On Friday December 5th, 2008, uWink (NASDAQ: UWKI.OB) made an “odd lot” tender offer to purchase all shares of its common stock held by persons owning 99 shares or fewer on the close of business as of December 1, 2008. The offer is valid until 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, January 15, 2009.

This offer is designed to reduce the number of total shareholders of uWink’s stock to under 500, whereby uWink would then deregister their stock from the OTC/Bulletin board and spin off their technology licensing business as a dividend to existing stockholders.

As I just wrote about last week, uWink has serious liquidity issues and is taking an unprecedented step to take themselves out of the stock market, and make the company look more attractive for possible investment for the two separate entities that they will become: one a restaurant company, and one a software and licensing company.

As a result of this tender offer and the uncertainty surrounding the company and our investment, I am downgrading uWink to a HOLD.  I’ll break down my reasons within this post and explain in more detail what exactly is going on.

Read the rest of this entry »

WOO-DOGGY!

Would you like some volatility to go along with your morning coffee?

Since I last came out with my top 5 stocks for November,  the market’s gyrations have certainly put everyone on edge, and make buying stocks at this juncture definitely not for the faint of heart, or those with very short term investing time frames.

I recently wrote that now was a fantastic time to buy shares of companies you have been watching and where the fundamentals present an excellent risk/reward scenario.

My watch list is no different, and this month I have a broad range of stocks that I am looking at for possible inclusion into the PeakStocks.com portfolio.

These stocks enter and exit my Top 5 as constant fluctuations in both price, market conditions, and business fundamentals constantly alter the investment thesis.

Please note that my Top 5 Stocks for December aren’t yet formal recommendations.

I have more due diligence that I have to perform on them, but they are compelling enough with the research that I have done to be at the absolute top of my list, at least as of this writing.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a recurring theme with the large scale selling in the market but uWink (NASDAQ: UWKI.OB) in particular, as those that own these stocks panic and try to make sense of their investments.

We’re at that juncture where it’s time to once again check in on uWink and their latest quarterly earnings release (or rather the 10-Q), and what this means for our investment going forward.

One thing is certain: the economy has hit uWink’s restaurants hard, and while I’ve written countless times how uWink is not a restaurant company, but rather a software development company, we are now at a critical juncture in the company’s genesis in that with the stock price where it is, and uWink’s cash burn rate, something will need to happen one way or another rather quickly.

uWink’s shares aren’t for the faint of heart, but for those interested in uWink’s Q3/2008 results, as well as in where uWink is headed and what progress is being made on getting their terminals inside more restaurant chains and other hospitality venues, read on.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been another incredible month for stocks, and especially for those on my watch list.

With rare exception, stocks of all shapes and sizes are getting pummeled and are presenting us with great buying opportunities for those with a long term investment horizon.

I recently wrote that now was a fantastic time to buy shares of companies you have been watching and where the fundamentals present an excellent risk/reward scenario.

My watch list is no different, and this month I have a broad range of stocks that I am looking at for possible inclusion into the PeakStocks.com portfolio.

These stocks enter and exit my Top 5 as constant fluctuations in both price, market conditions, and business fundamentals constantly alter the investment thesis.

Today I wanted to give you a heads up on some of the stocks that I was watching for possible inclusion into my portfolio, specifically ones that are high on my list, and most likely to be added as formal recommendations in the weeks to come as they reach desirable price points, and present wonderful opportunities for long term investors.

Please note that my Top 5 Stocks for November aren’t yet formal recommendations.

I have more due diligence that I have to perform on them, but they are compelling enough with the research that I have done to be at the absolute top of my list, at least as of this writing.

Read the rest of this entry »

uWink (NASDAQ: UWKI.OB) finally completed their deal with InSite Development, a real estate company that rehabilitates and develops properties in the Southern California area, that placed 100 uWink touch screen terminals within InSite’s latest real estate development for seniors, Arbor Court, in Lancaster, CA.

This groundbreaking deal is the first of its kind, and pairs 100 of uWink’s touch screen terminals in a common area where seniors can play and interact with the terminals via group games such as bingo, or solo games that are designed to increase memory and stave off the ravages of the aging process.

Now that these terminals are fully installed, what does this mean for the retirees that live in Arbor Court? Can these types of games really help stave off age related dementia and loss of cognitive functions and memory? And what will this deal portend for future uWink software licensing deals?

Read the rest of this entry »

The tumultuous market has continued to beat down stocks of all shapes and sizes.

This is great news for those of us waiting on the sidelines to put new capital to work.

This month I have a broad range of stocks that I am looking at for possible inclusion into the PeakStocks.com portfolio.

These stocks enter and exit my Top 5 as constant fluctuations in both price, market conditions, and business fundamentals constantly alter the investment thesis.

Today I wanted to give you a heads up on some of the stocks that I was watching for possible inclusion into my portfolio, specifically ones that are high on my list, and most likely to be added as formal recommendations in the weeks to come as they reach desirable price points, and present wonderful opportunities for long term investors.

