Syntroleum specializes in the technology of synthesis of hydrocarbons

id est: they create "synthetic petroleum" fuels

the company owns the Syntroleum Process for Fischer-Tropsch (FT)
conversion of synthesis gas derived from biomass,
coal, natural gas, and other carbon-based feedstocks
into liquid hydrocarbons (like gasoline or jet fuel);

wow, with the price of gas so high recently,
the stock of such creators of new petroleum supplies
would most likely be worth their high stock price

well, actually SYNM stock has dropped from $20 in 2000
to recently less then $1

SYNM made a discounted prepayment of $3.75 million
to extinguish $6 million owed to Marathon Corporation

id est: SYNM settled the Marathon obligation at a 38% discount

SYNM has sold off their interests in all international oil and gas assets
resulting in a gain on the sale of discontinued operations of $10.1 million during 2007

SYNM has reduced cash used in operating activities
from $35.8 million in 2006 to $23.1 million in 2007,
and are projecting cash used in operating activities would be
$7.8 million in 2008 and $6.5 million in 2009.

On March 6, 2008, SYNM sold off their corporate offices and lab facilities,
receiving approximately $1.3 million for the property;
and SYNM has moved to leased office space in Tulsa,

Cost reductions associated with the sale of their office complex
will result in further annual overhead reductions of approximately $250,000

hmmm,

well with the stock price so low,
there wouldn't seem to be much
short selling potential left

and besides, this contest only rates long positions

however actually, as I started off stating,
I've recently been aquiring (long position) SYNM

hmmm,

since I've already given reason for the recent low stock price,

I'll now try to justify why I'm aquiring the stock for upside speculation

it seems that there had been some recent adverse weather in New Orleans,
creating some economic distress in the region

in response to the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

a "GO Zone" bond program provided Louisiana with $7.8 billion
in tax-free borrowing capacity to distribute to private business developments
to help spur growth in hurricane-impacted parishes.

More than $4 billion of the approved GO Zone bonds
have not been issued and the allocations expire April 22

the Interest rates tend to be among the lowest cost available,
with rates priced at approximately two-thirds of LIBOR plus a credit spread.

well, SYNM would seem to be liquidating everything they can
so that they can put up $12 million of cash,
to set up a Dynamic Fuels project which will convert
poultry by-products from Tyson Foods into fuel

SYNM currently has a $1.1 million contract with the U.S. Air Force
to create 500 gallons of Bio-Synthetic Jet Fuel.

Operations have started at Southwest Research Institute's
1 bbl/day alternative fuels pilot plant in San Antonio, Texas.

the pilot plant runs provide process design validation
for the Dynamic Fuels project

The "feedstock" of the commercial process are duplicated at the pilot plant;
consisting of 45% poultry fat, 19% brown grease, 18% yellow grease,
9% floatation grease, and 9% miscellaneous fats;

converting the poultry byproducts into high quality jet fuel

oh, back to the Louisianna commercial plant

SYNM has hired a SunTrust Robinson Humphrey
to underwrite Go Zone bonds
for construction of the first plant in Geismar, Louisiana

SunTrust has significant experience with Go Zone bonds,
having sucessfully completed 7 transactions for in excess of $800 million

Tyson and Syntroleum have elected to pursue Go Zone Bonds
because the location of the project in Ascension Parish in Louisiana
qualifies the Geismar project for these special circumstance tax exempt municipal bonds,

which is the lowest-cost form of financing they have encountered.

On March 19, 2008, Dynamic Fuels filed an application
with the Louisiana State Bond Commission,
through the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority (or LPFA),
to issue Revenue Bonds for up to $135 million
to finance the construction of the Dynamic Fuels plant in Geismar.

