ITEM 1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS
(A) CORPORATE HISTORY
Advanced Technologies Group, Ltd. (the Company) was incorporated in the State of
Nevada in February 2000. In January 2001, the Company purchased 100% of the
issued and outstanding shares of FX3000, Inc. (formerly Oxford Global Network,
Ltd.), a Delaware corporation, the designer of the FX3000 software program. The
FX3000 software program is a financial real time quote and money management
platform for use by independent foreign currency traders. In March 2002, the
Company transferred its FX3000 software program to FX Direct Dealer, LLC, a
joint venture company that will market the FX3000 software program. The Company
received a 25% interest in the joint venture in return for the transfer. The
remaining 75% of the joint venture is owned by Tradition, N.A., a subsidiary of
Compagnie Financiere Tradition, a major Swiss-based financial company. The
un-depreciated cost of the FX 3000 program at the date of the transfer was
$1,670,485. However, as of January 31, 2006, the Company presently carries the
value of its investment in the joint venture at $-0-.
At that point, the Company ceased all its efforts to directly market the FX3000
software and redirected its efforts to the acquisition, development and
commercialization of other types of technology intended for the e-commerce
marketplace.
During October 2001, the Company acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding
common stock of Luxury Lounge Inc. ("Luxury") in exchange for 7,918,565 shares
of its common stock. Luxury, at the time of acquisition, operated an on-line
interactive web site specializing in selling jewelry and other luxury appliances
at a discount to the retail and wholesale consumer. In addition, Luxury was also
in the process of developing several ancillary technologies designed to provide
on-line marketers with analytical information relating to the effectiveness of
their on-line marketing techniques as well as allowing them to offer additional
services to their customers. The Company believes that these technologies,
(known as PromotionStat and Promote4Free) when properly developed, will have the
potential for generating significant revenues and profits for the Company. The
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PromotionStat program will allow on-line retailers and advertisers to verify
customers and categorize the patrons of on-line retail stores. Due to economic
conditions, the Company terminated Luxury's on-line marketing operations and
devoted all of its efforts and resources to complete the development and
initiate the commercialization of the PromotionStat and Promote4Free
technologies.
The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, seeks to generate revenue
through its investment in FX Direct Dealer and the PromotionStat e-commerce
advertising screening platform software. To date, limited revenues ($951,644 in
fiscal 2006, compared to $494,075 in fiscal 2005) have been generated from the
Company's continuous software development and maintenance of FX Direct Dealer
platform and no revenues have resulted from the PromotionStat e-commerce
software platform during fiscal 2006. Neither the Company nor its predecessor
has been involved in a bankruptcy, receivership or similar proceeding.
(B) BUSINESS OF REGISTRANT GENERAL
The Company's business centers around the development and/or acquisition of new
technologies that in management's opinion provide a novel or significantly
improved methodology to solve existing problems, meet current demands among
business and which have the potential for commercialization. Initially,
management has elected to concentrate on technologies within the developing
e-commerce marketplace.
I. THE FX3000 SYSTEM
The Company's first venture after its formation was development of the patent
pending, Internet-based FX3000 software system, a Java-based online foreign
exchange dealing system. This system created an on-line foreign currency
exchange ("Forex") trading service that offers a complete and technologically
superior software platform that allows the retail-level foreign exchange clients
access to 24-hour, commission-free foreign exchange dealing, using inter-bank
liquidity and efficiencies. As mentioned above, in 2002 the Company reached an
agreement with Tradition N.A., a subsidiary of Compagnie Financiere Tradition, a
major international financial institution, to implement FX3000 on a commercial
scale through a joint venture with the Company.
Under the joint venture, the Company assigned all of the FX3000 technology to
the new joint venture company with Tradition NA, which assumed all
administrative, funding and marketing responsibilities of commercializing the
FX3000 system. Management believes that as the joint venture continues to
develop its commercial operations this will be the leading source of revenues
for the Company over the foreseeable future. As such, in order to provide a
better understanding of the potential of this new technology, following is a
brief discussion of the Forex markets and how the FX3000 system operates.
