SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 10-K

x                               ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Fiscal Year ended December 31, 2005

o                                  TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Transition Period from                      to                     

Commission File Number 001-15831

MCF CORPORATION

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

 

(415) 248-5600
(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Common Stock, $0.0001 per share

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes  o    No  x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes   o   No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes  o    No  x

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer  o

Accelerated filer  x

Non-accelerated filer  o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes  o    No  x

The aggregate market value of the 66,890,503 shares of common stock of the Registrant issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2005, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, excluding 4,418,239 shares of common stock held by affiliates of the Registrant was $80,937,509. This amount is based on the closing price of the common stock on the American Stock Exchange of $1.21 per share on June 30, 2005.

The number of shares of Registrant’s common stock outstanding as of February 15, 2006 was 71,547,178.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Part III of this Form 10-K incorporates by reference certain portions of the Registrant’s proxy statement for its 2006 annual meeting of stockholders to be filed with the Commission not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this report.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I
Item 1.		Business		1
Item 1A.		Risk Factors		10
Item 1B.		Unresolved Staff Comments		17
Item 2.		Properties		17
Item 3.		Legal Proceedings		17
Item 4.		Submission of Matters to a Vote of Stockholders		18
PART II
Item 5.		Market for Registrant’s Common Stock and Related Stockholder Matters		19
Item 6.		Selected Consolidated Financial Data		20
Item 7.		Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations		21
Item 7A.		Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk		32
Item 8.		Financial Statements and Supplementary Data		34
Item 9.		Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure		63
Item 9A.		Controls and Procedures		63
Item 9B.		Other Information		63
PART III
Item 10.		Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant		65
Item 11.		Executive Compensation		69
Item 12.		Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management		69
Item 13.		Certain Relationships and Related Transactions		69
Item 14.		Principal Accounting Fees And Services		69
PART IV
Item 15.		Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules, and Reports on Form 8-K		70

 

This Form 10-K and the information incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Some of the forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates” or “anticipates” or the negative of those words or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. You should be aware that a number of important factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We will not necessarily update the information presented or incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K if any of these forward-looking statements turn out to be inaccurate. Risks affecting our business are described throughout this Form 10-K and especially in the section “Risk Factors.” This entire Form 10-K, including the consolidated financial statements and the notes and any other documents incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K should be read for a complete understanding of our business and the risks associated with that business.

PART I

ITEM 1.                BUSINESS

General

MCF Corporation is a financial services holding company that provides investment research, capital markets services, corporate and venture services, investment banking, asset management and wealth management through its operating subsidiaries, Merriman Curhan Ford & Co., MCF Asset Management, LLC and MCF Wealth Management, LLC. We are focused on providing a full range of specialized and integrated services to institutional investors and corporate clients.

Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.

Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. is a securities broker-dealer and investment bank focused on fast growing companies and institutional investors. Our mission is to become a leader in the researching, advising, financing and trading of fast growing companies under $2 billion in market capitalization. We provide investment research, brokerage and trading services primarily to institutions, as well as advisory and investment banking services to corporate clients. We are focused on providing a full range of specialized and integrated services, including:

·       Equity Research

·       Sales and Trading

·       Specialized Trade Execution

·       Market Making

·       Equity Capital Markets

·       Corporate and Venture Services

·       Public Offerings

·       Private Placements

·       Debt Financing

·       Mergers and Acquisitions

·       Strategic Advisory Services

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Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a broker-dealer and is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. and the Securities Investors Protection Corporation.

By the end of the 1990’s, many of the investment banks that previously served this niche were acquired by large commercial banks and subsequently refocused to serve larger clients and larger transactions. We are gaining market share by originating differentiated research for our institutional investor clients and providing specialized services for our fast-growing corporate clients.

Customer Base

The customer base of our brokerage business is primarily institutional, including mutual funds and hedge funds, as well as smaller, private investment firms and certain high net worth individuals. We believe this group of clients and potential clients to number over 4,000. We grew our business during 2005 by adding new, and increasing the penetration of existing institutional customers that use our equity research and trading services in their investment process. During 2005, we transacted brokerage business with 614 institutional customers, up from 599 in 2004, and the number of active institutional accounts increased sequentially each quarter during the year. During 2005, no single brokerage customer accounted for more than 10% of our revenue. We believe the number of active institutional accounts will continue to grow in 2006 based upon the expansion of our research coverage.

The customer base of our investment banking business consists of both private and publicly traded growth-oriented companies in selected market sectors. We estimate that there are over 5,000 publicly traded companies with market capitalization under $1 billion. Many of the investment banks that previously served these clients have either been acquired by larger institutions and are focusing primarily on larger clients, or have disappeared altogether. During 2005, no single investment banking customer accounted for more than 10% of our revenue.

Capital Markets

We have derived the majority of our revenue from our capital markets activities. Our capital markets activities include institutional sales and trading, research and investment banking.

Institutional Sales and Trading

Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. focuses on providing research and sales and trading services to institutional investors in the United States. We execute securities transactions for institutional investors such as money managers, mutual funds, hedge funds, insurance companies, and pension and profit-sharing plans. Institutional investors normally purchase and sell securities in large quantities, which require the marketing and trading expertise that we provide.

We provide integrated research and trading solutions to try and help our institutional clients invest profitably, grow their portfolios and ultimately their businesses. We understand the importance of building long-term relationships with our clients who we believe look to us for the professional resources and relevant expertise to provide answers for their specific situations. We believe it is important for us to be involved with public companies early in their corporate life cycles and with private companies as they begin to reach their later stages prior to going public. We strive to provide unique investment opportunities in fast growing companies and to help our clients execute trades rapidly, efficiently and accurately.

Our sales professionals focus on communicating investment ideas to our clients and executing trades in securities of companies in our target growth sectors. By actively trading in these securities, we endeavor to couple the capital market information flow with the fundamental information flow provided by our analysts to get our clients favorable execution of investment strategies. Sales professionals work closely

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with our research analysts to provide up-to-date information to our institutional clients. We interface actively with our clients and plan to be involved with our clients over the long term.

Our trading professionals facilitate liquidity discovery in equity securities. We make markets in NASDAQ and other securities, trade listed securities and service the trading desks of institutions in the United States. Our trading professionals have direct access to the major stock exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange. We currently make markets in approximately 485 securities and were recently authorized to make markets in 900 over-the-counter securities.

Research

A key part of our strategy is to originate specialized and in-depth research. Our analysts cover a universe of approximately 150 companies in our focus industry sectors. We leverage the ideas generated by our research teams, using them to attract and retain institutional brokerage clients.

Supported by the firm’s capital markets and trading capabilities, our analysts deliver timely recommendations to clients on innovative investment opportunities. In an effort to make money for our investor clients, our analysts are driven to find undiscovered opportunities in fast growing companies that are not widely held and that we believe are undervalued. Given the contrarian nature of many of our research ideas, we, as a firm, specialize in serving sophisticated, aggressive institutional investors.

Our research focuses on bottom-up, fundamental analysis of fast growing companies in selected growth sectors. Our analysts’ expertise in these categories of companies, along with their intensive industry knowledge and contacts, provides us with the ability to deliver timely, accurate, and value-added information to our clients.

Our objective is to build long lasting relationships with our clients by providing investment recommendations that directly equate to enhanced performance of their portfolios. Further, given our approach and focus on quality service, we believe our research analysts are in a unique position to maintain close, ongoing communication with both our corporate and institutional clients. The industry sectors covered by our research analysts include:

Consumer

·       Branded Consumer/Consumer Media

·       Gaming

·       Restaurants

·       Retail and Apparel

·       Specialty Retail

Energy and Industrial Technology

·       Next-Generation Energy

Health Care

·       Biotechnology

·       Life Sciences

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Technology

·       Computer Hardware and Networking

·       Cyber and Homeland Security

·       Digital Consumer Semiconductors

·       Internet Applications and Services

·       Semiconductors and Semiconductor Capital Equipment

·       Semiconductor Assembly and Test Outsourcing

Telecommunications

·       Communications Technology

·       Wireless Technology

We believe these sectors represent some of the fastest growing and most dynamically evolving industry and company opportunities in the market. We also believe there will be increasing demand for the products and services we offer and that this in turn will provide diversification opportunities for our business.

After initiating coverage on a company, our analysts seek to effectively communicate new developments to our sales force, trading department and institutional investors. We produce full-length research reports, notes and earnings estimates on the companies we cover. We also produce comprehensive industry sector reports. In addition, our analysts distribute written updates on these issuers both internally and to our clients through the use of daily morning meeting notes, real-time electronic mail and other forms of immediate communication. Our clients can also receive analyst comments through electronic media, and our sales force receives intra-day updates at meetings and through regular announcements of developments. All of the above is also available through a password protected searchable database of our daily and historical research archives, found on our Website at www.merrimanco.com/research.

Investment Banking

Our focus is to provide fast growing companies with the capital necessary to drive them to the next level of growth. This capital is generally used for new product development, sales expansion, strategic acquisitions, or for working capital purposes.

Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. provides a full range of investment banking services. We combine our capital markets expertise with a focus on client service, providing what we believe is sound financial and strategic advice. We are typically focused on fast growing companies, helping to finance and advise them at the appropriate point in their business cycles. Additionally, we draw upon our contacts throughout the financial and corporate world, expanding the options available for our corporate clients.

