I got a very interesting email a few minutes ago. I cant say I have fact checked it exhaustively. I havent. Im sure the Naked Shorting Sithmeisters will weigh in with their comments about any perceived or real inaccuracies. Facts can never get in the way of a war, so every side and every word will be spun by all those with something at stake.
Personally, the only thing I have at stake is the ongoing entertainment value of all of this. My 20k shares short of Overstock will continueto do just fine.( Patrick Byrne, if you want to lend me any of the shares you own and have taken possession of, I would be happy to borrow them and short them).
But I digress. Here is the information I received. You can do your own research before coming to any conlusions. Im sure the comments to this blogpost will be very, very interesting.
Ive been following your blog and have been particularly amused by your postings about Patrick Byrne, Overstock.com and the mysterious people behind the anti-naked shorting movement.
Ive spent quite a bitof time tracking a vast network of corrupt executives, financiers and brokers who route discounted shares of obscure U.S. companies overseas through sham private placements and venture capital deals and then resell them to foreign investors at marked up prices, through unlicensed securities boiler rooms
A few weeks ago, I learned that shares of one such company, Private Trading Systems Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz. (Pink sheets: PVTM), were being offered to European investors by an apparently fictitious brokerage calling itself Anglo Swiss Consulting (fictitious in the sense that it is not registered with any nations regulatory agency and that its Internet site is something of a Potemkin storefront.)
When I looked into Private Trading Systems, I noted that its chairman, chief executive, treasurer and corporate secretary is none other than C. Austin Bud Burrell, whose dire warnings about naked shorting have been featured at NCANS.net, on the Bob OBrien blog and similar Internet sites.
Burrell also has been a litigation consultant for John OQuinn, the Texas lawyer representing Overstock.com in its suit against Rocker Partners, Gradient Analytics and other defendants who allegedly undermined the companys stock through nefarious shorting activities.
Its worth noting that shares of Endovasc Inc., another company that is part of the anti-naked shorting coalition, also were sold by a foreign boiler room known as Bellador Advisory Services.
Theres another interesting aspect to Private Trading Systems. According to the Form 10-12 that Private Trading filed earlier this month with the SEC, its biggest shareholder, with a 43.2 percent equity stake, is T.P. Ramsden.
The filing said Ramsden controlled the rights to the technology behind the trading system that the company is developing to allow institutional investors to privately trade securities, instruments, or any financial asset that is capable of being converted to electronic form.
What Private Trading Systems SEC filing did not say is that T.P. Ramsden is Terry Ramsden, once a highflying British bond trader, who pleaded guilty to investment fraud in the 1990s and later was convicted of bankruptcy fraud. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison, and served 10.
Ramsden is making a comeback of sorts, and has raised eyebrows in British investment circles by taking positions in several small public companies whose shares have moved upward after his arrival (Hansard Group is one example).
I offer this tale as yet another example of the kinds of activities that members of the anti-naked shorting coalition have been engaging in, while claiming that it is their detractors who are involved in dishonest undertakings.
Feel free to use this information as the basis for a new blog post
Let the comments begin.
USXP.OB, Universal Express, suing the SEC with respect to Naked Short Selling. See the article concerning Mr. Altamare taking on the SEC at the link below.
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/070904/0297745.html
Naked short selling is not only illegal, but a disgrace, and should be outlawed. This practice is ruining upcoming promising companies.
Why does everything American have to be a way to screw people out of money? Why does everything American have to be a scam?
Comment by Tamara B. Latham -
there is most certainly corruption in our markets today.
whether it is called naked short selling or counterfeit shares
i do not care.
what i do care about is the small investors losing their money due to this corruption,and the crooks lining their pockets with the ill gotten gains with impunity. when the sec fines goldman sachs 2 million dollars for stock manipulation, one can reasonably draw the conclusion that the sec may be in bed with the crooks. some call fines like this the \”cost of doing business\” when top hedge fund managers make 210 grand an hour, there is something horribly wrong with the system.
reg sho has been changed i hope the change will effect a positive outcome.
Comment by harveydawabbitt -
NAANSS leaves a direct trail to Agora Inc,James Dale Davidson and thus Bill Bonner.A Beltway fraud as sure as Nigerian letter fraud is Nigerian but the perpetraitors are not ghetto Beltway inhabitants these are Beltway insiders.
Comment by runescape money -
Learning the market reminds me of assembling a giant jigsaw puzzle. You pay a bit for each part of the puzzle with money lost after making an investment mistake. It can be an expensive education. It takes time, and at some point, everyone is an ignorant newbie, who might get scammed.
Comment by wow powerleveling -
They through the word “jihad” around all the time and they haven’t a clue that people are dying everyday for our country. The Flag should be Raised or taken down. These are the people that our politicians are listening too with our hard earned tax dollars.
Comment by wood shelf -
I wish I could think of a sports coach that has ever behaved this way. People who talk about sith lords and stuff would probably be sent down for an evaluation by the League.
Comment by Tack -
The site offers an online autobiography that you easily and quickly complete by answering from one to one thousand questions about your life. We also feature completed biographies from interesting people from around the planet.
Comment by Omenco -
“What’s amazing is that after this blog was created, NCANS showed up immediately and called itsstrange and others names for disagreeing with him.” — This is a free press as it should be!
Thank you for this blog.
Comment by Jennifer Hershey -
lol
Comment by lol dude -
lol
Comment by lol dude -
The site offers an online autobiography that you easily and quickly complete by answering from one to one thousand questions about your life.
