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di Giancarlo Nicoli
Nov
25
Qualcuno potrebbe aver letto l’articolo, da me scritto ormai un anno e mezzo fa, in cui magnificavo le doti di WordPress. Va ricordato che WP offre due piattaforme. Una è WordPress.com, sul cui sito è possibile aprire blog gratuiti, ospitati sui server di WP, che hanno una funzionalità leggermente ridotta rispetto all’altra; l’altra è WordPress.org, che offre il software gratuito, scaricabile, per gestire siti web indipendenti: è quello che sto usando per questo sito e – da qualche settimana, anche sul sito Artifex.
La notizia, in inglese, è qui:
I was very excited last week to learn that WordPress has been awarded the Overall Best Open Source CMS Award in the 2009 Open Source CMS Awards. This is a landmark for us, as it is the first time we’ve won this award, and it marks a shift in the public perception of WordPress, from blog software to full-featured CMS. No small contest, the Open Source CMS Awards received over 12,000 nominations and more than 23,000 votes across five categories.
As Hiro Nakamura said when he first bent time and space to land in Times Square: “Yatta!”
In addition to winning in the Overall Best Open Source CMS category, WordPress was named first runner-up in the Best Open Source PHP CMS category. This is significant because we weren’t even in the top 5 last year, and now we’re #2, ahead of Joomla! As is stated on the Award site, “WordPress made its way into the top five for the first time. The fact that it was outranked by Drupal by a very slight margin indicates how popular it has become with users as well as developers over the past year.”
Every day thousands of new people are embracing WordPress to power not just their blogs but entire sites and communities without compromising on usability or scalability (as would be the case with a legacy CMS). Every member of the WordPress community, from core developer to beginning user, should be proud to be part of this momentum: congratulations to us all!
La ditta che sponsorizza il premio è una casa editrice specializzata in libri riguardanti programmi, applicativi, programmazione legati a internet.
È uno dei siti che sono andato a visitare, quando ancora dovevo scegliere quale programma di impaginazione usare per i miei siti. Se volete sapere tutto sulle ultime novità nel mondo CMS, vi invito a verificare di persona.
Sono contento di aver avuto una conferma esterna alla bontà della mia scelta, effettuata in un momento in cui molti ritenevano WP più una piattaforma blog che un CMS. Cosa che era in parte vera, non lo nego, ma il potenziale era lì da vedere: i continui aggiornamenti, il numero rilevante di navigatori che lo sceglieva ogni giorno, la vivacità e l’entità dell’appoggio da parte della “comunità internet”, chiamiamola così.
La facilità di apprendimento e d’uso di WP sono incredibili, sono il motivo principale che mi ha portato alla scelta. Spero che gli aggiornamenti frequenti e lo sviluppo in generale della piattaforma continuino, perché di cambiare un’altra volta sistema proprio non ho intenzione!
P.S. Avverto che il sottoscritto non ha ricevuto e non riceve compensi dalle aziende citate in questo articolo. Non ho interessi economici di alcun tipo con tali aziende e vi prego di non contattare me se vi siete rivolti a loro in seguito al mio articolo e poi avete incontrato difficoltà. I link sono stati verificati e risultano funzionanti al momento della pubblicazione del presente articolo.
di Giancarlo Nicoli
Nov
15
Il Rosso e il Verde
Dal 13 settembre 2009
Ebbene sì, il precedente “Rosso e Verde” risale a più di due mesi fa…
Come scrivevo nel primo appuntamento di questa rubrica: “Leggo molto e scrivo poco. Vorrei invece scrivere ciò che condenso dalle ore di lettura e di riflessione in merito all’economia e alla politica.”
Ma se non c’è niente di nuovo da scrivere…
- Penso sempre che siamo in una cosiddetta “bear market trap”;
- Penso sempre che siamo in una fase di deflazione;
- Continuo a credere che sia inutile cercare di indovinare i minimi e i massimi del mercato;
- Penso che i guadagni, in futuro, verranno non dal possedere l’indice ma dal possedere alcuni titoli selezionati, uno dei quali è Stereotaxis (ne parlo diffusamente sul sito, con pagine in italiano).
Lo spunto per postare oggi, però, mi viene dall’ultima newsletter di John Mauldin, “If This is Recovery…” (del 13 novembre).
Ci sono due brani dei quali vale la pena rendere disponibile la traduzione in italiano.
1: “I think we are in for a double-dip recession in 2011, yet I readily admit there will be little if any statistical evidence in advance this time. This is more of an instinct call. I have serious doubts that we can have what amounts to the largest tax increase of all time in what will be a very weak (albeit growing) economy, without putting us back into recession. And Speaker Pelosi thinks it is a smart thing to add another 5.4% surtax on what will already be a rising capital gains and dividend tax.”