We offer a variety of financing structures to meet the individual needs of our clients. Our team tailors each transaction to meet the specific needs of our clients at a specific point in their growth cycle. Our commitment to long-term relationships and our ability to meet the needs of a diverse range of clients has made us a reliable source of investment banking and advisory services for small-capitalization companies. We provide the following services to our investment banking clients:

·       Public Offerings

·       Private Placements

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·       Leveraged Financing

·       Mergers and Acquisitions

·       Strategic Advisory

Corporate and Venture Services

Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. offers brokerage services to corporations including corporate cash management, stock repurchase programs, corporate retirement plans, and deferred compensation plans. We also serve the needs of venture capital investors and company executives with restricted stock transactions pursuant to Rules 144, 145 and 701 of the Securities Act of 1933, cashless exercise of options, hedging and diversification strategies, and liquidity strategies.

Institutional Cash Distributors

Institutional Cash Distributors, or ICD, is a broker of money market funds serving the short-term investing needs of corporate finance departments at companies throughout the United States and Europe. Companies using ICD’s services receive access to over 40 fund families through ICD’s one-stop process that includes one application, one wire and one statement that consolidates reporting regardless of the number of funds utilized. As of December 31, 2005, ICD clients have invested nearly $8 billion in money market funds from which ICD earns brokerage fees. ICD is a division of Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.

MCF Asset Management, LLC

MCF Asset Management, LLC, or MCFAM, creates investment products for both institutional and high-net worth clients. Through the corporate and professional resources of MCF Corporation, MCFAM has developed an institutional-standard investment management platform.

The 1990's were a decade of broad stock market appreciation.  Investors were handsomely rewarded for buying exposure to the stock market by investing in either long only mutual funds, market indices or individual stocks.  So far this decade, equity returns have not been as strong or as consistent as throughout the 1990's.  As a result, interest in alternative investment strategies, such as long/short equity, market neutral, convertible arbitrage, currency arbitrage and real estate, have grown in popularity. Investing in alternative investment strategies will ideally produce absolute returns that are not correlated with broad stock market indices and represent a diversification of risk for investors.

More importantly, we believe both institutions and wealthy individuals have reached that same conclusion and will continue to shift more of their investment dollars into alternative asset class strategies. It is our intent to help our clients in their investment process by offering access to alternative investment strategies, as well as certain niche based long-only strategies.  We plan to establish our own alternative investment products and evaluate opportunities to acquire and partner with managers of alternative asset investments. We are on track to launch our first products in early 2006.

MCF Wealth Management, LLC

We create liquidity for our founders and executives of our corporate clients through open market sales and through the private placement and underwriting of equity securities through our Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. subsidiary. We offer personalized financial planning and wealth management to these clients through our MCF Wealth Management, LLC subsidiary. In February 2005, we acquired Catalyst Financial Planning & Investment Management, Inc., or Catalyst. Catalyst is a Registered Investment Advisor, or RIA, registered with the SEC. Catalyst provides investment advice to clients that have invested approximately $130 million of assets. Catalyst’s clients include individuals, trusts, and charitable

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foundations. Catalyst typically charges a flat percentage of assets fee for rendering this advice. Prior to acquisition, Catalyst has operated as an independent firm and plans to continue to grow its client and asset base through its own referral network. We plan to introduce new potential clients to Catalyst from our corporate and venture services group as well as our investment banking department. In addition, we plan to evaluate the acquisition of other independent, fee-based financial planning and RIA firms to offer a broad array of wealth management advisory choices for potential clients.

Accounting, Administration and Operations

Our accounting, administration and operations personnel are responsible for financial controls, internal and external financial reporting, human resources and personnel services, office operations, information technology and telecommunications systems, the processing of securities transactions, and corporate communications. With the exception of payroll processing, which is performed by an outside service bureau, and customer account processing, which is performed by our clearing broker, most data processing functions are performed internally. We believe that future growth will require implementation of new and enhanced communications and information systems and training of our personnel to operate such systems.

Compliance, Legal, Risk Management and Internal Audit

Our compliance, legal and risk management personnel (together with other appropriate personnel) are responsible for our compliance with the legal and regulatory requirements of our investment banking, asset management and wealth management businesses and our exposure to market, credit, operations, liquidity, compliance, legal and reputational risk. In addition, our compliance personnel test and audit for compliance with our internal policies and procedures. Our general counsel also provides legal service throughout our company, including advice on managing legal risk. The supervisory personnel in these areas have direct access to senior management and to the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors to ensure their independence in performing these functions. In addition to our internal compliance, legal, and risk management personnel, we retain outside consultants and attorneys for their particular functional expertise.

Competition

We are engaged in the highly competitive financial services and investment industries. We compete directly with large Wall Street securities firms, securities subsidiaries of major commercial bank holding companies, U.S. subsidiaries of large foreign institutions, major regional firms, smaller niche players, and those offering competitive services via the Internet.

In addition to competing for customers and investments, we compete with other companies in the financial services and investment industries to attract and retain experienced and productive investment professionals. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis—Risk Factors—Our business is dependent on the services of skilled professionals…” and—“Our business may suffer if we lose the services...”

Many competitors have greater personnel and financial resources than we do. Larger competitors are able to advertise their products and services on a national or regional basis and may have a greater number and variety of distribution outlets for their products, including retail distribution. Discount and Internet brokerage firms market their services through aggressive pricing and promotional efforts. In addition, some competitors have much more extensive investment banking activities than we do and therefore, may possess a relative advantage with regard to access to deal flow and capital.

Recent rapid advancements in computing and communications technology, particularly the Internet, are substantially changing the means by which financial services and information are delivered. These changes are providing consumers with more direct access to a wide variety of financial and investment

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services, including market information and on-line trading and account information. Advances in technology also create demand for more sophisticated levels of client services. We are committed to using technological advancements to provide a high level of client service to our target markets. Provision of these services may entail considerable cost without an offsetting source of revenue.

For a further discussion of the competitive factors affecting our business, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis—Risk Factors—The markets for securities brokerage and investment banking services are highly competitive.”

Risk Management

In conducting our business, we are exposed to a range of risks including:

Market risk is the risk to our earnings or capital resulting from adverse changes in the values of assets resulting from movement in equity prices or market interest rates.

Credit risk is the risk of loss due to an individual customer’s or institutional counterparty’s unwillingness or inability to fulfill its obligations.

Operations risk is the risk of loss resulting from systems failure, inadequate controls, human error, fraud or unforeseen catastrophes.

Liquidity risk is the potential that we would be unable to meet our obligations as they come due because of an inability to liquidate assets or obtain funding. Liquidity risk also includes the risk of having to sell assets at a loss to generate liquid funds, which is a function of the relative liquidity (market depth) of the asset(s) and general market conditions.

Compliance risk is the risk of loss, including fines, penalties and suspension or revocation of licenses by self-regulatory organizations, or from failing to comply with federal, state or local laws pertaining to financial services activities.

Legal risk is the risk that arises from the potential that unenforceable contract disputes, lawsuits, adverse judgments, or adverse governmental or regulatory proceedings that can disrupt or otherwise negatively affect our operations or condition.

Reputational risk is the potential that negative publicity regarding our practices whether factually correct or not will cause a decline in our customer base, costly litigation, or revenue reductions.

We have a risk management program that sets forth various risk management policies, provides for a risk management committee and assigns risk management responsibilities. The program is designed to focus on the following:

·       Identifying, assessing and reporting on corporate risk exposures and trends;

·       Establishing and revising as necessary policies, procedures and risk limits;

·       Monitoring and reporting on adherence with risk policies and limits;

·       Developing and applying new measurement methods to the risk process as appropriate; and

·       Approving new product developments or business initiatives.

We cannot provide assurance that our risk management program or our internal controls will prevent or mitigate losses attributable to the risks to which we are exposed.

For a further discussion of the risks affecting our business, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis—Risk Factors.”

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Regulation

As a result of federal and state registration and self-regulatory organization, or SRO, memberships, we are subject to overlapping layers of regulation that cover all aspects of our securities business. Such regulations cover matters including capital requirements, uses and safe-keeping of clients’ funds, conduct of directors, officers and employees, record-keeping and reporting requirements, supervisory and organizational procedures intended to assure compliance with securities laws and to prevent improper trading on material nonpublic information, employee-related matters, including qualification and licensing of supervisory and sales personnel, limitations on extensions of credit in securities transactions, requirements for the registration, underwriting, sale and distribution of securities, and rules of the SROs designed to promote high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade. A particular focus of the applicable regulations concerns the relationship between broker-dealers and their customers. As a result, many aspects of the broker-dealer customer relationship are subject to regulation including, in some instances, “suitability” determinations as to certain customer transactions, limitations on the amounts that may be charged to customers, timing of proprietary trading in relation to customers’ trades and disclosures to customers.

As a broker-dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and as a member firm of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., or NASD, we are subject to the net capital requirements of the SEC and the NASD. These capital requirements specify minimum levels of capital, computed in accordance with regulatory requirements that each firm is required to maintain and also limit the amount of leverage that each firm is able to obtain in its respective business.

“Net capital” is essentially defined as net worth (assets minus liabilities, as determined under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States), plus qualifying subordinated borrowings, less the value of all of a broker-dealer’s assets that are not readily convertible into cash (such as furniture, prepaid expenses and unsecured receivables), and further reduced by certain percentages (commonly called “haircuts”) of the market value of a broker-dealer’s positions in securities and other financial instruments. The amount of net capital in excess of the regulatory minimum is referred to as “excess net capital.”