Comment by whales -
funny thread. Lot’s of emotion beginning with Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks and somehow someone with a keen interest of proving NSS is a hoax. Thanks Mark! How about focusing on a trade for Artest or Garnett? Maybe if you were doing that instead of focusing on NSS we’d have a better playoff team? Haha, see how it works, anyone can lobby softballs from the bleachers… careful Mark, Careful.
Anywhooooooooo,
Tony Ryals, the legend in his own mind, tenderlee and all these other passionate (must be Latin) folks here to defend the markets and all that jazz come across as clueless to me despite the grand sermons. Here is why.
Mutual funds hyped stocks during the dot com run and made a killing. They paid a small amount back in fee’s. Not a bad day’s work. To this sane, rational human I understand it and it is what it is. We humans are both resourceful and greedy.
continued.
Penny stock CEO’s and even big board one’s (Enron, worldcom and all those we didn’t catch publically) cheat, lie, steal, manipulate to make a dime. When caught, if they are, they give back a little. Again, I understand, we humans are both resourceful and greedy.
Hedge funds like Refco, haha, tell me about Refco Tony in all your wonderful wit. Lie, cheat, steal and manipulate. Again, I understand that. Yet, this is where Tony, tenderbottomlee and the others say “oh no, I dost protesteth your magnificento honor”. And that’s where I throw on my skeptical shades and laugh. Oh really, all of a sudden these folks are not greedy, liars and cheats that would exploit a loophole allowing them to create shares and dump them (NSS).
Ok, Mark, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Maybe you should sell the team and run Wall Street then, because obviously you are knowledgable about the street infinitely moreso than you are about basketball (re: see the Nellie years of offense only basketball). You also know human character better than God apparently because you can discern who would exploit folks and who wouldn’t.
For the rest of us mortals, it’s quite clear. If humans can cheat and steal they will. Because again, they are resourceful and greedy by nature.
ANYONE WHO SAYS A KNOWN LOOPHOLE WHEREBY SHARES COULD BE CREATED WITH NO BUY-IN AND SOLD IN THE POST DOT COM SHORT HEAVY ERA WAS NOT UTILIZED AND UTILIZED GRANDLY NEEDS TO HAVE IDIOT STAMPED ON THEIR HEAD AND PUT IN THE CORNER WITH THE OTHER DUNCE CAP WEARING FOLKS.
Careful Mark. For those of us who simply watch and observe.. you appear to be out of your league and being led like a donkey with the carrot in front of your nose.
Stick to documenting refs… I’ll see you at the playoffs (FORMER season ticket holder).
Comment by joe blake -
very goooooood!!!
Comment by aaabbb -
very good!!!!!!!!!
Comment by 11nong -
Sports Reporters cover the Winning Team and the Winning Players every season. If you want to win you report on the Winner.
Business reporters cover the Winning Funds and the Winning Analysts every season. Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan shouldn’t be sued for beating the Dallas Mavericks. And Peter Vecsey shouldn’t be sued either, for reporting on it.
If a coach in the NBA was like this CEO he would be out of basketball. Charles Barkley and Kenny the Jet Smith would be laughing this coach off the planet. It’s like a rookie coach coming in and saying he is the best CEO in America. Barkley would say this guys on some serious dope. The cover of the NYPOST would have a picture of him surrounded by Jackson,Riley,Brown,Pop and Avery Johnson. I wish I could think of a sports coach that has ever behaved this way. People who talk about sith lords and stuff would probably be sent down for an evaluation by the League.
The Analysts successfully speculated that a franchise was going under long term. I’m sure they have been wrong. Why is the nutty new coach allowed to call David Stern and why did David Stern allow this too happen?
It’s bizarre. Its as if Dean Smith’s son was the nut coach and made these allegations and then Dean came out and said “he doesn’t listen” and Stern says “Oh no, we’re not taking your word for it. ….and where’s that Peter Vescey….and TNT,TBS and ESPN. Oh yea , and I want Marv Albert,Magic Johnson,Doug Collins.
Comment by tender Lee -
Byrne’s interview w/ CNBC has been posted on-line– http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/002729.html
Comment by John -
tender Lee sounds like Patrick’s father
Comment by tender Lee -
I saw Patrick Byrne on CNBC this morning. He came off like a whack job holding up two web addresses in case Becky Quick (who did an admirable job in refraining from asking if he’d missed his meds) cut him off like he claimed Larry Kudlow did. It was the most bizarre thing I’ve seen a CEO of a public traded company do since Skilling’s “A$$hole” comment during a conference call a few years back.
Comment by Patrick -
OMGosh your buddy Pat was just on CNBC making a fool of himself. Another good trade!
Comment by Greg -
Jeff,
Oh no I’m embarassed didn’t read you carefully I think I got you confused with an ncans Jeff.
Comment by Tony Ryals -
Looks like FFH and BVF are stalking Gradient on OSTK’s behalf.
Comment by Its strange -
Jeff,’Bob’is a con artist and crook and so are the stocks he touts while insider fraudsters dump.
The SEC should be ashamed to allow your frauds that include unloading worthless shares in terrorist suspect countries where they can be used for money laundering.David Patch should have to disclose his interest past and present in the many penny stock frauds he has been involved with James Dale Davidson,Gayle Essary et.al.Those dumped unaudited and sometimes unregistered shares are what you fraudulently call ‘naked shorts’ but they aren’t.
The ragingbull JAGH where the fraudulent LETTER TO Bush in the Washington Post was announced a day in advance has been used for Gary Valinoti’s fraud for years and the whole of ragingbull should be closed down so you can’t use it for fraud any longer and Yahoo
should take some responsibility as well.You are a fraud ‘Jeff’ no wonder you’re afraid to identify yourself.
