Apple's Arrogance Will Likely Result In A Greater Settlement For VirnetX

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1125161-apple-s-arrogance-will-likely-result-in-a-greater-settlement-for-virnetx

Inuvo's Valid Click Awarded Patent #8,321,269

Here is a link to the patent record -

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8321269&OS=8321269&RS=8321269

Here is a copy of a posting from another forum about it - inuvo just received a patent that might be worth 10x the value of the entire company. the technology and in process patent application were acquired in 2006 for $32 million. It patents a process that was designed for detecting fraud in search and affiliate networks. the company has used it for a small ad network, but the money use of it is by the affiliate networks where every big player is using components of it in some aspects of the patented process including valueclick, rakuten and the one who seems to be the biggest infringer who is none other than microsoft. a customized version of this technology was created for msft soon after inuvo acquired the technology. it seems that msft took it and tweaked it a little and then just quit paying inuvo for it. the money the owner of this can make if they enforce it could be in the hundreds of millions over time. If you just look at valueclicks commission junction merchants, that includes almost every major retailer, discounter, deal a day seller and the only big ones it doesnt have are in the rakuten program. that means that you could see the owner of this patent getting some fraction of a percentage of nearly every affiliate transaction going forward and that would be worth hundreds of millions if not billions of $$. inuvo calls it valid click and even though its got a patent now they probably cant afford to enforce it. vclk could buy the whole company for 3x the trading price and it would be cheaper than paying 1% of its affiliate revenue the next few years. rumors flying that vrng is already looking at it and they will pay more. they have the guns and backing to enfore the patent, they are already about to rock msft's world on the search side and they see ecommerce transactions as the third leg of the stool (search, mobile, ecommerce). this patent was awarded last week and since inuvo has been real quiet about it, probably out jet shopping. people close to this company say management probably will not sell the whole company because they would be out of a job, more likely they will figure out the way that they can make the most money from this. either way, bet the stock pops like a rocket when the word gets out or management feels like they have reached the limit of when their fiduciary duties will require them to announce it.

if it was worth $32 million with a pending patent, what is it worth with a valid enforceable patent? Maybe $100m or more which is more than $4 a share for this company thats trading at $1.15. dude posted earlier this stock to $5 or $10 in a few months might be in a few days instead, once everyone finds out about this

CRAiLAR Technologies, Inc. (CL) to Begin Construction on Full-Scale Manufacturing Facility

CRAiLAR Technologies confirmed that it will begin construction on its first full-scale manufacturing facility for CRAiLAR Flax Fiber on December 17, 2012. Production of its sustainable, performance-driven flax fiber is expected to keep the same timeframe as originally stated at the new Pamplico, South Carolina, facility. Currently, it is supplying the product to HanesBrands, Target, Georgia-Pacific, and others. The October investor update call also outlined new development activities with global leaders in sportswear and home furnishings, two previously untapped categories for Crailar Technologies.

“We are pleased to be on schedule with the timeline we put forth in October, and thrilled to turn the power on and move into production before the end of the year,” said Ken Barker, CEO of Crailar Technologies. “This milestone will put us on course for significant developments for CRAiLAR Flax Fiber and its global brand partners in 2013.”

CRAiLAR plans to begin output at 150,000 lbs. per week in January, increasing to 300,000 pounds per week in February, and then to level off in the short-term at 450,000 pounds per week. By the end of 2013, it plans to commission expanded production capacity at the facility of 600,000 lbs. per week. CRAiLAR intends to achieve a total production capacity of more than one million pounds of CRAiLAR Flax Fiber per week by year-end 2013.

CRAiLAR® Technologies, previously Naturally Advanced Technologies, offers cost-effective and environmentally sustainable natural fiber in the form of flax, hemp, and other best fibers for use in textile, industrial, energy, medical, and composite material applications. The company was founded in 1998 as a provider of environmentally friendly, socially responsible clothing. CRAiLAR Flax is the newest natural fiber introduction to the market and is produced using a fraction of water and chemical inputs compared with other natural fibers.

