In This Edition... Spicy Pickle's Like the Energizer Bunny  China Energy - Quick, While Nobody's Thinking About It  Happy Thanksgiving - Some Words of Wisdom From Mom Spicy Pickle's Like the Energizer Bunny We may not have seen everything we'd like to from the stock market lately, including Spicy Pickle (OTCBB: SPKL) shares. However, I have to give credit where credit is due ... the company has managed to rekindle its growth initiative despite some pretty sour conditions lately.  A couple of weeks ago we mentioned they'd signed leases for two new units - a Bread Garden in Vancouver, and a Spicy Pickle in Houston. Today, you can add another one to the list ... and maybe one and a half.  San Antonio will be getting their first Spicy Pickle soon. It's not the first one in Texas, but the restaurant at the University Square shopping center is slated to be San Antonio's first of seven total units. This one should be up and running in early 2009.  The other new unit isn't really new - it's a transplant of sorts. An existing Bread Garden Urban Cafe has moved to Cloverdale, in the southeast part of Vancouver. The reason for the move? The new location has a drive-thru. That's a first for any restaurant in the group, though if it works out well it may not be the last. CEO Mark Geman specifically pointed out how a drive-thru could give the company a chance to compete with other quick service restaurants, but would give their restaurants the advantage of a much more attractive menu.  Bigger picture, I just think it's interesting how the company has been able to shift gears and adapt to the economic situation. High real estate prices are tolerable when the economy is booming and consumer spending is vigorous. In a slowdown though, real estate and rent prices have to adjust like everything else. The thing is, they really hadn't yet - landlords and real estate owners weren't budging until very recently. That meant a delay in the company's growth plans, but in the long run may have worked out better. These long-term leases are going to be on favorable terms.  I think the pace of growth is going to accelerate again in 2009, as more and more real estate is opened up.   China Energy - Quick, While Nobody's Thinking About It Back on November 6th I advocated taking some profits on China Energy Recovery (OTCBB: CGYV), if you were only in for a short-term trade. We watched the stock run from $1.09 on the 3rd to $1.89 on the 5th - a 73% gain - but the flat day on November 6th was a hint that the rally was ready to take a break. In fact, I expected a bit of a pullback after such a red-hot run, which is why I also suggested that long-term investors NOT get in on the 6th .... lower prices would be available sooner or later. Well, that's basically how it's played out. The stock rocked and rolled a little bit after that, actually reaching a peak of $2.25 briefly on the 17th, and then sinking all the way to $1.35 on the 21st. Now the buyers are starting to test the bullish waters again. Here's my point ... with the 'trading' and volatility out of the way, the 'investing' can begin. Oh, there will be bouts of treading and volatility going forward, but I think the stock has stabilized enough to where it's not trapped between euphoria and unrealistic expectations. Better still, it's easier to wade into the water now while the stock's not getting tossed around by news. We love the news, but if you're waiting for the news to come out, you're usually too late to get into the bulk of any news-based reaction. If you're relatively new to China Energy Recovery, I suggest you check out our coverage of the stock. This is one of the few companies that's improved their results in 2008, and has legitimate growth projections for 2009.   Happy Thanksgiving This is probably going to be my last newsletter before Thanksgiving, so I want to take the opportunity now to wish you and all your families the best for the holiday (and I want to wish you luck if you're going shopping on Friday). I know this year has been ridiculously frustrating thanks to some bad decisions on Wall Street, and some failures in Washington D.C.. The economic fallout is so widespread I can't imagine how anybody wasn't affected by it. As ugly as it's been though, I still think we have so much to be thankful for - things like opportunity, safety, liberty, and even real hope for an eventual resolution to this financial mess. My mom really put it into perspective for me in way that I'd like to pass along to you as food for thought ... As tough as things may seem for you personally right now, there's always someone on this earth who'd gladly trade places with you. Have a great and safe Thanksgiving!   Spicy Pickle Announces New Lease Signing for Spicy Pickle and a Drive Thru for Bread Garden Urban Cafes  Tuesday November 25, 12:01 pm ET  DENVER, CO--(MARKET WIRE)--Nov 25, 2008 -- Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc. (OTC BB:SPKL.OB) fast casual restaurants announced another new location and first drive thru.  Marc Geman, CEO of Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc., stated, "Even though financing is still a struggle for some, several of our franchisees are positioned to take advantage of a slowing commercial real estate market and sign leases for new locations, which is certainly advantageous for them and positive for us."  We have the first lease in San Antonio, Texas for our Spicy Pickle franchisee that has a 7 restaurant development agreement, and we are relocating a franchised Bread Garden Urban Cafe to a new location which has our first drive thru.  