Today on Barchart.com, a leading market data distributor founded in 1934, Cross Border Resources (OTCQX: XBOR) registered a buy rating across 12 of 13 technical indicators used by the site. These indicators provide insight into the short-, medium-, and long-term prospects for equities and commodities.

XBOR is an oil and gas exploration and exploitation company utilizing a non-operated business model focusing on opportunities with proven operators within the Permian Basin. XBOR has more than 800,000 gross (approximately 300,000 net) mineral and lease acres primarily within the state of New Mexico. The Company’s resource assets target various emerging plays including the Wolfberry acreage located in West Texas and the 1st and 2nd Bone Spring, and more conventional plays such as the Abo, Yeso, and San Andres. XBOR currently owns approximately 31,000 net acres within the Permian Basin.

With Barchart.com’s medium- and long-term technical indicators now 100% to the buy side, XBOR represents a compelling opportunity for fast-acting investors. This could be the beginning of the move to the $5.00 price target our analysts put on the stock in early December.

Disclosure: The subject security is a client of RedChip Companies, Inc. RedChip Companies, Inc., employees and affiliates may have positions and affect transactions in the securities or options of the issuers mentioned herein. For full financial disclosures for all RedChip clients, please visit http://www.redchip.com/disclosures.asp?src=rcv.

“Advertisers’ comfort level with integrated marketing is greater than ever, and this is helping more advertisers—and more large brands—put a greater share of dollars online,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst.

Print advertising in newspapers and magazines will continue to decline while Internet ad spending rises. Online advertising is expected to reach $62 billion by 2016, nearly double the $32 billion anticipated for print ads in the same year. When compared to the TV ad market, which is expected to see modest gains in the years ahead, the gap between online ad spending and TV ad spending, which was nearly 100% in 2011, is expected to significantly narrow, closing in on 15% by 2016.

Local.com Corp. (NASDAQ: LOCM), a local-oriented media company that enables brick-and-mortar businesses to connect with online customers, is a major beneficiary of the secular trend toward online ad spending. Well-positioned in a high-growth niche of this trend, LOCM gives investors a unique opportunity to profit from the evolutionary changes in advertising.

“Local marketing is quickly emerging as one of the biggest opportunities in the shifting marketing landscape,” said Shane Vaughan, vice president of marketing for Balihoo, an Inc. 5000 local marketing automation firm.

LOCM is a leader in the local search advertising business, where companies pay triple-digit premiums for local keywords. Through December 2010, the majority of this business was generated in partnership with Yahoo. More recently the Company has added a relationship with Google, which provided a boost to third quarter results and is anticipated to drive further growth in the soon-to-be-reported fourth quarter numbers.

Beginning in early 2011, the Company embarked on a series of acquisitions and new product launches, leveraging its core customer base and diversifying its revenue stream. With these initiatives, LOCM now distributes daily deals to hundreds of thousands of email subscribers in 14 markets via Spreebird, rich media ads via Rovion, and real-time product inventory information from more than 60,000 retailers nationwide via Krillion. Together with ExactMatch, the Company’s suite of website design services, hyperlocal display ads, and social media marketing services, LOCM is now a one-stop shop for online advertising solutions.

As the online ad spending trend continues to strengthen, LOCM shares are set to move higher. Broker-dealers Canaccord Genuity and Morgan Joseph have buy ratings on LOCM with a median price target of $4.90.

With the Company expected to exit 2011 with a record run-rate of $96 million in revenues, now is the time to build a position in LOCM shares. For more information, please download our research report on LOCM and view the Company’s recent presentation from our virtual conference.

Disclosure: The subject security is a client of RedChip Companies, Inc. RedChip Companies, Inc., employees and affiliates may have positions and affect transactions in the securities or options of the issuers mentioned herein. For full financial disclosures for all RedChip clients, please visit http://www.redchip.com/disclosures.asp?src=rcv.

Growth in domestic consumption is being driven by China’s smaller cities. “The China story is increasingly about Tier Three cities,” Andy Rothman, the China macro strategist for CLSA, said to CNBC. “It’s where much of the growth is coming from, and where a lot of spending on public projects and low-income housing is going.”