With the advent of Internet communications and related Web technologies, the
Company perceived a growing demand for faster, cheaper and more efficient
foreign currency exchange trade executions. The present Forex market is
estimated to be at $1.5 Trillion in currencies traded every day. Most Forex
trading is done at the wholesale level amongst brokers and major banks via
private or vendor-supplied computer networks. The availability of Internet
technologies is increasing the availability of lower-cost trading opportunities
at the retail level for money managers, sophisticated high net worth traders,
international corporations and small and medium size institutions. Individual
investors are also being drawn to on-line Forex trading in increasing numbers,
further increasing the pool of prospective trading participants.
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The Company's FX3000 technology was designed to serve as a gateway to those
inside Inter-bank markets. This technology ensures that all trades are executed
as soon as they are received at openly posted executable prices that closely
match those of the foreign exchange Inter-bank market by aggregating the trades
as they are received and, in turn, executing them in the Inter-bank markets.
This allows individual traders and investors to receive the benefits of the
massive liquidity and tight quote spreads available in the Inter-bank markets,
and allows those markets in turn to service this retail sector without having to
manage individual retail accounts.
The Company initially developed its on-line trading environment to include
real-time dealing quotes, charting, technical analysis tools and news all in one
comprehensive product. FX3000 fully integrates the client, dealer, back office
and System Administrator functions. Product features include high-speed
execution of client orders and the ability to monitor in real time margin
availability, net exposure and profit and loss on all open positions. Following
establishment of the joint venture, the Company continued upgrading the FX3000
system to enable the system to better fulfill its market mission and meet the
performance criteria established by its joint venture partner. Commercial
operation of the upgraded FX3000 software platform began, on a limited basis,
during calendar year 2003 and have continued to develop and evolve through 2006.
II. ADDITIONAL TECHNOLOGIES UNDER DEVELOPMENT
GENERAL
Through the acquisition of Luxury, the Company acquired several new technologies
related to the e-commerce markets which management believes offer an exceptional
commercial opportunity to the Company. Principal among these new technologies
are PROMOTIONSTAT and PROMOTE4FREE. Both of these technologies have been
designed to meet the most basic problems that have resulted in the loss of
confidence in Internet-based advertising of products and services to consumers.
Given the widespread agreement that Internet marketing is, and will continue to
be, a mainstay of how consumers will purchase goods and services in the future,
management believes that a critical need exists and will continue to grow for
methods to improve the success and viability of Internet-based advertising.
PROMOTIONSTAT AND PROMOTE4FREE TECHNOLOGIES
BACKGROUND: THE INTERNET MARKETPLACE
In less than a decade, Internet-based electronic commerce, or e-commerce, has
emerged as the fastest growing factor in the creation of new wealth and overall
economic activity in the United States. Additionally, it seems clear that the
e-commerce phenomenon is well on its way to redefining how the entire world does
business. The trend, say analysts, is not only being driven by the arrival of
new consumer users, but also will be spurred by the increasing confidence shown
by the business sector in Internet-based commerce. Companies in virtually every
market sector and industry must now determine how to develop innovative business
strategies to remain competitive in the digital marketplace. Although it is
still early, one thing does seem certain: those who make the commitment to
integrate e-commerce as a mainstream element in their business practices within
and between companies are the ones most likely to wind up on top.
The advertising market as a whole is characterized by the fact that it is
difficult to measure, evaluate or analyze the results of a specific ads'
effectiveness. For instance the effectiveness of an ad in the newspaper or
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magazine is related to the amount of purchases or subscriptions of that
publication which is clearly a poor measurement. The effectiveness of an ad on
television is typically measured by the amount of viewers during a specific
airing of an ad, which is calculated by an independent company who cannot verify
how effective the ad was in producing results for the advertiser. With the
advent of the Internet measuring the effectiveness of ads became somewhat
simpler. A visitor may click on a banner or link of an advertiser and wind up on
their web site. It is sufficient to place a counter on the advertiser's web site
to determine the amount of visitors to that site. It seems simple at first
glance. However, when a site receives a visitor, a company has no way of knowing
whether a visitor was accidentally routed there, found the site through a search
engine or came because of an offer by the advertising company. The increased
number of visitors to a site may be due to a variety of reasons besides
advertising including the possibility that the numbers were inflated by
technological means. Most importantly, if a company advertises in more than one
location, it is difficult to determine which ad brought more visitors.
