From Earlier: Samson Oil & Gas Provides Operational Advisory
by Insider Scoop - December 30th, 2011 7:15 am
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Samson Oil & Gas Limited (NYSE: SSN) advises on the following field operations:
The Australia II well has been successfully drilled to a total measured depth of 14,972 feet. The horizontal lateral remained “in zone” for the entire lateral length and returned excellent oil and gas shows. The rock samples were largely consistent, exhibiting a lithology associated with the vertical cored interval that was the porous and permeable middle Bakken zone.
The rate of penetration of the lateral was excellent and confirms that the lateral was maintained in the reservoir facies. Some operational interruptions, such as two failures of the MWD tools, were experienced; however, these types of failures are not unusual.
The 4 ½ liner equipped with 15 external casing packers was then run to total depth and set in the 7 inch casing shoe. A retrievable bridge plug is currently being set such that the well is made safe. It is expected that the drilling rig will be released to Samson’s Gretel II location in the next 48 hours.
Contract negotiations are being undertaken with a mainstream pressure pumping company such that this well would have a frac date of mid-February.
The Defender US33 #2-29H well continues to be pumped but the pump rate suggests that the pump valves may have been damaged, so this pump will be replaced in the near future. Approximately 40% of the fracture stimulation fluid has been recovered to date and it remains too early to establish an oil production rate.
The Defender US33 #2-29H is the first Niobrara appraisal well in Samson’s Hawk Springs project and is being fully carried by Samson’s farmin partner.
The Spirit of America well has been fracture stimulated with 92,000 pounds of proppant in the Cretaceous Muddy Formation (J-Sand). The flow back to date has resulted in only trace amounts of gas being produced (no oil or formation fluids) due to the permeability of the reservoir being too tight. We will continue to flow the well over the next few weeks to fully recover the frack fluid and further evaluate the reservoir.
Fracture stimulation operations have been completed to Stage 11 of 20 planned stages. However, Stage 11 was “screened out” and the sand in…
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn 
del.icio.us
DiggMain Street Capital Announces Exit of Portfolio Investment
by Insider Scoop - December 30th, 2011 7:02 am
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Main Street Capital Corporation (NYSE: MAIN) announced today that it has fully exited its debt and equity investment in Merrick Systems.
Main Street completed the exit of its debt and equity interest in Merrick as part of a majority equity investment in Merrick by HitecVision, a Norwegian-based private equity investor focused on the international oil and gas industry. Main Street made its investment in Merrick, which consisted of a first lien, secured debt investment with equity warrant participation, during May 2010 to support the Company’s various growth initiatives. Main Street realized a total internal rate of return of 41% on its investment in the Company.
For more Benzinga, visit Benzinga Professional Service, Value Investor, and Stocks Under $5.
Tegal Announces Sale of Nanolayer Deposition Patent Portfolio for $4M
by Insider Scoop - December 30th, 2011 7:01 am
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Tegal Corporation (NASDAQ: TGAL) today announced that it has awarded patents to multiple bidders for three of the four bid lots of Tegal’s NLD Patent Portfolio recently offered for sale for an aggregate consideration of approximately $4M. To date, approximately $3.6M has been received.
For more Benzinga, visit Benzinga Professional Service, Value Investor, and Stocks Under $5.
Cleantech Solutions Announces Listing Transfer from Nasdaq Global Market to Nasdaq Capital Market and Board Approval of One-for-ten Reverse Split
by Insider Scoop - December 30th, 2011 7:00 am
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Cleantech Solutions International (NASDAQ: CLNT) today announced that its common stock is trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market, effective December 29, 2011. The common stock had been traded on The Nasdaq Global Market to the Nasdaq Capital Market. The trading of the Company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market effective on December 29, 2011. The change does not effect the Company’ trading symbol, “CLNT.”
The transfer to The Nasdaq Capital Market was made at the request of the Company since the Company did not meet the minimum market value of publicly traded shares requirement of $5,000,000 on The Nasdaq Global Market. The Company meets the minimum market value of publicly traded shares for The Nasdaq Capital Market.
For more Benzinga, visit Benzinga Professional Service, Value Investor, and Stocks Under $5.
Ku6 Media Announces $3.2M Repurchase Program
by Insider Scoop - December 30th, 2011 7:00 am
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Ku6 Media Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: KUTV) today announced that its Board of Directors have authorized the Company to repurchase up to an aggregate of $3.2 million of its outstanding American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) from time to time following the date hereof, based on market conditions. The repurchases may be effected through open market purchase or block trades, including the use of derivative instruments. The repurchase will be financed totally out of the Company’s cash balance.
For more Benzinga, visit Benzinga Professional Service, Value Investor, and Stocks Under $5.
Lawrence Lessig: Republic Lost
by ilene - December 30th, 2011 4:50 am
Two videos with Lawrence Lessig – an interview with Jon Stewart (short) and an excellent lecture (48 mins). H/tip Jesse’s Cafe Americain. ~ Ilene
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Lawrence Lessig Author Lawrence Lessig examines the way in which money links every issue that Americans — both liberal and conservative — care about.
See also: Lessig: Republic Lost Lecture (video) – Berkley
Trends 2012: The End of the Euro, The End of the Investor
by ilene - December 30th, 2011 3:58 am
Courtesy of The Automatic Earth
"W.T. Grant department store fire at New York’s Sixth Avenue and 18th Street in April 1916"
Ilargi: Oh, sure, don’t get me wrong, there may still be a Euro a year from now. And there’ll certainly be some investors left.
