• AVG Technologies' (AVG) Platform business (i.e. the internet search product), including its browser toolbar, has been its most successful program to monetize its user base and has been AVG's primary growth engine, having grown from 8% of sales in 2008 to 45% of sales in 2012. We believe this revenue stream is in jeopardy.
• Google (GOOG), AVG's primary search partner and currently the source of substantially all of AVG's Platform-derived revenue, is on the verge of announcing an update to its toolbar policy, something that has not been widely followed or discussed by market participants. Furthermore, few, if any, analysts on the street appear to be aware of the upcoming changes; if they are, they have decided not to publish or update their models accordingly. We believe that current consensus revenue and profit projections for AVG are severely inflated.
• Imminent changes to Google's policies could dramatically lower

In this report, we present a number of reasons why investors in United States Antimony Corp. ("UAMY" or the "company") should be especially cautious. We believe the company is currently violating both Regulation S-K disclosure requirements and AMEX listing requirements. Our evidence suggests the company's board does not consist of a "majority" of independent directors, and that UAMY may be trading on the AMEX in violation of that exchange's rules. We also believe the company is pumping its stock price and in doing so may be violating Regulation FD by providing potentially material, non-public information on a selective disclosure basis. We believe these potential violations and the benefits of its AMEX listing have enabled a successful effort to inflate the company's market valuation beyond reasonable measure.

We urge the AMEX to halt trading in UAMY's shares pending resolution. Further, we urge FINRA and the SEC to investigate these potential violations

Shares of Student Transportation (Nasdaq:STB) are trading near an all-time high, propped up by retail investors attracted by the feel-good story of investing in a company that provides school bus services to children. As a return on their investments, the company pays a monthly dividend with an optically attractive dividend yield of 8%. In reality, STB's business and financial strategy benefits its bankers and management, and is not accretive to shareholders. STB's financing scheme relies on raising increasing sums of capital from new shareholders and creditors to maintain its irrationally high dividend, which is akin to "taking money from Peter to pay Paul." As a result, in the absence of new capital, we believe STB's dividend would ultimately be cut, and its stock price would fall closer to our fair value target of $2.00 per share, or 70% below the current stock price.

This article summarizes key points that we

Planet Payment, Inc. (PLPM.PK, "Planet" or "the company") is a defensible, emerging growth company whose dynamic currency conversion technology is being rapidly adopted by some of the largest payment processors and acquiring banks in the world. We believe the current stock price of $4.30 per share undervalues the company and that Planet's impending re-IPO on the NASDAQ will serve as a catalyst to unlock value from current trading levels.

We believe the company has an intrinsic worth of $8 per share.

This article summarizes key points that we have put together in a 30 page research report available here (.pdf).

Investment highlights include:

PLPM is benefitting from powerful industry tailwinds:

• Increasing shift from cash and check use to electronic payments
• Visa (V) and MasterCard's (MA) filings show cross-border payment volumes are growing rapidly with international commerce
• Increasing penetration of eCommerce sales on a global scale

Technology rapidly being adopted

Investors and analysts have for the past year or so have hurled accusations of fraud at Yongye International, Inc. (NASDAQ: YONG). Its seemingly too good to be true business model appears riddled with related party transactions and the acquisition of assets of dubious quality from those related parties for tens of millions of dollars. In this analysis, we present further evidence of Yongye playing fast and loose with the facts as it seeks to present a bullish case to investors and evade auditor scrutiny. Specifically, we believe Yongye is overstating its raw material costs by at least 50x in an effort to manage the margins it reports on an inflated top line.

We urge the NASDAQ, the SEC, and KPMG to closely examine the evidence put forth in the public domain in their efforts to protect public shareholders and defend the integrity of our financial markets. (Our

In this report, we present a number of reasons why investors in Yongye International, Inc. ("YONG" or the “company”) should be especially cautious. We believe that YONG’s business activities are riddled with undisclosed related party transactions and that its revenue and profit may be overstated in its filings with the SEC. Further, we urge the NASDAQ and the SEC to look into Yongye’s largest sources of revenue in an effort to protect public shareholders and defend the integrity of US financial markets.

