-of performance out of a relatively inexpensive package. The team has won four out of the last six competitions, and nearly doubled the performance of their model since they won last year.
Will Ford or GM be releasing any 3,000-miles-per-gallon cars in the near future? That-s unlikely. It-s debatable whether they would even want to, if they could. But as more and more private groups -- college students, amateur builders, and hobbyists -- start demonstrating these kinds of feats and showing the world what automotive technology is capable of, it will push the big automakers to do likewise.
That's when we'll start to see some of these innovations making their way into the Camrys and Accords of the world.
And when that day comes, you might well be able to take the kids to Six Flags, visit your sister in Arizona, and share July 4 with your in-laws in Florida -- all on one tank of gas. Your wallet will never have felt healthier.
Best regards,
Alex Chinn
Editor, Red Zone Network
Over to Ian Cooper with more…
IPOs This Week
On the heels of the hot VeraSun Energy IPO, which priced well above expectations and then skyrocketed 30% on its date of debut, Aventine Renewable Energy will IPO this week. The company, a producer and marketer of ethanol, has plans to sell 7.8 million shares between $37 and $41 a share under the symbol AVRN.
Look for heavy interest in ethanol names like MGP Ingredients and Pacific Ethanol on the Aventine IPO debut.
Other IPOs coming to market this week include online jewelry retailer, Bidz.com, that plans to sell 6.2 million shares at $8-10. Online marketplace, Gmarket, has plans to sell 9.1 million shares at $13.25-15.25 a share.
Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group has plans to sell 4.5 million shares between $11-13. J. Crew has plans to sell 18.8 million shares between $15-17. And Omniture has plans to sell 10.7 million shares between $7.50-9.
The latest barrage of IPOs only strengthens the EVS team’s newest trading tool -- unlocks. You see, when any company goes public, only a percentage of the company's stock is offered for sale, also known as the float. The rest is held and owned by underwriters, company officers, and other insiders.
By contractual obligation, insiders and underwriters can't sell their stock for a period of time... usually six months to a year from the date of the IPO. This is commonly referred to as the lock-up period, and it's set up to ensure that insiders cannot profit from the early trading frenzy generated by an IPO. It provides stability because insiders cannot simply dump their shares.
Once the lock-up period expires, anything goes, and insiders are allowed to sell their shares. If an insider has realized a significant gain on his investment, he may cash out.
And in many cases, insiders cash in and flood the market with shares, forcing the stock price lower. Ordinary shareholders, unfamiliar with the unlock practice, are completely baffled. Share prices are dropping like cement boots in the East River and shareholders don't know why. Lucky for us, they panic and dump their shares at a loss, only adding to the glut and our profit opportunities.
The team used the unlock date of Under Armour to rake in 94% and 51% gains. Under Armour had taken a dive shortly after unlocking 12.1 million shares, which just about doubled its 13.22 million-share float. The underlying stock was down about $2 following the share unlock.
Coal has the capability to fully eliminate our nation's deadly addiction to foreign oil. Unlike ethanol and even butanol, fuels derived through the process don’t need to be blended or "watered down" with crude-based fuels. It is a direct substitute for what our cars, trucks and factories are burning today.
Once Americans realize the potential for this technology, they will be marching on Washington calling for more plants.
The company that owns the patent on this process is the subject of my latest report. Learn all about the technology and how to make profits just by buying a few shares of the company. Click here to read my latest report.
This is your chance to get in on the ground floor of the next "Big Oil" company. Don't waste such a rare opportunity.
Somera Communications tops the list after accepting a buyout offer from Telmar Network Technology. The deal offers $4.60 a share for the company, which marks a 123% premium over Friday's closing price.
Odyssey Marine Exploration traded higher after it announced that it has procured a second remotely operated underwater vehicle for exploring deep-water shipwrecks. The company also announced that its founder and CEO had returned after stepping down to undergo chemotherapy.
Catuity Inc. rallied after announcing a partnership. Catuity signed a three-year deal that makes Equity Commerce a reseller for the company.
Leading Brands soared after reporting earnings. The company grew revenue 44.5% to $13.2 million, while profit stayed at two cents a share.
Asian markets were relatively quiet overnight, as most investors waited for an indication on the U.S. Federal Reserve's intentions. After weeks of turbulence in the markets, institutions seem to have moved their money into low volatility issues, limiting some of the drastic swings seen in emerging markets. Industrials were among the day's biggest winners on news of consolidation in the European steel market. Financials and techs were among the laggards.
European indices traded in a very tight range, with no market gaining or losing as much as 0.60%. M&A continues to drive continental markets. Arcelor accepted Mittal Steel's latest takeover bid, which had been raised to $33.65 billion. Mining giants also scooped up some smaller commodities companies, and there was chatter about consolidation in the European pharmaceuticals market.
