Author Archives: Scalper1

Amazon.com Gets Physical, Plans To Open A Bookstore In San Diego

E-commerce leader Amazon.com ( AMZN ) is taking another step on the road to establishing a brick-and-mortar presence in books. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Saturday that the company plans to open a second physical bookstore — the first is in its home city of Seattle — at the Westfield UTC shopping mall, adjacent to Tesla ( TSLA ) and Apple ( AAPL ) stores. It will be called Amazon Books. The Amazon store will likely be similar to the Seattle location and feature books that got the best reviews on the company’s website. It also will sell products from the company’s expanding hardware business, including Kindle e-book readers, Fire TV set-tops, Fire tablets and Amazon’s virtual personal assistant play, Echo. “We are excited to be bringing Amazon Books to the University Town Center Mall in San Diego, and we are currently hiring store managers and associates,” Amazon spokeswoman Sarah Gelman told the Union-Tribune . “Stay tuned for additional details down the road.” Amazon is widely cited for hastening the slow demise of the bookstore business, with the online sales king originally billing itself as the world’s biggest bookstore thanks to its endless online inventory. It has been said to use cutthroat tactics on publishers to get favorable pricing. In afternoon trading on the stock market today , Amazon stock was down 3%, near 557. Shares are up 18% since touching a six-month low of 474 in early February. The company has an IBD Composite Rating of 80, where 99 is the highest. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Apple’s appeal over allegations of e-book price-fixing. The court’s decision will mean that Apple will have to fork over $450 million to e-book purchasers. Apple was attempting to disrupt the near-monopoly held by Amazon.

Verizon, FCC Reach ‘Super-Cookie’ Settlement On Targeted Ads

Federal regulators and Verizon Communications ( VZ ) reached a settlement over the broadband and wireless-phone company’s use of “super-cookies” that provide subscriber data for targeted advertising. Cookies track users’ browsing histories as they visit websites — as a means for Internet companies to target ads on subjects of interest to specific users. Verizon has agreed to pay a $1.35 million fine, the Federal Communications Commission said Monday. Verizon will be required to inform subscribers of the program’s existence and needs their permission to share data with third-party partners or internally. Verizon acquired AOL in June for $4.4 billion to gain digital advertising technology. Richard Young, a Verizon spokesman, said in a statement: “Over the past year, we have made several changes to our advertising programs that have provided consumers with even more options. Today’s settlement with the FCC recognizes that. We will continue to give customers the information they need to decide what programs and services are right for them.” The FCC started its probe in late 2014. In early 2015, the agency adopted new “net neutrality” rules, based on Title II of the Communications Act, that govern Internet service providers. “This is a win for consumers that will hopefully make companies think twice before engaging in practices that violate consumer privacy,” said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., in a statement. Verizon stock was up 1% in afternoon trading in the stock market today . The FCC is readying new privacy rules that would impact ISPs such as Verizon, AT&T ( T ) and Comcast ( CMCSA ). The FCC plans to enforce Section 222 of the Title II rules, which would require telecom carriers to protect the confidentiality of customer information.

Underrated Small-Cap In Renewables

We sent this piece to subscribers of our new free underrated small-caps newsletter last week . Renewable energy is sexy right now. As sexy as energy can be. However, when it comes to investing in renewables, it’s tricky business. Case in point. US Geothermal (NYSE: HTM ) is a small-cap stock, to say the least, trading at less than a $1 per share and $60 million market cap. Trading at a 55 cent handle, it checks a number of boxes on our Six Small-cap Laws . Often overlooked and orphaned because there isn’t enough money in covering and reporting on small-caps, US Geothermal is still an exciting stock, yet misunderstood, as so many renewable plays are. US Geothermal operates three geothermal plants in the U.S. Part of what adds to the obscurity of US Geothermal, if the fact that it trades at a $60 million market cap, is that it’s in the geothermal business. Now, geothermal is a form of energy that demands some of the highest pay rates from utilities. You’ve got long-term contracts and inherent value in the plants that underpin the valuation. Growth is the big story for US Geothermal, however, with the potential to increase its geothermal output. Its current output of 50 megawatts is a fraction of what US Geothermal could manage in just a few years and it has the management bandwidth to get it done – with Dennis Giles as CEO. Giles managed an 800-megawatt portfolio for Calpine in the past. It’s already hired an investment bank to advise on strategic alternatives, with a go-private deal a possibility. One small hedge fund, Artko Capital , has 10% of its funds invested in US Geothermal. Naturally bullish, Artko is encouraged by the strategic review, with the private equity interest offering some “downside protection.” Activist Investor Now Involved Now, Artko Capital has some company. JCP Investment Management, the small activist hedge fund, revealed a 5% stake in US Geothermal earlier this month. They are invested at an average cost of $0.58 a share. Industrials, utilities and the likes are JCP’s sweet spot. JCP took on Gas Natural a couple years ago, as well as Smith-Midland in 2012, where the fund saw annualized returns of 100% and 200% on over the campaign holding period. JCP believes that US Geothermal shares are cheap and may engage with management about capitalization, ownership structure, board structure or operations. The End Game There are risks here, with US Geothermal needing cash to fund the various projects and cash isn’t always readily available. This could mean diluting shareholders with equity capital raises. US Geothermal operates in a niche business, which is good and bad. The bad actually working for them in this market. The company needs a lot of cash to support its projects, making tapping the equity and debt markets increasingly challenging. Rather, a private equity buyer can inject cash and operate the tremendous business model outside the guise of the public markets. Editor’s Note: This article covers one or more stocks trading at less than $1 per share and/or with less than a $100 million market cap. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.