Game Is To 11 July 10, 2013July 10, 2013 PING PONG, ANYONE? Here. There goes Wednesday. (It’s not that there’s nothing going on. There’s the Republican war on women, the Republican war on immigrants — did you see Rachel last night? — the Republican war on voting rights, the Republican war on the poor, the Republican war on the environment, and the actual wars, including the war on terror, largely overseen in secret by the FISA Court, all of whose secret judges have been and will be appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts, in secret, as long as he shall live. So there’s lots to talk about. But not today.)
Buyer Not Seller July 9, 2013July 8, 2013 I fell asleep writing yesterday’s column. When my head went thunk on the keyboard, it must have hit PUBLISH . . . so I never really got to the point. Here’s where we left off: The latest Borealis weekly investor email links to the huge Borealis prospectus issued in connection with the stock’s listing on the Prague Exchange (to date, no shares have traded) and notes that grand-sub WheelTug (sub of Chorus Motors, sub of Borealis) is upping the price of shares it is selling privately — from the most recent offering price of $90 to a hoped-for $180. The 2013 Borealis annual report shows “profit from sales in subsidiary companies” at nearly $8.5 million. The point is that Borealis owns 65% of WheelTug. And WheelTug — at $90 a share with a little over 7 million shares outstanding — is being valued at more than $600 million. Thus one might conclude that Borealis’s 65% stake in WheelTug is currently worth more than $400 million (65% of more than $600 million). And one might divide that $400 million by Borealis’s 5 million shares outstanding to come up with $80 worth of WheelTug for each Borealis share. Which is one reason buying Borealis shares for $11 as you could yesterday — or even for $15 or $20 or perhaps $30 or $40 — strikes me as a sensible speculation. Not least because Borealis may have value beyond WheelTug. As has been noted before, if its patented electric motor technology can move a jumbo jet, perhaps it may have some application in automobiles, forklifts, elevators, golf carts, or who knows what? And if this scoffed-at Borealis technology proves valuable at long last as now seems at least a bit less fanciful, perhaps one or more of its other scoffed-at technologies and subsidiaries (like Cool Chips and Power Chips) has value. (Even, someday, its claimed mineral wealth.) Of course, there’s no guarantee WheelTug is worth the $600 million valuation that some investors have accepted, let alone the new $1.2 billion offering price for new shares ($180 a share). But it’s still encouraging that some people must think so. Indeed, they must think it’s worth more than $600 million, or else why tie up $8.5 million in illiquid, non-public shares? I keep annoying you with this because (a) those of you who have joined me as long-suffering shareholders over the past 14 years need encouragement (keep hope alive! keep hope alive!); and because (b) those of you who have not yet jumped in might still wish to — though only with money you can truly afford to lose. (If you do decide to jump in, be sure to use limit orders. The stock is very thinly traded. A “market” order basically says, “I’ll pay anything you want to charge me.” A “limit” order says, “I’ll pay anything up to a limit of $11 a share.” Or $12. Or whatever price you set.) There remains the real chance we will lose all our money . . . though I become increasingly hard-pressed to see quite how Borealis shares would come to have zero value. At the current $55 million valuation, it is considered only one-fifth as valuable as Cezanne’s “The Cardplayers.” A lovely painting; but can “The Cardplayers” make the global airline industry significantly more efficient, as just one of the Borealis subsidiaries shows promise of being able to do? As always: naysayer comments welcome. If I’m missing something here, I’d be eager to know what it is. Thunk.