Upon approval, the bonds would satisfy financing obligations
for 100% of the budgeted commercial plant capital costs

The Geismar project ranks #6 in Louisiana investment attributes,
when compared to the 687 projects announced by the
Louisiana Department of Economic Development in fiscal year 2006

at current fuel prices: the pro forma cash operating margin
at the Geismar plant will be $1.10 per gallon,
or annualized $81 million per year.

the payback period on the plant would be just 2.2 years on a pre-tax basis,
so they are confident that this level of cash flow
can easily service $135 million of municipal bond financing.

the market capitalization for the entire Syntroleum Corporation
amounts to $85 million
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=SYNM

with potential earnings of $81 million per year
from the Dynamic Fuels Geismar project

the facts of this posting were obtained from the
Syntroleum April 2, 2008 Conference Call Script exhibit 99.1
(a copy of which is on file with the SEC)

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE:
I personally own a bit of SYMN stock
in addition to my virtual contest holdings

I began research on the company
based upon their Uranium holdings

however according to Standard & Poor's:
"The uranium mineral assets and associated commercial assets were sold in 2007"

the companies stock price has been driven down quite dramatically recently

there were recent news reports about proposed changes in mining laws,
the company had been planning to develop a molybdenum mine

today (April 17, 2008) the company would seem to be selling
at a price less then the value of the cash the campany has

finance.yahoo.com
reports that the company has about $70 million in cash
(with only about $5 million of debt)

as for how to earn some income with the company's cash:
Standard & Poor's USEG Factual Stock Report (April 12, 2008)
"USEG is building a mid-size multifamily apartment complex in Gillette,Wyoming,"
"At mid-March 2008, the entire project was about 60% finished"

financial disclosure:
I believe that I should disclose that I personally own some USEG stock

the company is a very "small capitalization" company,
and such thinly traded stocks can sometimes get quite volatile in price

speculators should be very careful about such thinly traded small cap stocks

of the 24 million shares of USEG stock outstanding,
almost 50% of the stock is held by institutions and insiders

it would seem to me that
"the Fed's" drastic interest rate cuts
have confirmed investment community fears
of an impending economy downturn;

however those radical interest rate cuts
does not seem to have alleviated much
of the current market apprehension.

http://WallStreetGecko.com

I'm still rather confident in the value of gold

the current downward price pressure on the commodity
might tend to offer favorable aquisition timing

in my contest portfolio I'm increasing my holdings of:
BVN - Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA

as set forth in my previous blog
"the demise of comfortable markets"
(February 27 2008)

and as reptialian amplified by:
the WallStreetGecko

interesting trade strategies are being facilitated by
the existance of counter-opinion
expecting a retracement of the
recent high commodity pricing

I have added to my holdings of oil refiners
when their stock prices recently became more attractive

although pricing of gold mining companies
has remained too high for me to
consider such investment as being value timing opportunity

overall, it is rather depressing to consider that
reptilian concepts might be what works on Wall Street

greed is ... ?

although in attempts to be fair,
it might be reptilian survival instinct,
rather then reptilian greed,
which is fueling the higher commodity pricing

my Mom died a few days before Christmas,
and I haven't accomplished much of anything lately;

in American culture one is probably not supposed to admit it,
but I've lived home with my parents my entire life;
my Mom was 87 years old, and my Dad is now 90 years old;

well anyway, its been especially difficult for me emotionally

I believe that there is a philsosophical concept about
trying to shift negative experiences into something positive;
or to at least learn something from experiences in life;

and this is a stock market contest, so:

I guess that an analogy can be found
about the stock market environment,

people have a tendency to become rather complacent
believing that the comfortable market environment
will always be there;

it tends to be rather difficult to admit that things change;

actaully, it would seem that the entire universe
is rather dynamic in nature

one needs to continue breathing for life to continue

when the dynamics stop,
well the universe doesn't seem to favor such situation

I went to college for engineering
(and also banking finance and investments)
the concept of entropy is based upon such dynamics

well anyway, markets go up and down,
and the differences in opinion is required
for there to be 2 sides to every trade

I believe that I read an editorial in Barron's (DowJones) magazine recently
which explained the former president Harry Truman
was quoted as saying that what he wanted was
a one armed economist

all his economic advisors always viewed the economy as
"on one hand this", "but on the other hand that"

well, on the concept of trying to find credibility
in a society which would seem to be based upon
politics of each politician explaining how
the other candidate is no good,
but yet one of the various "no goods"
becomes the next "leader"

I'm personally chosing to believe the
one side of the opinion which seems to
predict economic "slowdown"
(I don't believe that the term "downturn"
is politically acceptable with the current political administration)

I also am anticipating inflation catching up with the
easy money policies which caused the housing bubble

I'm expecting $100/barrel oil pricing to hold,
and am also expecting $100/ounce gold to be the norm

my understanding is that even though
the price of oil has tripled ($30 to $100)
the higher pricing has not caused
any significant decrease in demand