The SEC’s capital rules also (i) require that broker-dealers notify it, in writing, two business days prior to making withdrawals or other distributions of equity capital or lending money to certain related persons if those withdrawals would exceed, in any 30-day period, 30% of the broker-dealer’s excess net capital, and that they provide such notice within two business days after any such withdrawal or loan that would exceed, in any 30-day period, 20% of the broker-dealer’s excess net capital, (ii) prohibit a broker-dealer from withdrawing or otherwise distributing equity capital or making related party loans if, after such distribution or loan, the broker-dealer would have net capital of less than $300,000 or if the aggregate indebtedness of the broker-dealer’s consolidated entities would exceed 1,000% of the broker-dealer’s net capital in certain other circumstances, and (iii) provide that the SEC may, by order, prohibit withdrawals of capital from a broker-dealer for a period of up to 20 business days, if the withdrawals would exceed, in any 30-day period, 30% of the broker-dealer’s excess net capital and if the SEC believes such withdrawals would be detrimental to the financial integrity of the firm or would unduly jeopardize the broker-dealer’s ability to pay its customer claims or other liabilities.

Compliance with regulatory net capital requirements could limit those operations that require the intensive use of capital, such as underwriting and trading activities, and also could restrict our ability to withdraw capital from our broker-dealer, which in turn could limit our ability to pay interest, repay debt and redeem or repurchase shares of our outstanding capital stock.

We believe that at all times we have been in compliance with the applicable minimum net capital rules of the SEC and the NASD.

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The failure of a U.S. broker-dealer to maintain its minimum required net capital would require it to cease executing customer transactions until it came back into compliance, and could cause it to lose its NASD membership, its registration with the SEC or require its liquidation. Further, the decline in a broker-dealer’s net capital below certain “early warning levels,” even though above minimum net capital requirements, could cause material adverse consequences to the broker-dealer.

We are also subject to “Risk Assessment Rules” imposed by the SEC which require, among other things, that certain broker-dealers maintain and preserve certain information, describe risk management policies and procedures and report on the financial condition of certain affiliates whose financial and securities activities are reasonably likely to have a material impact on the financial and operational condition of the broker-dealers. Certain “Material Associated Persons” (as defined in the Risk Assessment Rules) of the broker-dealers and the activities conducted by such Material Associated Persons may also be subject to regulation by the SEC. In addition, the possibility exists that, on the basis of the information it obtains under the Risk Assessment Rules, the SEC could seek authority over our unregulated subsidiary either directly or through its existing authority over our regulated subsidiary.

In the event of non-compliance by us or one of our subsidiaries with an applicable regulation, governmental regulators and one or more of the SROs may institute administrative or judicial proceedings that may result in censure, fine, civil penalties (including treble damages in the case of insider trading violations), the issuance of cease-and-desist orders, the deregistration or suspension of the non-compliant broker-dealer, the suspension or disqualification of officers or employees or other adverse consequences. The imposition of any such penalties or orders on us or our personnel could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.

Additional legislation and regulations, including those relating to the activities of our broker-dealer, changes in rules promulgated by the SEC, NASD or other United States, state or foreign governmental regulatory authorities and SROs or changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing laws and rules may adversely affect our manner of operation and our profitability. Our businesses may be materially affected not only by regulations applicable to us as a financial market intermediary, but also by regulations of general application.

Employees

MCF Corporation and its subsidiaries employed 155 persons as of December 31, 2005.

Geographic Area

MCF Corporation is domiciled in the United States and all of our revenue is attributed to United States and Canadian customers. All of our long-lived assets are located in the United States.

Available Information

Our website address is www.merrimanco.com. You may obtain free electronic copies of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports on the “Investor Relations” portion of our website, under the heading “SEC Filings.” These reports are available on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We are providing the address to our Internet site solely for the information of investors. We do not intend the address to be an active link or to otherwise incorporate the contents of the website into this report.

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ITEM 1A.        RISK FACTORS

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. In addition to the other information contained in this annual report, including reports we incorporate by reference, you should consider the following factors before investing in our securities.

It is difficult to evaluate our business and prospects because we have a limited operating history.

We began actively engaging in providing securities brokerage and investment banking services in January 2002. This was an entirely new business for us, and was a complete break with our previous business, the bandwidth brokerage business. Accordingly, we have a limited operating history on which to base an evaluation of our business and prospects. Our prospects must be considered in light of the risks, expenses and difficulties frequently encountered by fast growing companies in their early stage of development. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in addressing these risks and our failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We may not be able to maintain a positive cash flow and profitability.

Our ability to maintain a positive cash flow and profitability depends on our ability to generate and maintain greater revenue while incurring reasonable expenses. This, in turn, depends, among other things, on the development of our securities brokerage and investment banking business, and we may be unable to maintain profitability if we fail to do any of the following:

·       establish, maintain and increase our client base;

·       manage the quality of our services;

·       compete effectively with existing and potential competitors;

·       further develop our business activities;

·       manage expanding operations; and

·       attract and retain qualified personnel.

We cannot be certain that we will be able to sustain or increase a positive cash flow and profitability on a quarterly or annual basis in the future. Our inability to maintain profitability or positive cash flow could result in disappointing financial results, impede implementation of our growth strategy or cause the market price of our common stock to decrease. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will be able to generate the cash flow and profits necessary to sustain our business expectations, which makes our ability to successfully implement our business plan uncertain.

Because we are a developing company, the factors upon which we are able to base our estimates as to the gross revenue and the number of participating clients that will be required for us to maintain a positive cash flow and any additional financing that may be needed for this purpose are unpredictable. For these and other reasons, we cannot assure you that we will not require higher gross revenue, and an increased number of clients, securities brokerage and investment banking transactions, and/or more time in order for us to complete the development of our business that we believe we need to be able to cover our operating expenses, or obtain the funds necessary to finance this development. It is more likely than not that our estimates will prove to be inaccurate because actual events more often than not differ from anticipated events. Furthermore, in the event that financing is needed in addition to the amount that is required for this development, we cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all.

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The markets for securities brokerage and investment banking services are highly competitive. If we are not able to compete successfully against current and future competitors, our business and results of operations will be adversely affected.

We are engaged in the highly competitive financial services and investment industries. We compete with large Wall Street securities firms, securities subsidiaries of major commercial bank holding companies, U.S. subsidiaries of large foreign institutions, major regional firms, smaller niche players, and those offering competitive services via the Internet. Many competitors have greater personnel and financial resources than we do. Larger competitors are able to advertise their products and services on a national or regional basis and may have a greater number and variety of distribution outlets for their products, including retail distribution. Discount and Internet brokerage firms market their services through aggressive pricing and promotional efforts. In addition, some competitors have much more extensive investment banking activities than we do and therefore, may possess a relative advantage with regard to access to deal flow and capital.

Increased pressure created by any current or future competitors, or by our competitors collectively, could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. Increased competition may result in reduced revenue and loss of market share. Further, as a strategic response to changes in the competitive environment, we may from time to time make certain pricing, service or marketing decisions or acquisitions that also could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors. In addition, new technologies and the expansion of existing technologies may increase the competitive pressures on us.

We may experience reduced revenue due to declining market volume, securities prices and liquidity, which can also cause counterparties to fail to perform.

Our revenue may decrease in the event of a decline in the market volume of securities transactions, prices or liquidity. Declines in the volume of securities transactions and in market liquidity generally result in lower revenue from trading activities and commissions. Lower price levels of securities may also result in a reduction in our revenue from corporate finance fees, as well as losses from declines in the market value of securities held by us in trading. Sudden sharp declines in market values of securities can result in illiquid markets and the failure of counterparties to perform their obligations, as well as increases in claims and litigation, including arbitration claims from customers. In such markets, we may incur reduced revenue or losses in our principal trading, market-making, investment banking, and advisory services activities.

We may experience significant losses if the value of our marketable security positions deteriorates.

We conduct securities trading, market-making and investment activities for our own account, which subjects our capital to significant risks. These risks include market, credit, counterparty and liquidity risks, which could result in losses for us. These activities often involve the purchase, sale or short sale of securities as principal in markets that may be characterized as relatively illiquid or that may be particularly susceptible to rapid fluctuations in liquidity and price. Trading losses resulting from such trading could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We may experience significant fluctuations in our quarterly operating results due to the nature of our business and therefore may fail to meet profitability expectations.

Our revenue and operating results may fluctuate from quarter to quarter and from year to year due to a combination of factors, including:

·       the level of institutional brokerage transactions and the level of commissions we receive from those transactions;

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·       the valuations of our principal investments;

·       the number of capital markets transactions completed by our clients, and the level of fees we receive from those transactions; and

·       variations in expenditures for personnel, consulting and legal expenses, and expenses of establishing new business units, including marketing and technology expenses.

We record revenue from a capital markets advisory transaction only when we have rendered the services, the client is contractually obligated to pay and collection is probable; generally, most of the fee is earned only upon the closing of a transaction. Accordingly, the timing of our recognition of revenue from a significant transaction can materially affect our quarterly operating results.

We have registered one of our subsidiaries as a securities broker-dealer and, as such, are subject to substantial regulations. If we fail to comply with these regulations, our business will be adversely affected.