Summer Fun July 8, 2013July 8, 2013 THE CONSERVATION OF MATTER Time flies when you’re not too tidy. I decided to wash the living room cushions — you just unzip them all, take off the covers, wash and allow to dry in the sun, then shove back the foam rubber, rezip. Repeat every 25 years. It really makes a difference. Not ever having done this before, it seemed appropriate to vacuum the innards of the furniture on which the cushions sit. In doing so, we discovered — “oh, look at this!” — a cell phone some guest must have lost here in summers past. Well, it had to be somewhere. Things don’t just vanish. They can burn (converting matter to energy), but, as Lavoisier discovered, there are laws about such things. (Have you looked under the bed? Behind the dresser?) BUYER AND CELLAR I’m having so much fun with this. I even got to write my own blurb for the Playbill. Limited to 120 words, I used just 13 (but touched on investing, religion, and politics). There are still discount tickets many days at TKTS, but as the house continues to build, they grow scarcer: “Irresistible . . . delicious . . . wickedly funny” — the New York Times “Hilarious! Michael Urie is masterful.” — New York Magazine “Fantastically funny” — the New York Post “A fantasy so delightful you wish it were true.” — the New Yorker “Spectacular. Beyond brilliant. This show will go down like butta’!” –Entertainment Weekly When the New York Times and the New York Post — and the New Yorker and Entertainment Weekly — all agree, it’s probably a good time. See it! BUYER NOT SELLER The latest Borealis weekly investor email links to the huge Borealis prospectus issued in connection with the stock’s listing on the Prague Exchange (to date, no shares have traded) and notes that grand-sub WheelTug (sub of Chorus Motors, sub of Borealis) is upping the price of shares it is selling privately — from the most recent offering price of $90 to a hoped-for $180. The 2013 Borealis annual report shows “profit from sales in subsidiary companies” at nearly $8.5 million.
Violence as a Disease July 5, 2013 But first, briefly . . . CLOSE SHAVE Tom Anthony: “Sharpening Your Disposable Razor – YouTube . . . Just 10 strokes on your blue jeans for stropping; a few strokes on a polishing compound board for sharpening. You should strop 100X more than you sharpen because dull blades are overwhelmingly the result of bent edge sections and not from an unsharpened edge.” ☞ Even cheaper, which is to say free (if you have a pair of jeans), than that strop I linked to a while back. MORE FREE MUSIC Peter: “You may want to add mog.com to the list of music streaming services mentioned. it is similar to Spotify, in that you can select the specific songs you want to listen to, as opposed to the ‘radio-like” services. they also have a free option available. One of Mog’s claims to fame is that they have the best audio quality of any of the services (320kbs for everything). Not sure if anyone else has caught up yet. I’ve been using their paid (ad-free) service without any problem for some time now.” VIOLENCE The item after this one is today’s headliner — violence as a disease. But while we’re on the topic (and while we’re waiting for Congress to pass common sense background checks and other safety measures overwhelmingly supported by their constituents, including most NRA members), I wanted to share this email that came in from a friend over the weekend: “I was at Quantico Thursday evening,” he writes. “A friend got promoted to Brigadier General — his first star — and the Commandant pinned it on. There were probably 70 or so high ranking officers at the reception. I have been around Marines and wars for many years. What really struck me as I watched the room, was the pain. We have been in combat since 2001 and one of the guys I spoke with had five combat tours. These Marines are the very best — the senior leaders, all in perfect physical condition, uniforms immaculate with incredible ribbons of gallantry. But every single one had pain, deep, deep pain in their eyes. It was just us, so the walls were all down and as the evening went on I talked with a number of my friends. It comes down to killing. They had all killed too much and they had buried too many of their own. In some ways it was good to see — that they retained their humanity and the pain hurts. If it did not, they would have been like the Nazis or the Serbs I knew in Sarajevo — who had no pain — or soul — in their eyes. I felt honored to be in the room with such warriors, but I was also intensely angry at Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld. I do not see the same pain — or any pain — in their eyes. So they send the best we have in our military off and these guys hurt bad when they do their duty and come home, but the ones who send them — they do water colors. Sorry — venting.” ☞ I asked permission to post that — we’re partners in a social business venture — and he replied, “There is a public side and a private side to the Marines and it is appropriate that in the quiet times we grieve and hurt, which we do not share to the public. But, the public should know. And while we hurt when one of our own dies, we spend much more time and reflection over the ones we killed and that is what we discuss privately. I spoke to a young staff sergeant recently and in the space of a ten-minute conversation, he repeated three times that he had killed three boys, but that he was okay. He was so not okay and I tried to tell him that his anguish was not something he should try to gloss over. I had two of my classmates killed from my CIA class and two of my Marine OCS classmates killed as well. I infrequently think of them — daily I think of the others. I know I am not okay, which in some way kind of makes me able to deal with all of the memories and failures at not being able to avoid or prevent the deaths.” ☞ “Thank you for your service” seems hardly adequate. And now, finally . . . VIOLENCE AS A DISEASE TED Talks are billed as “ideas worth spreading.” This one sure is. It’s terrific on at least three levels: its results, its rationality, and its replicability. Uplifting! I hope you’re enjoying an extended July 4th weekend. We celebrate a country that, for all its missteps, carries the imperative to expose those missteps (not ignore them with mindless patriotism) and the capacity and generosity of spirit to make progress toward a more perfect union. Drive safely! Wear sun screen!
