In a follow-up to last week’s news on a very promising potential agreement in West Africa, U Mining Resources Inc. (OTCPH: UMNG) provided an investor update today.

Take a look:http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/080228/0368355.html

This is definitely worth a read for all of your interested investors out there!

After a prolonged quiet spell, Execute Sports Inc. (OTCBB: EXCS) is back in the news this morning with a major announcement. During the month of January, the company’s recently-acquired Sugar Sand boat company logged its highest total monthly sales volume since December of 2006.

With sales of 35 boats worth approximately $703,000, Sugar Sand brought in almost one-half of Execute’s revenue run rate through the first three quarters of 2007 in just one month. Judging by today’s press release, sales were driven by company affiliates presenting at a very aggressive schedule of boat shows over the past few months. Did you see the list?

I know that we all wished we could have seen it months ago, but just the same, it is very impressive to see the level of commitment Execute’s partners have shown thus far with the Sugar Sand deal. On another note, the company’s annual dealer meeting yielded sales of about $2.4M on 114 boats bringing the total to about $3.1M on 150 boats, very early on in the year.
I believe that affordability is a major factor leading to sales success here early on.

With industry analysts predicting predicting a double digit decrease in powerboat sales for 2007, a choppy economy has some potential boat purchasers watching at bay. However, the enthusiasts remain. They just don’t likely have as much to spend on a recreational boat than they did a few years back. By offering affordable boats that generally require minimal maintenance and are decent on fuel, Sugar Sand appears to have found a sweet spot in a souring market.

Although the company has been pretty quiet as of late, product placement & brand recognition have never been better for Execute’s watersports offering. Kawasaki has recently re-ordered and Execute products have been prominently featured on major television outlets including MTV, ESPN, and the E channel. The company now sells products online with leading retailers including: The Sports Authority, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Joe’s Outdoors, Sport Chalet, Modell’s and MC Sports with aspirations to break into a an increasing number of brick & mortar locations as well.

The company recently stated that 2007 watersports revenues were up nearly 37% over the prior year and also issued projections that 2008 core water sports products revenues could increase 40% over ‘07 levels and even higher depending on re-orders.

Remember, U.S. law stipulates that all recreational boats must carry one wearable PFD for each person aboard and that each passenger under 12 years of age must wear a flotation device at all times. Essentially, for every Sugar Sand jet boat that is sold at a dealer meeting, boat show, or elsewhere, the company has the opportunity to sell a few additional PFDs. In addition, Sugar Sand has developed a very strong dealer/distributor network to which Execute can pitch its brand to for the first time.

All That it Takes is One Big Announcement

When Execute Sports Inc. (OTCBB: EXCS) announced an initial deal with water sports legend Kawasaki Motors Corp. on January 19th 2007, the market simply went nutty. Shares surged upwards on massive volume – which surpassed 22 million – from an opening price of $.03 to a high of $.10 before settling down at $.08. A 333% jump in one day with a 266% daily gain.

While collaboration with Kawasaki is a major testament to the quality of Execute’s products, today’s announcement likely carries more weight from a near-term accounting standpoint. Due to this fact, I’ll be very interested to see how news thirsty investors will receive it.

Commenting on the company’s potential for the New Year, CEO Geno Apicella recently commented “We introduced new and improved products for the 2008 to our existing customers, in addition to introducing our line to select sporting goods stores and dealers that we think would be a perfect fit for our new line. We have increased our inventory to further support our ‘on-line’ effort and accommodate immediate deliveries. This will allow us to sell more products for longer periods of time.”

With President Celeste Berouty, who spent 20 years as sales director at industry leader Body Glove Wetsuits (in its prime), shopping the new-look brand around the world, and Sugar Sand’s robust representative network raking in over $3M in revenues during the winter months alone, Execute is showing a great deal of promise for 2008 and beyond.

Today, I saw something that put into perspective a trend that one cannot help but notice. In my neighborhood, we now have organic dry cleaning! We of course have organic grocery stores and restaurants but recently got organic paint and at long last organic dry cleaning.

The industrial age is (partly by choice and partly by necessity), taking a sharp turn in the way the simplest of products are manufactured – from that Versaci dinner jacket to the chip that go into your PC. Companies as large as Intel understand this growing industry standard of going green – hence their connection with today’s player in the rising green trend.

Buck the Trend with Legacy

As fears that the U.S. is entering a period of stagflation continue to rise, Legacy Holding Inc. (OTCPK: LGYH) is showing the characteristics of a fractious stock unwilling to succumb to the pressures of a weakening economy. Shares are up about 100% since our last update back on February 8th and the market seems to be warming up nicely to one of our favorite companies for ‘08.