Comment by Tony Ryals -
I wrote the following to “Bob O’Brien” on his blog:
“Let’s assume for the moment, for the sake or argument, that all this talk about naked shorting is truly much ado about very little. If I were someone from the DTC, I’d be thinking to myself “How can I shut these crazies up?” So why not throw down the gauntlet. Why not write a blog entry of exactly what you want from the DTC to shut you up. Challenge them to present it at my conference in a forum where y’all can debate it with the world watching. Can you think of any better way to resolve things than in an open public forum? After all, aren’t you tired of writing entry after entry of insults? Where does that get you?”
Bob replied with a list of questions for the DTC. The DTC was invited to attend the NASAA conference on 11/30 but declined (transcript available at: http://www.ncans.net/files/NASAAtrans.pdf). I’ve attempted to organize my own conference here in CT to get this topic resolved once and for all (since I feel it only gives scammers an alibi about why their share price is plummeting) but who knows if I can pull it off. To see my related site on Silicon Investor, click on my name. If someone with connections wants to pull strings or perhaps hold the conference in Dallas instead, be my guest.
– Jeff
Comment by Jeff Mitchell -
I think the U.S. market is one gigantic short waiting to be borrowed. I recommend shorting the entire f…ing country
http://www.googleversus.us
Comment by JD -
NCANS receives money from OSTK. NCANS hypes OSTK. NCANS needs to disclose the compensation.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation 17(b) states:
“It shall be unlawful for any person, by the use of any means or instruments of transportation or communication in interstate commerce or by the use of the mails, to publish, give publicity to, or circulate any notice, circular, advertisement, newspaper, article, letter, investment service, or communication which, though not purporting to offer a security for sale, describes such security for a consideration received or to be received, directly or indirectly, from an issuer, underwriter, or dealer, without fully disclosing the receipt, whether past or prospective, of such consideration and the amount thereof.”
Comment by tender Lee -
older article about a sad sad pump and dump scam involving European shells and Mr Ramsden himself: http://www.smartmoney.com/stockwatch/index.cfm?story=200005101
Comment by rashomon -
In a “NUT-SHELL”
NCANS website has an American Flag raised at half-staff. Disrepectful as it gets.
They through the word “jihad” around all the time and they haven’t a clue that people are dying everyday for our country. The Flag should be Raised or taken down. These are the people that our politicians are listening too with our hard earned tax dollars.
Comment by tender Lee -
All that stuff gives me a headache. What the heck is naked shorting?
Comment by Christine -
Dude, you are so my hero!! I’m envious of your ability to really PISS people off while being innovative.. over and over again..
Keep it up Bro!!
Comment by Mike Carroll -
Overstock’s 10-Q’s are a lot freakier.
http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?type=10&dateb=&owner=include&count=40&action=getcompany&CIK=0001130713
Comment by James Brownfield -
Writen and narrated by Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne. If these don’t freak you out, you’re not paying attention:
http://www.businessjive.com/nss.aspx
Comment by Jimmy Lim -
I called my broker and told him to short google. I wasn’t wearing clothes: is this naked shorting?
Comment by Yokle Shiestkopf -
What’s amazing is that after this blog was created, NCANS showed up immediately and called itsstrange and others names for disagreeing with him. You know that they have read every single post here, why have they not yet disputed anything here? I guess its all true here or else in their typical fashion would have denied these comments. I can’t see how much longer that they will allow such comments to go unchallenged?
Just for the record , I could care less about any of this. Who ever has the most money will always be fine. Its just that I feel like I am making a contribution to AMERICA to keep DIGNITY AND INTEGRITY IN OUR MARKETS! The speed at which information is moving today has changed the whole dynamic regarding valuations and speculation. If a company is a dead duck, its not personal. You’re not the first person who WALMART put out of business and you won’t be the last. Walmart is your SITH LORD. Michael Jordan missed a lot of shots. The more he missed the better he got at it . I think the CEO should Resign Monday morning while the market is closed and spend the entire day Monday on CNBC apoligizing for trying to be cute and just chalk it up to inexperience. He should apologize to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA….. and hey, you’re only 44 yrs old. Try it again. Next time invest money on INTELLIGENT MANAGEMENT.
It no big deal. But you continuously throw Spears at people that have been doing this far longer than you. You actually ATTACK the UNITED STATES SECURITY INDUSTRY!. That is terrible that you make such remarks. Just face it that you lost and Build Worldstock privately. SO what! you LOST. ITS NOT A BIG DEAL. DON’t BE A SORE LOSER…..
BE HUMBLE……Learn Humility without your wallet.
Do you realize Men and Women are overseas right now so that you wake up every morning and live in this country free as a bird. You are attacking the Media and everyone else and you haven’t the foggest idea on how to relate to the rest of the World’s true Reality. You are stubborn,spoiled,immature and EXTREMELY GREEDY!
You need help. You have had very deeply emotional experiences in your life and you may not have yet totally healed mentally. As far as Bobo…..i wonder if he drinks?
let’s see how long it takes for them to show up?
Comment by tender Lee -
tony that was excellent journalism.
I guess you have it all figured out.
That’s it.