You WILL Walk Again July 3, 2013March 28, 2017 It’s unfortunate that President Bush, by leaning against the promise of stem cell research for eight years, likely ceded this breakthrough to our friends in Hong Kong (thanks again, Ralph Nader, and all the rest of you uncompromising idealists*) . . . but if you or someone you love might someday be paralyzed from a spinal cord injury, you won’t care where the cure comes from. You will walk again! JFK ON SECRECY AND THE PRESS As President Obama calls for a national discussion on the balance between privacy and security, these words from President Kennedy resonate. Not that I think President Kennedy would likely have made choices much different from those President Obama has made. (And boy would he be dismayed by the dumbing down of the traditional news media.) But they help inform the discussion. COOKING LIKE A GUY™ Bob Redpath: “You wrote, ‘As soon as I can figure out a manly way to make a souffle.’ I think it’s called scrambled eggs — in a mug in the microwave.” ☞ Good point. READING THE TIMES TOMORROW If I know my New York Times, we will find a replica of the Declaration of Independence on tomorrow’s back page. What better way to start the day? And to reflect on the millions who sacrificed so much to give us our lives, liberty, and freedom to pursue happiness — to be ourselves. One such person is this former Navy Seal, who fought for her country and pursued her own happiness, as recounted in her just published Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy SEAL’s Journey to Coming out Transgender. *I’m awful. I just won’t let it go. But for a reason! I think it is a message we liberals (and pragmatic idealists) must constantly refresh — “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good” — because it applies in almost any political situation and always will. Strive for the perfect, for sure; but make the practical compromises required for progress. Otherwise, all you get is self-righteous victimhood — and, when the stakes are as high as they were in 2000, calamity.
Who Is SELLING Borealis? July 2, 2013 SIGA Jim Leff: “Per yesterday’s post . . . at this point, I’m neither ‘very confident’ [like Mr. Hudson] nor ‘very hopeful’ [like you] about the lawsuit. I certainly know what ‘should’ happen, and Glenn Hudson outlined some of that in his Seeking Alpha article. But the Delaware Supreme Court surprised me by making new law in their ruling, and the case has returned to the hands of a judge who already made one outrageous ruling. So the end result is anything but clear. Anyone who’s in SIGA to wager on this legal outcome is taking a speculative bet when a smart one lies just beyond it. Even if the baby were to remain split 50/50, half a gold mine is still a fantastic outcome. I’m both confident and hopeful that we’ll win either way. What I can’t tell you is the timing. I retain my near-Borealis level of patience.” ☞ Ah, well, I’ll get to Borealis in a second, but a bit more on SIGA. One big thing I don’t know is the value of what else the company has in development. But its entire market cap is currently just $150 million, and my own sense of these things is that this is too low. So I happily sit on a lot of this stock with money I can truly afford to lose . . . even as, with money I am all but itching to lose (not much, but some), I yesterday bought December $4 calls at 30 cents each. Which means I’ll probably lose my 30 cents. At the same time, I did something normally insane: I sold some December $3 puts. Someone paid me 55 cents each for the right to “put” SIGA shares to me at $3 any time between now and December 21. If the stock is $3 or above in six months, I get to keep that 55 cents; otherwise, I wind up owning yet more shares at a net cost of $2.45 each — the $3 I will have to pay less the 55 cents I’ve already received. There are limits to how much SIGA I want to own, even at a price as cheap as $2.45. But I haven’t reached those limits, and I just couldn’t resist. Please take me seriously when I say that normal, healthy investors are best advised simply to own some of the common shares and leave it at that. Options trading — let alone “naked” options trading — can wreck lives. BOREF I bought a bit more after the Paris air show, when it turned out Honeywell/Safran had not signed up any airline customers after all, as they hinted they would announce they had . . . and when I read of some potential disadvantages of their system. I paid about $10.50 for the shares . . . and as I did I wondered — as I basically have for a decade — who is selling? People do die, so their estates could understandably be selling shares when they do. And I have one friend who forgot to pay his taxes and had his brokerage account “garnished” (with a radish cut in the shape of a rose?) which led his broker to sell 231 shares without even asking. But surely death and taxes can’t account for most of the daily volume in Borealis, modest though it is. Presumably, most of the people who own the shares have some clue as to the speculative nature of the holding (or why would they have bought in the first place?) . . . why would they be getting out now? One theory is that most of those shareholders aren’t selling — that short-sellers are. Not your garden variety, “oh, I think this is a dog, I’ll short