While there is no specific definition of what is a third-tier city, it’s generally accepted that first-tier cities are represented by Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. According to international property brokerage Knight Frank, China’s second-tier cities have populations greater than three million and minimum per-capita GDPs of $2,000 (USD). By this definition, there would be some 60 second-tier cities. With more than 650 cities across China, this means nearly 600 would fall into the categories of third- and fourth-tier cities.

China’s ongoing urbanization trend continues to fuel growth in its third- and fourth-tier cities, and in central and western provinces, China’s “Go West” policy continues to gain traction. The confluence of these trends is resulting in substantial growth amongst China’s middle class, creating strong demand for affordable housing options in these regions.

One way to play this new growth driver is through leading third-tier and fourth-tier city property developer China HGS Real Estate, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSH). The dominant player in its home market of Hanzhong, HGSH attained National Grade-I certification in October 2011, allowing it to expand into lucrative markets in other central and western provinces in China.

HGSH has completed and fully sold seven projects totaling an aggregate gross floor area (GFA) of 6.7 million square feet. Its completed projects have included low-rise, mid-rise, and high-rise residential offerings.

The Company maintains a robust project pipeline, currently totaling an aggregate GFA of 6.4 million square feet across four projects. While past projects have included small-scale integrated commercial developments, such as retail offerings in lower levels of high-rise buildings, HGSH is now moving toward larger-scale mixed-use developments that will combine hotels, restaurants, and expanded shopping into its residential communities.

While inflated property prices in China’s top-tier cities grab regular headlines, housing remains substantially more affordable in the third-tier and fourth-tier cities of the country’s central and western provinces. A driver behind this variance is the heavy use of mortgage financing in the mega-cities versus the more typical high down payment or all-cash purchases in smaller cities. Approximately 70% of HGSH property buyers complete all-cash transactions, reducing sales volatility from policy changes impacting the mortgage market.

There is no question the next wave of China’s growth will be fueled by rising standards of living in third-tier and fourth-tier cities, and much of this growth will take place in the country’s central and western provinces.  In fact, per capita GDP in the Company’s home province of Shaanxi is forecasted to increase more than 100% by 2020.

HGSH provides a great way to play this monster trend. With a price-to-earnings ratio of less than two, a nearly 35% operating margin, and a robust pipeline of projects to fuel growth, the Company’s shares represent a tremendous opportunity for investors who act fast. Moreover, as a NASDAQ-listed company, HGSH must take action to regain a share price of $1 to maintain its listing. With the effort the Company has expended to get listed in the first place, we believe HGSH has every reason to make sure this happens very soon. This alone represents nearly 50% upside, and even then, HGSH shares will remain dramatically undervalued by any typical measure.

Disclosure: The subject security is a client of RedChip Companies, Inc. RedChip Companies, Inc., employees and affiliates may have positions and affect transactions in the securities or options of the issuers mentioned herein. For full financial disclosures for all RedChip clients, please visit http://www.redchip.com/disclosures.asp?src=rcv.

The Delaware Basin, a component of the larger Permian Basin, is home to the Bone Spring play, an area of focus in Concho’s recent acquisition spree. Another company currently developing acreage in the heart of the 1^st and 2^nd Bone Spring play is Cross Border Resources (OTCQX: XBOR). XBOR currently owns varying, non-operated working interests, some as high as 37.5%, in the play, and is teamed up with major operating partners that include Cimarex (NYSE: XEC), Apache (NYSE: APA), and Mewbourne.

By analyzing some of the valuation metrics from Concho’s acquisition spree we can get a very clear picture that shows how undervalued XBOR is at its current pricing.

In the Concho transactions, reserves were valued at approximately $55 per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE). Taking this metric against XBOR’s October 7, 2011 proved reserves of 2.57million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE) we land at a valuation of over $141 million – substantially higher than XBOR’s current market cap of only $26 million.

Looking at the value of production for the acquired acreage, Concho paid roughly $220,000 per flowing barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOED). XBOR last reported its production on October 20, 2011 at 308 BOED and anticipates it will exit the year at 500 BOED. At the rate Concho paid, XBOR should have a valuation of $110 million by the end of the quarter, a 300% premium to today’s valuation.