I'm investing in oil refiner profits
such as VLO (Valero) and WNR (Western Refining)
as well as owners of oil COP (Conoco Philips)

although it might sound strange,
I am also investing in
airlines such as LCC (US Airways);
although airline profits are effected
by the cost of their fuel,
I don't expect an end to air transportation

I expect that people will get used to the higher oil prices
and those costs will eventually be passed along to consumers
(like I said, I'm also expecting inflation)

however the reptilian WallStreetGecko
WallStreetGecko.com
seems to be getting a bit bored
with the current depressing mood of the stock market

(the reptile is also currently giving golf tips)

what's the ole cliche?

never under-estimate the lack of depth of a retilian brain?

"VikingWarrior" posted:

'Somwhen between 1988 & 1990, A Viking Warrior bought a stock
in a pre-Dot.Bomb High Tech Company which had just IPO'd.
The Insiders kept 60% and Floated 40% to John Q. Public.
The Prospects were Bright and the Investment started to bear fruit.
It had ALL the HallMarks of a " Rocket in yer Pocket".
Then one fine day, the Management decided to " Take the Company Private".
The Board of Directos approved of the "Profferred Offer" '

perhaps in reference to my postings about SRSL
(the SRSL in VikingWarrior's posting title gives me that impression)

SRSL is a rather small company
(a bit similar to a wabbit in a market of bulls and bears)

however a small company holding quite significant patents

in a stock market of quite powerful players, such as Sony,
who are involved in consumer products featuring audio technology

well, like I said, SRSL holds significant patent rights
to the sophisticated technology developed by Hughes Aerospace

you see, the U.S. military was quite concerned about
their battlefield personnel being able to correctly hear orders broadcast to them,
(battlefields tend to get quite noisy with bombs and such)
well anyway, Hughes developed what some consider to be the
premiere technology to enhance human speech
to make it more intelligible in adverse environments

SRS Labs are currently negotiating with European cell phone leaders
to incorporate SRSL speech inteligibility, and also surround sound,
capabilities in the next generation of multi-media cell phones;
and also with Japanese auto-manufacturers for auto audio enhancement
(Pioneer and Kenwood automotive audio)

well, Sony, being so big, relative to small SRSL,
just might consider it to be more cost effective
to take over micro-cap SRSL
rather then paying fair patent license fees to SRSL

coming soon :
http://WallStreetWabbit.com

my original posted was that:

SRS Labs has announced that they will commence a stock buyback,
in which SRS may acquire up to $10 million of its outstanding common stock,
commencing November 12, 2007 and continue for a six month period.

which would seem to be about 10% of their shares outstanding

VikingWarrior responded to my posting commenting about SRSL that:

the stock buyback involves "Cashing Out"
Insider selling - All "sold", no "buy"
& thsre is a list of Form 144 (pre-planned) sales,etc.

I can not find any substantiation for VikingWarrior's comment;
the official government SEC website has no such Form 144
listed as being filed in the last year or so

insider trades listed are:
June 7 2007 David R. Dukes exercised 11,000 options at $5.44 resold at $14.96
May 18, 2007 Winston E. Hickman exercised 12,500 options at $4.60 resold at $13.39

the $10 Million stock buyback would amount to more then 1,700,000 share at today's closing price ($5.82)
no where's near the amount of options routinely cashed in by management

finance.Yahoo.com reports a:
Trailing P/E (ttm, intraday): 14.61
Forward P/E (fye 31-Dec-08) 1: 10.46
which substantiates earnings are improving quite nicely

I find no SEC filings which would substantiate VikingWarrior's comment

as an update to my previous (September 2007) posting on SRS Labs Inc

Reuters reported on November 6, 2007 that
SRS Labs Inc (SRSL) reported earning in line with estimates,
earnings up to .10/share compared to .08/share a year ago

finance.Yahoo.com reports a:
Trailing P/E (ttm, intraday): 14.61
Forward P/E (fye 31-Dec-08) 1: 10.46

SRS Labs has announced that they will commence a stock buyback,
in which SRS may acquire up to $10 million of its outstanding common stock,
commencing November 12, 2007 and continue for a six month period.