“Penso che avremo una nuova recessione nel 2011, anche se dico subito che stavolta non ci saranno prove statistiche che la annunceranno in anticipo. È più una previsione basata sull’istinto. Ho seri dubbi sul fatto che noi (Stati Uniti d’America, ndr) possiamo avere il più elevato aumento delle tasse della storia in una economia debole – anche se in ripresa – senza che ciò non ci rimandi in recessione. E lo Speaker della Camera dei Deputati (USA, ndr) Pelosi pensa che sia una cosa intelligente l’aggiungere un’altra soprattassa del 5,4% su quella che sarà una tassa già in crescita sui guadagni di capitale e sui dividendi.”
2: “Taxing small businesses, and that is what the tax increase amounts to, is a very bad idea in a weak economy. Small businesses are where the job growth comes from. Taking money from productive businesses and giving it to government is a fundamentally flawed concept.”
“Tassare le piccole imprese, e questo è il significato dei proposti aumenti di tasse, è un’idea invero sbagliata in una economia debole. Sono le piccole imprese quelle che creano i nuovi posti di lavoro. Prendere il denaro da imprese produttive e darlo al governo è un concetto fondamentalmente fallace.”
Attenzione, in una recessione i mercati scendono in media del 40%. Se ci sarà una nuova recessione nel 2011, i portafogli ne soffriranno.
Quanto al secondo brano, ne prendo spunto per dire che è ora che in Italia si prenda coscienza del fatto che lo Stato deve dimagrire. Se vogliamo creare più posti di lavoro, le tasse devono scendere: ne abbiamo troppe e troppo alte.
Di Giancarlo Nicoli, Appiano Gentile, CO
Il presente articolo è stato scritto da Giancarlo Nicoli. Le informazioni qui contenute sono state ricavate da fonti, che Giancarlo Nicoli ha ritenuto affidabili. L’accuratezza e la completezza delle stesse non può essere in nessun modo garantita. La presente pubblicazione viene a pubblicata per meri fini di informazione ed illustrazione, non costituendo peraltro la stessa in alcun modo una proposta di conclusione di contratto o una sollecitazione all’acquisto o alla vendita di qualsiasi strumento finanziario. Il documento può essere riprodotto nella sua interezza. A tal proposito si chiede la cortesia di citare la fonte: www.scoprire.biz. La presente pubblicazione non si propone di sostituire il giudizio personale dei soggetti a cui si rivolge. Giancarlo Nicoli ha la facoltà di agire in base a/ovvero di servirsi di qualsiasi materiale sopra esposto e/o di qualsiasi informazione a cui tale materiale si ispira prima che lo stesso venga pubblicato e messo a disposizione dei lettori.
Giancarlo Nicoli può occasionalmente assumere posizioni lunghe o corte nei summenzionati prodotti finanziari.
I link eventualmente presenti sono stati verificati e risultano funzionanti al momento della pubblicazione del presente articolo.
di Giancarlo Nicoli
Nov
8
Stereotaxis Reports 26% Third Quarter 2009 Revenue Growth
Revenue of $13.3 Million; Recurring Revenue Grows 45%; Gross Margin Increases to 68% of Revenue; Operating Expenses Decline 18% from Prior Year
ST. LOUIS, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Stereotaxis, Inc. (Nasdaq: STXS) today reported strong revenue growth, a significant increase in the gross margin, lower operating expenses and a significant reduction in the net loss for both the quarter and the nine month period ended September 30, 2009. Revenue for the recent third quarter totaled $13.3 million, an increase of 26% over $10.6 million for the 2008 third quarter. During the quarter, the Company recognized revenue on six Niobe® Magnetic Navigation Systems and seven Odyssey(TM) systems totaling $8.7 million. Disposables, services and accessories revenue reached a record $4.6 million, a 45% increase from the third quarter of 2008. Gross profit margin was 68% compared with 65% in the third quarter of 2008. Operating expenses declined 18% from the third quarter last year to $13.2 million.
For the first nine months of 2009, revenue grew 31% to $37.1 million compared with $28.2 million in the first nine months of 2008. Recurring revenue grew 56% from $8.6 million to $13.4 million and gross margin increased 37% to $24.7 million, or 67% of sales. Operating expenses decreased 19%, resulting in a 48% reduction in the operating loss to $18.0 million for the first nine months of 2009 compared with a $34.6 million operating loss in the same period in 2008.
