Meredith Vieira is an IPhone Doof

I was watching the Today show this morning and I think the IPhone had its first major gaff. This article had the rundown of Meredith Vieira failing to use the IPhone on national television.

Apple's media blitz didn't escape first-day glitches. On NBC's "Today"
show, co-host Meredith Vieira first met with problems simply getting the iPhone
to work to show off its features, laughing that "this is why gadgets drive me
crazy."

Later, with a team of Apple representatives hovering off-screen,
Vieira was supposed to receive a call from co-host Matt Lauer in London. The
iPhone — billed by Apple as the most user-friendly smart phone ever — displayed
the incoming call, but she couldn't answer it.

She was furiously trying to get the thing to pick up and couldn't do it correctly. I wonder if other clueless folks out there are having trouble with their IPhones as well? It that is true then Research In Motion (RIMM) with today's massive numbers will probably be the big winner. Maybe I'll look carefully at RIMM stock when they have their 3 for 1 stock split on August 17th.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/29/07

+$419.99 +0.86%

Info on the Uranium Market

This is a great article on the ins and outs of the Uranium Market.

The physics start with the little-understood but widely recognized
formula E=MC². Einstein's formula reveals the energy in nuclear reactions that
convert matter into pure energy--something physically impossible with chemical
reactions. A large nuclear reactor that powers some 700,000 homes invisibly
destroys just five pounds of uranium (roughly a 2-inch cube of pure uranium)
each day. The same amount of energy from a combustion power plant is produced daily by combining 20 million pounds of coal with 200 million pounds of air, not
incidentally yielding an equal weight in ashes and gases.

This is real reason why nuclear power is such a good idea. You can either destroy 5 pounds of something or 20 million pounds of another thing. Add this to the amount of green house gasses that is pumped out by coal plants and there is no comparison. I think all environmentalists should be pro-nuke if they are serious about avoiding global warming.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/28/07

+$554.01 +1.14%

Cytori has an Interesting New Product

I was recently researching Stem Cell stocks and came across Cytori Therapeutics (CYTX) This article really went into detail on a new product that they will take to market later this year.

Cytori has invented a device that can withdraw stem cells from patient
fat for re-use elsewhere in the body. The entire process takes around an hour
and, at $2,500 to $10,000 per treatment, looks downright cheap for stem
cell-based therapy.

Unlike fat itself, once used with limited success for breast
reconstruction surgery, Cytori says that fat-derived stem cells bring needed
blood supply to reconstructed breasts. Thus, the company says that breast
reconstruction surgery patients should finally have an option that will work and
actually last.

This market might bring in $85 million and they can also leverage it into the breast augmentation market as well. If they can get that process approved it would be a $100 to $300 million opportunity.

In fact since these cells come from a persons own body they would be far preferable to silicone or saline implants. There will be no risk of rejection and there will be no foreign objects leaking into a woman's body and possibly giving her cancer down the line. If it is easier to pull off and results in less scarring or complications this process might be able to dominate the industry.

They are also working on this as well:

Still, Cytori expects to pursue an even bigger opportunity down the
road. Right now, the company is enrolling patients in a study designed to test
its stem cell treatment for cardiac ischemia, a common ailment characterized by
poor blood flow. That therapy, unlike current drugs on the market, aims to
regenerate heart tissue rather than simply slow its deterioration.

"It depends on how good the data is," he admits. "But if we can get 3%
to 4% of the market share (for cardiac ischemia), that would be $1.5 billion in
revenue even at our price point ... That's an enormous market."

This is far down to road so and actual therapy will not come about for years. In the future it would be an interesting stock driver as it moves through the FDA.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/27/07

+$762.20 +1.60%

Tom Cruise Barred from Filming in Germany

I guess the Germans don't like those weird cultists filming movies in their cities.

Defense Ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer said Monday that the
production "will not be allowed to film at German military sites if Count
Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, who has publicly professed to being a
member of the Scientology cult."

Even Count Stauffenberg's son is against Cruise doing his dad wrong.

Stauffenberg's oldest son, 72-year-old Berthold von Stauffenberg, told
a German newspaper Saturday that Cruise "should keep his hands off my
father."

"I hoped for a while that it was all just a publicity stunt by Mr.
Cruise," the younger Stauffenberg told Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

"It is sure to be crap. Of course, I could be wrong—I would like to
be."

He called Cruise's involvement with Scientology "off-putting," and
referred to the church as a "business."

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/25/07

-$772.00 -1.55%

"Pants Suit" Pearson Loses Case

It looks like common sense and decency has prevailed in the "Pants Suit" case.

The owners of Custom Cleaners did not violate the city's consumer
protection law by failing to live up to Roy L. Pearson's expectations of the
"Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign once displayed in the store window, District of
Columbia Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff ruled.

"A reasonable consumer would not interpret 'Satisfaction
Guaranteed' to mean that a merchant is required to satisfy a customer's
unreasonable demands" or to agree to demands that the merchant would have
reasonable grounds for disputing, the judge wrote.
Bartnoff ordered Pearson to pay the court costs of defendants Soo Chung, Jin Nam Chung and Ki Y. Chung.

