Clavis

Where Is the Gaming Industry Headed?

An excellently written and interesting article.
I am now a follower!

Why Gold, If Deflation Is the Threat?

pslater: Comments (62) FollowWell done Rolf. I hold gold through ETF's for the same reasons mentioned in your article. I believe the risks of BHO and his merry band of henchmen repeating FDR's gold confiscation and currency devaluation are significant. I have also believed for the last year that the very credibility of every Central Bank in the world (and therefore ALL fiat currencies) relies on the price of gold not going up too much. Zero Hedge's recent discovery that the Fed has been manipulating the gold market for decades is chilling to say the least.

The above comment; if I understand it correctly; is that pslater holds paper gold!
I find this quite extraordinary; not being personal: but we have known that paper gold has no reality, may I suggest that you read your contract closely, this is a none provable, non inspectable theoretical asset.
Better by far to own gold in the ground, not only secure but real with the leverage potential to increase your holding substantially, especially in the light of history as disclosed in these posts.

Battery Investing for Beginners, Part 3

Petersen has touched on an interesting point, i.e. multibetting, an investment of equal amounts across the gamut of selected companies, one or two good strikes gives you your profit and you still have your capital sums in the other companies.
This works well in a situation where prospect generators flood in because of a particularily good strike; current example Underworld; extremely difficult to do 'Due Diligence' but armed with a low price across the board you multiply your gains X fold.
PS. This also works well with horses but remember to do your math as apart from the winner, all the others are losers.

Sulfuric Acid: Leading Economic Indicator?

Email from a Chum................

Yes, CHE.UN is a solid investment. Right up until I went all in on the Ring of Fire, it was one of my top investments. I still like them; I'm just not in that market right now.

Chemtrade obtains a fairly substantial part of their sulphuric from Vale's Sudbury smelters (former Inco). With the shutdown of those smelters, there was a natural balancing of supply and demand. The other major source is not directly from natural gas, but from hydrogen sulphide which must be scrubbed out of "sour gas" streams. It's a contaminant of natural gas, so it's a way to turn a profit on something that is worse than a waste material, due to its toxicity. They just burn it in enhanced air flow burners, and spray water on the exhaust fumes. Voila, sulphuric acid.

Another sulphuric play is Noranda Income Fund, which obtains some if its acid from Xtrata Sudbury (former Falconbridge). They also manufacture their own from their zinc smelter waste gases. I don't think NIF is paying a dividend right now. If they can get back into the black, there might be a substantial SP increase. If.

Sulfuric Acid: Leading Economic Indicator?

You could look at

1. ANDINA Minerals Inc. TSX:ADM, the Cerro Azufre deposit

2. Marifil Mines Ltd. TSX:MFM, the Neuquen Sedimentary Basin

3. TVI PACIFIC INC. TSX:TVI, the Canatuan Mine

4. Arehada Mining Limited TSX:AHD, in Dongwuzhumuqinqi

5. Chemtrade Logistics in Canada, one of the world’s largest suppliers of sulfuric acid.
It trades in Toronto under the ticker symbol CHE. You can find a quote on Yahoo using CHE-UN.TO.

It’s a Canadian income trust and pays a monthly distribution of about 10 cents. Based on a price of $11.44, that’s a yield of 10.5 percent. The company appears to be in good financial condition and throws off a lot of cash flow, much of which investors pocket in the distribution.

It looks like an interesting play on what seems at least a temporary scarcity of a key chemical. Chemtrade is not a one-trick pony. It also produces liquid sulfur dioxide and sodium hydrosulfite. The company also sells into a wide range of end markets, so you’re not tied to the fortunes of any single sector. The company has an excellent presentation of its business, complete with slides, on its Web site.

Exeter: Giant Gold Project Should Draw Interest

Has that Canaccord Adams fella been down there?
Plenty of gold, but you try and get it out of this area!
Barrick and co have had their heads in their hands for months!