Consequently, a company may not be in a position to determine which advertising
strategy is most effective in promoting its products or services.
Because it is very difficult to measure and predict the effectiveness of a
specific ad placement, a company may continue spending a great sum of money on
advertising based on inaccurate data and assumptions. In essence, a company may
be spending money on advertising that does not work, which creates a dilemma.
How can a company figure out how to budget advertising dollars correctly and
allocate money to advertising sources that will lead to profitability when there
is no way to measure advertising effectiveness? Presently, there are two basic
methods to address this issue on the Internet:
1. SERVER LOG FILE ANALYSIS. This type of analysis can be conducted
either online or offline via a company's Internet Service Provider or
by means of software that is installed on the server. However this
information does not allow for a direct tracing or analysis of which
advertising or promotional source brought the product request or sale.
Additionally there is no way to track and analyze purchased
banner/logo impressions placed on other web sites. Basically, this
method does provide a means to determine how many unique visitors
resulted and what these visitors did when they visited the web site.
2. BANNER IMPRESSIONS ANALYSIS. Such analysis typically includes the
amount of impressions, list of web pages showing this impression, date
of the impression, CTR of a particular banner or logo, etc. However,
none of the companies offering this type of analysis follow the
visitor after the click and have no means to determine which product
was of most interest to a particular visitor directed to a web site
from a particular advertising source. If a company had access to such
information it would be able to conduct a marketing research study for
a particular group of visitors. A company would also be able to
determine the efficiency of a particular advertising and promotional
campaign in providing real traffic and interested consumers.
Clearly, existing methodology does not meet the challenge nor provide the
information necessary to structure an effective advertising campaign. It was
within this environment that management turned it's attention to developing a
new approach aimed at assisting E-Businesses by helping them become more
profitable. The resulting technology has been carefully structured to provide
meaningful information to a company and foster the biggest "bang for the buck."
The result was development of the PromotionStat technology.
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PROMOTIONSTAT, INC.
The PromotionStat technology is a statistical and analytical traffic-monitoring
tool designed to help marketing executives monitor the effectiveness of every
dollar spent on advertising and promotions as well as utilize a free promotional
tool at a favorable exchange ratio. The PromotionStat system tracks visitors'
pre and post click activities while identifying what visitors came from which
advertisements or links. With PromotionStat's Internet Advertising Rating
System, a web site will be able to identify and rate their advertising sources
and find out which ads are successful. In essence PromotionStat is capable of
reporting and separating visitors from different advertising vehicles and
tracking their behavior once they get there. This type of analysis will allow
companies to allocate their advertising budget appropriately and prevent them
from spending money on ads that are costly and inefficient.
The PromotionStat system is designed to analyze the effectiveness of advertising
and promotional campaigns of web sites. This system keeps track of visitors via
a series of invisible data collectors placed within individual pages of the web
site. An advertiser will be able to identify visitors by the various advertising
companies that directed them to their site as well as keep track of both the
amount of visitors and their level of interest in the advertiser's products or
services. The system calculates the percentage of visitors who looked at the
home page versus those who continued browsing other internal pages. In this way
a company will be able to determine which advertising company is more effective
and whether it is worthwhile to continue utilizing their services.
In addition to finding visitors with high "targetability", the PromotionStat
technology is able to record and analyze detailed information regarding
visitors. This innovative screening system allows web owners to track and
identify the referring source of their visitors, calculate the amount of unique
visitors on a daily basis, describe the nature and dynamics of visitor activity
on a web site and much more. PromotionStat also has a built in mechanism that
can detect artificially inflated traffic, which is unfortunately a common
practice on the Internet as web sites are paying "per click". This will help web
owners eliminate dishonest promoters that employ such tactics.
A WORKING EXAMPLE OF THE BENEFITS OF THE PROMOTIONSTAT SYSTEM
To best understand the usefulness of the PromotionStat system it may be helpful
to track a hypothetical advertising campaign by a company using the Company's
system. Assume that Company A paid for 10,000 banner impressions of its product
banner to SomeAdvertiser.com. According to the contract with
SomeAdvertiser.com., Company A's banner is supposed to be placed on a particular
page with similar products and information. So Company A should expect a
well-targeted audience to visit its online store. In order to determine the
efficiency of its advertising dollars, the PromotionStat system can first
determine whether Company A's banner was in fact shown 10,000 times as promised
and whether it was shown on the requested page.The PromotionStat System can also
be used by Company A to provide:
* Real traffic on the pages of the ad promoter and compare those numbers
with the numbers promised;
* Efficiency of Company A's banner based on the CTR so that Company A
may make effective modifications to its advertising.