A third metric we can extract from the Concho acquisitions is the value per net acre it paid for the properties. With a total purchase of 114,000 net acres for $330 million, this means Concho paid an average of $2,895 per net acre. XBOR currently owns approximately 31,000 net acres in the Permian Basin, which would equate to nearly $90 million using the net acre value from the Concho transactions.

It’s quite obvious XBOR is substantially undervalued at its current market cap of only $26 million. All three valuation metrics we extracted from the Concho transactions clearly show XBOR to be trading at roughly a 75% or greater discount to its fair value. Bottom-line, investors taking advantage of XBOR at current prices have a tremendous profit opportunity.

Disclosure: The subject security is a client of RedChip Companies, Inc. RedChip Companies, Inc., employees and affiliates may have positions and affect transactions in the securities or options of the issuers mentioned herein. For full financial disclosures for all RedChip clients, please visit http://www.redchip.com/disclosures.asp?src=rcv.

One company poised to profit from this explosive growth is Local.com (NASDAQ: LOCM), a longtime leader in local search advertising and a recent entrant into the daily deal market.

In an article titled “Local.com Shares at 65% Off: A Daily Deal You Can’t Get from Groupon,” John Gilliam, the manager of Point Clear Strategic Holdings, a value-oriented small-cap technology investment fund, provides a comprehensive analysis of the tremendous opportunity LOCM represents for investors.

To read Mr. Gilliam’s report in its entirety, click here.

Sentient, run by experienced natural resource and investment industry operators, brings more than just capital to the table. Their involvement adds further depth to the already highly experienced AOX team and substantiates the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead for the Company.

To learn more about AOX’s near-term production in the prolific East Tintic mining district of Utah and its large-scale holdings in the resource-rich Ambler mining district of Alaska, you can read a prior blog post and view the Company’s presentation from our virtual conference in August.

Disclosure: The subject security is a client of RedChip Companies, Inc. RedChip Companies, Inc., employees and affiliates may have positions and affect transactions in the securities or options of the issuers mentioned herein. For full financial disclosures for all RedChip clients, please visit http://www.redchip.com/disclosures.asp?src=rcv.

In a recent write-up in Barron’s, a Morgan Keegan analyst stated, “The Permian Basin machine continues to churn out high-margin oily growth.” This growth is quite evident when you look at the 400% jump in the number of rigs operating in the region over the past two years.

As we discussed in a previous post, this impressive boom in the Permian is being driven by several advancements in technology, specifically horizontal drilling, 3D seismic, and hydraulic fracturing.

With many of the larger operators in the region having global operations, it’s difficult for investors to gain direct exposure to the Permian and its profit potential. One of only two pure play public companies in the region providing investors that exposure is Cross Border Resources (OTCQX: XBOR).

XBOR is a low-risk way for investors to participate in the Permian opportunity thanks to its non-operated business model. Rather than own 100% interest in particular wells, XBOR partners with major operators in the oil and gas industry, including Cimarex (NYSE: XEC), Apache (NYSE: APA), Mewbourne, Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN), and Concho Resources (NYSE: CXO). By employing this approach to production XBOR not only reduces costs, but more importantly, they gain access to the limited number of rigs and “frac crews” in the area. This puts XBOR in a position to drill more wells in a shorter period of time. Additionally, the extensive experience of the major producers XBOR is partnered with gives the Company a strong edge over other small upstart operators attempting to enter the Permian.

XBOR is currently producing around 250+ BOE/d on approximately 138 gross well bores and is expected to reach 500 BOE/d by the end of 2011. A strong drilling program with its major operating partners is driving the second half production acceleration. Additionally, XBOR is projecting fiscal year 2011 EBITDA of $3 million, a number which could move up significantly if production surges from certain new wells, such as the Leo 3 Fed Com #1H, which had a 24-hour initial production rate of 1,101 BO.

For those just learning of XBOR, a brief introduction to the Company is available by viewing a recent podcast. A more thorough introduction from the Company’s CEO, Will Gray, is available via his presentation at the recent RedChip Virtual Conference. Additionally, RedChip Research just published its initial report on XBOR, which is now available for download at no cost. The report provides a detailed substantiation as to why investors who buy the stock at these levels can reap a potential return of over 200%.