The new Spicy Pickle restaurant is the first in San Antonio and will be located in an existing end cap within the University Square shopping center located at the southwest corner of DeZevala Road and Interstate 10. This mature center offers great visibility at one of the city's busiest intersections and retail corridors. It is also centrally located near some of San Antonio's largest employers and an area where office growth will continue in the years to come. Architectural planning is already underway.  Marc Geman commented: "The San Antonio location brings to a conclusion the site selection and lease negotiation for this franchisee's first location in a seven unit development. From here, we can get started on the design, build out, training and grand opening. The premises will be available to the franchisee at the start of 2009. This process has been as slow as our past site selection and lease negotiations but things appear to be loosening up and we are seeing that good locations at reasonable prices will become more plentiful going into 2009."  The location for the Bread Garden Urban Cafe is in Cloverdale, in the southeast part of the Vancouver metropolitan area. The location was originally built as a drive thru for Bread Garden by the owner of the Chevron station nearby but he sold to another brand and for awhile it became a local donut shop and then a chicken concept before becoming available to us again. Since it was originally designed as a drive thru most of the features needed to test a drive thru location are in place.  Mr. Geman further stated: "We are anxious to try a drive thru location for Bread Garden Urban Cafes as it has all the features that would make this type of service compelling to customers. It serves coffee and pastries as well as sandwiches. We look at drive thru as a move toward the speed of service QSR in terms of ease and convenience of service but with a decidedly upscale menu offering and quality. If this work well for us it opens up a lot of future opportunity for both Bread Garden Urban Cafes and possibly Spicy Pickle restaurants as we learn from operations at this location.  "It's a tough environment for expansion, but there is a bright spot. Commercial real estate prices are coming down, and we are now in a position to negotiate some very favorable terms in prime locations for those franchisees that are ready to expand. We are on the verge of a number of additional new lease signings. We are still looking for locations in several U.S. cities. Our Canadian subsidiary, Bread Garden Urban Cafes, is also looking for a number of additional locations. Western Canada is not experiencing the heightened financial turmoil we have in the U.S., and we anticipate continued expansion there as well.  "We are also continuing to take cost savings steps to bring our overhead down to a level commensurate with the new environment and our ongoing cash flow. Even in these tough times we think we will operate with decreasing overhead and increasing revenue which is certainly going in the right direction."  About Spicy Pickle(TM):  Founded in 1999, Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc. (OTC BB:SPKL.OB) serves high quality meats and fine artisan breads, baked fresh daily, along with a wide choice of eight different cheeses, twenty-two different toppings, and fourteen proprietary spreads to create healthy and delicious panini and sub sandwiches with flavors from around the world. As a leading "fast-casual" concept, Spicy Pickle offers menu items that are far beyond traditional fast food but without the price point of casual dining. The hallmark of a Spicy Pickle(r) restaurant is quality, service and an enjoyable atmosphere. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with restaurants open or under construction across 14 states and several more in development nationwide. Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc. also operates as franchisor for Bread Garden Urban Cafes, a concept with 11 restaurants in the metropolitan Vancouver, Canada area. Bread Garden Urban Cafes serve coffee, pastries and breakfast items as well as lunch and dinner along with a wide variety of desserts. To find out more about Spicy Pickle (OTC BB:SPKL.OB - News), visit our website at www.spicypickle.com/.  Forward-Looking Statements:  Certain statements in this press release, including statements regarding the number of restaurants we intend to open, are forward-looking statements. We use words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "should," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "predict," "project," "target," and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions, to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date any such statements are made and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: factors that could affect our ability to achieve and manage our planned expansion, such as the availability of a sufficient number of suitable new restaurant sites and the availability of qualified franchisees and employees; risks relating to our expansion into new markets; the risk of food-borne illnesses and other health concerns about our food products; changes in the availability and costs of food; changes in consumer preferences, general economic conditions or consumer discretionary spending; the impact of federal, state or local government regulations relating to our franchisees and employees, and the sale of food or alcoholic beverages; the impact of litigation; our ability to protect our name and logo and other proprietary information; the potential effects of inclement weather; the effect of competition in the restaurant industry; and other risk factors described from time to time in our SEC reports.  Contact:  Company Contact:  Marc Geman  Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc.  http://www.spicypickle.com Source: Spicy Pickle Franchising, Inc.  Use Courier New with Size of -1.