Because we have registered Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., or NASD, as a securities broker-dealer, we are subject to extensive regulation under federal and state laws, as well as self-regulatory organizations. The principal purpose of regulation and discipline of broker-dealers is the protection of customers and the securities markets rather than protection of creditors and stockholders of broker-dealers. The Securities and Exchange Commission is the federal agency charged with administration of the federal securities laws. Much of the regulation of broker-dealers, however, has been delegated to self-regulatory organizations, such as the NASD and national securities exchanges. The NASD is our primary self-regulatory organization. These self-regulatory organizations adopt rules, which are subject to SEC approval, that govern the industry and conduct periodic examinations of member broker-dealers. Broker-dealers are also subject to regulation by state securities commissions in the states in which they are registered. The regulations to which broker-dealers are subject cover all aspects of the securities business, including net capital requirements, sales methods, trading practices among broker-dealers, capital structure of securities firms, record keeping and the conduct of directors, officers and employees. The SEC and the self-regulatory bodies may conduct administrative proceedings, which can result in censure, fine, suspension or expulsion of a broker-dealer, its officers or employees. If we fail to comply with these rules and regulations, our business may be materially and adversely affected.

The regulatory environment in which we operate is also subject to change. Our business may be adversely affected as a result of new or revised legislation or regulations imposed by the SEC, other United States or foreign governmental regulatory authorities or the NASD. We also may be adversely affected by changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing laws and rules by these governmental authorities and the NASD.

Our business may suffer if we lose the services of our executive officers or operating personnel.

We depend on the continued services and performance of D. Jonathan Merriman, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, for our future success. We currently have an employment agreement with Mr. Merriman, which ends on January 1, 2007, but can be terminated by either party on 60 days’ notice. The agreement contains provisions that obligate us to make certain payments to Mr. Merriman and substantially reduce vesting periods of options granted to him if we should terminate him without cause or certain events resulting in a change of control of our Board were to occur.

In addition to Mr. Merriman, we are currently managed by a small number of key management and operating personnel. Our future success depends, in part, on the continued service of our key executive, management and technical personnel, and our ability to attract highly skilled employees. Our business could be harmed if any key officer or employee were unable or unwilling to continue in his or her current

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position. From time to time we have experienced, and we expect to continue to experience, difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled employees. Competition for employees in our industry is significant. If we are unable to retain our key employees or attract, integrate or retain other highly qualified employees in the future, such failure may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Our business is dependent on the services of skilled professionals, and may suffer if we can not recruit or retain such skilled professionals.

During 2005, one sales professional accounted for 12% of our revenue. We have a number of revenue producers employed by our securities brokerage and investment banking subsidiary. We do not have employment contracts with these employees. The loss of one or more of these employees could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our compensation structure may negatively impact our financial condition if we are not able to effectively manage our expenses and cash flows.

We are able to recruit and retain investment banking, research and sales and trading professionals, in part because our business model provides that we pay our revenue producing employees a percentage of their earned revenue. Compensation and benefits is our largest expenditure and this variable compensation component represents a significant proportion of this expense. Compensation for our employees is derived as a percentage of our revenue regardless of our profitability. Therefore, we may continue to pay individual revenue producers a significant amount of cash compensation as the overall business experiences negative cash flows and/or net losses. We may not be able to recruit or retain revenue producing employees if we modify or eliminate the variable compensation component from our business model.

We may be dependent on a limited number of customers for a significant portion of our revenue.

During 2005, no single customer accounted for more than 10% of our revenue. However, we have been dependent on one customer, or on a small number of customers, for a large percentage of our revenue at some times in the past and we cannot assure you that we will not become so dependent again in the future. If we do become dependent on a single customer or small group of customers, the loss of one or more large customers could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We may suffer losses through our investments in securities purchased in secondary market transactions or private placements.

Occasionally, our company, its officers and/or employees may make principal investments in securities through secondary market transactions or through direct investment in companies through private placements. In many cases, employees and officers with investment discretion on behalf of our company decide whether to invest in our company’s account or their personal account. It is possible that gains from investing will accrue to these individuals because investments were made in their personal accounts, and our company will not realize gains because it did not make an investment. Conversely, it is possible that losses from investing will accrue to our company, while these individuals do not experience losses in their personal accounts because the individuals did not make investments in their personal accounts.

We may be unable to successfully integrate acquired businesses into our existing business and operations.

On February 28, 2005, we acquired Catalyst Financial Planning & Investment Management, Inc., a registered investment advisor with over $100 million in assets under management at the time of acquisition. We may experience difficulty integrating the operations of Catalyst into our existing business and operations including our accounting, finance, compensation, information technology and management

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systems. We may not be able to retain the services of Catalyst employees. These factors could result in higher than anticipated costs associated with the Catalyst acquisition. Additionally, they may cause revenue from the Catalyst acquisition to be lower than forecast. If costs are higher or revenue lower than we expect, our business and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Although we have no specific plans to do so at this time, we may buy one or more other businesses in the future. If we are unable to successfully integrate such businesses into our existing business and operations in the future, our business and results of operations could be materially adversely affected

We may be unable to effectively manage rapid growth that we may experience, which could place a continuous strain on our resources and, accordingly, adversely affect our business.

We plan to expand our operations. Our growth, if it occurs, will impose significant demands on our management, financial, technical and other resources. We must adapt to changing business conditions and improve existing systems or implement new systems for our financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures and expand, train and manage a growing employee base in order to manage our future growth. We may not be able to implement improvements to our internal reporting systems in an efficient and timely manner and may discover deficiencies in existing systems and controls. We believe that future growth will require implementation of new and enhanced communications and information systems and training of our personnel to operate such systems. Furthermore, we may acquire existing companies or enter into strategic alliances with third parties, in order to achieve rapid growth. For us to succeed, we must make our existing business and systems work effectively with those of any strategic partners without undue expense, management distraction or other disruptions to our business. We may be unable to implement our business plan if we fail to manage any of the above growth challenges successfully. Our financial results may suffer and we could be materially and adversely affected if that occurs.

Our business and operations would suffer in the event of system failures.

Our success, in particular our ability to successfully facilitate securities brokerage transactions and provide high-quality customer service, largely depends on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of our computer and communications systems. Our systems and operations are vulnerable to damage or interruption from fire, flood, power loss, telecommunication failures, break-ins, earthquake and similar events. Despite the implementation of network security measures, redundant network systems and a disaster recovery plan, our servers are vulnerable to computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions, which could lead to interruptions, delays, loss of data or the inability to accept and fulfill customer orders. Additionally, computer viruses may cause our systems to incur delays or other service interruptions, which may cause us to incur additional operating expenses to correct problems we may experience. Any of the foregoing problems could materially adversely affect our business or future results of operations.

We are highly dependent on proprietary and third-party systems; therefore, system failures could significantly disrupt our business.

Our business is highly dependent on communications and information systems, including systems provided by our clearing brokers. Any failure or interruption of our systems, the systems of our clearing broker or third party trading systems could cause delays or other problems in our securities trading activities, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.

In addition, our clearing brokers provide our principal disaster recovery system. We cannot assure you that we or our clearing brokers will not suffer any systems failure or interruption, including one caused by an earthquake, fire, other natural disaster, power or telecommunications failure, act of God, act of war or otherwise, or that our or our clearing brokers’ back-up procedures and capabilities in the event of any such failure or interruption will be adequate.

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Our common stock price may be volatile, which could adversely affect the value of your shares.

The market price of our common stock has in the past been, and may in the future continue to be, volatile. A variety of events may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate significantly, including:

·       variations in quarterly operating results;

·       our announcements of significant contracts, milestones, acquisitions;

·       our relationships with other companies;

·       our ability to obtain needed capital commitments;

·       additions or departures of key personnel;

·       sales of common stock, conversion of securities convertible into common stock, exercise of options and warrants to purchase common stock or termination of stock transfer restrictions;

·       general economic conditions, including conditions in the securities brokerage and investment banking markets;

·       changes in financial estimates by securities analysts; and

·       fluctuation in stock market price and volume.

Many of these factors are beyond our control. Any one of the factors noted herein could have an adverse effect on the value of our common stock.

In addition, the stock market in recent years has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have particularly affected the market prices of equity securities of many companies and that often have been unrelated to the operating performance of such companies. These market fluctuations have adversely impacted the price of our common stock in the past and may do so in the future.

Our risk management policies and procedures may leave us exposed to unidentified or unanticipated risk.

Our risk management strategies and techniques may not be fully effective in mitigating our risk exposure in all market environments or against all types of risk.

We are exposed to the risk that third parties that owe us money, securities or other assets will not perform their obligations. These parties may default on their obligations to us due to bankruptcy, lack of liquidity, operational failure, breach of contract or other reasons. We are also subject to the risk that our rights against third parties may not be enforceable in all circumstances. As a clearing member firm, we finance our customer positions and could be held responsible for the defaults or misconduct of our customers. Although we regularly review credit exposures to specific clients and counterparties and to specific industries and regions that we believe may present credit concerns, default risk may arise from events or circumstances that are difficult to detect or foresee. In addition, concerns about, or a default by, one institution could lead to significant liquidity problems, losses or defaults by other institutions, which in turn could adversely affect us. If any of the variety of instruments, processes and strategies we utilize to manage our exposure to various types of risk are not effective, we may incur losses.

We could be sued in a securities class action lawsuit.

In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation often has been instituted against that company. Such litigation is expensive and diverts management’s attention and resources. We can not assure you that we will not be subject to such litigation.

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If we are subject to such litigation, even if we ultimately prevail, our business and financial condition may be adversely affected.

Your ability to sell your shares may be restricted because there is a limited trading market for our common stock.

Although our common stock is currently traded on the American Stock Exchange, an active trading market in our stock has been limited. Accordingly, you may not be able to sell your shares when you want or at the price you want.