some,” short-sellers — why would anyone expose themselves to the risk? — but, rather, market makers who, the theory goes, don’t even know which specific stocks they’re shorting . . . and don’t bother to “borrow” the shares before they sell them . . . they just meet demand for hundreds of different dodgy little stocks by selling the shares without owning or borrowing them (“naked” short-selling), as orchestrated automatically by some computer algorithm premised on back-tested data that shows that, over time, most of the companies they’re shorting will just disappear. As so many dodgy little companies do. It sounds risky (and, if they hold their naked short positions overnight, let alone for years, illegal). But it’s not as though insane (and possibly criminal) things don’t sometimes happen on Wall Street when the temptation is there. Packaging sub-prime mortgages into triple-A rated collateralized mortgage obligations springs to mind. If this is what’s happening — computer-generated short-selling of dodgy little companies — then the market makers get use of the cash they are paid for shares they don’t own; and if once in a while they get hammered (losing $20 bucks each on 100,000 shares, say) — well, what’s the occasional $2 million loss to a big market maker who’s got the odds right? There’s a site called buyins.net that tracks stuff like this, for a fee, and I was sorely tempted to pay that fee to see what they’d come up with on BOREF. But, on reflection, why bother? WheelTug will eventually either be very valuable or not. In the meantime, if naked short-selling is keeping the price of the stock artificially low, that’s good for the buyers. And, for the foreseeable future, I’m a buyer.
The So-Called Scandal (+SIGA, Swan Like) July 1, 2013 So with respect to the IRS “scandal,” it turns out — according to Steve Benen — . . . every central claim has been discredited. They said conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status were singled out for excessive IRS scrutiny, but we now know that wasn’t true. They said conservative groups faced delays that liberal groups didn’t have to endure, but that wasn’t true, either. They said President Obama’s critics were unfairly targeted, and that’s ridiculously untrue. Indeed, the irony of this week is that the previous allegations have not only been answered in a way that ends the discussion, but also that there are new allegations that turn the tables — those who pushed the scandal are suddenly the ones who need to explain themselves. The Treasury inspector general (IG) whose report helped drive the IRS targeting controversy says it limited its examination to conservative groups because of a request from House Republicans. A spokesman for Russell George, Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration, said they were asked by House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) “to narrowly focus on Tea Party organizations.” This is important. The IG’s report helped create the scandal, pointing to special scrutiny applied to Tea Party groups, but ignoring comparable scrutiny of progressive organizations that didn’t fully come to light until this week. Why didn’t the Inspector General provide a fairer, more accurate, and more encompassing report? Because according to the IG himself, Republicans told him to paint an incomplete picture on purpose. The whole story, the IG’s office said yesterday, “was outside the scope” of the audit requested by Republican lawmakers. And with that in mind, in an unexpected twist, the congressional Republicans who relied so heavily on the IG’s office to help create the controversy suddenly find themselves at odds with their ostensible ally. House Republicans on Wednesday pushed back on an inspector general’s suggestion that the GOP asked for a limited inquiry into the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups, a statement Democrats have jumped on in recent days. GOP lawmakers and staffers acknowledge that they reached out to Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration (TIGTA) after hearing that Tea Party organizations seeking tax-exempt status felt they were being mistreated by the tax agency. But Republicans also say that it made no sense for them to try to limit the inquiry to the Tea Party, because a broader inquiry would be needed to determine whether the IRS was treating conservative groups more harshly than other groups. So the IG’s office is blaming Republicans and Republicans are blaming the IG’s office. Seven weeks after the political world pondered the prospect of presidential impeachment as a result of this story, it appears the only folks who aren’t accused of doing anything wrong are President Obama, his staff, and Democrats. It’s funny how these things turn out, isn’t it? Of course, the next question is who’s right about the party responsible for screwing up so badly: the Inspector General or congressional Republicans. At this point, it’s difficult to say with certainty, but it’s probably best not to reflexively blame GOP lawmakers. Garance Franke-Ruta had a very interesting report on Tuesday on J. Russell George, the George W. Bush appointee who leads the IG’s office and who helped Republicans create the controversy with his misleading report. George now appears eager to pass the buck, but as Garance