I think the Chungs should sue him for emotional distress as well as attorneys fees. There should also be some sort of frivolous lawsuit fine that he should pay as well. In any case this guy should never be allowed onto the bench again for pulling this stunt. If he gets his administrative law judge job back then someone needs to resign.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/22/07

-824.00 -1.63%

Manhunt 2 to get Kiss of Death AO rating

This is really bad news for TTWO.

In the United States, the video game industry's self-regulated ratings board gave a preliminary version of "Manhunt 2" an "adults only" rating instead of the more lenient, and far more popular, "mature" rating for ages 17 and up.

Slapping "Manhunt 2" with the Entertainment Software Rating Board's most stringent rating would likely doom sales. Large retailers including Best Buy Co., Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. won't stock AO-rated games.

Blackstone IPO prices at $31 a share

It looks like it will be the biggest IPO in 5 years. And the founder got some big money from the deal as well. That is quite a feat to turn $400K into $7.7 billion.

For Blackstone's founders -- who launched the private equity firm in
1985 with a $400,000 investment -- the IPO will mean a big payout. Chief
Executive Stephen Schwarzman will walk away with a stake in the company worth about $7.7 billion, putting him among the richest of the rich on Wall
Street.

White House May Finally Close Gitmo

From the it should have happened 2 years ago file. The Bushies may finally close Gitmo and shut up all those critics.

The advisers will consider a proposal to shut the center and transfer
detainees to one or more Defense Department facilities, including the maximum
security military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, where they could face
trial, said the officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were discussing internal deliberations.

They should have done this ages ago instead of concentrating them in one place. Having them in Gitmo just made it easier for them to be in contact with one another. It was like putting all the Crips in one prison so they could hang out together.

It also just made America look bad. If they simply spirited them away all over the US then allegations of torture and waterboarding and things would never have gotten human rights groups in such an uproar. Also why they didn't have a trial for so long is ludicrous as well. Almost all of them are guilty so just try them and lock them up for life.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/21/07

+$840.00 +1.69%

Blackstone to Price Thursday Night at $29-$31

It looks like it is time for Blackstone to IPO starting Friday.

The Blackstone Group L.P. confirmed its initial public offering of
common units will price Thursday night at a range of $29 to $31 per unit and
begin trading Friday.The offering was originally scheduled for next week.

It should be an interesting day of trading for it. I wonder when options are going to trade on it though so I can hedge downside if I consider pulling the trigger.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/20/07

-$933.00 -1.84%

Bush to Veto Stem Cell Bill Again

I'm really tired of this argument brought by the right in support of the President.

Opponents of the latest stem cell measure insisted that the use of
embryonic stem cells was the wrong approach on moral grounds — and possibly not even the most promising one scientifically. They cite breakthroughs involving
medical research conducted with adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood and
amniotic fluid, none of which involve the destruction of a human
embryo.

How do they know if it isn't promising? We might have cures for diabetes, spinal cord injury, and Alzheimer's possibly tied to stem cells. They might even be able to cure heart disease. Some of the best stem cells can be harvested from embryos that are currently destroyed as medical waste. Why doesn't Bush wise up and let women who abort fetuses sign a waver that allows scientists to harvest the stem cells. The scientists won't be deliberately making embryos for stem cells but just reusing something that would normally be thrown away as medical waste. Bush is such a moron when it comes to this issue.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/19/07

+$664.00 +1.33%

Judge "Pants Suit" Pearson

Hopefully we will soon be able to write ex-judge and former lawyer Pearson but that is up the the Washington D.C. establishment.

Best Rundown of the $67 million dollar Pants Suit

This is a court case that I am following very closely. It is case in point on why there needs to be tort reform and an end to the idiotic lawsuits out there.

It all began two years ago when Mr. Pearson walked into Custom
Cleaners, a Northeast D.C. establishment owned by Jin Chung, Soo Chung and Ki
Chung. He laid down $10.50 to have a pair of pants altered. The results
dissatisfied him: The job wasn't finished on time, and he says the pants he was
given were someone else's, which the Chungs deny. He demanded $1,150 for a new suit; the Chungs demurred. So it was off to court, with the claimed damages
subject to alterations, in an expansive direction.

How billowy did those damages get? Well, it seems Mr. Pearson
needed to be paid for 10 years' worth of weekend car rentals so that he could
patronize a different dry cleaner. He wanted $500,000 for emotional distress
and--though representing himself--$542,000 in legal fees. Best of all, he
claimed that the signs on display at Custom Cleaners, "Satisfaction Guaranteed"
and "Same Day Service," were fraudulent, entitling him to damages of $1,500 each per day under D.C. consumer law. He multiplied 12 violations by three defendants by 1,200 days, and soon was up over $65 million (later cut to a mere $54 million).

This Pearson is now an administrative law judge who makes $100K a year. Let's hope they fire him, then disbar him, and finally fine him a few million for engaging in a frivolous lawsuit. They need to give him the proverbial "Nifong."