Anti-takeover provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law could discourage a merger or other type of corporate reorganization or a change in control even if it could be favorable to the interests of our stockholders.

The Delaware General Corporation Law contains provisions that may enable our management to retain control and resist our takeover. These provisions generally prevent us from engaging in a broad range of business combinations with an owner of 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock for a period of three years from the date that such person acquires his or her stock. Accordingly, these provisions could discourage or make more difficult a change in control or a merger or other type of corporate reorganization even if it could be favorable to the interests of our stockholders.

Because our Board of Directors can issue common stock without stockholder approval, you could experience substantial dilution.

Our Board of Directors has the authority to issue up to 300,000,000 shares of common stock and to issue options and warrants to purchase shares of our common stock without stockholder approval in certain circumstances. Future issuance of additional shares of our common stock could be at values substantially below the price at which you may purchase our stock and, therefore, could represent substantial dilution. In addition, our Board of Directors could issue large blocks of our common stock to fend off unwanted tender offers or hostile takeovers without further stockholder approval.

Our ability to issue additional preferred stock may adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder and could be used as an anti take-over device.

Our Articles of Incorporation authorize our Board of Directors to issue up to an additional 27,450,000 shares of preferred stock, without approval from our stockholders. If you hold our common stock, this means that our Board of Directors has the right, without your approval as a common stockholder, to fix the relative rights and preferences of the preferred stock. This would affect your rights as a common stockholder regarding, among other things, dividends and liquidation. We could also use the preferred stock to deter or delay a change in control of our company that may be opposed by our management even if the transaction might be favorable to you as a common stockholder.

Our officers and directors exercise significant control over our affairs, which could result in their taking actions of which other stockholders do not approve.

Our executive officers and directors, and entities affiliated with them, currently control approximately 23% of our outstanding common stock including exercise of their options and warrants. These stockholders, if they act together, will be able to exercise substantial influence over all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. This concentration of ownership may also have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of us and might affect the market price of our common stock.

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Any exercise of outstanding stock options and warrants will dilute then-existing stockholders’ percentage of ownership of our common stock.

We have a significant number of outstanding stock options and warrants. During 2005, shares issuable upon the exercise of these options and warrants, at prices ranging currently from approximately $0.05 to $1.24 per share, represent approximately 15% of our total outstanding stock on a fully diluted basis using the treasury stock method.

The exercise of the outstanding options and warrants would dilute the then-existing stockholders’ percentage ownership of our common stock. Any sales resulting from the exercise of options and warrants in the public market could adversely affect prevailing market prices for our common stock. Moreover, our ability to obtain additional equity capital could be adversely affected since the holders of outstanding options and warrants may exercise them at a time when we would also wish to enter the market to obtain capital on terms more favorable than those provided by such options and warrants. We lack control over the timing of any exercise or the number of shares issued or sold if exercises occur.

ITEM 1B.       UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

There are no unresolved staff comments as of the date of this filing.

ITEM 2.                PROPERTIES

As of December 31, 2005, all of our properties are leased. Our principal executive offices are located in San Francisco, California. We lease four additional offices to support our various investment banking and broker-dealer related activities. These offices are located in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Portland. We believe the facilities we are now using are adequate and suitable for business requirements.

ITEM 3.                LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. v. The Seidler Companies, Inc.—NASD Arbitration

During 2004, our broker-dealer subsidiary hired a research analyst. Prior to employment with Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. the analyst was employed by The Seidler Companies, Inc., or Seidler, in a similar capacity. The analyst was employed under an employment contract that included terms which general counsel and outside counsel believe unlawfully restrict the analyst’s employment activities.

In March 2004, we acted as co-agent for a small private placement for a client. The client was introduced to one of our investment banking managing directors. At the time of introduction, Seidler had been trying to win the investment banking business, but had failed to obtain a signed engagement letter with the client. We subsequently received a signed engagement letter from the client that named Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. as co-placement agent. The investment banking transaction was completed.

Thereafter, in March 2004 we received a cease and desist letter from attorneys representing Seidler. Seidler claims that our analyst used proprietary information in violation of his employment agreement when introducing Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. to the client. Seidler further claims that we used unfair business tactics to win the business. In response to the claims, Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. and our analyst filed a claim in arbitration with the NASD in June 2004. In September 2005, this matter was settled. We received a release of all claims from Seidler in exchange for a payment in the amount of $25,000.

Westerman v. Western Capital Financial Group—NASD Arbitration

In May 2005, our broker-dealer subsidiary Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. was served with a claim in NASD Arbitration by Ms. Westerman. The claim names Western Capital Financial Group as one of several defendants. Western Capital Financial Group is the predecessor name of

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Merriman Curhan Ford & Co., the California corporation. The Western Capital Financial Group name was effective from June 26, 1986 to July 14, 1998.

This claim arises from Ms. Westerman’s purchase of a variable annuity product in January 1990 from a predecessor of our broker-dealer subsidiary. MCF Corporation acquired Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. in December 2001. The Claimant alleges that a registered representative improperly recommended that she move her investment to different products on two occasions.

Claimant alleges a theory of predecessor liability against Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. Claimant prays for monetary damages in excess of $300,000 against the eleven named respondents. We do not believe that Ms. Westerman’s claims against Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. are meritorious. We are in the early pleading stages of the matter and a hearing date has been scheduled for September 2006. We believe that we have meritorious defenses and intend to contest these claims vigorously. However, in the event that we did not prevail, based upon the facts as we know them to date, we do not believe that the outcome will have a material effect on our financial position, financial results or cashflows.

In re Odimo Incorporated Securities Litigation.

Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. is a defendant in an alleged class action suit brought in connection with a registered offering involving Odimo Incorporated in which we served as co-manager for the company. The complaint, filed in the 17th Judical Circuit Court for Broward County in Florida on September 30, 2005, alleges violations of federal securities laws against Odimo and certain of its officers as well as the company’s underwriters, including us, based on alleged misstatements and omissions in the registration statement. We believe we have meritorious defenses to the actions and intend to vigorously defend against such claims as they apply to our firm. Based upon the facts as we know them to date, we believe that the likelihood that we not prevail is remote. Further, we are indemnified by the issuer defendant.

Other Matters

Additionally, from time to time, we are involved in ordinary routine litigation incidental to our business.

ITEM 4.                SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF STOCKHOLDERS

No matters were submitted to a vote of stockholders during the fourth quarter of 2005.

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PART II

ITEM 5.                MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON STOCK AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

Our common stock trades on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol “MEM.” The following table sets forth the range of the high and low sales prices per share of our common stock for the fiscal quarters indicated.

 

The closing sale price for our common stock on February 15, 2006 was $1.16. The market price of our common stock has fluctuated significantly and may be subject to significant fluctuations in the future. See Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

According to the records of our transfer agent, we had approximately 304 stockholders of record as of February 15, 2006. Because many shares are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of beneficial stockholders represented by these record holders.

Our policy is to reinvest earnings in order to fund future growth. Therefore, we have not paid and currently do not plan to declare dividends on our common stock.

Recent Sale of Unregistered Securities

On February 28, 2005, we acquired Catalyst Financial Planning & Investment Management, Inc., or Catalyst, a registered investment advisor with over $100 million in assets under management. The purchase consideration for Catalyst consists of both cash and common stock that will be paid over a three year period. We paid to the sole shareholder of Catalyst, or Catalyst Shareholder, $330,433 as initial consideration at the closing. We have also agreed to issue to the Catalyst Shareholder up to 925,325 shares of common stock over three years based upon amount of revenue growth for Catalyst. The payment of these shares is subject to specified conditions. In exchange for its cash and shares, we acquired 100% of the voting stock in Catalyst. This transaction was exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, pursuant to the exemption provided for in Section 4(2) of such Act.

On May 4, 2005, we entered into a stock purchase agreement with Ascend Services Ltd., or Ascend. We issued 1,078,749 shares of our common stock and Ascend has issued an unsecured promissory note payable to us in the amount of $1.5 million. The shares are held initially in escrow. Upon Ascend achieving specified milestones, the 1,078,749 shares of common stock will be released from escrow in three installments of 359,583 shares and provided to Ascend. Upon satisfaction of the conditions specified in the escrow agreement and simultaneous with the release of the related stock certificates, the related amount of the promissory note shall become effective and start accruing interest. The promissory note accrues interest at 10% per annum and matures on February 28, 2006. In May 2005, we released the first

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installment of 359,583 shares of common stock to Ascend while the related promissory note with a face amount of $500,000 became effective. We do not expect Ascend will achieve any further milestones and we expect the remaining 719,166 shares of common stock will be returned to the Company from escrow on February 28, 2006. The securities described in this paragraph: (i) were issued to a private investor without the involvement of underwriters; (ii) were issued in reliance on the exemption from registration requirements contained in Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933; and (iii) carried certain registration rights.

ITEM 6.                SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

The following selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in Item 8. “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

(1)          In April 2003, we exercised our right to cancel the convertible promissory note held by Forsythe with the principal sum of $5,949,042. The fair value of the consideration provided to Forsythe was less than the carrying amount of the convertible note payable. The difference between the fair value of the consideration provided to Forsythe and the carrying amount of the note payable, or $3,088,230, was recorded as a gain in condensed consolidated statements of operations.

(2)          Interest expense for 2003 included $1,291,000 in amortization of discounts and debt issuance costs, while the 2004 amount included $119,000 for amortization of discounts and debt issuance costs. The higher amortization expense in 2003 was due to the accelerated amortization that occurred as the notes payable were retired or converted to equity instruments during 2003. The total amount of discounts that will be amortized in future periods was $23,000 as of December 31, 2005.