As a cautious investment manager we go to great lengths and commit substantial resources to verifying the claims companies make in their filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). To date, two of four of the companies we have exposed as engaging in fraudulent behavior have been halted from trading (ABAT (.pdf) and APWR (.pdf)). In addition, the SEC is pursuing

A-Power Energy Generation Systems (“APWR” or “the company”) is a U.S.-listed Chinese company with accounting and audit-related issues. We originally published our research findings pertaining to APWR on Friday, June 17. The analysis can be found here. The company has yet to file its 2010 audited financial statements and is currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

As a cautious investment manager, we have gone to great lengths to verify A-Power’s claims made in SEC filings and in press releases. Although our investigation is ongoing, the data we have gathered up to this point has cast serious doubt over management’s reporting of A-Power’s financial condition. Our evidence, discussed in this and our initial report, includes the following:

• Several events have transpired since we originally published our research that can be interpreted as glaring red flags. These events include director and auditor resignations, a halt in trading by

In this report, we present a number of reasons why investors in China Gerui Advanced Materials Group, Ltd. (CHOP) (or the “company”), as well as its auditor and the SEC, should be especially cautious. We believe that the company’s revenue and profit may be overstated in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Our analysis has many parallels and has led us to the same conclusions as that pertaining to A-Power Energy Generation Systems (APWR) . ( APWR’s auditor subsequently resigned and trading was halted by the NASDAQ ; APWR is currently under investigation by the SEC.)

A summary of our key concerns include:

• Impossible economics -- CHOP claims to be an extraordinarily profitable company with industry leading margins. But there is nothing extraordinary about what it does: much like an oil refinery, it converts one commodity good into another. An analysis of directly comparable companies and

In this report, we elaborate on why investors in Cogo Group, Inc. (“COGO” or “the company”), as well as its auditor and the SEC, should be especially cautious.

In this report, we present a number of reasons why investors in A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Ltd. (“APWR” or the “company”), as well as its auditor and the SEC, should be especially cautious. We believe that the company’s revenue and profit may be overstated in its SEC filings. Furthermore, a large number of related parties that have not been properly disclosed have been identified throughout our research process. A summary of our key concerns include:

· APWR has a history of internal weaknesses over financial controls, which has resulted in an adverse opinion from A-Power’s independent auditor. A-Power’s auditor issued an adverse opinion in the 2009 audit and APWR has yet to publish its 2010 audited financial statements.

· Management’s compensation structure is egregious, offering enormous bonuses on an all-or-none basis for achieving lofty performance goals.

· SAIC filings show that APWR is reporting significantly lower revenue and profit to

In this article, I’m going to analyze Advanced Battery Technologies, Inc. (ABAT) and provide evidence that the company is inflating its financial statements.

This article summarizes key points that we have put together in a longer report available here (.pdf). An alternative copy for backup purposes is available here.

A video summary of the findings, along with discussions with certain customers, are available at the following links:

• ABAT Analysis Video 1 of 2
  
• ABAT Analysis Video 2 of 2
  
• ABAT Customer Interview 1
  
• ABAT Customer Interview 2 (Video 1 of 2)
  
• ABAT Customer Interview 2 (Video 2 of 2)

Our customer interviews feature recorded conversations with ABAT customers. After visiting one of ABAT’s plants, one customer called the facility “absolutely the biggest joke I’d ever seen”.

Some of our arguments have been discussed in prior Seeking Alpha articles by other authors, including here, here, here, and

Active Power (ACPW) is a defensible business that's likely to trade at a multiple of the current price over the next several years. It'll pay to get to know what it's all about and to understand the changes it's driving in the space for energy storage.

Description of business and company background

The continual, exponential expansion in the volume of data (e.g. think of the number of email accounts being created, credit card transactions being processed, YouTube videos being uploaded, etc) is driving a secular expansion in the build-out of datacenter facilities, which house and store data. With new datacenter facility build-outs as its #1 end market, not only is Austin-based Active Power well-positioned to capitalize on this trend, it's also revolutionized how consultant engineers think about continuous power

Datacenter facilities have a zero tolerance for energy blackouts, which can lead to revenue losses, customer defections, etc. Uninterruptable Power Systems

Articles of Discussion:

Peering Into The Abyss
Looking Beyond The Fiscal Stimulus
Investment Implications

Investors face a serious dilemma, and it is not about the validity of the existence of ‘Green Shoots’. We are certain that the unprecedented government policy response to avert a depression-era collapse of our financial system will go hand in hand with an unprecedented number of unintended consequences, perhaps manifested by loss of confidence in the dollar, inflation and possibly both.

Peering Into The Abyss

Stocks have put up a fierce showing, rallying in taunt of investor fears from the S&P 500 March low of 676. Accompanying such vast swings in market action are vast swings in investor and financial media psychology.

Our view is that while stocks are fairly valued by historical standards and slightly undervalued relative to other asset classes, they are uncomfortably overvalued given an assessment of highly possible potential downside scenarios. Specifically,