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“One Device to End All Disease … And It Costs Less Than $50”

What's the MEMS stock being teased by Michael Robinson's Radical Technology Profits?

By Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe, April 28, 2015

This article was originally published on August 13, 2013, around the time this teaser ad pitch was first circulated. The ad is still largely the same today and is circulating heavily again, and it is clearly still teasing the same company, so we’re just re-posting this article for all our newer readers who have questions… without any updates or edits. The spiel about this “one device to end all disease” is now apparently being used to pitch both the $2,000 Radical Technology Profits newsletter and the $99 Nova-X Report, both helmed by Michael Robinson at Money Map Press, so you might have seen similar spiels come from either of those publications.

The stock teased is at very nearly the same price as it was two ago when we originally covered it (it was around $8.50 then, just over $9 now), and the story is more or less the same (though I haven’t checked the detailed progress of any of their operations) — revenue has fallen for five years in a row, but estimates have started to rise again for 2015 and 2016 so analysts think they will start to grow again. It now trades at a forward PE of 14 on 2016 earnings, and at about 22X expected 2015 earnings (though long term growth expectations among analysts remain very low, about 5%). The dividend amount remains unchanged at 10 cents/quarter, so they still carry an anticipated yield in the neighborhood of 4.3%, close to what it was a couple years ago.

—–from 8/15/13——-

Radical Technology Profits, edited by Michael Robinson over at Money Map Press, is one of the newsletters that, like Breakthrough Technology Alert or the many other competitors, aims to get in early on technology and biotech stories — and also like most of these letters, they pitch their ideas by selling a big picture story that weaves some little company’s product into a larger and more easily identified trend that sounds entirely plausible.

Which isn’t to say that they’re all bad ideas — far from it, I’m sure these kinds of “breakout technology” newsletters all have some dramatic winning picks in their portfolio. The problem is that they all sound like great ideas, and given the bleeding edge nature of most of the technologies they pitch, and the small nature of many of the stocks, the assumption has to be that the major winners will make up for the large number of failures.

The smaller the stocks are that you count on for world-changing returns, the more diversified you need to be — or, I suppose, the more expert and prescient you have to be, though it’s dangerous to start thinking that you can predict things well enough to have a concentrated portfolio of small cap technology names.

But I’m not here to lecture you on how to think about investing in breakthrough technologies — I’m here to try to figure out who Michael Robinson is teasing in his latest ad as the beneficiary of this latest breakout trend. Here’s how he puts it in the email I received today:

“I’m going on record to say that this technology is so overwhelmingly transformative, that I’m comparing it to the internal combustion engine. It will change the way you do everything now and in the future. It’s now creating the Fourth Revolution in the industry. I kid you not, it’s that big.”

So, no shyness there. What is the technology? Here’s more from the ad:

“The End of Disease May Soon Become a Reality Thanks to MEMS

“Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems

“If that name sounds high tech that’s because it is.

“And if you want to live a long and healthy life, without the fear of disease…

“You’ll want to watch this short presentation to the end because…

“MEMS are the Only Existing Technology That Could Eradicate the Dangers of Disease, Add 30 Healthy Years to Your Life…

“And Cost Less Than $50

“And here’s where it gets really exciting for someone in my line of work.

“Today, the patents for the MEMS set to end disease….

“They’re controlled by one tiny, unknown company.

“They Have Been Cleared By the FDA

You can see the whole presentation if you like here (or read the transcript), it’s a very long one and Robinson talks about how MEMS technology can allow for tiny sensors, powered by body heat, that are implanted under your skin and can alert your smartphone (which will then call your doctor) about changes in your body chemistry that indicate the pending risk of a heart attack. Among many other things, like smart cities with pollution and light sensors all around, and smart arrays of MEMS chips underground to track seismic activity and help to find oil and gas reserves..

So which company is it that he says controls the patents to all this MEMS stuff? After giving examples of a few pharma companies whose stocks skyrocketed on the back of multibillion dollar drugs to address some of the same diseases that can be helped by MEMS technology, he starts to throw in a few clues:

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“A Tech Company 1/30th the Size of These ‘Big Pharma’ Titans, Developed a MEMS Technology That Could End All Heart Disease.

“And it Controls the Patents.

“There is a very simple way for you to get a slice of this company’s patent profits for less than $9. So you’ll be able to cheaply get in, on the ground floor…”

Now, the examples he gave right before that were Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb — so keep that in mind, the stock might not be that tiny. To be 1/30 the size of those titans you’d be talking about a stock with a market cap between $2 billion and $7 billion. Roughly speaking.

