Global Ship Lease INC. (NYSE: GSL) picked up 11.76 percent in price Monday afternoon to $5.13. Volume of 718,804 shares was more than three times its three-month average share volume. GSL is a London-based a containership charter owner.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NasdaqGS: CSCO) traded in 42,850,648 shares Monday, to be one of the leaders in volume, although shy of its three-month average share volume of around 71.1 million. Prices for CSCO hovered around $19.39, or 0.51 percent down from Friday. The San Jose-based Cisco claims to be the worldwide leader in networking.
A123 Systems Inc. (NasdaqGM: AONE) dropped 9.76 percent Monday afternoon to $7.87. Volume of 3,658,415 shares proved nearly double its usual three-month average share volume of 2.08 million. The Watertown, Mass.-based AONE is a developer and manufacturer of advanced Nanophosphate™ lithium ion batteries and systems
Prestige Capital Corp. (OTCBB: PGEC) rocketed higher by 2,026.32 percent to $1.01. Volume, though, was a scant 500 shares in late morning trading on Monday. The company based in Fort Lee, New Jersey, established in 1985, is a nationwide factoring firm that serves small and mid-size companies which do not yet qualify for traditional bank financing,
Helix Wind Corp. (OTCBB: HLXW) traded in 101, 300,000 shares, and leaped in price 130 percent in late morning trading Monday to 23-100ths of a cent. The Poway, Calif.-based renewable energy company, confirmed today what many people saw and heard discussed on Monday Night Football were actual renderings of Helix Wind turbines lining the top of Lincoln Financial Field.
Oak Ridge MicroEnergy Inc. New (OTCBB: OKME) fell to almost half its Friday closing price by midday Monday, losing 98.8 percent to six cents, on 1,010 shares. OKME, based in Salt Lake City, develops and produces custom designed thin film lithium and lithium-ion batteries that are ideally suited for a variety of applications where a small power source is needed.
In early January, the Washington, D.C.-based Renewable Energy Policy Project released a study that said Kansas alone could create 11,500 jobs and draw $2 billion in investment in renewable energy.
“This analysis is not a prediction,” said George Sterzinger, who is with the Renewable Energy Policy Project and one of the principal authors of the report. “It is really an attempt to illuminate the potential (of renewable energy).”
It estimated that Saline County could see as many as 2,300 jobs and $430 million in investments, with the most potential coming from solar energy business and the large battery plant in Salina that’s owned by our Buzz Stock of the Day — Exide Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: XIDE).
Exide Technologies, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and supply of lead acid batteries used in transportation, motive power, network power, and military applications in the Americas, Europe, and internationally. Its transportation batteries include ignition and lighting batteries for cars, trucks, off-road vehicles, agricultural and construction vehicles, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, boats, and other applications.
Exide has supply agreements with for its batteries with Toyota and Penske, among others.
We like Exide Technologies because the company generates free cash flow, spends its money wisely, and plans for the future.
The company generated $74.7 million of free cash flow for the three months ended December 31, 2008–up from a burn of $129.4 million for the year ago period. Net income for the quarter was $15.4 million, or $0.20 per-share, down from $19.3 million, or $0.25 per share for the same quarter a year earlier. Excluding the impact of a few non-operational items, adjusted net income for the fiscal 2009 third quarter was $18.2 million or $0.23 per share. This compares with adjusted net income for the comparable prior year period of $17.3 million or $0.23 per share.
Exide has also spent wisely. The company announced plans for a $7 million expansion at its Kansas City lead-acid battery manufacturing facility earlier this year, and anticipated the expansion will result in increased production performance and volume capacity.
We also like the company’s long term prospects. Exide just announced a collaboration with Nano-Terra, a Cambridge, Mass.-based nanotechnology company to develop more efficient stored energy solutions. The solutions under development in this collaboration are based on the surface engineering methods pioneered by Nano-Terra and its Co-Founder, Professor George M. Whitesides of Harvard University.
“Exide is one of the world’s largest producers and recyclers of lead-acid batteries and the first in our industry to collaborate with Nano-Terra. This strong collaboration will allow our Company to draw upon unique nanotechnology resources to implement innovative energy solutions for the global marketplace.”
Tech companies have lost their sizzle, thanks to a meteoric rise and crash, and maturity. Sure you can still make money investing in Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), but you have to pick your spots–a new product launch, or big upgrade, for example.
Or buying more shares of Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) on weakness and fewer when the stock peaks, and making your money on dollar-cost averaging into the company’s steady 12% earnings growth, as Jim Jubak of MSN recently stated.
One of the buzz trends to keep an eye on is batteries, according to Jubak. Devices are getting smaller and more demanding. Lithium-ion batteries alone powered 50 million laptops, 800 million cell phones and 80 million digital cameras sold in 2005.
Here are a few battery buzz stocks you should keep your eye on:
1. China BAK Battery, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBAK): This company is poised to capitalize on the growing global market for batteries. Gross profit for the first quarter of FY 2009 increased nearly 50 percent, to $10.6 million, from $7.1 million a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter increased 30 percent to $68.1 million, from $52.8 million a year ago. The Company reported cash and cash equivalents of $37.2 million as of December 31, 2008, and gave revenue guidance of between $270 million and $300 million for FY2009–a 16 percent increase over 2008 at the midpoint range.
2. Ener1, Inc. (NYSE: HEV): No huge sales here–just a lot of great technology. Although the Japanese have traditionally led the battery market, Ener1 is a homegrown company with great ties to Japan. The company just announced a memorandum of understanding with ITOCHU Corporation, a highly diversified global trading company that leads the world market in distribution of specialized equipment and materials needed to produce lithium-ion battery cells. In addition to battery technology, Ener1 develops commercial fuel cell products through its EnerFuel subsidiary and nanotechnology-based materials and manufacturing processes for batteries and other applications through its NanoEner subsidiary. The company has about $18.6 million in cash, and is trading below its 50-day moving average.
3. mPhase Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: XDSL): The company’s technologies are based on electrowetting, a unique way to store and manage power. In late January, mPhase announced that it was “getting close” to selecting a contractor to construct the company’s AlwaysReady Reserve Battery, that will be used in the AlwaysReady Emergency Flashlight. According to a recent news release, the AlwaysReady Reserve Battery is a manually activated lithium reserve cell with a minimum storage life prior to activation of 20 years. This is a promising, high-risk, micro-cap, penny stock.
$1.61