Comment by tender Lee -
In my comments to the SEC of December 2003 regarding Reg Sho I took the opportunity to complain about the group in Blaine,Washington called ICI or ‘NAANSS’,(National Association Against Naked Short Selling),located in the same office that housed James Dale Davidson’s, Brent Pierce’s,and Grant Atkins’ Genemax,(named for Davidson’s newsmax.com ?),penny stock pump and dump operation.I cited Gary Weiss’ Businessweek article at the time,’Don’t force the shorts to get dressed’,that pointed out the shared office space and phone between Genemax and ‘NAANSS’.
I also stated that while I opposed naked shorting I had nothing against conventional short selling.I can’t claim much knowledge of stocks or I would not have gotten ripped off by Endovasc and Davidson and their ‘anti-naked shorting’ scam in the first place,it’s just that I now know Endovasc’s collapse of share price was not a result of ‘naked shorting’ but of an illegal pump and dump.
Had the ‘company’ not dumped all those shares into the float, (which never appeared in SEC filings until it was too late for me),the share price collapse would not have occured,or at least not so dramatically,even if the company was a scam or earned no income.But then without Davidson’s promotions including through his Agora Inc.’s ‘Vantage Point’ etc. the share price of Endovasc and even more so Genemax would not have risen so sharply before and during the dumping.
I personally see no need for allowing naked shorting when conventional shorting should
accomplish the same purpose while not punishing companies that opt for a small float,which would also assure they are not running a pump and dump fraud.If a company makes a decision to keep a low float to maintain a higher share value,they should not be punished by the dumping of ‘naked shorts’.
However this appears to be a very small problem in relation to pump and dump scams that use fraudulent naked shorting claims to cover up or distract from their pump and dump activities.I believe the SEC is knowingly allowing these penny stock scams to aid fraud and money laundering,perhaps even more now than before 911. Why ?
Bellador Group of Kuala Lumpur and Dubai is a good example that not only ran a boiler room op with an undisclosed amount of Endovasc
shares but has even recommended SRA International,a CIA invested company doing work for Homeland Security,the Iraq occupation,the NSA,the SEC,the GAO,the Navy and virtually ALL government bureaucracies. Why ? I’m sure many of you could think of more deserving and more qualified IT companies in Silicon Valley or elsewhere who could out compete and outperform the pos called SRA International AND IF IT WERE NOT A RECIPIENT OF MASSIVE CORPORATE WELFARE DUE TO ITS CIA AND NSA ETC.CONNECTIONS IT WOULD COMPETE WELL WITH BYRNE’S OSTK FOR POS STOCK OF THE DECADE.
And SRA International is the creator of anti-money laundering spinoff Mantas Inc. ! Mantas is the AML or anti-money laundering company that allowed Charles Schwab,Endovasc,James Dale Davidson and LOM of Bermuda to get away with massive illegal pump and dump activities.
In that light and in light of proof I have provided regarding the Schwab Endovasc pump and dump account should they be trusted with 100% of government IT contracts ? ! I don’t think they should.
Further SRA International has been recommended or touted by Bellador Goup boiler room to its offshore clients ! This is the company the CIA uses to provide those daily briefings to the President of the U.S. folks ! And although it developed AML software for use by major banks and brokerages its shares are touted and possibly manipulated by a boiler room in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur and Bellador Group’s Arizona lawyer Ron Logan swears Endovasc’s shares,that Bellador dumped who knows where,were ‘naked shorted’ !! What the heil is going on ?! Have I entered the twighlight zone ?
I do think money laundering may be involved with Endovasc shares but the SEC refuses to audit penny stock shares,registered or not. No
wonder the criminal CEOs feel so confident to blame everything on ‘naked shorting’.If you can’t do,or refuse to do,a ‘share-money’
audit you can never detect illegal pump and dump activities,much less money laundering activities !
I have mentioned elsewhere that I believe any plagiarism expert would would realise immediately that the ‘NCANS’ acronym is a plagiarism of the ‘NAANSS’ acronym.And further even the whole scam is a plagiarism of the entire NAANSS scam such as recommending the behavior to ‘buy certs’ to protect yourself from ‘electronic counterfeiting or ‘naked shorting’ from Charles Schwab,Refco,Ameritrade et.al..
I believe the probability of ‘Bob O’Brien’ and Patrick Byrne, et.al.reinventing James Dale Davidson’s,et.al.’s fraudulent NAANSS scam,while never having heard of NAANSS or Davidson as they have claimed, is highly unlikeley.It is more absurd than Davidson’s past claim that Clinton killed Vince Foster’ based upon an Oxford handwriting expert he paid to say Vince Foster’s suicide note was a fraud.
A plagiarism expert would probably not believe Bob O’Brien’s claim of never having heard of James Dale Davidson or NAANSS before I brought them to Bob O’Brien’s attention here last year.
And yet neither James Dale Davidson nor Agora Inc. have complained about others using a scam they invented.Why ? When Bob O’Brien or
Patrick Byrne started the rumor that Milken was the ‘Sith Lord’ Mr.Milken felt a need to make a public denial and yet James Dale Davidson has remained silent. Why ?
And although Davidson and attorney John O’Quinn swore that Genemax and Endovasc pump and dump scams were really the victims of ‘naked short selling’ by Charles Schwab, Refco and Ameritrade.We now know that Charles Schwab really hosted a pump and dump account and that either Mantas Inc.’s anti-money laundering software doesn’t work or someone didn’t use it at the time the Endovasc dump from a Schwab account went down in late 2002.
I believe unfortunately the ‘naked shorting’ scam is a Beltway scam and perhaps even some within the SEC are covering up.So my own
government may be not only aiding in the ripoff but are knowingly allowing money laundering,post 911,with unaudited penny stock shares.Ex-SEC attorney Brent Baker even appears to be profiting from the cover up of the very ‘anti-naked shorting’ scam he should have convicted Davidson for operating had he even charged him.