Some more clues:

“First Off, They Produce the Lion’s Share of All MEMS Devices.

“Currently, they can produce 4 million devices a day. That’s more than anyone else in the world. And their production capabilities are growing exponentially each year.

“Which is why the companies that turn to them for MEMS technology are a who’s who of Silicon Valley and the Fortune 500 companies.

“Apple, Blackberry, Dell, Bosch, Continental, Delphi, Delta, Denso, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, HTC, Magnetti Marelli, Motorola, Nokia, Philips, Samsung, Seagate, Sony, Western Digital, and Cisco…”

And …

“They Have Also Captured and Secured Total Market Share Domination For All Major Operating Systems.

  • They have an astounding 75% of the Apple/iOS market.
  • 31.4% of the Android market.
  • And 54.4% of the Windows Operating Systems market.

“That’s over 4 times greater than the next closest competitor.

“So when a company is developing a MEMS health technology, and they want to ensure it is scalable across all operating systems both mobile and computer…

“They only have one clear choice.”

And they have a strong patent pipeline, we’re told:

“While this one company controls the Patent Pipeline for the most important MEMS breakthroughs for ending disease…

“Medical MEMS form just one block of their entire 800-patent portfolio.”

So … dominant position in MEMS chips for current mobile phones and tablets, strong patent portfolio with 800+ patents, largest producer of MEMS chips with capacity for four million chips a day, and a stock price under $9. This can only be …

ST Microelectronics (STM)

I know, sorry — this is a big one that you’ve probably already heard of. And it’s been quite weak over the past decade, thanks in part to Asian and US competition (Texas Instruments, all the analog chip makers, etc.) and in part to the weak European economy and currency issues. But it’s probably still the largest European chipmaker, and it was one of the pioneers of MEMS technology and does indeed have the capability of producing four million chips a day, and they do claim 800 patents. There’s quite likely a STM chip in your phone or your car right now.

The MEMS chips, including their medical sensors and other cutting edge products, are a relatively small part of the business, but one that’s growing. That division was less than 20% of sales last year, but the resurgence in growth there is probably a significant reason why the shares have recovered a bit recently. This is a big semiconductor company that might arguably be reasonably priced if you believe the analyst estimates about next year, and if you’re comfortable with their solid dividend (almost 5%), but they also are coming out of a really rough patch — they lost $2 billion last year, tough for a company with a market cap of only $7 billion. There’s a pretty good FT article about them here if you’d like more perspective.

And that’s about all I know about STM — they get teased every now and then as a MEMS pioneer and major patent holder (they’re in a big patent fight with Invensense (INVN) right now, among others), and I agree that MEMS is a huge growth industry, but I don’t know how their patent portfolio will hold up or how long it will be before MEMS chips make a big impact on STM’s bottom line. Most of the companies that are using sensors enabled by STM’s chips are either small or don’t widely publicize the connection, from what I can tell, and most of the early stage research breakthroughs that get trumpeted in this area lately are from not-yet-public little biotech companies.

STM is certainly an industry leader, with a big business in chips for smart phones and tablets and lots of other products, but my impression is that they’re not terribly nimble and they haven’t been very profitable in recent years. If you’ve an opinion to share on this one, feel free to spit it out with a comment below.

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nedogs
Member
nedogs
August 21, 2013 10:11 am

I did some research Zak – and I couldn’t come up with this alleged $126 million acquisitions – I did notice this was the year Walt Disney purchased Pixar for $7.4 Billion – & Motorola acquired Symbol Technologies/Handheld Scanners for $3.9 Billion – maybe that’s why Google paid $12 Bill for Motorola (still puzzled by that amount)? – there were certainly some very interesting acquisitions in 2006 (many of them costly mistakes)

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fedwatcher
Member
fedwatcher
February 28, 2015 12:35 am
Reply to  nedogs

Google acquired a lot of patents with Motorola and a lot of good people and mismanaged what they acquired. But Google can afford to screw-up and still come out ahead in the long run.

That is often the case and why the stock of the buyer often goes down while the stock of the acquired goes up.

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takeprofits
Irregular
August 25, 2013 5:06 pm

All too true, proving that even the best, most connected and wealthy investors make costly mistakes. This is why I play it conservative by taking only SMALL initial positions and wait for the company to at least partially prove itself before adding to my holdings, that way a few missteps will not destroy my portfolio. If you can win 80% of the time, and limit your losses the other 20% you will do just fine and not get destroyed by fear and greed.

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Murph
Member
August 29, 2013 9:17 pm

Exposing my inexperience here so be kind: the teaser mentioned the medical device that will be implanted under the skin “already has FDA approval”. Is this consistent/standard approval process with foreign companies – having quick access to U.S. markets?