Remember not all gold mines are equal, some are more unequal than others immaterial of the price of gold.

John Hussman: 'Revulsion' Should Precede True Market Bottom

Just explain to me what; exactly; is supporting the bull market.
Brokers attempting to get a drink before May?

Archie's Rule and Junior Mining

I have used the 2X factor whenever setting up a new business.
i.e. Add up ALL costs to bring a product to market and unless you have twice this amount in the bank, forget it.

South American Silver Advances a World-Class Silver Discovery

Pretty pictures, but........

The whole premise of offering indium as a significant revenue generator at a $530/kg is nonsense.

The way that 0% discount to NPV calculations are presented as "the project economics" is downright nonsense.

Do you honestly believe that Bolivia will let a foreign junior miner in on world standard terms and make itself rich while the State sits back and applauds its initiative?

I am not sure that SAC.to does have surface rights at its Malku Khota concession.

Beware.

National Semi Attempts to Fix Solar Shading Problem

SHADING, WOT SHADING
(Read to end)



Sustainable Energy Technologies Ltd.
TSX VENTURE: STG

Other Recent News




January 29, 2009
Sustainable Energy Technologies Ltd.: September 30, 2008 Financial and Operating Results
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Jan. 29, 2009) - Sustainable Energy Technologies Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:STG) ("Sustainable" or the "Company") yesterday reported its operating and financial results for the year ending September 30, 2008.

The Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis thereof can be found with the Company's public documents on SEDAR (sedar.com) and at the Company's website (sustainableenergy.com) under Investor/Financials/Fi... 2008.

Highlights

- Massive new thin film PV production capacity coming on line in 2009 is driving down solar panel prices in all markets; lower prices will drive inverter sales growth in 2009 - 2012; estimated $5 B/yr market by 2012;

- Sustainable's breakthrough "parallel" architecture enables lower cost thin film PV technologies to penetrate rooftop and building integrated solar applications;

- Industry recognition of power of parallel architecture to increase yields and reduce system design and installation costs leads to demonstration trials with leading thin film PV panel manufacturers;

- Gen II product line will be first to enable "parallel" architecture at industry's lowest cost/watt; product rollout scheduled for Q3 2009 for all major markets including Germany France Italy and the US;

- Strategic partnerships negotiated in last 200 days to roll out parallel architecture for thin film PV in Spanish test market, generating revenues and demonstrating value proposition to the world;

- Spain changes feed in tariff structure directing investment away from ground based system to rooftop and building integrated solar after September 30 2008;

- Spanish solar products market stalls in Q2, 2008 pending policy changes; revenues down $480,134 from 2007 as a result;

- 8 - 10 MW project pipeline with leading systems integrators in Greece will begin to generate product sales in 2009; nearly 2 year moratorium on feed in tariffs ends January 15, 2009;

2008 Operations Review

During 2008, our resources were devoted to developing markets for our products, positioning our products and technologies for the emerging thin film PV capacity coming on line during 2009, and developing our second generation ("Gen II") product line which enable the parallel architecture for thin film PV systems. These efforts are paying dividends.

In the past 200 days, we have

- Entered into an agreement with Copcisa S.A., one of Spain's largest construction companies to develop and market thin film bundles consisting of PV modules our inverter and wiring harnesses to the Spanish building trades. The agreement contemplates an exclusive joint venture for Spain.

- Entered into a co-marketing agreement with Solaer S.A., a leading project developer to roll out and demonstrate thin film PV to the Spanish market using our parallel architecture. The agreement is important in two respects: it is with our first customer validating our product; and it will give us hands on experience in installer preferences in this market

- Scheduled trials to demonstrate the value proposition and secure endorsement of our platform for use with the leading thin film PV modules in the market. We have trials scheduled with PV module manufacturers and systems integrators in Germany, Spain, Greece, Canada and Taiwan.