Now Mr. Baker has a nice job with Overstock.com’s and NCANS’ Patrick Byrne.Is there a James Dale Davidson connection ?
Overturning the SEC’s Reg S would have been much more helpful than creating Sho in my opinion and then allowing it to be used for more fraudulent naked short selling claims.The fact that both the SEC and NCANS remain silent about SEC’s Reg.S says to me they both approve of it even though repealing it would put many offshore pump and dump and money laundering scams out of business.Why ?
Comment by Tony Ryals -
Naked shorting or not, Bryne can’t get accurate earnings out to the public in a timely matter, has trouble with technology, is running out of cash (what’s with the foreign currency hedge baloney?), and uses more analogies than the SAT’s. As soon as the real numbers come out, longs will be running for the doors, shorts will cover all the way down, and then patty can take his baby private with daddy’s money.
And then he can run for president.
http://www.compound1000.blogspot.com
Comment by jake wolf -
Violet,
Given the current regulatory environment, naked short selling can’t be done with traditional broker/dealers.
However, it is possible to engage in naked short selling away from traditional institutions. You just have to find a contra party able and willing to buy and hold a position through you and to arrive at terms that are acceptable to both parties.
Comment by James Brownfield -
Violet,
First of all, Naked Shorting is Legal.
Second: It is done by brokerage firms,when the firm is doing an Underwriting. A company like OSTK (which I think leads the league in Underwritings) is the company making the most noise. If you read each prospectus, for each of their underwritings, you will see the Underwriter disclosed how they may “naked short the shares of OSTK during the offerring’s aftermarket”. If there is an abuse, that is the first place that I would look. But OSTK’s Underwriters also sit on the board of OSTK. OSTK doesn’t have a real BOARD of Directors consisting of Outside Professionals, so they won’t dare look into their brother Hambrecht’s practices.This also allows the company to keep the Dr. as its CEO because all the board members are his cronies. You see any CEO who spends ZERO minutes running a company and spends 52 weeks a year running for MAYOR( education,naked short,lawsuits,shorts,CNBC,motley fool message boards,Sith Lords etc…) would have been shown the door already. The Board of Directors are not holding the CEO accountable. The Board Members appear to be negligent.
Third Example:
Let’s use that DKDY Hype Job from post19.
THis ticker has been adjusted for splits 4.5 million times(that is not a typo).
So if Mr. Smith calls up his broker in December and sells 100,000 shares for tax purposes he is making an error, because he hasn’t adjusted his position for the reverse splits. In other words he is really only selling 1/10 of a share. But who really cares about fixing the error? The loss is a loss.
It doesn’t matter to Mr. Smith.
There are quite of few companies (if not the majority) on the REG SHO list that are dead graveyard penny stocks that have done these reverse splits. Nobody Cares and Nobody should CARE.
Who does care: SLIMY VANCOUVER TYPE Bolier Room con artists who use the cross of Jesus to RESSURECT these “SHELLS” into Manipulative reverse mergers where they control all the shares moving forwrd so that they can perform their PUMP AND DUMP.
The only reason OSTK is not considered a penny stock is because it trades over $5.
But the same SCHEME applies. THE CEO and his family and friends have acquired just about every share of stock available. Then they go on their Quarterly conference call and ORDER all the shareholders to take physical receipt of the shares to prevent a fair and orderly marketplace.(this is done because they don’t want shares to be at brokerage firms because they don’t want the public to short their shares.)
Now they control the market and the share price. These guys at NCANS are experts at this.
After “O’brien” introduced himself to the CEO for the first time on a CC in the 4th Qtr of 2004, the shares of OSTK immediately went from $20 to $75 a share in about 10 weeks. I won’t give all the credit to “O’brien” because the CEO of OSTK made statements that OSTK was going to be extremely profitable(which by the way is something he has been saying for years,but has yet to deliver).The CEO says his share price doesn’t matter, meanwhile everytime the stock moved up he went out and raised more capital. That is called a Pump and Dump. If proven, there are some serious consequences for that sort of manipulation.
Based on the poor fundamental performance of the company they would be out of business already. The only reason they still have their lights on is because they were able to raise capital from the public markets. They have yet to generate any cash nor profit.
As long as all the stock is tied up with insiders and unable to be shorted , it sits at $25 like a ROCK.
Comment by tender Lee -
It looks like you received a nice response to this thread, and the people who are responding appear to know their subject matter.
I would think that anything pink sheet preys on beginners. Mass hysteria, & How the stock market works is a complex subject, so people start out by thinking it’s Vegas. They don’t expect anything to make sense. This gives them faith in penny stock miracles.
Learning the market reminds me of assembling a giant jigsaw puzzle. You pay a bit for each part of the puzzle with money lost after making an investment mistake. It can be an expensive education. It takes time, and at some point, everyone is an ignorant newbie, who might get scammed. Joining an online board can help if you are willing to use a credit card online.
I don’t understand how naked shorting works. I would have thought you could not sell stocks you don’t own via a broker, without going through the appropriate shorting channels. Don’t brokers check anything? Hum. Need to head for Google to research this. I don’t like to think naked shorting is even possible.
Ok, I don’t have the extensive background of the other posters here, so no fancy response, but what kind of system would even allow naked shorting? Oy.
Comment by Violet -
tender lee ….Whats really strange is NCANS executive director is sueing Rocker and Gradient and the suit has ZERO to do about naked shorting . I think what we are seeing is a weasel lawyer teaming up with a failure ( OSTK ) and a few penny stock flammers .