Trading Commentary

Over the past ten trading days, LGYH stock has more than doubled in price on volume of about 125,000 shares (see accompanying chart). During this upward surge, the stock pulled back on just two of these days trading into an easy to spot up trending channel.

The one dollar mark as well as recent highs of $1.10 and $1.43 look to be easily reached near term targets.

Industry-Leading Solutions Coupled With Highly Esteemed Executives

When coupling industry-leading solutions with a battle- tested industry executive team the way that LGYH has, the chances for success are quite promising. Founded by four Texas Instruments engineers back in 1989, Legacy has developed and patented a new, breakthrough process that employs “Green Chemistry“; to produce an environmentally safe process for cleaning silicon wafers simultaneously improving efficiency.

Now providing both modular and complete solutions, LGYH has already developed business relationships with the likes of Tyco, Micrel Systems, and Silicon Genesis, the largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer and the largest solder bump deposition manufacturer worldwide.

The company’s President and CEO Robert R. Matthews is a chemist with nearly 30 years of experience in the semiconductor industry with time spent as a process engineer at Texas Instruments and Intel Corp. He’s also fostered deep ties with other leading semiconductor- related organizations including Applied Materials.

Industry Snapshot

The semiconductor world is largely dominated by five leading players with Intel leading the way and commanding about four-fifths of the PC microprocessor market. They are followed by Applied Materials, by far the world’s largest maker of the complex components used in the production of semiconductors.

STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments are the two largest analog chip makers with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company known as the largest producer of chips. TSM has revolutionized the chip manufacturing process, which has afforded companies that lack production facilities to outsource the production of their chips.

With little room for new competition, these companies are constantly developing new chips and production processes in order to stay competitive and ensure that their respective market shares do not diminish. This makes the market for LGYH’s solution virtually inexhaustible.

Significant Value-Proposition in the Semiconductor World

Legacy’s technology demonstrates a significant value proposition for the $7 billion per year silicon wafer cleaning industry in 4-industry key ways:

Improving wafer processing time by 200%;
enhancing oxide removal control by 92%;
decreasing costs by 22% by reducing the amount of consumable materials used in wafer cleaning; and
reducing particles left on the wafer after cleaning by 76%.

At present, LGYH’s unique technology enables it to compete in a market space of approximately $5.5 Billion in annual sales or 13.5% of the $41B wafer equipment market. LGYH has also identified a secondary market for its technology in the packaging solder bump process, which is projected to increase to approximately $142 million by 2009.

The company appears to just be scratching the surface of a multi-billion dollar market. And by the way it has traded over the last couple of weeks; it appears that the market is willing to pay increasingly more for the potential here.

With proven, patented products already placed with leading semiconductor players and a highly regarded CEO with extensive industry contacts at the helm, we’re excited about the company’s future. We’ll be tracking it closely so check back soon for updated coverage on Legacy Holdings Inc.

One of our newest portfolio companies, U Mining Resources Inc. (OTCPK: UMNG) is back in the news today with another monstrous announcement!

Management stated this morning that the BOOT (Build-Own-Operate-Transfer) Agreement currently being pursued by the company in the Republic of Guinea has a potential value of $5 Billion. That’s no typo – $5,000,000,000!!!! On paper, the deal makes sense. But before we get into that, let’s take a look at what is going on in the iron ore marketplace today.

Business is Great for Iron Ore. . . At least for Miners!

(UMNG: 1-Month Chart)

A 2/8/08 Bloomberg analyst poll reveals that Iron ore sold under long-term supply contracts may climb as much as 80 percent in 2008 starting April 1. Furthermore, Asia’s top 3 steelmakers recently agreed to pay Cia Vale do Doce (the world’s largest iron ore producer) at least 65% more than last year for iron ore. Analysts across the board agree that this effectively sets a global benchmark.

This surge in price is causing steelmakers to look elsewhere for iron ore, even that of sub par quality. In turn, focus is increasingly being shifted towards the development of proper pipeline infrastructure required to prospect proven, undeveloped iron ore deposits around the world.

Comparative Iron Ore Projects

One effort in the news lately has been Baffinland Iron Ore Mines Corp’s intent to develop the Mary River project in Nunavut, Canada. From what I have read, it is one of the most underdeveloped deposits in the world, holding more than 365 million tonnes of proven and provable reserves. The reserves are also believed to be of top quality.