- Entered into a co-marketing agreement Ingeteam S.A. with one of the world's largest suppliers of solar inverters for thin film and solar concentrator applications;

- Entered into a private labeling agreement Salicru S.A. with one of Europe's leading power electronics companies securing a lead order for Gen II units valued at approximately $6.2 million targeting the Spanish thin film rooftop market; and

- Contracted with Salicru to outsource a customer service and product support base for Southern Europe.

We have completed the first production prototypes for the Gen II version of our inverter and expect to begin the CE and UL permitting processes during fiscal Q2. We are targeting fiscal Q3 for trial production runs with commercial production by the end of fiscal Q3 2009 or early fiscal Q4.

Gen II uses the same basic power electronics circuits and software platform proven in the SUNERGY 5 at a much lower cost, and with better performance and reliability. Our low voltage technology enables us to achieve what we believe will be among the lowest manufactured cost in the industry.

Our product strategy is to outsource all manufacturing which is made possible because of the simplicity of the design and the modular platform approach. To our knowledge, we are the only company in the industry that outsources manufacturing. Our product design also enables a very low cost product support structure.

Most of our selling activities were focused on Spain and Greece since the SUNERGY 5 product is not certified for sale in Germany, Italy or the US. During Q2, Spain announced a change its feed in tariff structure for projects completed after September 30, 2008 without specifying the new feed in tariff structure. The result was a virtual suspension of solar product sales (modules and inverters) for the balance of the year, except for sales to projects already in the pipeline for commissioning before September 30, 2008.

At the same time, a government imposed moratorium on new solar projects in Greece had the same result with no product sales (modules and inverters) by any company including Sustainable in that market. Both situations have since changed to our benefit, but the result for Sustainable has been no sales in either of these markets since Q3, 2008 and revenues for the year were down $480,134 to $1,524,159 from $2,004,263 for 2007. Since the SUNERGY 5 inverter was not certified for sale in other markets we were unable to recover sales in other markets. Unlike the SUNERGY 5 inverter the new Gen II will be certified for all the world's major markets including the United States, Germany, France and Italy.

As a result of the Greek and Spanish announcements, we slowed production of the SUNERGY 5 inverters, until the situation is resolved. By year end we had 1,079 finished units in inventory with manufactured costs ranging from C$1,971 to C$1,395. We estimate the market value of these units to be between C$2,250 and C$2,500 per unit.

Spain has now revised its feed in tariff structure, signaling its intention that new investment in solar PV be directed to rooftop and building integrated systems, by changing the tariff structure to favor building based systems and allocating entitlements to the incentive pricing to such systems. The reduced tariffs have reduced investment yields dramatically, and the industry is turning to lower cost thin film PV in an attempt to increase yields.

Greece has now lifted the moratorium confirming its tariff structure. We continued to invest time and resources to develop a marketing infrastructure in Greece and we have contracted with 4 different systems integrators for distribution of our products. For the most part these are for projects where crystalline modules are specified. Based on partner forecasts of permitted projects pending approval, we have an 8 - 10 MW sales pipeline in Greece, the timing of which remains unsettled pending the pre-authorization process.

We have also begun developing similar sales partnerships in other countries in the region which have enacted feed in tariffs on entering the European Union and expected to see growth in sales from these markets during 2009.

About Sustainable Energy: Based in Calgary, Canada, Sustainable (sustainableenergy.com) designs, manufactures and distributes power inverters for grid-connected solar PV systems. Advanced power inverters are a critical enabler of all modern solar PV power systems converting the direct current ("DC") power output of the solar PV modules into the high quality alternating current ("AC") power required by the power grid. Advanced power inverters also optimize the performance of the solar PV modules and maintain the integrity and safety of the interconnection with the power grid.

Sustainable has developed and patented an inverter platform that is the first to enable a high efficiency "parallel" architecture for grid-connected solar PV systems at a cost per watt that the industry is looking for. A parallel architecture increases system yields by reducing the impact of partial shading on total system performance and eliminating mismatch losses from variances in orientation of the PV panels and from normal variances in manufacturing tolerances.

