First Crown Research

I got out of Ambase Corp, OTC:ABCP, after the shareholders meeting announcement that they wouldn't liquidate.  However, now that the stock has dropped 24% since then im intrigued. This sell off is because of an announced venture mentioned.... Here :  http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/20639/000002063913000047/frm8kentry111w57.htm In the disclosure it mentions they will participate  in the " real estate development project to purchase, develop, and operate the real property located at 105 through 111 West 57 th  Street in  New York, New York".   It must be related to this:  http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/03/29/jds_developments_skinny_57th_street_tower_to_grow_taller.php They just purchased a portion of this project in New York for 56 million, and the market cap of the company is 36.80 M.  The question is, did they overpay? and how much of this project are they getting? Here's the article that mentions that the  Steinway ...

Siemen's is spinning off their lighting division, Osram, on July 5th, with the new Osram shares trading on the Frankfurt and Munich Stock Exchange and Siemen's trading ex-spin off, July 8th. Osram will be the largest pure play lighting company in the world. For every 10 shares of Siemen's owned, 1 share of Osram will be received. Siemen's shareholders will end up owning 80.5% of Osram, while Siemen's will continue to own the remaining 19.5% Holders of Siemen's ADR will not receive shares in the new company. Rather these shares will be sold immediately, and the proceeds will go to the ADR holders. The press has created a negative aura for Osram, and there is an anticipation that once shares begin to trade, they will dive.  Reasons include forced selling of the ADRs, forced institutional selling,  as well as more of the customary negative spin off rhetoric. It is also expected that the ex spin-off Siemen's will jump, because of the institutional bu...

AmBase Corporation (OTC:ABCP) is another interesting situation.  After 22 years the company received a settlement from the government of $180 million. A proxy statement for its annual shareholder meeting that takes place tomorrow, June 6th, states that included in the objectives to consider and act on for the meeting is "A shareholder proposal, if properly presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting, recommending the liquidation of the Company." A catalyst like this will raise the price for the stock, since it is trading below its cash on its books. Will this liquidation be announced soon? An outside investor can't say for sure, however it's possible that because they distributed a $2 dividend after the settlement was announced, they have no other intentions for the awarded cash. If they were to start up other operations of some sort, they would have kept that dividend. While a liquidation may not be in their intentions at all, the opportunity has limited downside,...

Otelco Inc. is an Rural Local Exchange Carrier (RLEC) that recently emerged from bankruptcy.  Their current symbol is NASDAQ:OTEL. While the company was in bankruptcy, the company's IDSs were still trading on the Nasdaq and Toronto exchange under the symbols OTT and OTT.UN respectively.  They entered Chp. 11 with a pre pack.  Under this plan, the IDSs got exchanged into 85.2 % of the total equity.  Good play for people that saw them go from 1.60 to north of 2.50. Potentially the equity value could be called 42.5 million (using an EV/EBITDA multiple of 4).   Looking up OTEL's closing price of 11.00, with 2.87 million shares outstanding the market cap is 37.93 million. You might think, wait that math's not right. On the contrary, OTEL only represents the class A shares worth 92.5% of the total equity or 31.57 million. The class A shares have not been diluted by the class B shares conversion, nor the Management Equity Plan.  The class B shares can be c...

This is a post directed towards opening up a bank account (in CAD) at CIBC. CIBC is the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.  It is the fifth largest bank in Canada based on deposits, and in May 2012, Bloomberg ranked it the strongest bank in North America and the third strongest bank in the world. Before you go to the bank, schedule an appointment.  In order to open up an account as an United States citizen, you need a passport and a driver's license.  The process should take about 30 minutes including filling out the paperwork and setting up your account.  If you're driving there, expect to be at customs longer than you will be in Canada. (Reminder: take customs into account while setting up your appointment time) Open a simple checking account.  This account is in CAD and whenever money is taken out it is converted to the USD. Keep a minimum balance of $1,000 in your account, otherwise you will be charged a #3.90 fee. With this checking account you...

Last Thursday I passed the Series 65 exam.  This is the exam required to start up a hedge fund in the state of Connecticut.  You're allowed three hours to take the test and it is composed of 140 questions with 10 practice questions thrown in there (you don't know which ones are the practice ones).  A passing score is 72% or higher.  It costs $135 and anyone can take it; you don't need to be sponsored like other exams.  Here's a quick run through of what you need to do in order to sign up for it, and pass it: Signing Up for It: This can be done by going to  Finra.org  and filling out the Form U10.  Create an account, fill out some simple information, and pay the $135 fee.  Then, you'll get a couple of email confirmations, saying that the application has been received and that soon you'll be able to make an appointment at a testing center.  A day or two later you'll receive another email saying that you can schedule you're app...