So, as demand and prices for iron ore surge while supply dwindles, UMNG’s strict dedication to developing mining infrastructure in a “world class” iron ore resource (the Simandou Mountain Range in Arica) could pay off exponentially if all goes well. Just as a point of reference, UMNG stated in today’s release that “Drill assays from previous exploration programs on the Simandou Range indicated a high-grade hematite, with a concentration of over 67% Fe (Iron), and an estimate of over 3 billion metric tons of iron ore resources”.

If this estimate is in fact correct, we are looking at a much larger potential reserve than even the esteemed Mary River project.

Potential West Africa BOOT Agreement

According to the company, “The State guarantees the Investor (UMNG’s Comitrag subsidiary) an iron ore reserve of at least three (3) billion tons for the whole duration (i.e. 60-years) of this Agreement”. Furthermore, UMNG foresees itself producing 15 million tons pallets or nuggets in addition to 35 million tons of iron ore annually.

With iron ore fetching a solid $85.00 per ton and Iron Pellets an even more impressive $115.00 per ton, if these reserves are in fact what they are claimed to be (a world class source) and UMNG succeeds in its role of quarterbacking the infrastructure development project required to begin prospecting, a stock price south of a penny will likely seem laughable down the road.

Getting the Ducks in a Row

There are a number of factors here that need to fall into place in order for the deal to be a success. The BOOT agreement must be finalized. The recently announced $7.5 financing offer sheet must be approved to execute phase 1 getting nailed down. And UMNG must not run into any unforeseen roadblocks on its way to bringing the mining concession up to speed. However, even if the company can capture a fraction, even 5%, of the aforementioned $5B, this deal will be a homerun.

According to a news release issued by the company on 2/17, a signing ceremony is slated for late February in which UMNG, Comitrag, and Republic of Guinea officials will finalize the agreement and likely partake in a bit of celebrating. As an investor, I’d be looking at this as a key indicator of what the future holds here.

The plan is finally coming to fruition! Union Dental Holdings Inc. (OTCBB: UDHI) is in the news today regarding their intent to transition their Coral Springs, Florida facility into a total service provider. With the proven ability to produce dental prosthetics 20%-30% cheaper than the competitors, it will be quite interesting to see the financial outcome of this decision.

By offering all aspects of dentistry in one location including Orthodontics, Endodontics, Periodontics, Implants, Pedodontics, Cosmetic Dentistry and eventually Oral Surgery, UDHI should be able to bring more labor union dental expenditures to the top line.

In order to raise the funds necessary to expand the Coral Springs practice and execute an acquisition of a dental facility in Charlotte, NC, where the company benefits from a massive labor union customer base, UDHI has engaged a local investment firm to do the legwork.

All things considered, I really like what I am seeing out of the company this week. All along the plan for UDHI has been 2-pronged: (1) build a robust network on dental partners in regions heavily saturated with labor union workers and (2) then begin establishing their own practices in key regions and benefiting from proven competitive advantages in regards to the manufacturing of dental prosthetics.

If all goes well here, we could indeed be looking at very different company over the next 6-12 months. And by different, I mean better. The bottom line here? If UDHI is not now on your radar screen after announcing that ’07 revenues will increase by nearly 15% over ’06, as well as this week’s news, it should be, at least until we see how things pan out with the company’s proposed expansion.

Despite the raucous, and sometimes obnoxious, rants and raves of Jim Cramer, you gotta like the guy. He would surely be voted “best-guy-to-get-seated-next-to” at a Catholic wedding. Partially because of his contrarian viewpoints and partially because of the fact that he unabashedly shouts those viewpoints, we like to hear what he has to say and just a chuckle out of how he says it.

Now, Motley Fool may not have the I-am-at-my-espresso-limit manner of speaking. They may not even have those very cool baby-crying/stock-tanking/game-show-winning sound effects. But they, like the Cramer, have built their fan base by being strong minded, straight talking, contrarians. And, we’ll graciously forgive the marketing move of wearing those dreadful hats for the sake of a cool name.

Motley Fool also falls into our good graces based on a common opinion about the mining trend in the global economy. In December, Motley Fool asserted that 2008 will be an amazing year for iron ore – with an estimation that the price of iron ore will increase as much as 75%. And as much as we would like to think this is our (and Motley Fool’s) little secret, the banks funding iron ore projects seem to agree.

