Brazil Minerals, Inc. (BMIX) reported its financial results for the three months ended September 30, 2013 in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed with the SEC on October 23, 2013. A summary of BMIX's financial performance and business updates follows.

For more than a decade I curated my weekly “Best Of” opinion and news columns for staff and friends. This weekly ritual was purely a by-product of me reading six newspapers a day (NY Times, Financial Times, USA Today, Wall St. Journal, Washington Post, LA Times), dozens of magazines a week and of course tons of blogs and content aggregation platforms (Flipboard etc.) on Sundays. Wine tasting comes AFTER golf of course…

Idea curation is a hobby…just like wine. Many friends and subscribers have recently asked me “What happened to your weekly compilation of great ideas and your tasty & cheap wine finds?” Well…sharing my favorite articles, favorite wine and restaurant discoveries is fun and I missed it.

Today we launch Best Weekend Reads & Wines…to feed your intellectual and gastronomic appetite!

Another big Pulse announcement slipped through the cracks here at NBT. And quite frankly, they have so many announcements with their rapid expansions; it gets crazy at times to keep up. Earlier this month, Pulse announced it has completed an agreement with Save Mart Supermarkets under which Pulse's Natural Cabana® Lemonade will be sold at 187 Save Mart Supermarket locations throughout Northern California.

Propell Technologies Group (PROP) has released its initial results from the first well treated in the Arbuckle formation in Stafford County, Kansas that is owned and operated by Richfield Oil & Gas Company. The result is an outstanding 2 BOPD to 40 BOPD, a 1900% increase in production.

The treatment was performed on October 1st, 2013 on Prescott #2 and is now back in service using a submersible pump with a substantial increase in production.

Ray Dalio…who runs Bridgewater Associates the largest hedge fund in the world…shares EVERYTHING you really need to understand about managing money in the modern world.

Mr. Dalio IS my economic hero…and he has generously shared his economic lessons for ALL of us! The fact that he is worth $20 billion from his insights is NOT lost on me either.

Barfresh Food Group, Inc. (BRFH) has acquired the exclusive worldwide patent rights to its ready-to-blend beverage packs. This is in addition to its currently held patent rights in the United States and Canada, the largest blended beverage market globally. With this acquisition, Barfresh gains exclusive rights to service key international markets including but not limited to China, Europe, Japan, Brazil as well as Australia and New Zealand.

With Pulse Beverage opening so many distribution deals, we missed this news on starting with Kmart…our bad. With national roll out potential to 400+ Kmart stores…this deal looks like a multi-$million deal.

You would never hear this from a Sand Hill Road Venture Capitalist (VC), but the details are in and professional venture capital is mostly the exception, not the norm, as a funding source for startups.

In fact, it’s less than 1 percent. At NBT Equities Research we more often than not look for opportunity in the 99% of emerging growth companies initially funded by angel investors, founders and public venture capital via Alternative Public Offerings (APOs).

Why? Because again…if you look at actual results… more VC-backed new companies fail than succeed, and since 1999 the VC funds that have backed the lucky “1%” have barely broken even. Their investors would have earned 3X more return on their “venture” money by putting their VC fund investment into money market funds.

University General Health System (UGHS) has announced its highly profitable 2012 operating results which includes a 59% improvement in total revenue, an increase in shareholders' equity of $11.3 million, and an increase in assets of $60.3 million. UGHS plans on filing its annual report on Form 10-K with the SEC on Monday, October 21, 2013.

Medient Studios, Inc. (MDNT) just received backing by the US Government to create the two major road arteries in and out of the StudioPlex. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District has approved and issued the Nationwide Permit to construct the two road crossings that are essential to begin the development of the Studioplex.

Today Pulse Beverage announced that Natural Cabana® Lemonade is now available at more than 380 Albertsons grocery stores in the company's Northwest, Southwest, Texas and Rocky Mountain divisions. With Albertsons being one of the most used grocery chains on the West Coast, there is no reason people won’t be able to try any of the Pulse lineup of drinks.

University General Health System, Inc. (UGHS) provided some good news about its development of an acute care hospital in Alvin, Texas, a suburb of Houston. In the announcement, UGHS announced that all lawsuits related to the land investment, which previously delayed the project, have been dismissed with prejudice and that the project is being developed with great support from the City of Alvin.

The Pulse Beverage Corporation (OTCQB:PLSB), makers of the PULSE® brand of functional beverages and Natural Cabana® Lemonade, today announced an expanded agreement with Northern California-based Geyser Beverage Company to distribute the PULSE® brand of functional beverages throughout 17 Northern California counties. The development follows an earlier agreement with Geyser Beverage Company to distribute Pulse's entire line of Natural Cabana Lemonade in September 2012.

Propell Technologies Group, Inc (PROP) reported initial results from the second well treated in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area that's part of the company's Oil Services Revenue Sharing Agreement (OSRSA) with a private oil company to treat up to 10 wells and retain 49% of the increased oil production revenues.

Propell Technologies Group, Inc. (PROP) is reporting significant initial results from the first well treated with its proprietary Plasma Pulse technology under its 49%/51% Oil Services Revenue Sharing Services Agreement (OSRSA) covering 10 oil wells in the Cottonwood oil field outside of Tulsa.