A parallel architecture eliminates the need for complex string calculations and enables much higher penetration of the available rooftop area, thereby expanding the range of sites where solar PV is economic.

Sustainable's inverter technologies are a breakthrough in inverter design and the subject of 9 patents issued by the US Patent Office with further patents pending.

Is the GLD ETF Really Worth Its Metal?

seekingalpha.com/artic...


The GLD prospectus is a steaming pile of legal loopholes. Only a lazy mutual fund manager or a brain-dead pension fund manager would touch this turkey.

It's also likely that retail investors, and their highly compensated advisors, are not even remotely aware of the astounding risks declared in the ignored GLD trust documents.

There are other GLD critics,
besides the Financial Foghorn here, who think that the gold ETF is untrustworthy.
Dave Kranzler, from whom much of this dissertation has been respectfully purloined, has obviously analyzed the prospectus carefully and found it wanting.

James Turk, a former money manager for the Saudi Arabian Central Bank, long time precious metals market analyst, and the founder of goldMoney.com, has been critical of GLD since it was proposed in 2004. And he recently noted that the August, 2008 GLD updated prospectus, on page 3, says: "Proceeds received by the Trust from the issuance and sale of Baskets consist of gold deposits and, possibly from time to time, cash."

A "gold deposit" is a word that has a precise meaning in the law, and is the exact opposite of "bailment".

A bailment is what happens when you give your car to valet parking. When you present the ticket, you get your very own car back.

With a "deposit," a bank gives you a certificate of deposit, a checking account statement, a savings book or some other evidence of its debt to you.
You are no longer entitled to get your very own dollars back, but have become a depositor and general creditor of the bank. Title/ownership has transferred from you to the bank, and the bank can do whatever it wants with your former dollars.

It is extremely unlikely that a highly paid passel of lawyers that worked over the GLD prospectus would offhandedly put in a word like "deposit" unless there was a good avoidance-of-liability reason to do so.
If physical gold were actually in the ETF, the above statement would have read: "Proceeds received by the Trust from the issuance and sale of share baskets consist of gold (or gold bailments) and, possibly from time to time, cash."

Turk's point, and Kranzler's reference, is that "gold" is one thing and a "gold deposit" is something entirely different. "Gold" is physical metal stored/bailed in a secure vault.

A "gold deposit" is a liability of a financial institution, and it's just another lousy paper gold IOU.

Ten Reasons to Avoid the Gold ETF

Jim Sinclair has been warning his followers about these very points.

Buy good Canadian Gold miners instead.

Why ETFs Pose a Threat to Mutual Funds

With reference to ETF's, read the small print very carefully.
I note that GLD does not state that it actually possesses gold,
I quote from Jim Sinclair...

ETF'S and paper Gold

I read an article last month reviewing ETF contractual documentation, a significant weakness was discovered in that provisions to audit the keepers contracted by the ETFs to store ''Gold'' were expressly excluded and that the ''Gold'' held need not necessarily be the Element Gold atomic number 79 on the periodic table.

One has to ask why an ETF would agree to such terms if it were not intentional to engineer a weak link in the audit trail apparently absolving the ETF's management of responsibility at this point. If ''Gold'' is in fact kept as paper then it would surely be in the interests of the keepers so as to profit at the time of redemption and to invest so as to drive the price of Gold down.

British Pound Crumbles

Next to be shorted will be the Euro, Germany is weak, Spain, Greece and Italy are without substance.
The US $ is heavily supported, that is while the helicopters are manuring greenbacks but as reality bites and Joe buys gold to protect what little he has left and the US $ ceases to be the backbone World currency, it will become unsupportable.

The Truth About Today's Gold Market

Seven pure play gold producers (miners) were heavily shorted today.
The writing is on the wall, expect gold value increase.