Disclosure: The subject security is a client of RedChip Companies, Inc. RedChip Companies, Inc., employees and affiliates may have positions and affect transactions in the securities or options of the issuers mentioned herein. For full financial disclosures for all RedChip clients, please visit http://www.redchip.com/disclosures.asp?src=rcv.

Over the past several months LAS has been using the capital it raised in its December 2010 IPO, led by Cowen & Co. and HSBC, to expand its dealership network in both Beijing and other major cities in China. The Company has already opened a newly-constructed, or greenfield, FAW-Volkswagen dealership in eastern Beijing and acquired a controlling interest in a high-sales Honda dealership in Tianjin just a few weeks later in late June.

As part of its aggressive expansion plan, the Company now has LOIs in place to acquire a top-performing Audi dealership in Zhejiang Province and an FAW-VW dealership in Guangdong Province. The Company also signed an equity transfer agreement to acquire a Mazda dealership in Beijing. Additionally, construction is already underway on another greenfield FAW-Volkswagen dealership in Beijing. All four of these dealerships are anticipated to contribute sales in the fourth quarter this year.

With the continued successful execution of its growth strategy, including the Company’s recent entrance into the lucrative vehicle leasing market, LAS is well-positioned to capitalize on China’s surging demand for mid-line and luxury vehicles. Although the astounding growth experienced by China’s car market in 2010 has moderated somewhat, demand for mid-line and luxury vehicles remained robust during the first half of 2011, with sales growth outpacing China’s total vehicle market. J.D. Power and Associates projects that luxury car sales in China will nearly double over the next four years, from 900,000 vehicles in 2011 to more than 1.6 million vehicles in 2015. To meet this increased demand, LAS is expanding its luxury dealership mix to include other luxury brands, including BMW and Mercedes.

Currently, China’s passenger vehicle penetration remains low, at 70 vehicles per 1,000 people as compared to 256 in Korea, 325 in Japan, and 450 per 1,000 people in the United States. At a long-term macro level, there is plenty of room for China’s vehicle market to expand exponentially, particularly in the nation’s fast-growing second- and third-tier cities.

Bottom line, LAS is well on track for another record year of revenues and earnings. The Company expects to generate total revenues of RMB 3.5 billion to 4.0 billion, or $541 million to $618 million USD, for fiscal 2011. At today’s market cap the Company is trading for less than a third of sales and with a single digit P/E that is a fraction of the earnings multiple of its peers.

LAS is positioned to enter fiscal 2012 with a total of at least 6 new dealerships generating sales for the Company. In comparison the expected record revenue and earnings performance for fiscal 2011 is being generated mostly by the Company’s original dealership network, with modest contributions from a handful of the new locations. With the full-year revenue contributions from the full slate of new acquisitions factored in, 2012 should be a massive growth year for LAS in both revenues and earnings. To discover more about why RedChip analysts like the Company at current levels, download RedChip’s recently published initial report on LAS.

Disclosure: The subject security is a client of RedChip Companies, Inc. RedChip Companies, Inc., employees and affiliates may have positions and affect transactions in the securities or options of the issuers mentioned herein. For full financial disclosures for all RedChip clients, please visit http://www.redchip.com/disclosures.asp?src=rcv.

What is the OTCQB? It is just one of several ‘tiers’ created by OTC Markets to help investors quickly determine the level of disclosure of a given security. In the case of the OTCQB, this level of disclosure is exactly in line with what investors have come to expect of OTCBB companies: full compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filing requirements. There is absolutely no difference between the disclosure standards of OTCQB- and OTCBB-traded securities.

So are companies moving their trading to the OTCQB merely because the reporting standards mirror that of the OTCBB? We’ve already covered the reasons for the shift in trading from the OTCBB to the OTCQB in great detail in a prior blog post. To recap in simplistic terms, the OTCBB, which is run by FINRA, is a dinosaur. It’s an inefficient, non-electronic quote system that places onerous fees on broker-dealers that choose to quote securities on the system. These inefficiencies and fees are the main drivers behind the decline of the OTCBB and the rise of the OTCQB. In fact, as of the writing of this blog post, there are only 19 stocks left that are solely quoted on the OTCBB.