that would seem to be about 10% of their shares outstanding

it would seem that what Microsoft (MSN)
would seem to be looking for
would be the next (CNBC) Jim Cramer

who, by the way, reportedly includes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
as being one of his old buddies back from their days at Harvard

it would seem to me that one of the things that Jim Cramer
is most criticized for is that his stock picks
enjoy a "pumping up" effect from the CNBC media they receive;

when his stock picks are
mathematically scrutinized over the longer term,
the mathematical facts seem to indicate
the most profitable investment strategy
would actually work out to be
shorting Cramer stock picks
at their media induced pumped up state

these Cramer facts being based upon the August 2007 scrutiny
of the folks of DowJones publishing (Barron's/Wall Street Journal)

there was also found to be some rather questionable
stock trading activity prior to Jim Cramer's stocks
being pumped by mega-CNBC

Jim Cramer has told reporters that he is not involved
in any personal stock trading benefit from
the CNBC media publicised stock selections

I was wondering if it is even possible to
run a "contest" such as this one
which would isolate stock analytic skills
from media induced pumping effects

for those who might not know who Jim Cramer is,
he would seem to answer the rhetorical question of
"hows the stock market doing?"
in one of the most popular YouTube videos:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cYPtCmdFCrc
he starts winding up about the first minute into the video,
and really gets going about 2 1/2 minutes into the YouTube video;

you really gotta see it to believe it

in economic cycles: lowering interest rates tends to signal impending recession

"the fed" lowered interest rates again today, seeming to be quite careful
not to use the "housing recession" expression;
instead chosing to call it an
"intensification of the housing correction"

such "intensification" seems to even show up in
"intense" price movements in stocks such as MGI
which has a significant customer base of
illegal aliens who utilize their service to send money back home,
(bank transfers of money requires identification)

in a current environment of housing related (construction) jobs drying up ...

such future money transfer business expectations might tend to ...

well anyway, MGI seems to have managed to draw down just about all of their
revolving credit line because of "market losses" in their investment portfolio,
causing the credit ratings agencies to start to issue warnings

stock analysts have also mentioned mortgage exposure of MGI

back in July the Washington Post reported that Western Union expected
second-quarter results for their money transfer business to be hurt
by the immigration debate in the U.S. Congress as immigrants feared
that wiring money back to their home countries would attract government attention.

please note correction of prior posting:
Western Union and MoneyGram are seperate companies
Western Union was founded in 1851
whereas MoneyGram was founded in 1926

oil refining "crack spread" would also seem to be evaporating away,
making oil refining currently less profitable
WallStreetGecko.com

it would seem to be a market of speculative moves
in a market characterized by uncertainty

in my non-contest portfolios I'm betting on a few solid dividend type stocks,
however such relatively "safe" investment style would not seem to qualify
in such a high risk contest environment

in the stock market: high gains most usually require assuming a higher risk;
which I'm not that comfortable with in a market characterized by uncertainty.

such strategy reflects a "bet" placed on
continuing high future oil prices;
which reflects the current market contango conditions
WallStreetGecko.com

sort of like the recent real estate market
where expectations of future higher pricing
justified buying multiple houses
speculating that prices will continue to rise

problem is that if conditions,
such as an impending Turkisk invasion of Kurdish northern Irag,
dissapates, and thereby eases forward market pricing expectations,
well at such point in time the market might tend to become
flooded with product as current inventory gets sold off
in attempts to capture peak prices;

a market becoming "flooded" with product
would tend to result in a switch in future price expectations

Valero, which is contractually obligated to pay the prices
agreed to in their long term contracts,
might be adversely effected by a reduction of contango

I've reduced my exposure to Valero

NVEC has been awarded numerous awards including
IBD 100: Investor's Business Daily list of "leading stocks trading in the U.S.,
showing superior earnings, strong price performance and leadership within their industry."

in addition to the other business awards to NVEC
http://www.nve.com/awards.php

I'm impressed by NVEC being awarded
a NASA Certificate of Appreciation

it seems that their new "spintronic" technology,
is more radiation hardy for space applications
being based upon electron spin (rather then electric charge)
it is inherently more impervious to cosmic ray damage in space
(electron spin is harder to disrupt then electric charge is)

NVEC was also awarded the 2007 Tibbetts Award
which is based upon "economic impact of technological innovation;
business achievement and effective collaborations;"

the Tibbitts Award is sponsored by
the National Science Foundation, NASA, and DARPA
http://www.zyn.com/tibbetts/about.htm

as far as financial aspects of NVEC's current business activities
the most recent NVEC form 10Q filed with the SEC yesterday (October 17, 2007) states:

Product sales for the recent quarter increased 14% compared to the prior-year quarter
Net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2008 increased 28% compared to the prior-year quarter.

the first six months of fiscal 2008, product sales increased 26% compared to last year

Net income for the first half of fiscal 2008 was $0.67 per diluted share
compared to $0.45 per diluted share, for the first half of fiscal 2007.

