Posts for Ticker ‘ZAAP’

ZAP Additional Funds Raised… From the U.A.E. (ZAAP)

There is some interesting financing news this morning, even if the financing is not one of massive proportions in private equity, venture capital, or in sovereign-type investments.

An OTC-BB listed stock called ZAP (OTCBB: ZAAP), a US-based electric car pure play, saw the completion of a financing pact this morning from Dubai-based The Al Yousuf Group.

The total financing was a convertible debt placement in the amount of $475,000.00, but this is after the Al Yousuf Group purchased $5 million in ZAP shares back in November.

The Al Yousuf Group is a manufacturing and distribution company in the U.A.E.  This isn’t the first "green investment" from the Arab world nor is this the first investment out of the U.A.E. for alternative energy plays.  But take this a step further.  Imagine if Zap! went out and allowed The Al Yousuf Group to either manufacture or at least coordinate some of the manufacturing of electric vehicles in the U.A.E. at some point down the road.

When Arab countries that produce oil invest in technologies that ultimately compete against oil, you know they are looking to get in on the next energy technology.

ZAP shares are up 3.6% at $0.86 in early trading today; its 52-week trading range is $0.40 to $1.16,

You can join our open email distribution list to hear about other IPO’s, secondaries, financings, spin-offs, and mergers.

Jon C. Ogg
May 19, 2008

Jon Ogg produces and edits the "10 Stocks Under $10" newsletter and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: May 19, 2008 – 9:13 am in Alternative Energy, Secondary Offering, auto,

The Business Day In Global Warming (LDK, CPST, USU, FPL, ZAAP, FTEK, HVAG)

LDK Solar Co. (NYSE:LDK) stock fell 7% to $30.05 in the last hour of trading today after yesterday’s earnings, but it was mainly a lackluster guidance.  This was actually up in after-hours trading yesterday.  This solar player had already warned us about the same issues back in January, so this shouldn’t have been that big of a surprise.

Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST) scored another small gain of 2% or 3% before coming off at the end of the day, after a huge run yesterday.  This remains our own top pick of the small emerging alternative energy players, and this now represents a 50% gain for our "10 Stocks Under $10" weekly newsletter sent out every Monday. 

FPL Group Inc. (NYSE: FPL) had a power outage today in much of South Florida for what was being reported as "a loss of off-site power" without the cause being elaborated on besides workers taking the nuclear reactor down.

USEC (NYSE: USU) was horrible today, and many of you might not like "nuclear" as one of our "green" energies.  But a new uranium enrichment facility in Ohio is running 50% more expensive than budget.  Sounds to me like someone forgot to hedge steel and metals costs.

In an announcement last night, electric car maker ZAP (OTCBB:ZAAP) said it has filed a lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler, Smart Car and various officials on October 28, 2005, alleging severe misconduct attempting to destroy ZAP’s business model to bring the affordable and environmentally friendly smart for two to the US public.

Fuel-Tech, Inc. (NASDAQ: FTEK) reports earnings next week, and this one has had one heck of time getting off the floor.  It is a great company that helps clean coal into much less nasty power, but its valuations may still be excessive in a time when low-risk is still preferred.  Coal is unfortunately going to be with us for another generation or more.

T. Boone Pickens gave a prediction that oil was coming off as much as $15/barrel in Q2 just last week.  He admitted he was short, but we were told by some oil traders this last weekend that his fund is doing far worse than his -5% he admitted to in energy.

High Velocity Alternative Energy Corp. (OTC-PK: HVAG) lost half of its value after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last night.  That’s the wrong way to go for an alternative energy play, and it is obviously poor management that can’t make alternative energy fly in this environment.

Point Carbon, a world-leading provider of independent analysis and consulting services, has predicted that the global carbon market will see 4.2 billion tons carbon emissions transacted during 2008, up 56% from 2007, and at today’s prices that would make the market worth $92 billion after converting Euros.

As a reminder, whether you prefer the term "Global Warming" or "Climate Change" is not the issue as far as 24/7 Wall St. covers it. Green business has become big business, and this affects many public companies today. 

Jon C. Ogg
February 26, 2008

Posted on: February 26, 2008 – 3:41 pm in Alternative Energy, , , , , , , , ,

How Investors Should View Honda’s Fuel Cell Car (HMC, F, TM, BLDP, ZAAP)

The promise of fuel cell cars has been a long arduous prospect for investors and for green-tech consumers alike.  Last week marked the more official unveiling of Honda Motor’s FCX Clarity, the coming fuel cell car that will be released in the U.S. during the summer of 2008.  24/7 Wall St. wanted to review what this will mean for Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE:HMC) as far as its stock is concerned. 

