Our Stocks to Watch tomorrow include Upstream Biosciences Inc. (OTCBB: UPBS), VitalTrust Business Development Company (OTCBB: VTBD), Mega Media Group (OTCBB: MMDA), Trustcash Holdings Inc. (OTCBB: TCHH), Tegal Corporation (NASD: TGAL) and Sea Containers (OTC: SCRA).
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UPSTREAM BIOSCIENCES (OTCBB: UPBS)
"Up 51.32% on Wednesday"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/UPBS.php
Founded in 2004, Upstream Biosciences is a pioneer in the discovery and development of novel drugs for tropical parasitic diseases and in the development of genetic diagnostics for cancer susceptibility and drug response. Upstream's innovative approach to drug discovery and its proprietary data mining pipeline enable it to apply advanced computational approaches to generating novel drug candidates and to locating and analyzing the genetic variations important to disease progression and drug response. For more information, visit www.upstreambio.com.
UPBS News:
February 6 - Upstream Biosciences' Novel Anti-Malaria Agents Demonstrate Promising Signs of Efficacy in Initial Testing
Results of In Vitro Efficacy Tests Indicate That Upstream's Initial Anti-Malaria Drug Candidates Have Activity in the
Upstream Biosciences Inc. (OTCBB: UPBS) announced that in vitro data indicates that the company's novel anti-malaria drug candidates have demonstrated encouraging signs of efficacy against malaria. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 500 million people become severely ill with malaria and more than one million people die of the disease each year.
Initial in vitro testing conducted by the Provincial Laboratory for Public Health (ProvLab) in Alberta, Canada, showed that Upstream's potential drug candidates demonstrated anti-malarial activity in the nanomolar range. Activity in this range in a new class of drugs has the potential to represent an important advance in the treatment of resistant disease.
"These preliminary results indicating that Upstream's novel structural class of anti-parasitic agents is demonstrating promising anti-malarial activity are encouraging, especially in view of the high unmet need for more effective anti-malarial therapies," said Dr. Stephanie Yanow, Program Leader at ProvLab. "We look forward to working with Upstream's researchers to further assess these compounds, as well as other drug candidates in this novel class."
One of the great advantages of Upstream's Chemoinformatics Program combining artificial intelligence, advanced computational methods and chemical diversity techniques is its ability to optimize compounds quickly and cost effectively, incorporating feedback from experiments such as those reported today. Upstream intends to use its proprietary platform to rapidly generate additional drug candidates for the anti-malaria program, further refining and optimizing the therapeutic profile of these promising compounds.
"In recent years, the parasites that cause malaria have become increasingly resistant to older therapies, yet newer drugs are expensive to produce and have other qualities that make their widespread use in the developing world problematic," said Joel L. Bellenson, Chief Executive Officer of Upstream. "We are therefore delighted with these promising in vitro results from our first series of anti-malaria compounds. These agents have also demonstrated high potency, low toxicity and good tolerance in the preclinical studies conducted to date, suggesting that this new structural class of anti-malaria agents could have potential therapeutic utility in this devastating disease."
Upstream's library of novel compounds has also demonstrated encouraging therapeutic potential in vitro against the tropical parasitic diseases leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis, or African sleeping sickness. Malaria, leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis are caused by related parasites.
