HAUP Courtroom Battle over DE State Law 220 Finally Done

We finally have HAUP financials!  It only took 8 state law DE 220 demand letters, almost 4 years in court, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees!  

It went all the way to the Delaware supreme court if you can believe it, and they ruled in favor of the shareholder: a company must provide financials to a shareholder asking for them and importantly the company is not entitled to enforce an NDA. That's some great precedent!

The HAUP CEO Ken Plotkin fought as hard as he could for years and I don't see why. As a wise man once asked, "Is he a crook or a person in a lousy business just trying to survive?".

Check out these lines from Plotkin's own lawyer!

"the undersigned believes it incredible that the Company will abide by any future Order from this Court or our Supreme Court" 

"it is not clear to the undersigned that the Company has any credible intentions of paying the Costs awarded to Mr. Rivest, let alone the outstanding balance owed to Counsel or the appellate retainer" 

"The undersigned has advised the Company not to relocate to a different jurisdiction or attempt to move assets, for that may trigger issues sounding in fraudulent transfer. Despite that advice, it appears the Company is in the process of moving, without disclosing its address to the undersigned"

Can you imagine?!  Your lawyer walks into court and says he's not getting paid, the court won't be paid, his client won't do what you say, and the client is trying to skip town.  Insane

Off Topic: The Firebird is Done!

In 2006 I bought a 1967 Pontiac Firebird that hadn't run in over a decade.  I've been restoring ever since and it's finally done after 17 years,  3 months, and 11 days!  Or actually it was 1 wedding, 3 kids, and 4 dogs.  No wait I mean 4 cities, 4 rental houses, 3 purchased houses, and 2 states.  I've paid more in towing fees than to buy the original car.

No stock talk in this post.  Just an old car hobby.

Attention Hydromer HYDI Shareholders

 Could all HYDI sharesholders please contact me at nonamestocksdan@gmail.com.  I'd like to chat.

Activism and Change at GVP

I bought into GSE Systems (GVP) a couple years ago due to change and here today I sit seeking more.  

In the past year the stock is down ~70% yet somehow the CEO's compensation went up by 75%.  The CFO's pay is up 50%.  The market cap is only $10.2m and they get $1.84m+0.91m = $2.75m!!  These idiots are not worth a quarter of the company.  That is a really bad look and I do not approve.  

I am voting against the director nominees, against the ridiculous executive compensation, and against their planned >20% dilution.  I invite you to do the same.

There is activism from several parties.  Ankur Saggar has written several board letters and organized a website gvpshareholdersforchange.com.   SpearPointCapital has posted a deck and pushes for others to vote against the status quo.  Silverback is trying to get on the board.

POLXF Buyout Arb

 POLXF announced a buyout from BioSpectra last month 4/27 for $2.017 per share of common.  The stock sits at $1.74 which I think is too low.  16% just waiting for you to pick it up.

NoName Annual Performance 2022-2023

This has been my worst year with a -16.7% return, but today marks the completion of my first decade and a 10 year CAGR of 36.2% is nothing to sneeze at. Cheers all!

IVRO You Can Taste the Potential

Sometimes a stock just looks so good you have to buy.  InVitro International (IVRO) is tiny, profitable, and debt free.  The stock sits at a low after falling from a big rise.  

DYSL Tender

A few days ago DYSL put out a tender offer to buy back 54% of their common at $2.49.  I first wrote up the stock at $0.81 and my portfolio has been ugly recently so it feels great to have a win.  

I'm not sure yet what to do so let's run through some scenarios.

Deleted Twitter

Just a quick note to all my followers out there that I've deleted my Twitter account.  Thanks for reaching out to those who asked if everything is OK.  There is no problem and I'm not changing anything in my stock and blog world.  I just deleted my account once the new ownership took over since I do not want to support them or be associated in any way.

Please continue to contact me through my email nonamestocksdan@gmail.com and I'll keep posting as always right here.  Stayed tuned for more half dead companies with potential to be not completely dead lol

--Dan

Brokerages to Buy Dark Stocks

 I wish I had a rosy picture to paint you but alas we have reality to deal with.  A year ago in Sept 2021 the new SEC rule went into place, resulting in the destruction of dark stock trading.  Every single online brokerage I know of in the US stopped allowing buys in any dark stocks.  