For more information, visit www.crailar.com

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Small Cap Stocks Using E-Commerce To Enhance Sales: PC Connection, Inc. (PCCC), Hot Topic, Inc. (HOTT), Stamps.com Inc. (STMP)

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite (often called TCP/IP, although not all applications use TCP) to serve billions of users worldwide.....but you already knew that.  But you may or may not know about the new wave of business: E-Commerce, and how small cap companies are utilizing the technology to increase sales without the use of traditional brick-and-mortar stores. 

Whether you are familiar with the terminology or not, you probably have used it by now. Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, is the buying and selling of product or service over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Electronic commerce draws on such technologies as electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at one point in the transaction's life-cycle, although it may encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail, mobile devices and telephones as well. Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of business transactions.  So who is on top of the trend???

Well the obvious are corporate giants Ebay Inc (EBAY), Amazon Inc. (AMZN), and Liquidity Services, Inc. (LQDT) (which own such sites as ebay.com, amazon.com, and liquidation.com respectively).  The less obvious are companies like PC Connection, Inc. (PCCC), Hot Topic, Inc. (HOTT), Stamps.com Inc. (STMP), and OverStock.com, Inc (OSTK).

Overstock.com, Inc. (Overstock) (Market Cap 372.11M) is an online retailer offering discount brand name, non-brand name and closeout merchandise, including bed-and-bath goods, home decor, kitchenware, furniture, watches and jewelry, apparel, electronics and computers, sporting goods, and designer accessories, among other products. The Company is also a channel through, which customers can purchase cars, insurance and travel products and services. Overstock sells advertising. The Company also sells books, magazines, compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs) and video games (BMMG). Overstock sells these products through its Internet Websites located at www.overstock.com, www.o.co and www.o.biz. The company has a P/E Ratio of 153.96, a Price-to-Book ratio of 27.84, and a Price-to-Sales Ratio of 0.35

PC Connection, Inc. (Market Cap 302.21M)is a direct marketer of a range of information technology, or information technology (IT), solutions. The Company helps companies to design, enable, manage, and service their IT environments. It provides products, including computer systems, software and peripheral equipment, networking communications, and other products and accessories that it purchases from manufacturers, distributors and other suppliers. It operates in four segments: small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) through its PC Connection Sales subsidiary, large enterprise customers, in Large Account, through its MoreDirect and ValCom Technology (ValCom) subsidiaries, federal, state, and local government and educational institutions, in Public Sector, through its GovConnection subsidiary, and consumers and small office/home office (Consumer/SOHO) customers through its PC Connection Express division. On March 17, 2011, the Company acquired ValCom Technology. The company has a P/E Ratio of 9.60, a Price-to-Book ratio of 1.11, and a Price-to-Sales Ratio of 0.14

Stamps.com Inc. (Market Cap 457.18M) is a provider of Internet-based postage solutions. The Company’s customers use its service to mail and ship a variety of mail pieces, including postcards, envelopes, flats and packages, using a range of United States Postal Service (the USPS) mail classes, including First Class Mail, Priority Mail, Express Mail, Media Mail, Parcel Post, and others. Its customers include individuals, small businesses, home offices, medium-size businesses and enterprises. The company has a P/E Ratio of 11.57, a Price-to-Book ratio of 4.76, and a Price-to-Sales Ratio of 4.47

Hot Topic, Inc. (Market Cap 386.46M) is a mall and Web-based specialty retailer of apparel, accessories, music and gift items for young men and women. The Company operates under two concepts: Hot Topic and Torrid. At its Hot Topic stores, it sells a selection of licensed and non-licensed apparel, accessories and gift items that are influenced by popular music artists and pop culture trends. At Torrid, the Company sells apparel, lingerie, shoes and accessories for plus-size females principally between the ages of 12 and 26. The Company sells merchandise on its Websites www.hottopic.com and www.torrid.com, which reflect the Hot Topic and Torrid store concepts and sells merchandise similar to that sold in the respective stores. As of December 31, 2009, it operated 680 Hot Topic stores throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, and 156 Torrid stores in 35 states. In March 2011, the Company announced the discontinuation of the ShockHound.com business operations. The company has a P/E Ratio of 25.94, a Price-to-Book ratio of 2.07, and a Price-to-Sales Ratio of 0.55