One thing that has caused investors a bit of confusion as these changes have taken place is the fact that major retail-oriented investment sites, such as Yahoo! Finance, still tag all OTC Markets securities with the same “.pk” suffix; they have yet to differentiate between the various tiers. Not realizing that the OTC Markets has segmented its quoted securities into tiers based on their level of disclosure, the blanket suffix labeling has given most investors reason to inaccurately assume all “Pink Sheet” stocks are the same.

What are some of the other tiers of the OTC Markets? Glad you asked.

On the low end, we have the OTC Pink tier. This particular tier, for the most part, is on par with how many investors have historically viewed the Pink Sheets (the prior name of what is now the OTC Markets). I say “for the most part,” because the OTC Pink tier itself is actually divided into three separate tiers.

At the top end of the OTC Pink tier, we have companies that make “current information” available to investors through the OTC Disclosure & News Service. It’s important to note that while this level of transparency follows the International Reporting or the Alternative Reporting Standards, it does not meet SEC reporting requirements. That said it is far better than the lower two tiers of the OTC Pinks, which are merely “OTC Pink Limited Information” and “OTC Pink No Information.” As the names suggest, neither provides a truly transparent view of a given security and investors should heed caution or completely avoid these types of companies.

Additionally, while not exactly “tiers” per se, more of a “get the heck out of here” type warning, the OTC Markets further delineates certain companies with either a “Gray Market” or “Caveat Emptor” label. In the case of Gray Market companies, there are no market makers, and in the case of Caveat Emptor companies, there is a genuine public concern that has been associated with such securities – possibly a questionable stock promotion campaign or known fraud investigation. In both cases, it should be obvious that investors would want to avoid such securities.

On the opposite end of the spectrum lies the OTCQX tier, which not only meets SEC reporting requirements (like the OTCQB tier), but also requires companies to meet a defined set of quantitative standards. These requirements include assets, number of shareholders, revenue and other minimum criteria. A detailed view of the initial and continued listing standards can be found here.

Going up one more level, in May of this year, the SEC approved NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.’s new BX Venture Market initiative. Slated to go live by the end of 2011, the BX Venture Market will bridge the gap between the OTCQX and the major exchanges. While similar to the OTCQX in regards to quantitative listing requirements, The BX Venture Market goes a step further and has put in place a set of key qualitative standards that must also be met for initial and continued listing. According to information on BX Venture Market’s website, these qualitative standards are tentatively as follows:

• · 3 independent directors
• · A fully independent audit committee
• · Independent director oversight of executive compensation
• · Review of related party transactions by independent directors
• · Shareholder approval of equity compensation
• · Annual shareholder meetings
• · A code of conduct applicable to all directors, officers and employees

Overall, the changes we are seeing in the microcap markets are a strong positive both for investors and issuers. The ability of investors to quickly differentiate between levels of disclosure and corporate governance amongst microcap stocks will lead to better allocation of capital which in turn will create more efficient markets for issuers.

To learn more about these changes, we encourage you to tune into our virtual conference on June 23, 2011. Our guest keynote speaker, Andrea Cataneo, a partner at Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference, LLP, will be conducting a presentation on the over-the-counter markets with a question and answer session immediately thereafter.

While the rest of the world is still in the midst of a global financial crisis, it is no surprise that demand for vocational education in China is ramping up. The crisis has forced organizations to focus strategies on creating a quality team to beat out industry competitors and lead the company through this difficult financial period. Ultimately, the goal is to expand the company to its full potential by investing in an educated and well trained team. These short, intensive vocational education programs are solutions for companies to further develop their competence and create immediate impact. Programs that have increased in popularity since the economic downturn are IT, English and business training, all of which are offered by HQGE schools.

There is no doubt that there is room for all of these programs and more as China increasingly values training and education. The number of schools located throughout China’s large cities is only expected to grow. This graph to the left is a market scale and forecast for English and IT training in China.

Disclosure: The subject security is a client of RedChip Companies, Inc. RedChip Companies, Inc., employees and affiliates may have positions and affect transactions in the securities or options of the issuers mentioned herein. For full financial disclosures for all RedChip clients, please visit http://www.redchip.com/disclosures.asp?src=rcv.