Houston-based Laurus Energy, which specializes in UGC, is betting that efficiencies will increase and costs will continue come down.

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One manufacturer of AIDS medications, Indian firm Aptuit Laurus Pvt.

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The efforts of hedge funds like NIR Group and Laurus Capital Management to turbocharge their returns by focusing on penny stocks and PIPEs have been the subject of several articles in Forbes over the last three years.

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EarthFirst, John Stanton's firm, claims to be at "the forefront of alternative energy sources, " according to its Web site, but still gets most of its revenue from moneylosing waste-disposal and biodiesel-import businesses, and recently filed to allow Laurus Capital to sell 76 million shares, whose proceeds would be used to retire convertible debt held by Laurus.

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