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ITEM 7.                MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with “Selected Consolidated Financial Data” and our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in the Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Introduction

MCF Corporation is a financial services holding company that provides investment research, capital markets services, corporate and venture services, investment banking, asset management and wealth management through its operating subsidiaries, Merriman Curhan Ford & Co., MCF Asset Management, LLC and MCF Wealth Management, LLC. We are focused on providing a full range of specialized and integrated services to institutional investors and corporate clients.

Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.

Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. is a securities broker-dealer and investment bank focused on fast growing companies and institutional investors. Our mission is to become a leader in the researching, advising, financing and trading of fast growing companies under $2 billion in market capitalization. We provide investment research, brokerage and trading services primarily to institutions, as well as advisory and investment banking services to corporate clients. We are focused on providing a full range of specialized and integrated services, including:

·       Equity Research

·       Sales and Trading

·       Specialized Trade Execution

·       Market Making

·       Equity Capital Markets

·       Corporate and Venture Services

·       Public Offerings

·       Private Placements

·       Mergers and Acquisitions

·       Strategic Advisory Services

By the end of the 1990’s, many of the investment banks that previously served this niche were acquired by large commercial banks and subsequently refocused to serve larger clients and larger transactions. We are gaining market share by originating differentiated research for our institutional investor clients and providing specialized services for our fast-growing corporate clients.

MCF Asset Management, LLC

MCF Asset Management, LLC creates investment products for both institutional and high-net worth clients. Through the corporate and professional resources of MCF Corporation, MCFAM has developed an institutional-standard investment management platform. We are on track to launch our first products in early 2006.

We believe both institutions and wealthy individuals will continue to shift more of their investment dollars into alternative asset class strategies. It is our intent to help our clients in their investment process

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by offering access to alternative investment strategies, as well as certain niche based long-only strategies.  We plan to establish our own alternative investment products and evaluate opportunities to acquire and partner with managers of alternative asset investments.

MCF Wealth Management, LLC

MCF Wealth Management, LLC continues to evaluate acquisitions of existing wealth management businesses, as well as organically grow assets under management through client referrals and Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.’s client base. In March 2005, Catalyst Financial Planning and Investment Management was the first registered investment advisor to be acquired by MCF Wealth Management. Today, Catalyst counsels more than 70 clients and manages $130 million in assets. MCF Wealth Management’s mission is to provide a tailored, integrated offering of personal financial services to help corporate executives and high-net-worth clients achieve their financial goals through a diverse network of fee-only investment advisory firms like Catalyst.

Executive Overview

Our company has grown since we launched Merriman Curhan Ford & Co., our investment bank and broker-dealer business, at the beginning of 2002. Our revenue, operating expenses and headcount have increased sequentially since 2002. Revenue increased to $43,839,000 during 2005 which represents 14% growth over 2004 and is a record for us. While we were profitable during 2004 and 2003, we incurred a net loss of $0.02 per diluted share in 2005. Our profitability was negatively impacted by the decline in growth in our investment banking revenue and increased costs associated with marketing, recruiting and other operating expenses. We continued to invest in recruiting new employees and marketing through our conferences, investor events and business development activities, which resulted in higher operating expenses in 2005. Despite these investments in growth, the Company remains cash flow positive during 2005, as measured by Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization Expense.

Our plan is to continue to grow the investment banking and broker-dealer business while we extend our position as trusted financial advisor to managing corporate assets and individual wealth. During 2005 we created MCF Wealth Management, LLC and acquired Catalyst, our first registered investment advisor. Our asset management and wealth management activities produce fee-based, recurring revenue streams that have begun to complement the cyclical nature of our existing business. Going forward, we plan to acquire existing asset management and wealth management businesses, partner with high quality asset managers, and grow our proprietary product and service offerings.

Business Environment

The business environment during 2005 was somewhat volatile due to a combination of factors including an expanding U.S. economy, increasing commodity costs, continued low interest rates and low inflation. Favorable job reports and an active housing market provided ongoing support to economic activity. The unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since August 2001. Oil prices, however, soared during the year raising concerns about the effect on overall economic activity. The Federal Reserve Board continued its measured pace of interest rate increases, raising the federal funds rate to 4.25% by year-end 2005. The small-cap growth equity indices applicable to the companies that we serve were mostly flat during 2005.

Our securities broker-dealer and investment banking activities are linked to the capital markets. In addition, our business activities are focused in the technology, consumer, energy and industrial technology, health care and telecommunications sectors. By their nature, our business activities are highly competitive and are not only subject to general market conditions, volatile trading markets and fluctuations in the

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volume of market activity, but also to the conditions affecting the companies and markets in our areas of focus.

Fluctuations in revenue also occur due to the overall level of market activity, which, among other things, affects the flow of investment dollars and the size, number and timing of investment banking transactions. In addition, a downturn in the level of market activity can lead to a decrease in brokerage commissions. Therefore, revenue in any particular period may vary significantly from year to year.

The financial services industry continues to be affected by an intensifying competitive environment. There has been an increase in the number and size of companies competing for a similar customer base; some of such competitors have greater capital resources and additional associated services with which to pursue these activities.

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth a summary of financial highlights for the three years ended December 31, 2005:

 

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, is a key metric we use in evaluating our financial performance. EBITDA is considered a non-GAAP financial measure as defined by Regulation G promulgated by the SEC pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. We consider EBITDA an important measure of our ability to generate cash flows to service debt, fund capital expenditures and fund other corporate investing and financing activities. EBITDA eliminates the non-cash effect of tangible asset depreciation and amortization of intangible assets and stock-based compensation. EBITDA should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, pre-tax income, net income and cash flows from operating activities.

Our revenue during 2005 increased $5,470,000 or 14%, from 2004 reflecting the continued growth of our sales and trading activities. We incurred a net loss of $1,514,000 during 2005 as compared to net income of $1,874,000 during 2004. Our EBITDA was $744,000 in 2005 and $3,677,000 in 2004. The decline in profitability during 2005 as compared to 2004 resulted from the drop in our investment banking revenue

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which produces higher operating margins compared to commissions revenue, and higher marketing, recruiting and other operating expenses. Additionally, we recorded a non-cash expense for the $500,000 note receivable from Ascend that we deemed to be uncollectible as of December 31, 2005.

Commissions and Principal Transactions Revenue

Our broker-dealer activity includes the following:

·       Commissions—Commissions include revenue resulting from executing stock trades for exchange-listed securities, over-the-counter securities and other transactions as agent.

·       Principal Transactions—Principal transactions consist of a portion of dealer spreads attributed to our securities trading activities as principal in NASDAQ-listed and other securities, and include transactions derived from our activities as a market-maker. Additionally, principal transactions include gains and losses resulting from market price fluctuations that occur while holding positions in our trading security inventory.

The following table sets forth our revenue and several operating metrics which we utilize in measuring and evaluating performance and the results of our trading activity operations:

 

Commissions amounted to $26,992,000, or 62%, of our revenue during 2005, representing a 24% increase over $21,827,000 recognized during 2004. The higher commissions were primarily attributed to the hiring of additional sales and research professionals and an increase in the penetration of active client accounts during 2005 as compared to 2004. During 2005 and 2003, no single brokerage customer accounted for more than 10% of our revenue, while one brokerage customer accounted for 10% of our revenue during 2004.

Principal transactions revenue, including market making and proprietary trading for our own account, amounted to $1,367,000, or 3%, of our revenue during 2005, representing a 51% decrease compared to $2,788,000 recognized during 2004. Returns from market making and proprietary trading activities tend to be more volatile than acting as agent or principal for customers. We increased our market making activity during 2005 and 2004 and intend to continue to expand the number of stocks in which we make markets. Additionally, the number of securities held in our investment portfolio, which primarily consists of stock warrants and restricted common stock, increased in 2004 and 2005. The value of this portfolio has increased in each of the three years ended December 31, 2005.

During 2005, we refined our estimation process for valuing the securities owned that are not readily marketable. The most significant change impacted the carrying value of our stock warrant portfolio. Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2005, we carry stock warrants at a discount to fair value as determined by using the Black-Scholes Option Pricing model. Previously, the stock warrants were carried at a discount

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to intrinsic value, if any. This change in estimate resulted in an unrealized gain of $424,000 and a decrease in our net loss of $229,000 during the fourth quarter of 2005.

Investment Banking Revenue

Our investment banking activity includes the following:

·       Capital Raising—Capital raising includes private placements of equity and debt instruments and underwritten public offerings.

·       Financial Advisory—Financial advisory includes advisory assignments with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestures, restructurings and spin-offs.

The following table sets forth our revenue and transaction volumes from our investment banking activities during the three years ended December 31, 2005:

 

Our investment banking revenue amounted to $14,817,000, or 34% of our revenue during 2005, representing a 8% increase compared to $13,729,000 recognized in 2004. The increase in our investment banking revenue during 2005 can be primarily attributed to the increased awareness of our brand in the market place and an accommodative business environment during 2005. We believe that the increase in revenue was partially offset by a senior management transition in the investment banking department. This transition was completed at the beginning of the third quarter 2005 with the hiring of a new head of investment banking. During the three years ended December 31, 2005, no single investment banking customer accounted for more than 10% of our revenue.