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Bob Latkany
Bob Latkany
September 4, 2013 11:31 am
Reply to  Murph

Travis .. you are the best value of all the services. I love your reviews

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TheTruthItIs
Guest
TheTruthItIs
September 12, 2013 3:20 pm

The Machines Movie coming out today? Has a part about implanted (MEMS?) chips that will give doctors hospitals and patients up to date info regarding a patients vitals and internal statistics, that will be life savers and money savers for all healthcare.

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Alex
Guest
Alex
October 26, 2013 1:54 am
Reply to  TheTruthItIs

what you are referring to (MEMS? is that the stock symbol? i need some good stocks for my protfolio to make some bucks for my foundation and myself and my family a family memeber is battling cancer and i need to do all i can to help financially as well we need money for our non profit foundation to be able to help more, i hope you can help me

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mario ramas
Member
mario ramas
September 12, 2013 6:35 pm

thanks, got the information i was looking for from your reviews.
mario

Alex
Guest
Alex
October 26, 2013 1:51 am

I need some help in putting together a portfolio of radical stocks, companies to rise quick, i am still interested in buying mems, is that still ok also are there any cheap stocks out to help me make some money. I run an nonprofit and need make money for it as well as need it personal as well, please advice and provide me with some stock ideas to purchase. thanks

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takeprofits
Irregular
October 26, 2013 5:44 pm

Sorry for your situation Alex, unfortunately desperation can lead to irrationality. A request like that can lead to con artists taking advantage of you. You could certainly do a lot worse than spending $49. to join Gumshoes irregulars. NOBODY can legitimately offer you up stocks that “will rise quickly” that is an unknown and unknowable statistic, best anybody can do is “high probability”. Yesterday I was at the “Money & Markets Show” in Toronto, (moving to Calgary this weekend) and I watched a multi -millionaire demonstrate a software program he spent 16 years developing that produces spectacular results based on “seasonality” i.e. historical data that pinpoints the best entry and exit points for stocks with established and “identifiable patterns” over multiple years where a stock shows a reliable rise or fall during the year in given months. Some examples H.R Block during tax season, Hershey chocolates in Feb. and many many others. I am just beginning my research on this investing idea which returns spectacular profits with options, PROBLEM, there is always a “learning curve” with any new idea, not wise to rush in, and while I am not ready to recommend it because I haven’t thoroughly checked it out yet, I did find an ETF that focusses on the idea, and before XMAS there should be quite a few profitable companies the ETF can invest in that might spike the price over the next 3 months. Anybody who wants to check it out personally can Google; Horizons Seasonal Rotation ETF HAC on the TSX.
Why not just buy the software you ask, anybody have $5000. you don’t know what to do with? Actually he offers a 3 month trial period for $895. and claims a 90%+ conversion rate of people who make so much money in the 3 months it becomes a “no brainer” to buy the software, which has free updates for life and offers a number of alternatives such as guidance for day traders, options buyers and other special features.

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justice51
justice51
November 7, 2013 1:42 pm

Michael is BACK!! Just got a special offer from Money Map for a way to put $2000 check in your pocket!!! Same push for MEMS in a video presentation……63,000% profits between 2013 and 2017!!!

Thanks again Travis for the ability to cut through to the truth!!

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ManWithNoName
Guest
ManWithNoName
November 7, 2013 7:01 pm

If it’s sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Ramos
Guest
Ramos
November 8, 2013 5:11 pm

Hypes about these medical claims should land this guy in jail. I have 30+ years of executive leadership and product development with the world’s leading implantable device companies…and this guy is full of it. We already have dozens of devices on the market the size of a quarter (or smaller) that can provide extensive diagnostic information leading to early detection and treatment. However, to say that ANY technology will eradicate ALL diseases is just snake-oil salesmanship. His misleading comments about pacemaker technology shows just how incredibly ignorant of medical technology he is. I could have forgiven him (somewhat) if he had made the statement “this technology will allow for the miniaturization of implantable devices that will provide early detection, and therefore early treatment, of numerous serious medical conditions.” Detection is NOT a cure. Hype is Hope…and Hope is not an investment strategy.