Comment by Its strange -
why does NCANS only focus on NFI and OSTK?
If NCANS consists of a group on investors and if they own more that 5% of the companies shouldn’t hey have to file a 13D disclosing who all members are with each position?
Apparently NCANS receives information from the CEO DR. a tad quicker than the public gets it; wouldn’t that make them insiders?
Why aren’t other CEOs donating to NCANS?
NCANS appears to be an regulated IR firm for both of these non-profits. Shouldn’t hey have to disclose their compensations and holdings?
Why does NCAN talk about sales growth,dividends,market caps….aren’t they solely exclusively focused on fixing the problems that are in their tin-foiled heads?
Comment by tender Lee -
Somehow I am picturing a dog chasing his tail… and the tail just keeps getting smaller. poor dog. poor fools. do you homework! think. or go to Vegas.
thanks Mark.
Comment by greg -
**politely nods at Mr. Ryals while walking by**
Comment by Judd B. -
Judd B,are you claiming the Bobo mafia and Byrne are only trying to warn us of ‘black helicopters’ and thus are harmless rather than
the organised Beltway connected gang of stock frauds they appear to be and thus we should leave them alone and ignore their death threats and those of us defrauded by stocks they have touted should pretend that didn’t happen either ?
I invested in a Stanford patent not the offshore – onshore pump and dump operation that it turned out to be and if the homeless person you describe were in Iraq rather than the Beltway no fly zone his fear of ‘black helicopters would be all too real.You are part of the Bobo – Byrne fraud and should stop being a coward and post under your real name and explain your vested interest in the scam. If you are afraid to post your real name and
involvement you are nothing but the bs Bobo and the kkkowardly stock fraud billionaire’s son Patrick Byrne are. If Patrick weren’t the son of Jack Byrne you’d probably mistake him for the very black helicopter fearing man you discuss who in fact is more like you than you realise.
Comment by Tony Ryals -
thanks.
Comment by Tommy Tan -
There’s a man who is frequently seen outside my office, warning people of black helicopters and agents from Mars. I’ve spoken to him before and it’s obvious he’s suffering from mental illness, but he’s otherwise harmless and makes it clear he doesn’t want help.
So, I politely nod when I walk by, and leave him alone.
Mark, you on the other hand, would dedicate a meaningful part of your day to standing behind this guy, warning passers-by that contrary to what they might hear, there are no black helicopters, and the agents from Mars can be easily explained away.
At some point, the question becomes: who’s the real imbalanced one?
If somebody is delusional, reasonable people will know. That being the case, I wonder: why are working so hard to make the point for them?
I’ve been reading a great book by a guy who claims that at Broadcast.com you frequently said: “Make love, not war.”
How do you square that with the aggressive stance you take against Patrick Byrne, whom you claim to have never met, and who is not doing you any harm?
I think it was Goethe who said: “Only a coward threatens when he is safe.”
Comment by Judd B. -
Don’t you have to be partially naked to take short? I mean, that would be kind of gross if you weren’t…and what does it have to do with stocks? (A little Lord of the Flies humor for you…)
Comment by Jon -
Hey Bobo,you mean James DALE DAVIDSON and Bill Bonner and Agora Inc haven’t complained about you plagiarising their naked shorting scam yet ? James Dale Davidson sure is quiet ain’t he ? You could hear a pin drop.Why doesn’t the SEC speak up and warn our Congress people about Davidson, Bonner and Agora Inc and their penny stock scams and internet fraud ? NAANSS leaves a direct trail to Agora Inc,James Dale Davidson and thus Bill Bonner.A Beltway fraud as sure as Nigerian letter fraud is Nigerian but the perpetraitors are not ghetto Beltway inhabitants these are Beltway insiders.All you gotta do is go to dailyreckoning.com and see them promising hundreds of % gains that could never be made unless you were insider to some scam which is their specialty coincidentally just like Davidson’s ‘Strategic Investment’ mail scam that used ex-CIA Chief William Colby’s name on the letterhead to sale such scams between their ‘Clinton killed Vince Foster’ bs. Our Congress should be warned rather than corrupted.
You stop makin’ your death threats are or you still mumbling about ‘tony guatemala machete cabby’ to impress your kkkowardly followers ?
And what about those donations to NCANS by the person with the boat named ‘James Davidson’ ?
Comment by Tony Ryals -
I’ve been following both Bud Burrell and the PVTM story for awhile now. Ol’ Bud used to post on Silicon Investor; he left when we figured out who he was. Weird guy. He kept accusing other posters of “threatening” him, while he explained in detail how proud he was of his Sig Sauer.
I wonder where he got the technology for his “exchange”. I have some ideas about that, but haven’t yet attempted to check them out.
Ramsden really isn’t the sort of person you’d expect a Get Shorty crusader to go into business with, is he? Some of you may want to do a little more work on Birchington. They’re domiciled in the Bahamas, and trade on the Irish Exchange. They appear to be a pump and dump outfit.
Would Bud care to comment on all this? Maybe Bob could alert him…
Comment by Janice Shell -
I guess that these are just coincidences
As per company: The company is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. With 621,000 shares outstanding and an undeclared short position,
http://www.handhelds.org/hypermail/website_ng/current/0089.html
http://www.cs.hmc.edu/idwg/archive/msg00137.html
if you don’t want to bother opening link….in a nutshell it says: the naked shorts will have to cover and the stock will skyrocket
they’re are many of these same-ol-pump stories out there
Comment by tender Lee -
i just received the following SPAM EMAIL regarding a REG SHO naked Short Penny Stock Special dated 2/14/06 6:49pm.