NVEC's business exhibits strong growth,
and NVEC has been granted numerous patents
indicating solid future prospects

NVEC is currently working to improve business even more
by developing new sensors for automotive applications

there would seem to be a lot of maket speculation in those stocks,
so I'm trying to obtain an understanding of what's going on

first, from reading the SEC filings:
EMC spun off VMware in a quite successful IPO,
Intel purchased 9.5 million newly issued shares of VMware's Class A common stock at $23.00 per share, and
Cisco Systems purchased 6.0 million shares of VMware Class A common stock at $25.00 per share;

EMC still owns 26,500,000 shares of our Class A common stock
and all 300,000,000 shares of our Class B common stock,
representing approximately 86% of the total outstanding shares of common stock
or 98% of the voting power of outstanding common stock

trying to research the SEC filings gets quite interesting,
trying to follow the CISCO ownership for example, one encounters:
Cisco Systems International B.V. ("CSIBV") of The Netherlands
Cisco Systems Netherlands Holdings B.V. ("CSNHBV") of The Netherlands
Cisco Systems Luxembourg S.a.r.l. ("CSLS") of Luxembourg
Cisco Systems Luxembourg International S.a.r.l. ("CSLIS") of Luxembourg
Cisco Systems International S.a.r.l. ("CSIS") of Switzerland
Cisco Systems (Bermuda) Limited ("CSBL") of Bermuda
Cisco Systems International Holdings Limited ("CSIHL") of Bermuda
Cisco Technology, Inc. ("CTI"), I.R.S. Identification No. 77-0462351 of the State of California
Cisco Systems, Inc. ("Cisco"), I.R.S. Identification No. 77-0059951 of the State of California
which is quite an impressive network (hmmm, a CISCO network pun?),
and perhaps representive of trying to do SEC filing research,
but Cisco is still a rather minority owner,
considering that EMC itself still owns 86% of VMWare stock

when one tries to value the EMC holdings of VMWare
the first problem is that the most recent EMC SEC filing
is their 10Q dated for the quarterly period ending June 30, 2007;
which was prior to the August 2007 initial public offering ("IPO")
which spun off 37,950,000 shares of VMware

in their June 30, 2007 10Q EMC reports Total Stockholder Equity of $10,638,304,000
(there are 2,100,000,000 shares of EMC outstanding)

hmmm, that $10B EMC stockholder equity doe not seem to include
the $37.1B market cap of VMware
(which EMC owns 86% of)

however there is a discrepancy between the
$10B Stockholder Equity EMC reported to the SEC as of June 30, 2007
and the current $47B Market Cap of EMC

stock market speculators seem to be buying EMC
for the purpose of cashing in on EMC's holdings of 86% of VMware stock

which might be a good idea,
if VMware is actually worth its $37B maket cap

however VMware has actaul earnings of less then $1
per each share which is selling for around $100

but Intel and Cisco bought VMware IPO stock you say?
yeah, but at $25 per share, not the current $100,
much different Price/Earnings ratio

one other thing that I feel is worth noting is that
a significant portion VMware products/technologies
is based upon "open source" software,
(GNU General Public License, the GNU Lesser General Public License,
"Apache-style" licenses, "Berkeley Software Distribution," "BSD-style" licenses)

for years my personal computers are dual boot (Windows XP/Linux);
I believe that the free Linux Xen virtualization software
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xen
is very similar to VMwares core products

and, Microsoft also seems to be quite active in
developing competing Virtual Machine Operating Systems

well, the market momentum is currently tending to favor
speculation in EMC (and VMware)

I have a little invested in the current market frenzy,

based upon the John Maynard Keynes quote that SuziQuant.com noted
about the stock markets ability to stay irrational

although I am quite skeptical about any such tulip speculation