ABOUT MALARIA
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites of the species Plasmodium that are spread from person to person through the bites of infected mosquitoes. According to the World Health Organization, about 40% of the world's population is at risk of malaria. Malaria is endemic in some parts of the world, mostly in sub-Saharan
VITALTRUST BUSINESS (OTCBB: VTBD)
"Up 55.56% on Wednesday"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/VTBD.php
VitalTrust Business Development Corporation operates as a closed-end management investment company. It provides equity and long-term debt financing to small and medium-sized private companies in various industries in the
VTBD News:
February 6 - VitalTrust Engages Mr. Frank Sanchez as Consultant for International Trade and Governmental Affairs
VitalTrust Business Development Company (OTCBB: VTBD) ("VTBD" or the "Company") announced that it has engaged Mr. Frank Sanchez Esq. as a consultant to assist the Company in its efforts with regards to International Trade of Renewable Energy Products. Further, the Company will be utilizing Mr. Sanchez's exceptional political experiences to assist with crafting and implementing strategies designed to further enhance
Mr. Sanchez joins the team as a partner in CM Partners, an international consulting firm specializing in interest-based negotiation strategy, alliances, and mediation. He has extensive experience in both the public and private sector. He served in the Clinton administration first as Special Assistant to the President, Office of the Special Envoy for the Americas working on economic integration, trade and promotion of democracy in Latin America and then as Assistant Secretary of Transportation in charge of Aviation and International Affairs. His responsibilities included coordinating policy on international and domestic aviation, international trade and other international transportation issues. He holds a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Multi-National Business and Spanish as well as a Law degree from
"We are quickly building a team that can help execute on the tremendous opportunities that have been identified by the Company for the International Trade of Renewable Energy Products," commented Alex H. Edwards III, VitalTrust CEO. "Frank's background, relationships, and international experiences in trade negotiation as well as his understanding of the current political landscape in the
Mr. Sanchez engagement starts immediately. He can be contacted at fsanchez@renwenergy.com.
MEGA MEDIA GROUP INCORPORATED (OTCBB: MMDA)
"Up 43.75% on Wednesday"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/MMDA.php
Mega Media Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-media company that focuses on entertainment and media, and Russian ethnic media in
MMDA News:
February 6 - Mega Media Group Announces the Launch of Pulse 87 Radio Station for February 11th and the Hiring of New Program Director for Pulse 87.7 FM
Pulse 87.7 FM, the rhythmic top 40 station will be launched by Mega Media Group (OTCBB: MMDA) (www.megamediagroup.com), on February 11th at 6am, the station will feature the Highly popular Star & Buc Wild Morning Show which will debut on February 18th weekdays from 6 to 10am and today's top music hits. Joel Salkowitz will become the station's program director.
Industry Veteran Joel Salkowitz To Lead Station
Salkowitz is a veteran major market programming and operations executive, who recently served as Vice President of Music Programming and Content at Sirius Satellite Radio. Prior to joining Sirius, Salkowitz was with Clear Channel Communications as a Format Director and Brand Manager overseeing the launch and programming for 10 major market stations, as well as serving as Program Director for JAMMIN 105 - New York (WTJM-FM). His past experience also includes management, production and programming positions at Fox Television, E.M.I. Records, Westwood One, ABC Radio, NBC Radio and Emmis Communications. As Regional VP of Programming at Emmis' HOT97 (WQHT) in New York, he helped develop the Rhythm Top 40 format that dominated contemporary radio during the late 1980s and early 1990s and was also responsible for overseeing programming at Emmis' WAVA (Washington DC) and WLOL (Minneapolis).
Commenting on the announcement, Mega Media Group CEO, Alex Shvarts stated "I am pleased that Joel is leading our radio team. His wealth of experience with building stations and managing major market radio personnel will prove invaluable to the launch of Pulse 87."
Also commenting on the announcement, Salkowitz said, "I am excited to be a part of a new, independent radio business that I can help to grow from its very inception. It will be especially gratifying to work with Star who is one of the top morning talents in the country and who was able to have such a huge impact on not one, but two radio stations in
TRUSTCASH HOLDINGS (OTCBB: TCHH)
"Up 39.53% on Wednesday"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/TCHH.php
Through its Trustcash brand and Web site, www.trustcash.com, the Company is a pioneer of anonymous payment systems for the internet. It developed a business based on the sale of a stored value card (both virtual and physical) that can be used by consumers to make secure and anonymous purchases on the internet without disclosing their credit card or personal information. Trustcash provides to its customers the "Trustcash(TM)" payment card, which is sold in denominations ranging from $10 to $200 either online, through any of over 500 websites, or at over 50,000 retail locations in the
TCHH News:
February 5 - TRUSTCASH HOLDINGS, INC. and PAIVIS, CORP. Announce Signing of Amended and Restated Definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger; Paivis Shareholders to Receive $0.10/Share in Cash Plus One Share of TRUSTCASH Common Stock
Trustcash Holdings Inc. ("TRUSTCASH") (OTCBB: TCHH) and Paivis Corp. ("PAIVIS") (OTCBB: PAVCE) jointly announced their execution of a Amended and Restated Definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement") pursuant to which TRUSTCASH has agreed, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding common shares of PAIVIS, and PAIVIS has agreed, at the closing of the transaction, to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of TRUSTCASH. As consideration in the merger transaction, TRUSTCASH has agreed to pay $0.10/share in cash plus one share TRUSTCASH common stock for each common share held by PAIVIS shareholders.