$15 million Retainer Would Go A Long Way

Over the past decade, America has grown increasingly desensitized to the notion of manufacturing jobs shifting to the Asia-Pacific region. The country has seen its share of the global manufacturing industry drop from 25% to 20% since 2000. Despite a positive boost from a weak dollar and astronomical energy prices, the sector continues to suffer stateside. Europe’s global share is also decreasing while Asia’s continues to blossom.

Nowhere is the trend towards increased Asian manufacturing investment more pronounced than in the semiconductor space. That is exactly why Legacy Holding Inc. (OTCPK: LGYH) is applying for a Chinese patent for their proprietary Organostrip technology. The technology was originally developed for a leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer and is proven to help alleviate a number of pain points currently plaguing the industry (cleaning output time, final output quality, etc.).

Chinese Semiconductor Industry Primed for Significant Expansion

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) expects China’s domestic semiconductor market to grow by 25% from 2000 to 2010 while the global market expands at an annual rate between 8% and 10%. In addition, Intel Corp (INTC NASDAQ), one of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers, recently stated plans to build their first-ever wafer facility in Dalian, China.

The $2.5B facility would bring the company’s 22 year investment total in the country, which it has publicly identified as its fastest growing market, to approximately $4 billion. With a population exceeding 1.3 billion as of July 2007 and a middle class expected to reach 200 million people by 2010, China benefits greatly from thriving domestic and export markets. So, clearly the country is the place to be for semiconductor-related entities. Particularly those run by a CEO possessing nearly 30 years of industry experience with time spent as a process engineer at Texas Instruments (TXN NYSE) and Intel Corp. itself.

Need some more reasons to begin your due diligence process on Legacy Holdings?
Here are a few compelling nuggets of information that should get you excited:

1. The company has already established business relationships with Tyco, Micrel Systems and Silicon Genesis, the largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer and the largest solder bump deposition manufacturer worldwide;

2. LGYH recently announced plans to register as a reporting company under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and apply for listing of its common stock on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB). Management expects to be up-listed by mid-May 2008;

3. Legacy Holding is the only semiconductor equipment company to ever receive the prestigious U.S. EPA Green Chemistry Award;

4. The company’s strategic vision is to become the leading U.S. wet process supplier by 2011;

5. LGYH employs a strong and diverse business model that leverages three different vehicles for delivering the technology to the market (Manufacturing, Licensing, Services); and

6. They provide a suite of proprietary technologies and products that bring a significant value-proposition to multiple industries (i.e., Semiconductors, Solar Cells, Flat Panel Display’s, and Light Emitting Diodes).

As the company pushes forward with plans to mass commercialize its innovative suite of proprietary products and technologies and offer it to a larger selection of leading Tier-one semiconductor players, securing patents in the Wild Wild East is a critical step in ensuring success.

Fueled by a recent global concern for energy security and a greener alternative energy source to high carbon-emitting fossil fuels, top industry analysts predict Uranium spot prices to surge to $106.90 per pound in 2008.

The market for Uranium should stay relatively strong until later this year and begin to tighten in 2009 when mining efforts are increased, mainly in Kazakhstan, but also in Canada and Southern Africa.


The Middle East continues to realize profits from exorbitant oil prices which recently reached $100 a barrel. Is the next logical step for the oil-enriched region to start using nuclear power to conserve their main cash export so they can continue to supply the rest of the world?

The diagram to the right depicts the number of ethanol filing stations across the U.S.

As of September 2007 there were 1,200.

Alternative fuel has gained widespread publicity in recent years as prices at the pump continue to soar. However, a number of factors are currently hindering consumer adoption. Lack of filling stations and higher adjusted prices for biofuel vs. traditional gasoline are two key culprits.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy “DOE” there are more then 5 million flexible fuel vehicles (FFV) on U.S. roads today. FFVs are capable of operating on gasoline, E85 (a mixture of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline), or a combination of both. These vehicles qualify as alternative fuel vehicles (AFV’s) under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct) and are also eligible for AFV tax credits.

One major factor currently hindering consumer usage is the fact that most areas don’t have the required filing stations for the alternative ethanol fuel. Although these FFV can run on gasoline or ethanol, the hope is to increase the number of filling stations so that owners are able to make an environmental decision and use the cleaner burning alternative ethanol fuel.

It appears that change is upon us with new incentives and legislation such as the most recent Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 signed back in mid December. The Act supports the continuous efforts of companies to make E85 more readily available and cheaper to the consumer will help ignite the alternative green fuel push.
With current national average gas prices still 20 cents cheaper then E85, after being adjusted for MPG compared to conventional gasoline, consumers will continue to make their purchasing decisions based on what will keep more of their hard earned cash in their pockets.