But the Euro, if it manages to survive, will have to do so in what can only be characterized as a radically different form and shape. At the same time, small mom and pop stock investors will be few and far between; there’s no money in the "traditional" stock markets, as they’ve found out – once more – in 2011. Many will also need what money they still have in stocks to pay down various kinds of other obligations.
As for the stock markets, I found it greatly ironic that on December 23, the S&P 500 was up for the year. Yesterdays markets plunge did away with that irony, but given the psychological importance, I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the slim trading volume between Christmas and New Year’s, one party or another will make sure the number comes in positive anyway.
What strikes me in all this is the disparity between the S&P and financial stocks. It’s unreal. If mom and pop hold bank stocks, they’re not very likely to have turned a profit. If pension funds are anything to go by (they lost big time this year), mom and pop had lean turkey at their holiday family parties.
Here’s a little overview of the year-to-date performance of some of the major global banking stocks on December 29, 2011, before the opening bell:
- BofA: -60.38%
- Citi: -44.76%
- Goldman Sachs: -46.41%
- JPMorgan: -23.03%
- Morgan Stanley: -45.24%
- RBS: -50%
- Barclays: -34.32%
- Lloyds: -63.02%
- UBS: -29.33%
- Deutsche Bank: -28,55%
- Crédit Agricole: -56.04%
- BNP Paribas: -37.67%
- Société Générale: -59.57%
These are just some of the Too Big To Fail institutions. And while your governments have enough faith in them – or so they want you to believe – to prop them up with trillions of dollars of your money, investors are fleeing them, even if they can expect them to be propped up further.
That doesn’t just say something about confidence in the individual banks, it shouts loud and clear from the rooftops on confidence in the banking system as a whole, and indeed on governments’ ability to continue bailing them out. In other words: bailouts…
European Banks Close 2011 With Near Record Cash On Deposit At ECB, €9 Billion Overnight Increase
by Zero Hedge - December 30th, 2011 3:41 am
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by Tyler Durden.
In the last daily update of 2011, the ECB announced that European banks saw their usage of the central bank’s deposit facility rise yet again following a modest drop the day before to fund some Italian bond purchases, and increased to just shy of the all tie record of €452 billion, at €446 billion, a €9 billion increase overnight. And while this is obviously not a seasonal pattern based on historical observations, nor is it banks holding their cash for 2012 auction use, as the carry opportunities are already there with the BTP back over 7% (although LCH still has to get the memo), we look forward to the first update of 2012 to see just how much more this non-seasonal expansion will rise by. One thing is certain: when the next, February 29, LTRO is conducted, European banks will park about €700 billion with the ECB in the biggest circle jerk ever conceived in modern monetary history.
The Sovereign Ponzi – Tick By Tick Research Email
by Zero Hedge - December 30th, 2011 3:07 am
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by Tick By Tick.
Dear All
In 1903, a young Italian man by the name of Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi (Charles Ponzi to you and I) arrived upon American shores aboard the SS Vancouver. With dreams of becoming one of the worlds super elite, Ponzi swiftly moved from being a dishwasher to the Branch Manager of Banco Zarossi in Montreal (which ironically turned out to be already running a “Ponzi Scheme” far before Mr Ponzi’s arrival).
Fast forward eleven years, including a brief spell in Atlanta Prison, and Ponzi was ready to launch his greatest scheme of monetary fraud. In lay terms, Ponzi set out to arbitrage International Reply Coupons between Italian and US rates using investor money. However, after running into a wave of red tape, Ponzi realised that the impressive returns that were being promised could simply be paid out of fresh money as long as he could secure a consistent flow of fresh investor capital. A Ponzi Scheme if you will.
If we re-evaluate part of the penultimate sentence…”could simply be paid out of fresh money as long as he could secure a consistent flow of fresh investor capital”…we get to the point of today’s email: Confidence. More specifically, confidence in Sovereigns.
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
Helen Keller
At this point, I would like to ask how a Ponzi scheme differs from the modern sovereign bond market? If the primary activity in government bond markets is the refinancing of existing debt, are we not in a Ponzi scheme of our own? By this, I mean that Modern Governance and Treasury is based upon the idea of securing a consistent flow of investor capital to meet payments of the existing principal. Is it not?
If we look back to the origin of Government Bonds, it becomes clear that they were designed as a method to fund the activity of war. An activity that, if successful, would produce future cash flows that are capable of settling the initial borrowing. From a Finance standpoint, this lending would provide a positive CAPM value for the war.
Compare this to the bulk of modern Sovereign Finance, by which I mean the process of refinancing, and it becomes clear that there is no future cash flow resulting from the activity and, as such, the whole system has become built on the idea of investor confidence; embedded with the idea that countries can inflate…
Getting Technical: Weekend Update
by Chart School - December 30th, 2011 12:35 am
Courtesy of Doug Short.
Here’s the latest weekend update from Serge Perreault, a Chartered Accountant and market technician located near Montreal, Canada. Serge has been following the U.S. market in a series of weekly charts. Here is his update on the S&P 500.
The S&P 500 remains neutral, on 53% below-average volume and on now falling momentum.
The index has been moving sideways since last October, inside a downtrend from last May. It is also 20 points above its exponential moving averages (EMA10 & EMA40) which are now flat on each other.
It can be noted too that the index and its momentum indicators (ROC & RSI) are inside symmetrical triangle formations: a sharp price movement often follows a breakout of such a formation.
Note: For newcomers to technical analysis, here are brief explanations for the two key indicators that Serge features:
German
Spanish
French
Italian
Portuguese
Japanese
Korean
Russian
Chinese
Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW. She manages the Favorites backup site
(