Greg Moss, the Chief Executive Officer of TRUSTCASH, commented, "We are pleased to complete this amended Merger Agreement to the benefit of the shareholders. We believe Paivis is very important for this future of this company and we believe this new structure is not only simpler but very positive for all involved. We look forward to completing the next steps towards becoming one great company."
Edwin Kwong, the Interim Chief Executive Officer of PAIVIS, commented further, "With the signing of the new Amended Merger Agreement we feel we have achieved a much simpler transaction that still provides quality value to our shareholders. We have said before, and still believe that the future of the combined corporations holds a lot of potential for value creation for our shareholders."
The parties have agreed to use their best efforts to consummate the transaction by March 31, 2008, or as soon as practicable thereafter.
The Merger Agreement, which includes all details of the transaction, will be filed by TRUSTCASH and PAIVIS as an exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as required. The Merger Agreement contains certain conditions precedent to consummation of the merger and customary subjects, including but not limited to the audits of Paivis and its acquisitions being completed, financing being secured by Trustcash respective shareholder approval, obtaining consents, providing certified lists of shareholders and delivery of certain due diligence and other corporate documents.
TEGAL CORPORATION (NASD: TGAL)
"Up 37.36 on Wednesday"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/TGAL.php
Tegal Corporation engages in the design, manufacture, marketing, and servicing of integrated circuit fabrication equipment. Its systems enable the production of integrated circuits, memory, and related microelectronics devices used in personal computers, wireless voice and data telecommunications, contact-less transaction devices, radio frequency identification devices, smart cards, data storage, and micro-level actuators. The company offers plasma etch technology products, such as 6500 Series Etch products and 900 Series Etch products; and deposition technologies that include Endeavor Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) products, AMS PVD products, and Compact Nano-Layer Deposition products. Tegal sells its products to semiconductor and nanotechnology device manufacturers in the
TGAL News:
February 5 - Tegal Corporation Reports Third Quarter of Fiscal 2008 Net Income of $0.40 Per Share
Second Consecutive Quarter of Profitability in FY'08
Tegal Corporation (NASD: TGAL), a leading designer and manufacturer of plasma etch and deposition systems used in the production of integrated circuits and nanotechnology devices, today announced financial results for the Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2008, which ended December 31, 2007. Senior management will conduct an investor conference call to discuss these results and the company's financial outlook in more detail today at 2 p.m. Pacific Time, Tuesday, February 5, 2008. More information about the conference call is provided below.
Third Quarter Highlights:
*Net income of $2.8 million or $0.40 per share, compared to a net loss of ($6.1) million during the same period last year and net income of $0.7 million in the immediately preceding second quarter.
*Gross margins increased to 43.6% from 39.3% in the immediately preceding second quarter.
*Operating income of $1.7 million, which included non-cash charges of $0.3 million for stock compensation, depreciation and amortization expense.
*Shipments included 2 advanced etch systems for high volume manufacturing in Asia and an advanced PVD system to a
*A repeat advanced etch system order from Skyworks Solutions, Inc., a global leader in front-end modules for handsets and wireless devices.
*The Company appointed Carl Muscari to its Board of Directors.
"We are pleased with our third quarter results, which represent our second consecutive quarter of profitability and will make us solidly profitable for the entire fiscal year 2008," said Thomas Mika, President and CEO of Tegal Corporation. "Since we are not in mainstream semiconductor markets, we are somewhat immune to industry fundamentals, which appear to be negative due to the overall memory pricing environment and other factors. Our focus on faster growing markets has allowed us to perform extremely well while others in the industry have had difficulties. However, given that our end markets are consumer-driven, an overall economic slowdown could cause a push-out of orders and we intend to be cautious in our near term outlook. Importantly, despite any negative macro-economic factors we remain confident that we can continue to generate cash throughout the balance of this fiscal year and into next year. We also believe that this is an ideal time to introduce new products, as customers have the capacity for new tool evaluations and we continue to focus activity in this area. Additionally, we are satisfied that our final settlement with our former attorneys was in the Company's best interests and we are content to have this distraction behind us."
