Sberbank has slackened restrictions for individuals seeking loans, after last year's crisis driven squeeze on credit.  The government intends to establish a new state holding to oversee Russia's geological reserves, the Moscow Times reports.  Fertilizer producer Acron has said it may borrow up to $2.2 billion from Sberbank and VTB to finance development.  Gold output has increased by 18.5% year-on-year in the first eight months of 2009.  Daimler is attempting to fortify its share of the Russian market by planning a truck and bus joint venture with Kamaz.  Raiffeisenbank has explained that it had filed to bankrupt media firm RBC, but will withdraw the suit imminently as it hopes to come to a debt restructuring plan for the company.  Russian-Israeli tycoon Arkady Gaidamak has been charged with money laundering and fraud to the tune of ...

DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Tuesday August 18, 2009

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BioSolar, Inc. (OTC BB: BSRC), developer of a breakthrough technology to produce bio-based materials from renewable plant sources that reduce the cost of photovoltaic solar modules, announced today that the company has recently filed a patent application to protect the innovations behind its proprietary BioBacksheetTM-A, a bio-based backsheet featuring an absolute moisture barrier for the thin-film solar cell market.

Orckit Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:ORCT) today announced that the requisite quorum of two or more shareholders holding at least 25% of the outstanding ordinary shares was not present at its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders scheduled to be held on Monday, August 17, 2009 at

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Good news is continuing for Alvarion Ltd. (ALVR), a Tel Aviv, Israel-based pure-play WiMAX service provider. Recent rumors within the broadband industry suggest a deal between Alvarion and Nokia-Siemens Network (NSN) for customer WiMAX deployment.NSN is a joint venture between Nokia Corp. (NOK) and Siemens AG (SI). According to industry sources, NSN has taken a strategic decision to shift its focus to other next-generation (4G) wireless technologies like LTE and HSPA+.However, in order to offer a bunch of 4G networks to its customers, NSN has decided to keep WiMAX in its portfolio and will outsource this technology from specialist WiMAX developers. Alvarion appears to be the most probable candidate.The agreement will be a boon to Alvarion if it materializes, especially after its failed agreement with currently bankrupt Nortel Networks.During June 2009, Alvarion ...

Israel may very well attack Iran’s nuclear facilities if the hardliner Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is re-elected tomorrow. Israel thinks that if elected, Ahmadinejad will continue to develop nuclear weapons.  And, Israel can’t afford to wait for international efforts to bring Iran’s enrichment to an end.

Detailed military plans to bomb Iran’s nuclear infrastructure have long been on the table in Tel Aviv.

Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported that Dennis Blair, the newly-appointed head of US intelligence, said Tel Aviv will eventually declare war on Tehran as a last-ditch effort to curb Iran’s enrichment capabilities.

And, former Israeli UN ambassador Dan Gillerman revealed that Tel Aviv is preparing a military offensive against the country.

War could be avoided if the Persian people elect the moderate political leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in tomorrow’s election.

Moderate ex-premier Mir Hossein Mousavi has emerged as Ahmadinejad’s main rival.  Mousavi believes Iran’s policy regarding its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.  

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Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, Adama Technologies Corp. is a “Brownfield remediation” company. The company’s patented technology is the foundation of their operations. The technology successfully treats all Resource and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Universal Treatment Standards (UTS) metals. This technology successfully completed the U.S. (EPA) “SITE” program and is available for commercial use.

Brownfields are sites affected by the former uses of the site or surrounding land. These sites are derelict or underused and may have contamination problems. Management of contaminated land means looking for ways to manage or eliminate risks, however, the primary objective of Brownfield redevelopment is the reuse of the land and the reintegration of the properties into the economic cycle.

Adama Technologies Corp. utilizes their $60,000,000 patented MBS (Molecular Bonding System) technology. Adama commitment is to providing long-term permanent solutions to hazardous heavy metal waste problems. Their MBS technology successfully treats metals including arsenic, cadmium, chromium,

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Sarah Lacy published a seminal piece yesterday on TechCrunch about the Israeli VC and entrepreneur scene.  In an article entitled, “Now that China Is the New Israel…What’s Israel?”, Lacy explores the evolution of the Israel tech industry.  From enrapture in 2000 to finishing 2008 without a single IPO and virtually no exits, Lacy questions whether Israel has just hit a bump in the road or just peaked out.

Lacy explains:

Israeli companies have raised just over $10 billion since the beginning 2001, but acquisitions and IPOs have returned just over $860 million over that almost eight-and-a-half-year period…

Somewhere along the way, the entrepreneur scene here lost its mojo.

So I don’t say this to trash Israel, but facts are facts. In sheer numbers, Israel’s place on the global scale of investing has been dwarfed by China, and matched by the United

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While few airline carriers can really admit to “loving to fly and it shows”, Delta Airlines has given some cheer back by lowering their fares from New York to Tel Aviv to $617, the lowest set fare ever on this route. The fares, which will be available only through the end of this week, apply to flights through the end of March. The new price reflects a $132 drop in fuel surcharges.

According to the Globes article:

Delta Airlines commercial director for Israel Esty Herskowicz said that the fare referred to a whole class, not to an allocation of seats. She added that seats were available at this price on most flights during the period of the campaign.

I guess Israel really sees some benefits when the price of oil plummets.

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In the face of global chaos, Israeli real estate prices still found a way to go up over 10% for 2008.  While most of the gains came in the first 3/4 of the year, prices have gone up even more in places like Petach Tikva and Modiin, both with yearly price gains of over 20%.

From Globes:

Tel Aviv suburb Petach Tikva led the price rise in 2008 with the average apartment climbing 22% in price to NIS 856,000 last year. In second place was Modi’in where the price of the average apartment rose 21% to NIS 1,031,00. The average apartment in Rishon Lezion and Yavne rose by 17% to NIS 926,000 and NIS 587,000 respectively. The average apartment in Givat Ze’ev recorded a 16% rise to NIS 852,000. Prices rose 15% in Ramat Gan

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Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and with offices in Caesarea, Israel, Zion Oil & Gas Inc. (ZN) is an exploration stage company looking for oil and gas in Israel. They explore for oil and gas in onshore areas between Tel-Aviv and Haifa. The company has a current market capitalization of $54.65 million and trades on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX).

Zion Oil & Gas Inc. holds two petroleum exploration licenses. These are the Joseph and Asher-Menashe Licenses between Netanya on the south and Haifa on the north. These licenses cover a total of roughly 162,000 acres. Mr. John M. Brown founded Zion Oil & Gas in April 2000. His mission for the company is to explore for oil and gas in Israel and reach production levels that will help Israel become an energy independent country. Incorporated on July 9, 2003, the company came into being because of an inspirational visit by

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