Around the Traps ... with THE FERRET 08:28, Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Sydney - Tuesday - June 12: (RWE Australian Business News) - ***************************
EMPOWERNET INTERNATIONAL (ENI) did nothing for the empowerment of its shareholders.
The 50c share made their debut at 55c on Monday and fell relentlessly to close on Friday at 10c.
We haven't seen such rapid wealth destruction for a long time.
Particularly for a "fun" company with "solutions driven tenacity" that bases its operations on motivational speaker Anthony Robbins.
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Grandly-titled ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA & TELECOMS CORPORATION (ETC) has secured an $18 million development and support contract which will deliver $5 million ... or more ... in EBITDA every year for the next three years.
No wonder the shares straightaway shot up to 8.5c, a rise of 1.5c.
The price later drifted to close at 7.9c.
Actually, that's not all that much EBITDA when you think about it - Entertainment and Media has 1.14 billion shares on issue.
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You need to have your wits about you even with such dull "investments" as bank term deposits.
One of the hacks in this office was notified that his "more than five months but less than six months" term deposit, which had paid more than 6 per cent, had expired and would be rolled over for the same term unless otherwise advised.
The only trouble was the new five but less than six rate was down to 4.3 per cent.
The six but less than seven was the new best rate, at 6.3 per cent.
If our hack had not paid close attention he could have lost two full percentage points of interest for the sake of one day difference.
We wonder how many term depositors with the banks are caught out like this.
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Ferret did a double-take when a report landed in his inbox entitled, "IBA Launches Investigation into Industrial Espionage".
Has someone been spying on IBA HEALTH (IBA)?
Nope, another IBA.
This one is the International Bar Association, "the global voice of the legal profession", which is based in London.
Established in 1947, it's been around a lot longer than the ASX-listed e-health company that shares its initials.
Anyway, the UK IBA has launched "a global survey on industrial espionage with the aim of gaining insight into how problematic and widespread this contemporary business practice has become".
"In today's climate where economic competition is global, companies have the potential of becoming a victim of industrial espionage," says Charles-Henri de Pardieu, co-chair of the IBA working group on industrial espionage.
"In fact, the accelerated pace of technological developments in a global environment is making industrial espionage more of a problem for companies.
"Ever-increasing sophisticated tools and an array of easily obtainable gadgets are available to the prospective thief.
"The internet, email, USB sticks, mobile phones etc simply provide more ways to obtain a company's information.
"It is no longer necessary for the assailant to carry information out of a building under his or her arm."
Ferret eagerly (and somewhat nervously) awaits the survey results, which are scheduled for release in November.
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TWO WAY (TTV) badly needed a boost and it may well have come after the close on Friday.
The company announced it had signed an agreement with TABCORP (TAH) and FOXTEL to develop a pay TV wagering service on the FOXTEL platform.
Two way shares had spiralled down relentlessly from a 12-month high of 59c on November 2 to a record low of 12c on Monday.
They bounced back to finish the week at 15.5c with some out of the ordinary spirited trading on Friday when the shares rose 1.5c to 15.5c just before the after-hours announcement.
The new wagering service will initially be offered in NSW and Victoria.
Once the service is introduced, Tabcorp account holders with FOXTEL will be able to place bets via the Sky Racing Channel.
Wagering on the service will be password-protected and will not be accessible without an active Tabcorp wagering account.
Under the five-year agreement, Two Way will pay FOXTEL $5.6 million in two tranches, with the first 50 per cent to be paid on completion of today's agreement and the remainder payable upon commercial launch of the service.
Following launch of the service, Tabcorp will pay a service fee derived from wagering turnover through the service.
Two Way will retain 100 per cent of this fee until it reaches a total of $5.6 million, after which Two Way and FOXTEL will split the fee equally.
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And here we thought the era of the silly names was coming to an end.
ICON RESOURCES (III) directors and senior consultants are associated with a company called KUTh Energy.
It's an unattractive mix of capital and lower case letters we have not seen before.
The opposite to KUTh would be unKUTh, presumably.
KUTh plans to list on the ASX in the September quarter and intends to offer Icon shareholders priority allocation.
Icon fell 2c to 48c on Friday after also announcing a $1.35 million placement and $2.8 million share purchase plan, both at 45c.
(20min delay)