Michael P. Kaminski, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “The third quarter financial results reflect a solid improvement in our Company’s march to breakeven. We remain focused on driving revenue growth and strong margins while controlling operating expenses, resulting in a significant reduction in our cash burn to $3.5 million. We are particularly excited about the introduction of the Odyssey platform for non-magnetic labs as seen by the first multiple system order for non-magnetic labs in September. There is tremendous interest in the Odyssey and Cinema platform driven by increased market awareness and recognition of the system value. By consolidating many diverse sources of diagnostic and other information into a single manageable format, Odyssey offers improved procedure efficiency, enhanced archiving and a unique opportunity to network labs and sites together for educational and consulting purposes, creating a platform for improved quality of care. We have experienced significant market interest in this platform and anticipate it becoming a third leg to our revenue growth in 2010.”
“We are pleased with the third quarter recurring revenue of $4.6 million and the 45% growth over prior year but recognize that the challenge of driving clinical adoption is a process focused on moving the market to a new standard of care. We will continue to shift more resources into this important initiative to maximize our adoption at existing sites and to support the growth of the installed base.”
“During the quarter, we generated $6.3 million of new capital orders, up from $5.0 million in the second quarter. We are encouraged by the increase in new orders, which along with our backlog, positions us well for continued growth. Lastly, with the infusion of $28 million in net proceeds from our recent capital raise and our incremental improvement in cash burn, we believe the Company is positioned well to execute its growth plan and strategy in 2010 and beyond,” Mr. Kaminski concluded.
Third Quarter 2009 Financial Performance
Gross margin for the quarter was $9.0 million, or 68% of revenue, compared with $6.9 million, or 65% of revenue, in the third quarter of 2008. Third quarter operating expenses decreased 18% to $13.2 million from $16.1 million in the third quarter of 2008.
The operating loss in the third quarter decreased significantly to $(4.2) million compared with $(9.2) million in the prior year. The Company reported a net loss for the third quarter of 2009 of $(5.8) million, or $(0.14) per share. This compares with a net loss for the third quarter of 2008 of $(10.1) million, or $(0.28) per share. The weighted average shares for the recent third quarter totaled 42.0 million compared with 36.6 million in the third quarter of last year. The increase was due in large part to the issuance of 4.4 million shares as part of two concurrent private placements of stock completed in December 2008.
Cash used in operations was $3.5 million for the third quarter of 2009 compared with $5.5 million in the third quarter of 2008. Cash and equivalents at September 30, 2009 totaled $12.0 million, compared with $30.4 million at December 31, 2008. Total debt was $30.8 million, including $16.2 million drawn against the Company’s $25 million line of credit. As previously disclosed, in October 2009 the Company received a commitment to expand its line of credit from $25 million to $30 million and to extend the maturity date from March 31, 2010 to March 31, 2011.
On October 15, 2009, the Company completed a public stock offering, issuing a total of 7,475,000 shares of common stock, including the exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment. The transaction was priced at $4.00 per share, representing gross proceeds of $29.9 million. Net of transaction costs, Stereotaxis received approximately $28 million in cash. This transaction will be reflected in the fourth quarter and year-end financial statements.
2009 Financial Guidance
The Company reiterates its outlook for 2009 as follows:
-- Total revenue for 2009 is expected to exceed 2008 revenue.
-- Gross margins above 65%.
-- Operating expenses are now expected to be below $60 million for the full
year 2009.
Conference Call Information
The Company has scheduled a conference call for 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time today to discuss its financial results for the third quarter. To access the conference call, please dial (877) 941-8631. International participants can call (480) 629-9822. An audio replay of the call will be available for seven days following the call at (800) 406-7325 for U.S. callers or (303) 590-3030 for those calling outside the U.S. The password required to access the replay is 4171622#. The call will also be available on the Internet live and for 90 days thereafter at the following URL:
http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=63211
About Stereotaxis
Stereotaxis designs, manufactures and markets an advanced cardiology instrument control system for use in a hospital’s interventional surgical suite to enhance the treatment of arrhythmias and coronary artery disease. The Stereotaxis system is designed to enable physicians to complete more complex interventional procedures by providing image guided delivery of catheters and guidewires through the blood vessels and chambers of the heart to treatment sites. This is achieved using computer-controlled, externally applied magnetic fields that govern the motion of the working tip of the catheter or guidewire, resulting in improved navigation, shorter procedure time and reduced x-ray exposure. The core components of the Stereotaxis system have received regulatory clearance in the U.S., Europe, Canada and elsewhere.