From: abxwnccr@youchoose.uk.com
Originally from: cxqiksyixeap@qool.com
DKDY continues to excite market with news released!
Company: Dark Dynamite Inc.
Sector: Consumer Goods
Symbol: DKDY
Volume Over 283,000 Today “We see Big THINGS HAPPENING”
Last Trade: $.95
NOTE: HOT DAY TRADE
Members,
Over the weekend we informed you about market plus listing DKDY as their top four pick for growth this month. The volume has been growing and the price has been having price spikes through the day.
We believe this is only the sign of it getting ready to make a major PRICE JUMP again.
DKDY has negotiated with over 25 travel agencies to feature the E-Pang Palace as a “Must See”. Just read details below.
News Release:
DKDY Announce the Completion of the Co-marketing Agreements wit h25 Local Travel Agencies, Focus on Over 20 million Tourists Yearly to Xi’an, A World Famous Ancient Capital.
ALSO:
announced today that they have reached separate cooperation agreements with 25 local travel agencies in Xi’an within one month, by January 16th,2006,for co-developing the Qin Dynasty Cultural Dinner Show program to be held in the Theme Park of the E-Pang Palace.
The Grand Opening will be postponed from April 2006 to September 2006 as released previously to enrich the program and presentation of the dinner show. Show will be staged on the front palce square of the E-Pang Palace with more than 200 actors performing on the stage. making the dinner show the largest outdoor dinner show by far in China. DKDY will invite top stage directors, chorographers and dances companies to present music and dances of Qin Dynasty, exhibiting the cultural flourish of the first feudal empire in China history. Visitors will immense themselves in the mystery, grand scale illusions, and surroundings reminiscent of 2200 years ago wile enjoying fine dining.
Make sure you take advantage of tomorrow’s day trade and enjoy the ride.
Good trading to all members.
adjusted for split.
Stock traded @ 10 cents 6 months ago
stock traded @ $4.5 million per share in 2003
Comment by tender Lee -
Mark,
If you can locate it, you should try to get your hands on the transcript of the NASAA meeting Ralphie Boy Lambiase chaired last fall. I believe BooBoo has a copy of it on his scam site.
Once you see what an imbecile Lambiase, the subpoenas make sense.
Comment by James Brownfield -
T Ramsden appears to have a connection with Birchington Investments, a fund listed on the Irish exchange that invests in US microcaps see (See PVTMs filings where Ramsdens alleged $20M commitment to the company includes shares of Birchington). There appears to be a sophisticated scam here. It appears that Birchington does share swaps with microcaps (in July they did a 6M share swap with PVTM). This is brilliant — as PVTM gets pumped, the Birchington NAV rises and PVTM sells shares of Birch to fund itself while Birch sells shares of PVTM to offset that dilution. Ramsden appears to have controlling interests in both. Ramsden gets rich. And it appears that someone (maybe Birchington??) is giving shares to boiler room operators to pump the stock. Another one of their stock swaps was with microcap MTNA and see this guardian article about a dirty boiler room firm SAGI promoting MTNA in a way so illegal you cant believe people still try to do this : http://money.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,16520,1602788,00.html .
Bud, do you know who you are in bed with? Byrne, do you know? O Brien do you know? I’ve just started researching this, more to come.
Comment by rashomon -
I find it fascinating that supposedly intelligent people find their way here and espouse all their blah blah blah and cannot find the time to spell/error check their posts. Come on people, if you want what you say to be taken seriously, WRITE seriously.
Comment by Worth Wollpert -
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The site offers an online autobiography that you easily and quickly complete by answering from one to one thousand questions about your life. We also feature completed biographies from interesting people from around the planet.
Please tell others about us, and thanks.
Comment by TheRememberingSite -
“bigger breaking stories ” Right Phil . Sure thing . Like the street couldn’t see Patrick was prompting these people to create “news” ….Sure thing Phil . Keep selling the book . Keep selling party favors that get you into heaven .
Comment by Its strange -
ItsStrange: You are a super sleuth.
Bud lives in Phoenix, as he has said on his radio interviews. CFRN is also based there.
And I’m the conspiracy nutjob?
BTW, as of this morning, after enduring 3 days of “O’Brien is crazy, a liar, etc.” my story on the DTCC’s receiving subpoenas was confirmed as true by the NY Post. You can read all about it at TheSanityCheck.com – so this nut and, per mark, stock manipulator-connected fraud – just scooped the NY media by half a week on one of the bigger breaking stories.
Here’s a suggestion. Instead of attacking the messenger, as has been the 100% technique thus far, why don’t you focus on the fact that the state regulators are going after the DTCC for naked short selling data. This is the same way the analyst scandal, mutual fund scandal, etc. broke.
Face it. Naked short selling is a large problem, the states are doing the job the SEC hasn’t, and the “it’s all in their heads” rhetoric needs to be revised, in light of this latest state action.
Scottsdale. Sinister hub of stock manipulation.
Mark, I think you are being played. You always say you have an open mind – look at the recent state action in subpoenaing the DTCC and ask yourself one question: If this is no problem, why are the states going to war with the DTCC and some of the largest brokers in the country?
Thanks for your time, as always.