Honda_fcx_picThe truth is that will be phenomenal, but it will not be an investable event until 2009 or later.  The reason is that this FCX Clarity is only going to be released on a limited basis in California in summer of 2008 (only to customers currently residing in the Torrance, Santa Monica and Irvine areas who meet additional qualification criteria will be eligible to take an FCX Clarity home) because refueling fuel cells can’t be done just anywhere.  Not yet, anyway.  The good news is that these will be leased for 3-years for $600/month.  The bad news is that it is going to be years and years before this is readily available countrywide and many metro areas do not even know when alternative energy fuel stations will be proposed.

This is exactly why any politician offering the American public a four year fix to our energy problem is selling rhetoric you shouldn’t listen to.  It is going to be 2012 to 2016 before the U.S. will see any noticeable difference, and anyone who believes that any full system-wide fix happening before 2020 is probably more optimistic than realistic.  You are hearing this from someone who believes that green investing and green businesses are already becoming big business.  But there are also financial and logistical realities.

Electric cars and electric scooters are already available from an OTC-Bulletin Board traded company called ZAP! (OTC-BB:ZAAP). Daimler’s (NYSE:DAI) "smart" vehicle is said to be available in 2008, although ZAP has a lawsuit against Daimler.

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a huge success with its hybrid offerings.  The Prius is for all practical purposes sold out at Toyota dealerships and used car dealers tell us that any Prius gets sold site-unseen and shipped out to California.  It was surprising that Toyota even bothered advertising it, as they don’t need to spend the cash.

Ford (NYSE:F) also has hybrids sell out basically as they come on the lot.  The hybrid tech is licensed from Toyota.  I have test driven a Ford Escape hybrid and was impressed, although the recycled interior is taking it a bit far (after all leather is recycled cow skin, and burping cows emit carbon.. look it up).  There are many other hybrid vehicles on the road, but the fuel cell is the ultimate goal with zero-emissions.

Ballard Power (NASDAQ:BLDP) was long thought of as the fuel cell stock play, and this has been a "watch stock" on our alternative energy sector tag on the 24/7 Wall St. site.  In fact, I have been covering that stock on and off since 1996 or 1997 when this was just a future technology.  But now Ballard has sold off its automotive fuel cell business to Ford and to Daimler AG (NYSE:DAI) in return for its stakes held by both companies.  Now Ballard will only focus on fuel cells for the industrial sector usage.  It will still develop the bus market, but the future of Ballard in the consumer auto markets will be that of a manufacturing one without the intellectual property.  The market gave this one a quick "thumbs up" vote, but shares have come right back down.

Honda’s market cap is currently around $123 Billion, and it is hardly followed by analysts in the U.S.   The ADR shares trade under $34.00 today and its 52-week trading range is $31.29 to $40.82.  24/7 Wall St. commends Honda for getting this commercially launched in the U.S., but we caution investors looking to play this for another year or two should be investing in "HMC" only the merits of what cars they offer today rather than their future fuel cell cars for the U.S. consumer. 

Jon C. Ogg
November 19, 2007

Jon Ogg produces the 24/7 Wall St. Special Situation Investing Newsletter and can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.  24/7 Wall St. also publishes "The Business Day in Global Warming" and you can subscribe directly to that on an RSS feed if you are only interested in green investing news by setting your RSS readers to the following link: http://www.247wallst.com/alternative_energy/index.html

Posted on: November 19, 2007 – 11:23 am in ADR, Alternative Energy, Autos, Cult Stock, OTC, , , , , , , ,

ZAP Brings New Powerful Electric Car for $30,000 (ZAAP)

Zap_imageZAP (ZAAP-NASDAQ/OTC), the electric car maker, is launching a new development program with a completed design for a high-performance electric vehicle that is affordable for consumers.  The target price is $30,000.00 and the target speed is more than 100 miles per hour with a 100 mile range per charge.  ZAP claims that many of the technologies are specified for the car, but delivery is expected sooner than the ZAP-X electric car concept.  It will offer more details at the annual shjareholder meeting on July 29.

ZAP already has a small short range vehicle in production.  For $10,000.00 you can buy a ZAP XEBRA thatwill reach up to 40 miles per hour for short range travel inside cities.  It has mainly been targeted to city and governments, although some individuals (very few) have these in major cities.  ZAP sells the XEBRA through an authorized dealer network of sales and service centers. ZAP is developing a number of vehicles for its automotive business plan. Earlier this year, ZAP introduced a high-performance compact, or crossover, SUV concept called ZAP-X. ZAP also has ventures to build cars in China and Brazil.

ZAP has been a post-concept company that has so far seen limited success as a stock.  Yesterday’s closing price was $0.98, and the 52-week trading range was $0.61 to $1.80.  Total revenues for 2006 were only $10.83 million with an operating loss of $19.4 million and net loss recorded at $11.9 Million.  As of its last report on March 31 it only carried $2.56 million cash, with total assets listed as $10.995 million; total liabilities were carried as $7.546 million.

Jon C. Ogg
June 22, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: June 22, 2007 – 6:36 am in Alternative Energy, Autos, Cult Stock,