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* By utilizing a special filtering feature in the PromotionStat
reporting system, Company A can input the special reference number
assigned SomeAdvertiser.com and receive the actual number of unique
visitors that came from their web page daily.
* Company A can receive detailed information about these visitors
including date and time of their visit, where they came from, who
referred them, their IP number and the geographic region they are
from.
* Company A can receive information regarding which pages were visited,
which product, department or category was of most interest and which
resulted in actual sales for each day of the week broken down by
referral source or tracked on an individual basis.
What is the benefit derived from all of this information provide to Company A?
If visitors do not leave the web site after clicking on the first page this will
confirm that Company A's impressions are well targeted and not inflated
artificially. Further, Company A can use this information to study product
demand for a specific product type, product category or department. This
provides management with a powerful marketing research tool that will allow
Company A to change product offerings to meet market demand. Finally Company A
can conduct a final analysis of the efficiency of the money spent on advertising
and promotions and compare the amount spent on the 10,000 impressions with the
amount of demand or sales generated.
PROMOTE4FREE, INC.
PromotionStat is not limited to providing traffic monitoring tools that measure
advertising effectiveness as it works in conjunction with a free promotional
service called Promote4Free, that will allow e-commerce companies to decrease
their advertising spending and increase market presence simultaneously. One of
the most effective methods of web site promotion is to join a banner exchange
network that provides a web site access to showing its banner in exchange for
showing other members' banners on their web site. Most existing banner exchange
networks have an exchange ratio of 2:1, which means that for every one showing
of a banner the client must show the banner of another member twice. This ratio
is not that effective in bringing traffic as accumulating showings, or "points,"
at this rate, becomes difficult.
Promote4Free is a banner exchange system that is intended to provide a higher
exchange rate of 4:3, allowing for three points to accumulate in the member's
account for every four showings of the banner of another. In addition to a
favorable exchange ratio, Promote4Free provides broad and detailed statistical
information regarding banner showings and allows members complete control of
their banner campaigns and point distribution. Promote4Free has a built in fraud
protection system that protects members from dishonest practices of other
members. This innovative technology does not presently exist in any other banner
exchange network program on the Internet.
By combining the innovative services offered by PromotionStat with the
advantageous services offered by Promote4Free, management believes that the
Company will become a leader in restoring confidence in Internet advertising and
making advertising online profitable. Promote4Free and PromotionStat are two
innovative software systems that are designed to address an existing basic need
of E-Businesses of today and strive to promote web sites efficiently and
effectively while reducing advertising spending and optimizing financial
rewards.
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III. COMPETITION
The market for new, Internet-based technologies is evolving rapidly, and will be
intensely competitive reacting quickly to the accelerating pace of technological
change. The Company faces competition in this market sector from a broad sector
of companies in many diverse fields whose primary focus is to identify problems
and to create new technological solutions for these problems. Further, the
search to acquire new technology developed by other for commercialization is
also an intensely competitive area. In its efforts to acquire new technology the
Company will be competing with many companies in a wide range of industries,
most of whom have greater financial resources than the Company and greater
market recognition.
Although management believes that the Company's current technologies provides a
number of competitive advantages in the markets for which they have been
designed, it must be remembered that many of its competitors have longer
operating histories, a larger customer base, greater brand recognition and
greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources than the Company.
Current and potential competitors also have established or may establish
relationships among themselves or with others in order to increase the services
offered within the same business sectors as the Company.