AKA Bob
Comment by bob O'Brien -
Always found it quite ironic, Overstock, selling the dead merchandise of others, is itself dead merchandise. And Google is next, once click-fraud hits mainstream, their arrogance knows no bounds, another Enron, I can feel it in my bones. But shorting is American, helps keep companies is check and prevents things from being grossly overvalued. A ride long blazed by tons of prior art, Manuel Asensio being one of the most vocal. So short Overstock as much as can. I applaud your moves, and attempts to demonize shorts are a sure sign the company is doomed. Real companies aren’t crazily (quite literally in this case) preoccupied with short problems (or Dark Jedi Masters), they are too busy actually running a company.
Though I find it futher terribly ironic, in that the Enron movie being indirectly financed by Broadcast.com fools-gold irrational-exuberance era overvaluations. And then that good-intentioned laudable but backfiring cringe-worthy TV show, and your zero-sum game, bubble-making with ‘Bubble’. And although, imho, I feel your redemption is certainly genuine, being a great contrast to something like Trump, it still all makes for an interesting checkered history.
But if you continue to make more documentaries like the Enron gig (and many more stories out there), to whom do I send my resume? So many more stories, yet untold. I want to see a big mini-series that is the exact flipside to Robert X. Cringely’s PBSified-internet-utopian fantasies.
Comment by Christopher Coulter -
This is just the best…Read what Bud Burrell’s Private Trading Systems, inc. has planned . I can hear it now ” We are the most transparent exchange on the planet ” ..” No naked shorts here on our exchange ” …..Oh yes . Just watch this play out . Phil’s website . The absurd Rocker suit . Phil’s soon to be released book . …AND !!!! Private Trading Systems , Inc . ….
I need to check it out but i believe the guy doing all the naked shorting stuff at CFRN.net is located in Scottsdale Arizona …And so is Private Trading Systems , Inc…
Comment by Its strange -
Why do i feel this Christian Financial Radio Network ( A.G Media Group , Inc ..AMGJ.PK ) is related to the people mentioned in Mark’s blog ? ……..
Comment by Its strange -
Judge Jack of Texas ordered sanctions against O’Quinn for manufacturing victims in a recent silicosis suit . Now there is a federal grand jury in Manhattan looking into this type of scam . ..And if you want a good laugh you can always listen to Bud Burrell over at the Christian Financial Radio Network ( cfrn.net )
Mark, great post . These penny stock flammers need to exposed .
Comment by Its strange -
Two?
“example(s) of the kinds of activities that member(s) of the anti-naked shorting coalition…” Two? Oh, no, make that One! One member, tortuously shown to be oh, involved in a stock, and who, oh, may be (or not) involved in selling shares of his own company…somewhere…!
In the meantime, State Security Regulators have issued subpoenas to the DTCC, “to get at the trading records of Wall Street’s largest firms in a quest to stamp out the controversial practice of naked short-selling, sources said.” This is a piece by R. Boyd, in the NY Post, which confirms the information first released by another ‘member’ of the anti-naked shorting contingent, your old friend Bob O’Brien, at his SanityCheck site.
The next revelation to be confirmed is that Rocker Partners is also going to be the object of a Formal SEC investigation.
Shorting is legal, ok, and sometimes beneficial.
Naked shorting is counterfeiting, and theft.
And, it seems, there are some people who believe, against popular opinion, that Naked Shorting exists, and, that it is a problem.
RVAC
Comment by rvac106 -
Ryan,
You wear your jealousy on your sleeves! If I were you, I would at least find a place to hide it, instead of sounding like such a jealous fool in this blog. The bible said you could at least SHUT UP when you are dumb. Did you hear that?
I will be really impressed if you write back. It means you are DUMB forever.
Comment by just a woman -
Ryan
Please don’ t ask questions like, “Do you not think OSTK is a good buy?” It really gives those of us who actually work in the financial industry a headache.
Oh and for the proof read this; posted a few days ago on thestreet.com
http://www.thestreet.com/_mktw/comment/dumbest/10267637_5.html
Please stay away from this company…Unless you’re Mark and you can handle the shorting risk.
Stephen
Comment by Stephen Stull -
Mark:
I use to say that you could be an idiot and fall into millions but if somehow you were able to obtain billions than you had to be a genius. I take my statement back. I use to look up to you, I really like how open and off of the cuff you are. I have also had some good verbal exchanges with you at a couple Utah Jazz games. I do have to say this that you ruined my perception of you when you showed up on that TV show. I cringed as I watched you show your true self as complete socially inept billionaire.
Anyway back to the point of this comment how come you feel that you can take such a high level view of this naked shorting issue and say that it doesn’t exist or that it is not a problem? Are you infallible? Have you looked at the true third party conclusions? You can find them at http://www.businessjive.com/nss.aspx . Do you not think OSTK is a good buy? It trades at less than four times gross net it grew at twice its competitions rate. Is this not a good buy?
Just from one “cuff” to another.
Ryan
Comment by Ryan M -
Should I really short OSTK? I’ve been losing a lot of money lately. I’ll try anything
Comment by Adam -
I tend to concentrate on trading the Australian market – going long and shorting stocks. But this “Overstock” naked shorting is an interesting case! Thanks!
For those like me who had to look at the stock price to see what Overstock was doing you can look here:
http://www.shareholder.com/overstock/quote.cfm
Comment by George Polizogopoulos - Trader -
Wow very very intresting, all i know is that after OSTK was up 2 days in a row, i hopped on and am going to ride it till it hits the ground and explodes!
Comment by Gskrilla -
This is complete BS – it was probably written by your friend Patrick himself…
Comment by Preston Wily -
This is complete BS – it was probably written by your friend Patrick himself…
Comment by Preston Wily -