Posts Tagged ‘cwlz’

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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Cowlitz Bancorp. (CWLZ) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Shares of Washington bank, Cowlitz Bancorp. (Nasdaq: CWLZ) have been on a wild ride over the past three weeks. Shares of Cowlitz were up 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.

The Company previously announced that on May 12, 2010, it 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).

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Last week, shares dove about 10 percent after the company announced it received a Supervisory Prompt Corrective Action Directive from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that calls for Cowlitz’s main subsidiary, The Cowlitz Bank of Longview, Wash. to recapitalize within 30 days of the order, or sell or merge with a healthier institution.

The sell-off came on the heels of a surge, that sent the stock soaring as high as $6.99 in intraday trading the week before.

According to TheStreet.com:

News of the order shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise. The Cowlitz Bank was included in TheStreet’s Bank Watch List of undercapitalized banks and thrifts, based on first-quarter regulatory data provided by SNL Financial, because the bank’s Tier 1 leverage ratio was 3.37% and its total risk-based capital ratio was 6.68% as of March 31.

These ratios need to be at least 5% and 10% for most banks to be considered well capitalized. The ratios need to be at least 4% and 8% for most institutions to be considered adequately capitalized by regulators.

A day after the sell off, shares soared nearly 54 percent in Thursday trading, skyrocketing $1.92 to close at $5.49. On a normal day, Cowlitz trades about 63,500 shares trade, but on Thursday, trading volume was more than 545,000 shares.

Cowlitz is considered “critically undercapitalized” by the FDIC.

Penny Buzz Stocks to Watch on 6/18 – CWLZ, MILV, MYSL

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Here are a few penny stocks we’re watching on Friday, June 18:

Cowlitz Bancorp. (Nasdaq: CWLZ): Shares of Cowlitz Bancorp. were up a staggering 84 percent from Thursday’s close in morning trading on Friday. Cowlitz Bancorporation operates as the holding company for Cowlitz Bank that provides a range of financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and retail customers.

Mistral Ventures, Inc. (Pink Sheets: MILV): Shares of Mistral Ventures, Inc. were up 25 percent in morning trading on Friday. Earlier this month, Mistral Ventures announced an asset purchase agreement to buy substantially all the assets, proprietary products, licenses, and operations of telecom company, Tech World Capital, Inc., d.b.a. Tech World, Inc. for an aggregate of 940 Million restricted 144 shares in the Capital of the Company representing a change of control. The agreement between the two companies was mutually rescinded yesterday.

My Screen Mobile, Inc. (Pink Sheets: MYSL): Shares were up almost 23 percent from Thursday’s close in morning trading on Friday. My Screen Mobile, which develops mobile advertising technology platforms, yesterday announced that it completed a second stage of the financing arrangement previously announced with Global Financial Enterprises LLC. The company also recently launched its new interactive mobile advertising technology in Argentina with Claro, a large mobile communications network in those countries, and a subsidiary of America Movil S.A. de C.V. BMV: AMX(NYSE: AMX, NASDAQ: AMOV, LATIBEX: XAMXL).