IV. RISK FACTORS
1. LIMITED OPERATING HISTORY AND RECORD OF EARNINGS. The Company has only a
limited history of operations. The Company has transferred its principal
technology to a joint venture formed with Tradition N.A., a major brokerage and
financial company, in exchange for a 25% interest in the joint venture. The
joint venture has only recently begun to market the FX3000 software system and
to provide revenues to the Company. The Company is also developing additional
software product aimed at the e-commerce market, although no assurance can be
given as to when these additional technologies will result in operating revenues
to the Company. For fiscal year 2005, the Company realized a net loss of
$905,298 (as compared to a net loss of $1,436,378 for fiscal 2005). As a
development stage enterprise, the Company is subject to all of the risks
inherent in the establishment of a new business, including the absence of a
significant operating history, lack of market recognition and limited banking
and financial relationships. Further, the Company's auditor has included a
"going concern" footnote in the Company's audited financial statements for
fiscal 2006. See "FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - FOOTNOTE 12."
2. RELIANCE UPON MANAGEMENT. The Company is largely dependent upon the personal
efforts of its current management, the loss of any of which could have a
material adverse effect upon the Company's business and prospects. The Company
does not have key-man life insurance upon the life of any of its officers or
directors. Additionally, as the Company implements its commercial operations, it
will require the services of additional skilled personnel. There can be no
assurance that the Company can attract persons with the requisite skills and
training to meet its future needs or, even if such persons are available, that
they can be hired on terms favorable to the Company.
3. UNCERTAINTY AS TO MANAGEMENT'S ABILITY TO CONTROL COSTS AND EXPENSES. With
respect to the Company's development of its technologies and the implementation
of commercial operations, the Company cannot accurately project or give any
assurance, with respect to management's ability to control the Company's
development and operating costs and/or expenses. Consequently, if management is
not able to adequately control costs and expenses, such operations may not
generate any profit or may result in operating losses.
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4. POSSIBLE ADVERSE EFFECT OF REGULATORY CHANGES. At present, none of the
business segments where the Company plans to operate have significant government
regulation that could be expected to adversely affect the commercialization of
the Company's technologies. However, all of the Company's present technology is
related to the Internet and it is possible that the current federal, state or
local laws and regulations which apply to the Internet and which relate to
services the Company plans to offer its customers, may change in the future.
Although it is not possible to predict the extent of any such changes, and
although management is not aware of any pending adverse changes in the
regulations applicable to Its planned business operations, it is possible that
future or unforeseen changes may have an adverse impact upon the Company's
ability to continue or expand operations as presently planned.
5. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. The Company's success will depend in
significant part on certain methodologies it plans to utilize in connection with
the commercial applications for its newly acquired technology, as well as with
respect to its FX3000 trading system, and on proprietary intellectual property
rights it has and may in the future develop. The Company plans to rely on a
combination of nondisclosure and other contractual arrangements and trade
secrets, copyright, patent and trademark laws to protect its proprietary rights
and the proprietary rights of third parties from whom the Company may licenses
intellectual property. The Company also plans to enter into confidentiality
agreements with its employees and consultants and limits access to, and
distribution of, proprietary information. There can be no assurance that the
steps planned by the Company in this regard will be adequate to deter
misappropriation of proprietary information or that the Company will be able to
detect unauthorized use and take appropriate steps to enforce its intellectual
property rights.
6. RELIANCE UPON WEB SITE, NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSACTION-PROCESSING
SYSTEMS. The satisfactory performance, reliability and availability of the
Company's Internet-based technologies, transaction-processing systems and
network infrastructure are critical to its operating results, as well as to its
ability to attract and retain customers and maintain adequate customer service
levels. Any system interruptions that result in the unavailability of or reduced
performance of the Company's systems would reduce the volume of revenues and the
functionality of the Company's technology. Further, any interruptions in such
service could adversely impact the effectiveness of the Company's technology and
its ability to perform the functions for which they have been designed. This
would seriously harm the Company's business, operating results and financial
condition. Management expects that there will be a need to periodically upgrade
its system architecture to accommodate increased traffic and processing needs as
the Company's business continues to develop. Management expects this process to
be time consuming and expensive without any assurance that such upgrades will be
successful.
7. DEPENDENCE ON INCREASED USE OF THE INTERNET AND ON THE GROWTH OF ONLINE
COMMERCE. The Company's future revenues depend upon the increased acceptance and
use of the Internet and other online services as a medium of commerce. The
market for Internet services is in an early stage of growth. Rapid growth in the
use of the Internet, the Web and online services is a recent phenomenon. As a
result, acceptance and use may not continue to develop at historical rates and a
sufficiently broad base of customers may not adopt, and/or continue to use, the
Internet and other online services as a medium of commerce.