Compensation and Benefits Expenses

Compensation and benefits expense represents the majority of our operating expenses and includes incentive compensation paid to sales, trading and investment banking professionals, as well as discretionary bonuses, salaries and wages, and stock-based compensation. Incentive compensation varies primarily based on revenue production. Discretionary bonuses paid to research analysts also vary with commissions revenue production but includes other qualitative factors as well. Salaries, payroll taxes and employee benefits are relatively fixed in nature.

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The following table sets forth the major components of our compensation and benefits for the three years ended December 31, 2005:

 

The increase in compensation and benefits expense of $5,357,000, or 20%, from 2004 to 2005 and $15,082,000, or 129%, from 2003 to 2004 was due primarily to higher incentive compensation which is directly correlated to revenue production.

Cash compensation and benefits expense as a percentage of revenue increased to 69% during 2005 as compared to 67% in 2004. This increase is due in part to higher salaries and wages resulting from increased headcount in anticipation of our revenue growth. We have grown our headcount at a measured pace during 2004 and 2005. Our headcount has increased from 80 at December 31, 2003 to 116 at December 31, 2004 to 155 as of December 31, 2005. The increase in stock-based compensation during 2005 and 2004 reflects our decision to grant restricted stock to new and existing employees beginning in the second half of 2003. Prior to 2003, we only granted stock options to employees which are accounted for under the intrinsic value method, in accordance with APB No. 25. During the three years ended December 31, 2005, one sales professional accounted for 12%, 15% and 13% of our revenue, respectively.

The amount of compensation and benefits expense that we incur during a given period is largely dependent upon the level of revenue recognized during that period, since most of our employees are paid based on a percentage of the revenue attributed to their efforts. We anticipate compensation and benefits expense for 2006 will increase sequentially over 2005 due to our forecast for higher revenue in 2006. Additionally, we will begin to expense stock options granted to employees in 2006. We expect, however, cash compensation and benefits expense as a percentage of revenue to decrease in 2006 relative to 2005 due to modifications that we have made to incentive compensation arrangements at the beginning of 2006.

Other Operating Expenses

Brokerage and clearing fees include trade processing expenses that we pay to our clearing broker and execution fees that we pay to floor brokers and electronic communication networks. Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. is a fully-disclosed broker-dealer, which has engaged a third party clearing broker to perform all of the clearance functions. The clearing broker-dealer processes and settles the customer transactions for Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. and maintains the detailed customer records. Additionally, security trades are executed by third-party broker-dealers and electronic trading systems. These expenses are almost entirely variable with commissions revenue and the volume of brokerage transactions. The decrease in brokerage and clearing fees of $71,000, or 3% from 2004 to 2005 while increasing the corresponding commissions revenue during the same period reflects the cost savings that we achieved by negotiating lower fees with our new clearing broker during the fourth quarter 2004. We anticipate brokerage and

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clearing fees for 2006 will increase sequentially over 2005 as we are forecasting a higher level of commissions revenue for 2006.

Professional services expense includes legal fees, accounting fees, expenses related to investment banking transactions and various consulting fees. Many of these expenses, such as legal and accounting fees, are to a large extent fixed in nature. The increase of $698,000 or 54%, from 2004 to 2005 primarily reflected higher legal costs related to various corporate and investment banking activities. The increase of $613,000 or 89%, from 2003 to 2004 was primarily attributed to increased accounting and audit costs, legal expense in connection with pending litigation involving our company, and consulting fees in connection with our compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. We anticipate professional services expense for 2006 will increase sequentially as compared to 2005.

Occupancy and equipment includes rental costs for our facilities and equipment, as well as equipment, software and leasehold improvement expenses. These expenses are largely fixed in nature and tend to increase as we hire additional employees. The increase of $625,000, or 65%, from 2004 to 2005 and $577,000, or 151%, from 2003 to 2004 resulted mostly from expansion of our offices and computer equipment purchases resulting from the hiring of additional sales, trading and investment banking professionals. During 2004, we moved into larger office spaces in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Portland. We anticipate occupancy and equipment expense for 2006 will increase sequentially over 2005.

Communications and technology expense includes voice, data and Internet service fees, and data processing costs. Historically, these costs have increased as we hire additional employees. The increase of $525,000, or 37%, from 2004 to 2005 and $576,000, or 70%, from 2003 to 2004 was due to higher telephone and data service fees incurred in our sales and trading operations. The higher telephone and data service charges are the result of increased headcount and the expansion of our offices, as well as higher costs to upgrade our information technology infrastructure. We anticipate communications and technology expense for 2006 will increase sequentially over 2005.

Depreciation and amortization expense primarily relate to the depreciation of our computer equipment and leasehold improvements. Depreciation and amortization is mostly fixed in nature. The increase of $366,000, or 225%, from 2004 to 2005 and $84,000, or 108%, from 2003 to 2004 was due to increased capital expenditures, including leasehold improvements to our San Francisco and New York offices during 2004, to facilitate our growth and expansion. We anticipate depreciation and amortization expense for 2006 will increase sequentially over 2005.

Other operating expense includes professional liability and property insurance, recruiting, investor conferences, travel and entertainment, printing and copying, business licenses and taxes, office supplies and other miscellaneous office expenses. The increase of approximately $1,887,000, or 59%, from 2004 to 2005 was attributed to higher costs associated with our annual investor conference, recruiting costs, higher travel expenses, and various business taxes. The 2005 expense also includes the write-off of the $500,000 note receivable from Ascend. The increase of approximately $1,647,000, or 105%, from 2003 to 2004 was attributed to expenses associated with our first investor conference, higher travel expenses, business development costs, and recruiting expenses. We anticipate other operating expense for 2006 will increase sequentially over 2005.

Gain on Retirement of Convertible Note Payable

In April 2003, we exercised our right to cancel the convertible promissory note held by Forsythe with the principal sum of $5,949,042. The fair value of the consideration provided to Forsythe was less than the carrying amount of the convertible note payable. The difference between the fair value of the consideration provided to Forsythe and the carrying amount of the note payable was recorded as a gain in condensed consolidated statements of operations.

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Interest Income

Interest income represents interest earned on our cash balances maintained at financial institutions. The increase of approximately $327,000, or 272%, from 2004 to 2005 and $81,000, or 205% from 2003 to 2004 was due to higher average interest earning assets and higher average interest rates during these periods.

Interest Expense

Interest expense for 2005 included $66,000 for interest expense and $10,000 for amortization of discounts and debt issuance costs, while the 2004 amount included $51,000 for interest expense and $119,000 for amortization of discounts and debt issuance costs. The slight increase in interest expense in 2005 resulted from capital leases which have grown during 2004 and 2005. The lower amortization of discounts and debt issuance costs in 2005 was due to the accelerated amortization that occurred as the notes payable were retired or converted to equity instruments during 2004. No accelerated amortization occurred during 2005.

Income Tax Expense

Income tax expense reflected taxes calculated for federal and state tax purposes. Realization of our deferred tax assets depends upon us generating sufficient taxable income in future years from the reversal of temporary differences and from net operating loss carryforwards. Due to the uncertainty of the timing and amount of such realization, we concluded that a full valuation allowance of $30,987,000 was required as of December 31, 2005.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, which require us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to the valuation of securities owned and deferred tax assets. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results could differ from those estimates. We believe the following critical accounting policies affect our more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.

Valuation of Securities Owned

“Securities owned” and “Securities sold, but not yet purchased” in our consolidated statements of financial condition consist of financial instruments carried at fair value or amounts that approximate fair value, with related unrealized gains or losses recognized in our results of operations. The use of fair value to measure these financial instruments, with related unrealized gains and losses recognized immediately in our results of operations, is fundamental to our financial statements and is one of our most critical accounting policies. The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount at which the instrument could be exchanged in a current transaction between willing parties, other than in a forced or liquidation sale.

Fair values of our financial instruments are generally obtained from quoted market prices in active markets, broker or dealer price quotations, or alternative pricing sources with reasonable levels of price transparency. To the extent certain financial instruments trade infrequently or are non-marketable securities and, therefore, have little or no price transparency, we value these instruments based on management’s estimates. The fair value of these securities is subject to a high degree of volatility and may

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be susceptible to significant fluctuation in the near term. Securities that contain restrictions are stated at a discount to the value of readily marketable securities.

During 2005, we refined our estimation process for valuing the securities owned that are not readily marketable. The most significant change impacted the carrying value of our stock warrant portfolio. Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2005, we carry stock warrants at a discount to fair value as determined by using the Black-Scholes Option Pricing model. Previously, the stock warrants were carried at a discount to intrinsic value, if any. This change in estimate resulted in an unrealized gain of $424,000 and a decrease in our net loss of $229,000 during the fourth quarter of 2005.

Revenue Recognition

Commissions revenue and related clearing expenses are recorded on a trade-date basis as security transactions occur. Principal transactions in regular-way trades are recorded on the trade date, as if they had settled. Profit and loss arising from all securities and commodities transactions entered into for the account and risk of our company are recorded on a trade-date basis.

Investment banking revenue includes underwriting and private placement agency fees earned through our participation in public offerings and private placements of equity and convertible debt securities and fees earned as financial advisor in mergers and acquisitions and similar transactions. Underwriting revenue is earned in securities offerings in which we act as an underwriter and includes management fees, selling concessions and underwriting fees. Management fees are recorded on the offering date, selling concessions on settlement date, and underwriting fees at the time the underwriting is completed and the related income is reasonably determinable. Syndicate expenses related to securities offerings in which the Company acts as underwriter or agent are deferred until the related revenue is recognized. Merger and acquisition fees and other advisory service revenue are generally earned and recognized only upon successful completion of the engagement. Underwriting revenue is presented net of related expenses. Unreimbursed expenses associated with private placement and advisory transactions are recorded as expenses as incurred.