reported, the inspector general “might not be the impartial arbiter he successfully presented himself to be,” and may not have given accurate answers during his sworn testimony. In May, George declined to answer questions about whether progressive groups were targeted, a kind of cageyness that now raises questions about his impartiality in presenting findings about what went on at the IRS. At the May 22 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing “The IRS: Targeting Americans for Their Beliefs,” Chairman Darrell Issa asked George point-blank about “be on the lookout” orders: “Were there any BOLOs issued for progressive groups, liberal groups?” “Sir, this is a very important question,” the courtly George replied. “Please, I beg your indulgence …. The only ‘be on the lookout,’ that is BOLO, used to refer cases for political review were the ones that we described within our report.” “There were other BOLOs used for other purposes,” he added — such as “indicators of known fraud schemes” and, for “nationwide organizations, there were notes to refer state and local chapters to the same reviewers.” He did not mention the one now revealed for progressive groups. Making matters worse, the Huffington Post‘s Sam Stein also reported this week that Gregory D. Kutz, one of the main author’s of George’s IG report, “had been relieved of” his previous position as head of the special investigations unit at the Government Accountability Office when he wrote an incomplete report and was accused by a colleague of “pursuing overly sensationalist stories.” So, there may be a legitimate controversy here after all. It’s just not the one the political world was obsessed with since early May. The trajectory is eerily similar to Benghazi: Darrell Issa and Republicans make serious charges, the charges are debunked, and the only remaining questions deal with allegations of Republican wrongdoing. As for the pundits and politicians who spent seven weeks breathlessly speculating about Obama using the IRS as a political weapon to punish his enemies, we’re still waiting for those corrections. . . . SWAN LIKE On a Brooklyn rooftop. Thirty-nine seconds. THE BULLISH CASE FOR SIGA Glenn Hudson: “I don’t know if you have had a chance to read my most recent Seeking Alpha article: ‘PharmAthene’s Damage Award Will Be Limited To Reliance Damages.’ Also, my replies to people’s comments below the article. I believe if you read them, you will feel very confident that our investment in SIGA is going to pay off big.” ☞ Very confident? No; more like very hopeful.
Some Week – Updated June 28, 2013 Monday was the re-opening of Buyer and Cellar at the Barrow Street Theater — “utterly charming,” said the Associated Press. “Delicious,” says Variety. “A hilarious delight,” says the New York Observer. We even got to meet Jane Lynch, one of several stars in the audience. (It was also the day of the terrible Supreme Court ruling that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act — another Republican victory for voter suppression.) Tuesday was the unveiling of Barney Frank’s portrait in the Capitol. (Scroll down for some nice shots.) Funny and touching, with everyone there from Fed Chair Ben Bernanke to former Bush Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to Barney’s husband Jim and his family to Robert Kaiser, whose Act of Congress tells the story of Dodd-Frank. (It was also Wendy Davis’s epic filibuster to prevent a ban of safe, legal abortion in much of Texas.) (And Ed Markey’s win in the race to fill John Kerry’s Senate seat.) (And what Al Gore called “the best address on climate by any president ever.”) Wednesday we saw The Assembled Parties. Judith Light is amazing. We even got to say hello to Norman Lear at intermission. (And the Supreme Court overturned DOMA and allowed marriage to resume in California. Had not elected Barack Obama, the vote would have been 6-3 against. We know this because in 2008 John McCain said, “I’ve said a thousand times on this campaign trail, I’ve said as often as I can, that I want to find clones of Alito and Roberts. . . . I flat-out tell you I will have people as close to Roberts and Alito [as possible].” Roberts and Alito, as you know, this week voted against equality. Justices Sotomayor and Kagan voted for.) The end of DOMA means, perhaps most poignantly, that thousands of “bi-national couples” will no longer have to choose whether to leave their loved one or their country. Foreign same-sex spouses will now be able to apply for Green Cards, just like the spouses of any other Americans. Thursday saw Senate passage of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, 68-32. (And the President and First Lady standing in the same doorway tens of thousands of Africans passed centuries ago as they were loaded onto slave ships bound for America.) Of all these, the marriage decisions had the most immediacy. (Michael S., who used to run a large national ad agency: “I am still trying to absorb the news from the Court. When I came out, being gay was still a disease, against the law, and of course sinful.” Marriage? Edgar Bronfman reflects on the matter, here. ) But the rest was big, too. If Earth is a planet you would like your descendants to enjoy, take the time to read or watch the President’s climate speech. Have a great weekend.