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vince
vince
November 9, 2013 1:25 am

I agree with Ramos. Its your hard earned money and make sure you do your homework. Good luck

takeprofits
Irregular
November 9, 2013 1:04 pm

There is no question that Michael Robinson is an intelligent and well connected guy, but his HYPE is over the top. No sensoring device replaces a healthy lifestyle so what good is it to get a “warning” that something is malfunctioning if you are not prepared to deal with the “CAUSE” that triggers the malfunction? He mentions dangerous drugs, but is that not exactly what a medical doctor would prescribe if alerted to a pending problem? I think he is dreaming in technicolor if he thinks MEMS will eradicate all disease, but a lot of the other applications he mentions may well have some merit. My question is, his emphasis is on Silicon Valley, yet STmicroelectronics STM is European, and yes they do claim 800 patents, so how do we reconcile that? I never looked at the original promo in depth, but today I received an extraordinarily lengthy video with the whole spiel again offering the $2000. rebate on an original $3195. price, so $1195. not a thousand. Not sure whether this is the same as the original, but now he is doing some name dropping, now he claims Mike Lazaradis of RIM (Blackberry) fame, (or is that infamous has invested $97.Million which is interesting given that he is rumoured to be working on a deal with a few others to buy back Blackberry, didn’t realize he was quite that rich! At $1195, a pop, limited to 500 people Michael must be doing alright for himself if he can repeat it every 3 months, or is it an indication of failure? May be first time didn’t bring in enough suckers?

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hotrhonda
November 10, 2013 11:28 am

Wow, just have to luv these reply comments, now I’ll always check out Stock Gumshoe’s teasers and comments before I invest into any so called make you rich schemes, keep up the great work.. I’m going to recommend people read this site on Hot Copper so everyone can read what con people are out there…. always do your own research first

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charles
Guest
charles
November 20, 2013 2:57 pm

I called the 888# on this michael robinson deal, and ask if it was a foreign stock, he said
” it is a local stock” I guess its not [st microelectronics] Sorry

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Aaron
Guest
Aaron
December 21, 2013 4:36 pm
Reply to  charles

Yes I thought I remember the letter saying it was in San Jose or somewhere in SV

Tony K
Member
Tony K
January 5, 2014 2:42 pm
Reply to  charles

What about INVN? Just read their in a patent fight with STM over MEMS.

charles
Guest
charles
November 20, 2013 2:59 pm

I have not said that, I have never sent anything to this org.

dennis
Guest
dennis
December 3, 2013 7:51 pm

Mike Rob. and his friends need a medical device known to all as an electrical,state-of-the-art “Ditto”. This “Ditto” is only made in Silicon B.S. Valley.

Aaron
Guest
Aaron
December 21, 2013 4:35 pm

You can get Mr. Robinsons Nova X newsletters for 49$, same hype on these disrupting tech stocks, and he is a llllll in on bit coin!
Well now Gunshoe has my email address guess I will see what this Newsletter is all about!

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Frank
Guest
Frank
December 25, 2013 8:07 pm

Yes, Michael Robinson is hyping Bitcoins now through the ultra conservative Money Morning and MoneyNews.com which has an anti-Obama fixation. Claims it’s going up to the stratosphere in value. So when the ponzi scheme crashes and burns, I’m sure he’ll blame Obama for that also lol.

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Steve Fekete
Guest
Steve Fekete
September 21, 2014 5:55 pm
Reply to  Frank

Let’s not bring politics into this conversation and just stick to the knitting.
Steve

Slick Rick
Member
Slick Rick
January 24, 2014 8:04 am

Folks most stock tip newsletters aren’t worth the proverbial plug nickel ; however, Stockgumshoe with Travis at the helm does give you honest value.
I have ran through STM plus the other stocks mentioned by the posters through a sophisticated computer program which scores stocks from 0 to 100. Here are the ratings of the stocks mentioned MEMS 0, STM 25, IWSY 92 and INVN 86.
One other BioPharma stock mentioned NOT mentioned is PRAN which scores a 99 and IMHO has the BEST chance of delivering gains into your portfolio . Here is the PRAN chart http://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=pran&ty=c&ta=1&p=d simply substitute the other stocks into the chart to see thier performance. I think , after doing your DD that PRAN is the best of the group. Take some of the money you make form the tip, and donate it to the Salvation Army humble folks who get the job done!

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greggo
greggo
February 28, 2015 1:33 am
Reply to  Slick Rick

And how does that chart look good?

greggo

SoGiAm
February 28, 2015 1:41 am
Reply to  Slick Rick

PRAN craters again. Who saw THAT one coming? Long Australian biotech!…..NOT. Can not believe there is not a leveraged Oz bio short ETF….all the money in the world to be made that way. Comments from the deep deep depths of the dungeon…Best-Benjamin

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Andre Blanchet
Andre Blanchet
January 24, 2014 10:37 am

Nice post slick rick. That’s why I’m here. Checking your link out right now. Thanks buddy!

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