As co-manager for registered equity underwriting transactions, management must estimate our share of transaction related expenses incurred by the lead manager in order to recognize revenue. Transaction related expenses are deducted from the underwriting fee and therefore reduces the revenue that is recognized as co-manager. Such amounts are adjusted to reflect actual expenses in the period in which we receive the final settlement, typically 90 days following the closing of the transaction.

Stock-Based Compensation

We use stock-based compensation as part of our compensation of employees, including stock options, restricted stock and other stock-based awards. Compensation related to restricted stock and other stock-based awards is amortized over the vesting period of the award, which is generally three to four years, and is included in our results of operations as compensation and benefits expense. We use the intrinsic value-based method in accordance with Accounting Principles Board, or APB, Opinion No. 25, Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees, to account for employee stock-based compensation. Accordingly, compensation cost is recorded on the date of grant to the extent the fair value of the underlying share of common stock exceeds the exercise price for a stock option or the purchase price for a share of common stock. Such compensation cost is amortized on a straight-line basis over the vesting period of the individual award. Pursuant to Statement of Financial Accounting Standards, or SFAS, No. 123, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation, we disclose the pro forma effect of using the fair value method of accounting for employee stock-based compensation. In determining the estimated fair value of stock options, we use the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which requires judgment regarding certain assumptions, including the expected life of the options granted, dividend yields and stock volatility.

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Deferred Tax Valuation Allowance

We account for income taxes in accordance with the provision of SFAS No. 109, Accounting for Income Taxes, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities at tax rates expected to be in effect when these temporary differences reverse. Future tax benefits attributable to temporary differences are recognized to the extent that the realization of such benefits is more likely than not. We have not concluded that it is more likely than not that our deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2005 and 2004 will be realized based on the scheduling of temporary differences and projected taxable income. The amount of the deferred tax assets actually realized, however, could vary if there are differences in the timing or amount of future reversals of existing deferred tax liabilities or changes in the actual amounts of future taxable income. Should we determine that we will be able to realize all or part of the deferred tax asset in the future, an adjustment to the deferred tax asset will be recorded in the period such determination is made.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Historically, we have satisfied our liquidity and regulatory capital needs through the issuance of equity and debt securities. As of December 31, 2005, liquid assets consisted primarily of cash and cash equivalents of $11,139,000 and marketable securities of $8,628,000, for a total of $19,767,000. Liquid assets were nearly unchanged from December 31, 2004 when they amounted to $19,801,000. In addition, we fully repaid the $1 million note payable to Forsythe during the fourth quarter of 2005.

Merriman Curhan Ford & Co., as a broker-dealer, is subject to Rule 15c3-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which specifies uniform minimum net capital requirements, as defined, for their registrants. As of December 31, 2005, Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. had regulatory net capital, as defined, of $7,660,000, which exceeded the amount required by $6,995,000.

Cash and cash equivalents decreased by $6,320,000 during 2005. Cash used in our operating activities for 2005 was $5,194,000 which primarily represents the increase in our marketable securities. Cash used in investing activities amounted to $558,000 during 2005 which included our acquisition of Catalyst and our purchase of equipment and fixtures. Cash used in our financing activities was $569,000. Our financing activities included our repayment of the $1 million note payable to Forsythe, partially offset by the issuance of common stock in connection with our Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

We believe that our existing cash balances and investments will be sufficient to meet our liquidity and capital spending requirements, both for the next twelve months as well as for the long-term. However, we may require additional capital investment to fund our working capital if we incur future operating losses. We cannot be certain that additional debt or equity financing will be available when required or, if available, that we can secure it on terms satisfactory to us.

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The following is a table summarizing our significant commitments as of December 31, 2005, consisting of debt payments related to convertible non-convertible notes payable and capital leases and future minimum lease payments under all non-cancelable operating leases with initial or remaining terms in excess of one year.

 

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We were not a party to any off-balance sheet arrangements during the three years ended December 31, 2005. In particular, we do not have any interest in so-called limited purpose entities, which include special purpose entities and structured finance entities.

Newly Issued Accounting Standards

In December 2004, the FASB issued SFAS No. 123-R, Share-Based Payment, a revision to SFAS No. 123, “Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation,” SFAS No. 123-R focuses primarily on transactions in which an entity exchanges its equity instruments for employee services and generally establishes standards for the accounting for transactions in which an entity obtains goods or services in share-based payment transactions. Generally, SFAS No. 123-R requires all share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options, to be recognized in the statement of operations based on their fair values. Pro forma disclosure is no longer an alternative upon adopting SFAS No. 123-R. We must adopt SFAS No. 123-R by no later than January 1, 2006. We intend to use the modified prospective transition method for implementing SFAS 123R. Based on a high level analysis, we expect that the adoption of SFAS 123R will increase compensation and benefits expense beginning in the first quarter of 2006. However, the specific amount of this increase cannot be predicted at this time because it will depend on the level of share-based payments granted in the future.

In June 2005, the Emerging Issues Task Force, or EITF, reached a consensus on EITF 04-5, Determining whether a General Partner, or the General Partners as a Group, Controls a Limited Partnership or Similar Entity When the Limited Partners Have Certain Rights. This consensus applies to entities not within the scope of FIN 46R, in which the investor is the general partner in a limited partnership. The consensus requires the general partner to consolidate the limited partnership unless it overcomes the presumption of control. The general partner may overcome this presumption and not consolidate the limited partnership if the limited partners have: (a) the ability to liquidate the limited partnership or otherwise remove the general partner through substantive “kick-out rights” that can be exercised without having to demonstrate cause; or (b) substantive participating rights in managing the partnership. This consensus became effective on June 29, 2005 for all newly formed limited partnerships and for existing limited partnerships for which the partnership agreements have been modified. For all other general partnerships, the consensus is effective no later than the beginning of the first reporting period beginning after December 15, 2005. Our asset management subsidiary is forming a number of private equity limited partnerships as general partners. We are currently evaluating the requirements under EITF 04-5 and believe that the adoption will

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not have a material impact on our results of operations and cash flows. It could, however, increase our consolidated assets and liabilities.

Quarterly Financial Data

The table below sets forth the operating results represented by certain items in our statements of operations for each of the eight quarters in the period ended December 31, 2005. This information is unaudited, but in our opinion reflects all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) that we consider necessary for a fair presentation of such information in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The results for any quarter are not necessarily indicative of results for any future period.

 

 

ITEM 7A.        QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

The following discussion about market risk disclosures involves forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. We may be exposed to market risks related to changes in equity prices, interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates. We do not use derivative financial instruments for speculative, trading or any other purpose.

Equity Price Risk

The potential for changes in the market value of our trading positions is referred to as “market risk.” Our trading positions result from proprietary trading activities. These trading positions in individual equities and equity indices may be either long or short at any given time. Equity price risks result from exposures to changes in prices and volatilities of individual equities and equity indices. We seek to manage this risk exposure through diversification and limiting the size of individual positions within the portfolio. The effect on earnings and cash flows of an immediate 10% increase or decrease in equity prices generally is not ascertainable and could be positive or negative, depending on the positions we hold at the time. We do not establish hedges in related securities or derivatives. From time to time, we also hold equity securities received as compensation for our services in investment banking transactions. These equity

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positions are always long. However, as the prices of individual equity securities do not necessarily move in tandem with the direction of the general equity market, the effect on earnings and cash flows of an immediate 10% increase or decrease in equity prices generally is not ascertainable.

Interest Rate Risk

Our exposure to market risk resulting from changes in interest rates relates primarily to our investment portfolio and long term debt obligations. Our interest income and cash flows may be impacted by changes in the general level of U.S. interest rates. We do not hedge this exposure because we believe that we are not subject to any material market risk exposure due to the short-term nature of our investments. We would not expect an immediate 10% increase or decrease in current interest rates to have a material effect on the fair market value of our investment portfolio.

Our long term debt obligations bear interest at a fixed rate. Accordingly, an immediate 10% increase or decrease in current interest rates would not have an impact on our interest expense or cash flows. The fair market value of our long term fixed interest rate debt is subject to interest rate risk. Generally, the fair market value of fixed interest rate debt will increase as interest rates fall and decrease as interest rates rise. We would not expect an immediate 10% increase or decrease in current interest rates to have a material impact on the fair market value of our long term debt obligations.

Foreign Currency Risk

We do not have any foreign currency denominated assets or liabilities or purchase commitments and have not entered into any foreign currency contracts. Accordingly, we are not exposed to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

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ITEM 8.                FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

The following financial statements are included in this report:

·       Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

·       Consolidated Statements of Operations

·       Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition

·       Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity

·       Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

·       Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Schedules other than those listed above are omitted because of the absence of conditions under which they are required or because the required information is presented in the financial statements or notes thereto.

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The Board of Directors and Stockholders of
MCF Corporation and subsidiaries

We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of financial condition of MCF Corporation and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2005 and 2004, and the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2005. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial condition of MCF Corporation and subsidiaries at December 31, 2005 and 2004, and the consolidated results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2005, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2005, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated February 15, 2006, expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

/s/ ERNST & YOUNG LLP

San Francisco, California

February 15, 2006

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MCF CORPORATION
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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MCF CORPORATION
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

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MCF CORPORATION
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.