Archive for the ‘Energy Stocks’ Category

Buzz Stocks Week in Review – IDT, CWLZ, PEIX, ARNA

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

Average Weekly Gain: 37.3%


Monday: Our Buzz Stock of the Day on June 28, IDT Corp. (NYSE: IDT) had a great week. IDT, which blends a strange pairing of telecom and energy had positive momentumthroughout the week. Shares began their climb on Monday, after a CNBC interview in which CEO Howard Jonas outlined the company’s shale properties and oil extraction technology. IDT’s energy business, Genie Energy, holds IDT’s interests in the American Shale Oil, LLC (AMSO), a joint oil shale research and development venture in Colorado with Total, S.A.; and in Israel Energy Initiatives (IEI), which holds an exclusive shale oil exploration and production license in the Shfela region of Israel. According to Jonas, it costs IDT Corp. $25 per-barrel to extract oil from shale rock. This figure is about $10 less than ultra-deep water fuel extraction — the kind of extraction that was being used by British Petroleum (NYSE: BP) in the Gulf of Mexico.

Up as much as 57 percent since our post.

Tuesday: On Tuesday, we featured Cowlitz Bancorp. (Pink Sheets: CWLZ) as our Buzz Stock of the Day. Cowlitz shares were up about 25 percent from Monday’s close, in morning trading on Tuesday after the company announced that it presented an updated plan to regain compliance with two Nasdaq Listing Rules with which it is not in compliance and requested a 90-day exception to the continued listing standards. Unfortunately, Cowlitz was de-listed from the Nasdaq on Thursday, July 1. Cowlitz received a  delisting determination letter from Nasdaq due to the Company not being in compliance with the minimum 500,000 publicly held shares requirement set forth in Listing Rule 5550(a)(4), on May 12.

Wednesday: Shares of Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (Nasdaq: PEIX) surged almost 60 percent on Wednesday, after the company announced that four of its subsidiaries had emerged out of bankruptcy. The plant subsidiaries, which are now owned by a newly formed holding company, will continue to be staffed, managed and operated by Pacific Ethanol under a fee and profit-sharing arrangement negotiated with the owners of the newly formed holding company. Pacific Ethanol, Inc. eliminated approximately $290 million in debt and other liabilities from its balance sheet. The bankruptcy did not affect the Company’s ownership structure and the Company continues to be owned by its existing common and preferred stockholders.
Up as much as 31 percent since our post.

Thursday: Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) was up 20 percent from Wednesday’s close, in morning trading on Thursday after the company announced that Japanese drug maker, Eisai, Inc. will market Arena’s obesity treatment lorcaserin in the U.S. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is already reviewing lorcaserin, and a decision is expected on Oct. 22. The main concern with lorcaserin is that patients treated with the drug in two pivotal phase III studies didn’t lose much weight — a little more than 3% on a placebo adjusted basis. The biggest plus in lorcaserin’s corner is the drug’s safety and tolerability, which appear better than competing drugs.
Up as much as 24 percent since our post.

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Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (PEIX) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Shares of Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (Nasdaq: PEIX) were up almost 60 percent from Tuesday’s close in morning trading on Wednesday, after the company said that four of its wholly-owned  subsidiaries had emerged from bankruptcy.

[–quote–]

“We believe that our business is well positioned for growth,” said Pacific Ethanol president and CEO, Neil Koehler in a statement. “With the California plants capable of producing the lowest carbon ethanol in the United States, we are now focused on a plan to restart these facilities to provide much needed ethanol to meet California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard.”

The plant subsidiaries, which are now owned by a newly formed holding company, will continue to be staffed, managed and operated by Pacific Ethanol under a fee and profit-sharing arrangement negotiated with the owners of the newly formed holding company.

Pacific Ethanol, Inc. eliminated approximately $290 million in debt and other liabilities from its balance sheet. The bankruptcy did not affect the Company’s ownership structure and the Company continues to be owned by its existing common and preferred stockholders. The Company also has an exclusive option to purchase up to a 25 percent equity interest in the new holding company for up to $30 million in cash, which is exercisable for a period of 90 days from June 29, 2010.

IDT Corp. (IDT) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Telecom and oil are an unlikely pair. But for IDT Corp. (NYSE: IDT). which specializes in telecom services and oil exploration, the combination has worked well. Shares of IDT Corp. were up 13 percent from Friday’s close, likely because of a new CNBC interview with the company’s founder, chairman and CEO, Howard Jonas that outlined the company’s oil shale venture in Colorado (below).

IDT’s shale operation focuses on heating shale rock and extracting oil. “So we can bring this up without any environmental consequence,” said Jonas. “The problem in Colorado up to now was that there were aquifers that run through the rock. So what we did was find a way to go down into the clay level.”