Please note that my Top 5 Stocks for October aren’t yet formal recommendations.

I have more due diligence that I have to perform on them, but they are compelling enough with the research that I have done to be at the absolute top of my list, at least as of this writing.

Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday September 22, uWink (NASDAQ: UWKI.OB) announced their second software licensing deal to install 4 of their touch-screen terminals in a Chili’s Too Margarita Bar at the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport as a pilot program for possible expansion into many more locations.

The deal was made with the owner/operator of the Chili’s location, Delaware North Companies, a global hospitality, food service and retail provider, and with the approval of Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT), which owns, develops, operates, and franchises 1,888 various restaurant brands under the Chili’s Grill & Bar, On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, Maggiano’s Little Italy, and Romano’s Macaroni Grill brand names.

So what does this deal mean for uWink, who is Delaware North, and more importantly, will this yield entrance of uWink’s terminals on a much larger scale to other Chili’s restaurants and other locations within the airport industry that are run by Delaware North?

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been biding my time with uWink (NASDAQ: UWKI.OB) for the last few months or so as the price has plummeted from around $1.40 per share to the now bargain basement price of $0.55 per share.

There has been little news coming out of uWink other than their last quarterly earnings release that I wrote about extensively, which was not a pretty picture.

As I explained in my breakdown, the results need to be taken into context, and not overblown or exaggerated in their nature.

Chief among those observations is the fact that uWink is not really a restaurant company, although to this point, that’s the only way we’ve had to value them.

It seems that valued in that context alone, some out there, and for sure the culprits of the recent stock decline, have taken it upon themselves to bail on the company right at the cusp of their acceleration as a software development company.

That, I believe, is a big mistake.

In fact, the recent stock price provides us with such a compelling risk/reward scenario that it is simply too good to pass up, and needless to say, uWink definitely qualifies for my Double Thesis.

Apparently I’m not the only one that feels this way as the CFO has just purchased more shares on the open market, and both the CFO and CEO have received a generous amount of new preferred stock in exchange for some of their underwater options.

There are other reasons why I feel this is a great time to purchase shares of uWink or further cost average your position if you already have one, and I’ll go into those in detail further below.

I am initiating the Fourth (4) BUY recommendation of uWink at or around $0.55 per share.

Read the rest of this entry »

After taking a look at the latest quarterly results from uWink (NASDAQ: UWKI.OB), parsing the numbers, and talking to management, it struck me that it’s a good thing that uWink isn’t a restaurant company because it was not a pretty picture…and then I caught myself.

You see, right now, uWink is indeed a restaurant company until they start selling and licensing their proprietary gaming and point of sale (POS) software on a large scale, which is the whole basis of my original investing thesis for buying shares of uWink.

In the end, I don’t really care about the success of their restaurants, and neither should you, but rather the continued success of that software and licensing business.

But, and this is a big but, until that happens, uWink is on borrowed time, and is indeed solely a restaurant company, that HOPES to license its software to really increase revenue, and ultimately, stay in business.

uWink is not like other companies that I follow for many reasons.

For one thing, the company never hosts analyst conference calls when they release earnings, and never puts out a press release announcing earnings.

In fact, we are lucky to even get a 10-Q to look at.

I guess I should also explain that uWink is a penny stock trading on the pink sheets/bulletin board exchanges, and therefore, isn’t even followed by hardly anyone on Wall Street, so odds are, if uWink did host a conference call, it would probably fall on deaf ears.

So, as a result of this lack of information, I thought it was prudent to take a look at uWink’s latest quarterly results, and update you on the company and what’s going on.

The stock has taken quite a hit lately, but such are the vagaries of dealing with companies this small with such a thin trading volume.

However, that being said, there are very good reasons why uWink’s stock is lower, and some serious issues that I think you should know about and that I’ll be addressing in this post.

Read the rest of this entry »

A precipitous drop in share price of some of the stocks that I have, and will continue to recommend, on PeakStocks.com is not uncommon.

In fact, on my Investing Style page, I outline the risk factors that come with investing in these types of stocks, and the fact that you have to be prepared to lose 50% of your investment in rapid fire succession.

Most of these names are usually thinly traded, have small market caps, and can be influenced through various events, most of which have nothing at all to do with the actual company and its operations or financial condition.

The same can be said of the latest share price decline in uWink (Nasdaq: UWKI.OB).

uWink is an entertainment and hospitality software development company that develops casual, interactive, social games, in addition to licensing the rights to those games and their proprietary touch-screen ordering and gaming interface to restaurants, entertainment venues and the hospitality industry.

uWink also owns and operates several restaurants under the uWink brand name that utilize this technology.

The stock has plummeted from about $1.40 to about $.80 as of Friday, with no apparent news, or rhyme or reason to the price fluctuation.

So what’s going on with uWink’s stock?

Read the rest of this entry »