Financial Results:
Revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 were $10.1 million, an increase of 132% from the $4.4 million in the same period last year. Tegal reported net income of $2.8 million, or $0.40 per share, for the quarter, compared to a net loss of ($6.1) million, or ($0.86) per share in the same period last year, and a net income of $0.7 million, or $0.10 per share in the prior quarter.
Gross profits for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 were 43.6% compared to a negative (30.3%) in the same period last year, and up from the 39.3% in the prior quarter.
Operating income for the third quarter was $1.7 million, including approximately $0.3 million of non-cash charges. This was an improvement over the ($6.4) million operating loss in the same period last year and the $0.7 million operating income in the prior quarter, which included $2.7 million and $0.6 million of non-cash charges, respectively.
Backlog was $4.0M at the end of the quarter.
On January 16, 2008, subsequent to the end of the quarter, the Company settled its fee dispute with Keker & VanNest (KVN), the second and final firm of attorneys representing SFI and Tegal in its lawsuit with Sergey Mishin, AMS, Agilent Technologies and the Avago Entities. KVN had claimed it was owed fees in the amount of approximately $6.72 million. A payment of $3.8 million was made to KVN and the litigation suspense has been eliminated.
As of December 31, 2007, the balance sheet still reflects an $18.5 million Litigation Suspense liability account. The elimination of the liability and the income from the lawsuit settlement will be reflected in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year. This will have a material positive effect on the reported income for the Company's fourth quarter, its retained earnings and book value.
Cash at the end of the fiscal third quarter of 2008 was $19.8 million, a $6.0 million decrease from the end of the March quarter. Accounts receivable increased $3.6 million to $10.2 million and inventories increased by $5.5 million to $11.1 million over the same period.
SEA CONTAINERS LIMITED (OTC: SCRA)
"Up 31.58% on Wednesday"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/SCRA.php
Sea Containers, Ltd. (SCL) provides passenger and freight transport and marine container leasing. It operates in four segments: Ferry, Rail, Container, and Leisure. Ferry segment provides passenger and freight ferry services in the northern Baltic Sea between
SCRA News:
February 5 - Sea Containers Reaches Vital Agreement With the Trustees of the Main
Appeal Against the UK Regulator's FSD is Withdrawn as it is no Longer Relevant
Sea Containers (OTC: SCRA) announced that it has reached agreement in principle with the Trustees of the two main Sea Containers Pension Schemes to agree the amount of their claims against the Sea Containers estate. This is a critical and positive milestone in its efforts to emerge from Chapter 11.
Since the Chapter 11 negotiations first began in October 2006, the board of directors and the officers of Sea Containers have been focused on achieving a plan of reorganization that provides full and fair settlement for all creditors. The major creditors involved are the 1983 and the 1990 pension funds which have almost 1500 members between them and the holders - thought to be a number of US hedge funds - of the four outstanding bond issues.
The agreement with the Trustees for the pension funds, which are estimated to be in deficit by approximately US$200 million under the s75 'buy out' basis prescribed by UK law, will allow the Company and The trustees to avoid costly and protracted litigation in multiple and potentially competing jurisdictions. The agreement also creates an additional reserve of US$69 million for certain potential pension scheme liabilities in respect of age-related equalization changes.
In connection with this important agreement, Sea Containers has withdrawn its appeal against the Financial Support Direction (FSD). The FSD, which sought to oblige Sea Containers Limited (the ultimate parent company) to put in place additional financial support for the pension funds, was handed down by the Determinations Panel of the UK Pensions Regulator on 3 July 2007. Sea Containers considers that the settlement will adequately address any FSD and that the current legal proceedings would be of no further benefit. Sea Containers is therefore pleased to have reached a timely and consensual settlement with the Trustees.
Sea Containers, alongside the Trustees, will be seeking approval from the Regulator for the proposed settlement. Both sides are confident an approval will be granted in the near future.
The proposed settlement is also subject to the Delaware Bankruptcy Court approval and may be objected to by other creditors of the estate.
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