IDT’s energy business, Genie Energy, holds IDT’s interests in the American Shale Oil, LLC (AMSO), a joint oil shale research and development venture in Colorado with Total, S.A.; and in Israel Energy Initiatives (IEI), which holds an exclusive shale oil exploration and production license in the Shfela region of Israel.
[–quote–]

According to Jonas, it costs the company about $25 per barrel to extract the oil from shale rock, which is about $10 cheaper than ultra-deep water fuel extraction — the kind of extraction that was being used by British Petroleum (NYSE: BP) in the Gulf of Mexico.

Shares of IDT Corp. are up about 57 percent over the past three months.

Buzz Stocks Week in Review — EFJI, ETRM, LTBR, MIPI

Friday, June 25th, 2010

AVERAGE WEEKLY GAIN:  70.75%

Here’s a quick recap of how this week’s Buzz Stocks fared:

Monday: Shares of EF Johnson Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: EFJI) rose 40 percent from last Friday’s close in morning trading on Monday after the company increased its sale price 42 percent. The company will now be acquired by Francisco Partners, an affiliate of a private equity firm for $1.50 per share in cash, up from $1.05 per share.
Up as much as 40% since our post.

Tuesday: EnteroMedics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ETRM) was our biggest gainer of the week. Shares opened at $0.31 on Tuesday, and climbed nearly 53 percent to a close of $0.61 after the company announced positive data from its obesity treatment device. The following day, shares soared to $0.81, before settling back down to a closing price of $0.63.
Up as much as 125% since our post.

Wednesday: Lightbridge Corp. (Nasdaq: LTBR) shares were up 50 percent on Wendesday after the nuclear fuel technology developer announced “a major technological breakthrough,” based on a proprietary all-metal fuel assembly design could reduce both initial capital costs per megawatt and annual operating costs per kilowatt-hour of nuclear power. According to a recent news release, this breakthrough makes nuclear power more competitive with other forms of electricity generation while contributing to a significant reduction of CO2 emissions.
Up as much as 69% since our post.

Thursday: Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPI) was first featured as a Buzz Stock of the Day on June 18th after shares rose 30 percent from the previous day’s close, about a week after the company presented nonclinical data demonstrating the utility of the Company’s novel radiopharmaceutical compounds for the molecular imaging of prostate and other tumors. Less than a week later, shares surged 65 percent from Wednesday’s closing price of $1.60, trading at at a high of $2.64 on Thursday after Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced positive data from a completed Phase 2a clinical study of Azedra™, the Company’s lead oncology therapeutic for a common childhood cancer.
Up as much as 49% since our post.

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Lightbridge Corp. (LTBR) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

Shares of nuclear fuel technology developer Lightbridge Corp. (Nasdaq: LTBR) were up 29 percent from Tuesday’s close, in morning trading on Wednesday after the company announced “a major technological breakthrough,” based on a proprietary all-metal fuel assembly design could reduce both initial capital costs per megawatt and annual operating costs per kilowatt-hour of nuclear power.

According to a recent news release, this breakthrough makes nuclear power more competitive with other forms of electricity generation while contributing to a significant reduction of CO2 emissions.

[–quote–]

“When it comes to meeting the ever increasing global demand for power generation, innovation will be the key to a sustainable and safe solution for industry and governments worldwide,” said Seth Grae, CEO, Lightbridge in a statement.

Earlier this month, Lightbridge announced that the Idaho National Laboratory approved a Texas A&M University-led joint proposal with Lightbridge for irradiation testing of this kind of metallic fuel in the Advanced Test Reactor. The fuel demonstration in a test reactor environment is a key stepping stone to demonstration and deployment of this fuel in commercial Western-type light water reactors, according to the company.

Over the last decade, Lightbridge completed significant development and testing relating to this all-metal fuel technology. More specifically, Lightbridge has evaluated key operating parameters under various operating conditions. Key parameters that were evaluated include: melting point, fission gas retention, surface heat flux, fuel swelling, moderator-to-fuel ratio, and cladding corrosion.

The Lightbridge-designed all-metal fuel design would provide enhanced proliferation resistance and result in up to 23 percent less volume of used fuel per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated and is expected to have improved fuel operation compared to standard oxide fuel.

“Our breakthrough all-metal fuel technology builds upon over a decade of research and development effort that has been underway on our seed-and-blanket fuel assembly design. This transformational fuel technology also helps advance our seed-and-blanket fuel assembly designs due to the synergies between the seed fuel rods and the fuel rods used in the all-metal fuel assembly design. We expect that our all-metal nuclear fuel technology will provide significant economic incentives to nuclear utilities that make it economically attractive to adopt this advanced fuel product.”