This press release includes statements that may constitute “forward-looking” statements, usually containing the words “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “expect” or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, continued acceptance for the Company’s products in the marketplace, the effect of global credit and economic conditions on the ability and willingness of customers to purchase our systems, competitive factors, changes in government reimbursement procedures, dependence upon third-party vendors, timing of regulatory approval and return of the irrigated catheter to the market, and other risks discussed in the Company’s periodic and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release. There can be no assurance that the Company will recognize revenue related to its purchase orders and other commitments in any particular period or at all because some of these purchase orders and other commitments are subject to contingencies that are outside of the Company’s control. In addition, these orders and commitments may be revised, modified or canceled, either by their express terms, as a result of negotiations, or by project changes or delays.
STEREOTAXIS, INC.
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
September 30, September 30,
------------------ -----------------
2009 2008 2009 2008
---- ---- ---- ----
Revenue
System $8,671,302 $7,365,480 $23,694,613 $19,641,188
Disposables,
service and
accessories 4,619,391 3,186,169 13,373,484 8,597,503
--------- --------- ---------- ---------
Total revenue 13,290,693 10,551,649 37,068,097 28,238,691
Cost of revenue
System 3,474,492 3,098,477 9,250,005 8,822,745
Disposables,
service and
accessories 811,089 543,071 3,162,142 1,427,501
------- ------- --------- ---------
Total cost of
revenue 4,285,581 3,641,548 12,412,147 10,250,246
Gross margin 9,005,112 6,910,101 24,655,950 17,988,445
Operating expenses:
Research and
development 3,302,008 4,380,466 10,247,877 13,861,339
Sales and
marketing 6,290,814 7,012,264 21,424,796 23,297,003
General and
administration 3,654,207 4,719,779 11,006,981 15,458,115
--------- --------- ---------- ----------
Total operating
expenses 13,247,029 16,112,509 42,679,654 52,616,457
---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Operating loss (4,241,917) (9,202,408) (18,023,704) (34,628,012)
Other
income/(expense) (489,139) - 66,507 -
Interest income 2,721 33,711 34,069 165,665
Interest
expense (1,085,408) (904,428) (2,860,479) (1,931,606)
----------- -------- ----------- -----------
Net loss $(5,813,743) $(10,073,125) $(20,783,607) $(36,393,953)
=========== ============ ============ ============
Net loss per
common share:
Basic and
diluted $(0.14) $(0.28) $(0.50) $(1.00)
====== ====== ====== ======
Weighted average
shares used in
computing net
loss per common
share:
Basic and
diluted 41,985,315 36,612,877 41,648,104 36,541,593
========== ========== ========== ==========
STEREOTAXIS, INC.
BALANCE SHEETS
September 30, December 31,
2009 2008
---- ----
(Unaudited)
Assets
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $12,012,659 $30,355,657
Accounts receivable, net of allowance
of $265,208 and $328,307 in 2009 and
2008, respectively 11,547,727 9,739,008
Current portion of long-term receivables 340,333 197,351
Inventories 6,979,759 8,086,956
Prepaid expenses and other current
assets 3,149,122 2,966,510
--------- ---------
Total current assets 34,029,600 51,345,482
Property and equipment, net 5,106,215 6,420,600
Intangible assets 1,177,778 1,277,778
Long-term Receivables 142,723 298,123
Other assets 27,162 98,382
------ ------
Total assets $40,483,478 $59,440,365
=========== ===========
Liabilities and stockholders' equity
Current liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt $8,734,824 $3,901,491
Accounts payable 4,084,037 4,561,928
Accrued liabilities 7,962,313 9,873,818
Deferred contract revenue 6,895,840 9,676,339
Warrants 4,988,084 -
--------- ---
Total current liabilities 32,665,098 28,013,576
Long term debt, less current maturities 22,057,304 25,271,547
Long term deferred contract revenue 1,014,592 1,225,656
Other liabilities 12,963 158,905
Stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock, par value $0.001;
10,000,000 shares authorized at 2009
and 2008; none outstanding at 2009
and 2008 - -
Common stock, par value $0.001;
100,000,000 shares authorized at 2009
and 2008; 42,783,451 and 42,049,792
issued at 2009 and 2008, respectively 42,783 42,050
Additional paid-in capital 301,638,671 300,892,957
Treasury stock, 40,151 shares at 2009
and 2008 (205,999) (205,999)
Accumulated deficit (316,741,934) (295,958,327)
------------ ------------
Total stockholders' equity (15,266,479) 4,770,681
----------- ---------
Total liabilities and stockholders'
equity $40,483,478 $59,440,365
=========== ===========
SOURCE: Stereotaxis, Inc.
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