This post is a summary of the few brokerages that still allow you to buy non-filing dark stocks.  

If anyone has found a solution please comment or send me an email.  

Keeping the Faith in BDRL

I seek stocks at the bottom: fallen and forgotten.  Company problems and perception issues push them down with eventual convergence to a single question: will they survive?

Blonder Tongue Laboratories (BDRL) has no shortage of issues but with a market cap of $1.6m and the stock at an all time low, I'm a buyer.  

QDLC Finally Comes Through

I first wrote up QDLC in 2015 with the stock at $0.20.  It was dark and low, forgotten by the market.  

The other day a merger was announced for $2 per share.  Unfortunately I can't buy more as the stock is on the Expert Market and I don't have an account that allows buys there.  Let's close the book on this one.

NoName Annual Performance 2021-2022

This was a year of the ball bouncing the wrong way.  I am up 1.4%, giving me a 43.8% CAGR since I bought my first stock 9 years ago.  

You can read my past annual performance posts here.  

MFCO Cheapened up Thanks to the SEC

Microwave Filter Company (MFCO) filed an annual the other day showing the following per share numbers:

• rev $2.01
• book value $0.76
• EPS $0.10

That EPS is without the PPP loan that was forgiven and book value is after.  The stock sits at $0.43.  With 2.6M shares out that gives a market cap of $1.1M.  I'd bet the fully depreciated building they own is worth 3 times the market cap alone.  The stock is cheap.

ADDC Tender

ADDC recently put out a tender offer to buy shares for $18.25. They are trying to get above 90% ownership to move onto a short form merger, buying out everyone without a choice.

Anyone out there who owns shares please email me nonamestocksdan@gmail.com. I am trying to figure out how many shares I know of that will not accept. I know we only have until Dec 3 so I am late with this post (family/Firebird getting in the way).

You can find the official offer and latest annual report here. Table of numbers is below

ECIA: Dominoes and the Guessing Game

I like to buy stocks at the bottom, when the narrative has broken down and masses have left.  This is when it gets interesting.  Stock_price = company_value + public_perception so how can you buy on the cheap unless the sky is filled with doom and gloom.  

I first bought ECIA around $0.30 and wrote up the stock a couple years ago at $0.39.  It had dropped to support, near the all time low.  With an exciting medical business and tons of potential I bought with dollar signs in my eyes.  

What I do is buy tiny, low, sleepy stocks with potential then wait and watch.  Potential comes from both business and stock.  I like a business with room to grow.  The stock should be low with capital structure tight, and bonus points for a theme that can be meme'd to the moon.  

After the buy starts a years long process of optimistically following along.  I can see the rise in my mind.  If things don't go my way I wait longer and as the situation warrants I buy more.  This is the story of puzzle pieces falling into place.  

Capital Employed Podcast

I was recently interviewed on the Capital Employed Podcast by Jon Kingston.  It was a lot of fun.  Jon keeps it quick.  We talked about my background and style then dug into two stocks: PGNT and GVP.  

TCOR Pummeled in the Darkness

Treecon Resources (TCOR) closed today with a stock price of $0.35 giving a market cap of $7.9M.  This for a company with TTM revenue of $80M and $0.181 EPS.  I like buying stocks at 2x earnings, how about you?

Brokerages, the new SEC Rule, and a Podcast

Now that the SEC followed through with their rule 15c2-11 change blocking quotes from non-reporting companies, the brokerages are all backing away.  I don't know if the SEC realized this would happen but it seems like every online brokerage company's response is to just take their ball and go home.  

In recent weeks we've seen announcements from Schwab, TDAmeritrade, and others saying they will not allow clients to purchase non-reporting stocks after August 2021.  Unfortunately I don't know of a single online brokerage that will let you buy dark stocks after the rule change goes into effect in Sept 2021.  

I was a guest on The Investor's Roundtable the other day to discuss this topic.  You can hear the audio here and watch video here.  Give it a listen to hear my own opinion as well as some others I really respect.  I have to say it was a real trip to be on a panel with my hero Dave Waters of OTC Adventures / Alluvial Capital.  

Closing the Book on SIMA

I first wrote up SIMA almost 5 years ago with the stock at $0.65. Since then it went as high as ~$13 before falling back a bit.

A couple weeks ago the company put out a tender offer to buy out all sharesholders at $10 (oddballstocks wrote up a nice summary here).