A Market and Earnings Reality Check

Wow. Great open, then a dip into the red ink, and then a bounce back into the black - and all in less than two hours worth of trading. And here's the killer..... I don't think we're past all the insanity yet!

I know that's the last thing you wanted to hear, but it's just the way it is.

To the NASDAQ 100's (NDX) credit, it is back above the 25x5 DMA today, and on its third day above the 3x3 DMA. On the other hand, there's a giant gap left behind from Wednesday's pop, and the market's been moving higher on nothing but momentum since then; how much gas is really left in the tank?

Fact is, the market needs to survive a real test first before we can take this bullishness at face value. And, I just don't see that happening yet. This is a dead-cat bounce, and not a rally born from newfound optimism on stocks. Volume on the way up's been way low.

Anyway, with not much likely to change between now and the end of the day/week, I figured we'd take a little time to do something for you we don't get to do often enough... take a step back and look at the bigger picture, and earnings in particular.

First and foremost, the S&P 500 has easily topped its earnings estimates that were out there before earnings season started. In late March, the pros were thinking the S&P 500 - if it were a company - would earn about $23.86 per share for Q1. Now with a little more than half the S&P 500's companies having reported, the index is on pace to earn $25.38 for Q1, which is 6.3% higher than expectations.

Freakin' ridiculous, though we've all seen it before. The media screams 'gloom and doom', scaring investors out of stocks, and then we see that things aren't nearly as bad as they were supposed to be.  Whatever.

Just keep in mind for next time around how it's very rare for the market to not have a good earnings season, even if only because the entire industry sets the bar so low before earnings season kicks off. That's part of the reason stocks struggled in early April - lowered guidance. Turns out things aren't that bad after all, and stocks have been feeling a little bullish pressure as a result. It's just part of the dance, you know?

But what about today's market weakness? What about Ford's (NYSE:F) huge shortfall? What about Spain? Oh yeah, I see all of that. It's like the newsletter was talking about on Wednesday though - you can either trade, or you can invest. If you're a long-termer, than the whole earnings picture matters, and the day-to-day stuff doesn't. If you're a short-term trader, than the whole earnings picture doesn't matter, and the day-to-day stuff is the key. You really can't blend the two, however. The problem is, the media likes to convince you to be a trader using the bigger earnings picture data. It rarely works out. [Reality check: Sorry, but Spain's debt woes and Ford's pitiful results last quarter aren't signs of sweeping trouble for everybody else.]

Now, I said all of that so I could show you the nearby graphic. It's a look at the S&P 500, the trailing and projected earnings by quarter, and the subsequent P/E ratio.

If you're strictly a short-term trader, you don't care. If there's any part of you that's a true investor though, then you'll want to take a look.

Are you still with me? Good, because the bottom line is, it's good news. Not only is the market on track to post record earnings for last quarter (something nobody expected), but the smart folks at Standard & Poor's say the march into record-earnings territory is going to continue through 2013.

At the same time, the market is still at rock-bottom, historically low valuations. The S&P 500's trailing P/E is only 14.12, which is at the extreme low end of its 20-year range.

I know a lot of people say that the P/E ratio doesn't matter, and I don't not understand what they're saying. Thing is, it doesn't matter UNTIL IT DOES. It mattered in 1995 when the P/E reached a low of 14.4, and stocks nearly tripled in value over the next five years. Just sayin...

Either way, the bullish earnings outlook isn't going to amount to a hill of beans in the near-term. We're just going to have to burn through all this volatility before the bigger trend resumes, which - unfortunately - may mean more downside before it's all said and done.