Some Week June 27, 2013 Monday was the re-opening of Buyer and Cellar at the Barrow Street Theater — “utterly charming,” said the Associated Press. “Delicious,” says Variety. “A hilarious delight,” says the New York Observer. We even got to meet Jane Lynch, one of several stars in the audience. (It was also the day of the terrible Supreme Court ruling that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act — another Republican victory for voter suppression.) Tuesday was the unveiling of former House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank’s portrait in the Capitol. (Scroll down for some nice shots.) Funny and touching, with everyone there from Fed Chair Ben Bernanke to former Bush Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to Barney’s husband and family, to Robert Kaiser, whose Act of Congress tells the story of Dodd-Frank. (It was also Wendy Davis’s epic filibuster to prevent a ban of safe, legal abortion in much of Texas.) (And Ed Markey’s win in the race to fill John Kerry’s Senate seat.) (And what Al Gore called “the best address on climate by any president ever.”) Yesterday was a performance of The Assembled Parties. Judith Light is amazing. We even got to say hello to Norman Lear at intermission. (And the Supreme Court overturned DOMA and allowed marriage to resume in California. Note that if we had not elected Barack Obama, the vote would not have been 5-4 for equality, but 6-3 against. We know this because in 2008 John McCain said, “I’ve said a thousand times on this campaign trail, I’ve said as often as I can, that I want to find clones of Alito and Roberts. I worked as hard as anybody to get them confirmed. I look you in the eye and tell you I’ve said a thousand times that I wanted Alito and Roberts. I have told anybody who will listen. I flat-out tell you I will have people as close to Roberts and Alito [as possible].” Roberts and Alito, as you know, voted against equality. Justices Sotomayor and Kagan voted for.) The end of DOMA means, perhaps most poignantly, that thousands of “bi-national couples” will no longer have to choose whether to leave their loved one or their country. Foreign same-sex spouses will now be able to apply for Green Cards, just like the spouses of any other Americans. But the climate change address was the really big story. If Earth is a planet you enjoy, and would like your descendants to enjoy, take the time to read or watch. And it’s only Thursday!
And Miami Was Such a NICE City June 26, 2013July 1, 2013 Uh, oh. When the water receded after hurricane Milo of 2030, there was a foot of sand covering the famous bow-tie floor in the lobby of the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach. . . . And it just gets worse from there. Read it in the Rolling Stone. $15 MINIMUM WAGE I’m not ignoring your good comments on Nick Hanauer’s argument for a $15 minimum wage. Stay tuned. In the meantime: MORE FREE MUSIC Ken Doran: “[Building on yesterday’s post], there is another good choice for free online music, on the open Internet with no registration needed: YouTube. There are thousands of new and old full length albums available, plus almost every individual song you have ever heard of, and thousands of full length concerts and long excerpts. Copyright owners can police what is available, but apparently most don’t these days. Some sorting for quality is needed, but still a remarkable resource.” Peter: “You may want to add mog.com to the list of music streaming services mentioned. it is similar to Spotify, in that you can select the specific songs you want to listen to, as opposed to the ‘radio-like” services. they also have a free option available. One of Mog’s claims to fame is that they have the best audio quality of any of the services (320kbs for everything). Not sure if anyone else has caught up yet. I’ve been using their paid (ad-free) service without any problem for some time now.” BOREALIS Here’s the link to the full AirInsight analysis I referenced a few days ago. It suggests that WheelTug’s competition may not be ready for prime time. Which could help explain why WT has eleven airlines signed with slot-reservations and H/S, thus far, none.