Tim Runs Up Huge BEFORE Announcement- Insiders benefit!

Timminco lands silicon supply deal


Monday, May 25, 2009

TORONTO — Solar-panel silicon-producer Timminco Ltd. said Monday it has reached a supply agreement with German solar cell producer Q-Cells SE that contemplates delivery of 100 tonnes for 2009 with more to come up until 2013.

Stock in the Toronto-based company soared ahead of the announcement, gaining 46 per cent before being halted on the Toronto stock market. After the halt, the shares remained up, gaining 56 cents each to $1.79.

Under the supply agreement, which replaces an earlier five-year agreement signed in 2008, Timminco will negotiate by the end of this year further volumes, pricing and other terms for deliveries between 2010 and 2013 “in the context of prevailing solar industry market conditions.”

“Q-Cells is a valued customer of Timminco.” said Ren� Boisvert, president of Becancour Silicon, Timminco's subsidiary.

“We look forward to continuing to build a long term relationship with Q-Cells based upon application of our UMG-Si technology.”

Timminco will also return an outstanding deposit of about €8.9-million ($14-million) to Q-Cells. The companies agreed to a repayment schedule that will begin in the first quarter of 2010 and be completed by the end of 2010.

Last week, Timminco confirmed it will defend itself against a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging the company and its chief executive officer misled investors.

The action, filed last week in Ontario Superior Court, seeks $520-million on behalf of investors who bought Timminco stock between March and November last year.

It contends that the company, chairman and CEO Heinz Schimmelbusch and others provided misleading information about the profit potential of its process to produce high-grade silicon for use in solar cells.

Timminco shares, which rocketed from penny-stock levels in April, 2007, to a peak of $35.69 each last June, closed Friday at $1.30, down 96 per cent from their high.

Mr. Schimmelbusch told the company's annual meeting that Timminco's problems “are primarily market-driven,” caused by a slump in the solar energy industry related to a lack of financing and fewer government subsidies.

Timminco has cut production, spun off assets and delayed expansion, and reported a first-quarter loss of $22.3-million as sales fell 20 per cent from a year earlier to $37.7-million.

U.S. markets rattled

U.S. markets rattled

RTGAM


U.S. markets were hit with one of those uh-oh moments on Thursday morning when Standard & Poor's took one step toward downgrading the U.K.'s top triple-A credit rating. The U.K. is an ocean away, but the similarities between it and the United States are striking, a point not lost on investors who sent global stock market indexes down.

S&P lowered its outlook on U.K.

debt to "negative" from "stable," pointing to the extremely high debt levels
there. Right now, government debt represents nearly 67 per cent of the country's
economic outlook, and S&P is concerned that debt will soon approach 100 per
cent of gross domestic product.
Sound familiar?

According to Bloomberg, U.S. debt is 70.4 per cent of GDP, which suggests that its triple-A credit rating is also at risk. The effect in the U.K. has been dramatic: Bond prices are down, the pound is down and the FTSE 100 was down 2.2 per cent in
afternoon trading - a potential preamble to what the U.S. can expect if its
credit rating is also put on watch.

With about an hour before markets open, U.S. stock index futures were down, suggesting that stocks will fall at the start of trading. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were down 70 points. Futures for the broader S&P 500 were down 7 points.

Stocks certainly weren't given a helping hand from the latest snapshot of U.S. unemployment claims. Last week, initial claims were 631,000, down slightly from a revised 643,000 the week before - but still above the 600,000 threshold and slightly worse than what economists had been expecting. Just as troubling, continuing claims rose yet again to 6.66 million, suggesting that laid off Americans are still have trouble finding new jobs.

"The fact that the four-week moving average for initial claims fell is indicative of a slower pace of job destruction, though we are not convinced that a significant improvement is among us quite yet," said Ian Pollick, economics strategist at TD Securities, in a note. "In addition, the fact that the four-week moving average for continuing claims has drifted consistently higher for 66 straight weeks is indicative of a labor market shut for business."

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