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Technology Stocks : American Superconductor (AMSC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tktrimbath who wrote (797)	1/1/2015 10:39:54 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 973

The company's potential continues to exist. The near term catalysts are the China decision, the joint effort called Tres Amigas that will connect the US' three main power grids, and core sales. The market is voting with its money suggesting that they expect the drop in revenues to continue. What I wonder is who will provide maintenance and updates to the existing installed AMSC based control systems from Sinovel customers? Without such support, one would think that these Wind farms may be at risk of breakdown or inefficient operation. Also, I believe that they are trying to sell their stake in Tres Amigas, but maybe that is being put on hold given the hidden value of that operation down the line.. We also have the discussion of the two additional utility contracts. There is value here. It's just a matter of how long it will take to realize it. Hawk

To: tktrimbath who wrote (797)	1/2/2015 4:49:26 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 973

". . . other solutions are out-competing AMSC . . ." A major competitor of AMSC for inverters that connect wind turbine generators to the grid is a company known as PowerOne, based in California. This company was acquired by a major European engineering firm that has a wind power business (I forget the name of the firm, but it is a major one). I think this is the main source of competition for AMSC inverters on the world market. AMSC may have good products, and apparently they are able to sell at least some of these to Chinese competitors to Sinovel. But this business doesn't have nearly the potential of the superconducting wire business. Why the superconducting wire business has lagged (outside of Korea) may be due to the reluctance of conservative minded utility companies to try new methods and products for improving the reliability of the grid. They would much prefer public investment in this area. But public investment has been curtailed by government budget cuts at all levels. The end result is a lot of potential but no near term improvements on the horizon, unless, of course, federal, state, and local governments decide to spend more money on infrastructure. It doesn't look likely to me, but you never know. . . I'm still holding a small number of AMSC shares. Because AMSC has recently effectively diluted the existing shares, it may be at least a few years before existing investors can derive profits. Art