8. RISK OF TECHNOLOGICAL OBSOLESCENCE. All industries based upon innovative
technology, such as the Company's planned Internet-based systems, are
characterized by rapid technological advances, evolving industry standards in
computer hardware and software technology, changes in customer requirements and
frequent new developments and technological enhancements. As a result, the
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Company's ability to remain competitive will depend in significant part upon its
ability to continually upgrade its systems and service to keep up with such
technological advances and changes in a timely and cost-effective manner in
response to both evolving demands of the marketplace, requirements of applicable
laws and regulations and product/service offerings by its competitors. In
addition, over the longer term, the Company's ability to remain competitive will
depend in significant part upon its ability to develop and introduce, in a
timely and cost-effective manner, enhancements to its basic systems and
products, which incorporate new technological advances that provide an advantage
over its competition. If the Company faces material delays in introducing new
services, products and enhancements, customers may forego the use of the
Company's system and services and use those of competitors.
9. NO DIVIDENDS AND NONE ANTICIPATED. The Company has not paid any dividends
nor, by reason of its contemplated financial requirements, does it anticipate
paying any dividends upon its Common Shares in the foreseeable future. Further,
the Company has existing commitments to pay dividends on its Preferred Shares
which are ongoing and currently in default.
10. ADDITIONAL FINANCING. The Company will require significant additional
capital to complete development of its recently acquired technology,
commercialization of this technology and for general working capital purposes.
To date, such financing has been provided either by loans from the Company's
principal shareholders or through the sale of the Company's securities, or a
combination of both. There can be no assurance that such sources of capital will
prove sufficient in the future. There can be no assurance that any additional
sources of financing will be available in the future or, if available, that it
can be obtained on terms favorable to the Company.
11. NO PUBLIC MARKET FOR SECURITIES. There is currently no public market for any
of the Company's securities. Although management expects that a market will
develop for its Common Shares in the future, no assurance can be given that any
trading market that develops will be sustained or that shareholders will be able
to sell their shares.
12. RISKS OF LOW-PRICED STOCKS; POSSIBLE EFFECT OF "PENNY STOCK" RULES ON
LIQUIDITY FOR THE COMPANY'S SECURITIES. It is likely that if the Company's stock
is eligible to be traded in the future it will be defined as a "penny stock"
under Rule 3a51-1 adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In general, a "penny stock" includes securities
of companies which are not listed on the principal stock exchanges or the
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System ("NASDAQ")
or National Market System ("NASDAQ NMS") and have a bid price in the market of
less than $5.00; and companies with net tangible assets of less than $2,000,000
($5,000,000 if the issuer has been in continuous operation for less than three
years), or which has recorded revenues of less than $6,000,000 in the last three
years. "Penny stocks" are subject to rule 15g-9, which imposes additional sales
practice requirements on broker-dealers that sell such securities to persons
other than established customers and "accredited investors" (generally,
individuals with net worth in excess of $1,000,000 or annual incomes exceeding
$200,000, or $300,000 together with their spouses, or individuals who are
officers or directors of the issuer of the securities). For transactions covered
by Rule 15g-9, a broker-dealer must make a special suitability determination for
the purchaser and have received the purchaser's written consent to the
transaction prior to sale. Consequently, this rule may adversely affect the
ability of broker-dealers to sell the Company's stock, and therefore, may
adversely affect the ability of the Company's stockholders to sell stock in the
public market.
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13. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. This document contains forward-looking
statements. Readers are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve
risk and uncertainty. Although the Company believes that the assumptions
underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any
of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, there can be no assurance
that the forward-looking statements included in this document will prove to be
accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the
forward-looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such information
should not be regarded as a representation by the Company or any other person
that the objectives and plans of the Company will be achieved. (See "Forward
Looking Statements", PART I above).
(C) REPORTS TO SECURITY HOLDERS
The public may read and copy any materials filed with the SEC at the SEC's
Public Reference Room at 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549. The
public may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by
calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains an internet site that
contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information
regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The address of that SEC
internet site is http://www.sec.gov.