This board will be an open discussion board for micro-cap, small-cap, otcbb, and big board stocks. Information can be shared and discussed in a friendly and helpful manner. You will ALWAYS be expected to do your own diligence, be respectful of everyone else on the board and adhere to the TOU as outlined by IHUB. I will add more in the following days as well as create a helpful IBOX. Good Luck Trading and I hope everyone has a Great Day !!

Most people consider penny stocks to be a poor investment. I, on the other hand, think that investing in a penny stock before that company becomes profitable company is the best way to invest, because you can make a lot more money with penny stocks than would ever be possible with blue-chip stocks. I will now outline for you what you need to know about penny stocks and how to find the best one in which to invest.

Penny stocks are defined differently depending on who you talk to. Stockbrokers define them as any stock that trades below $5 per share. Regulatory agencies sometimes classify them as a stock with a price below $2. But, generally speaking, a penny stock is any low-priced security that trades on one of two exchanges; the Pink Sheets or the OTC Bulletin Board.

The Pink Sheets are an exchange where most startup companies first get listed. There are no listing requirements to be traded on this exchange. A company does not have to have any sales, nor does it have to reveal how many shares outstanding it has to qualify for the Pink Sheets.

The reason why a company tries to get listed on the Pink Sheets, even though their stock will not go up in price because they have no sales to speak of, is because it gives their company more substance and credibility; it is typically easier to attract additional capital, obtain financing, and execute contracts and agreements if a company is publicly traded, even if it is on the Pink Sheets.

Also, it is easier to get transferred from the Pink Sheets to one of the larger exchanges than it is to go from being a private company to hopping directly on to one of the major exchanges, such as the NASDAQ or NYSE. Companies listed on the Pink Sheets trade as ridiculously low as $0.00001 per share, all the way up to $500 per share and sometimes beyond. Foreign companies often have some of their shares sold in the United States by listing them on the Pink Sheets.

The OTC (Over-The-Counter) Bulletin Board is similar to the Pink Sheets. This exchange consists of relatively young companies either with no sales or a small amount of sales. Companies listed on it are sometimes fully reporting (meaning that they reveal how many shares they have outstanding and what their balance sheet looks like). Often, companies go from the Pink Sheets to the Bulletin Board once they are ready to become fully or semi-reporting.

Most publicly traded companies that are now listed on one of the major exchanges (NASADAQ, AMEX, NYSE), at one time or another, were penny stocks listed on the Pink Sheets or Bulletin Board. Rarely does a company go from being private directly to one of the 3 major exchanges. Google is a rare example of a company that was able to do that, because they were so successful so quickly. But, most companies have to pay their dues and edge their way up from the penny stock exchanges to the bigger ones.

So, investing in penny stocks can be an excellent investment because some of these young companies will one day be worth a fortune. The hard part is finding the right company to invest in, because for every successful start up company, there is also one that fails within the first year or two.

To find the right company, there are a few things you need to look for. Number one, you need to do some research and try to find out how many shares the company has in its float. The float is the number of shares that are currently being traded. Companies listed on the Pink Sheets usually do not officially report this number to the public, but with a little research, you can usually find out. It is usually contained in articles written about the company, or in TV or radio interviews with company officials that are sometimes archived on certain websites.

You can also look for the information on message boards or forums where stock traders chat with each other. Simply do a search on Google and read every article ever written about the company, and you will likely find out about their float. This is important because you do not want to invest in a company that already has something like 500 million shares in its float. Companies with this kind of share count are likely having problems moving forward, so they have issued more and more shares to raise money just to stay alive. You want to look for companies that have approximately 5 to 100 million shares in their float.

Other things that you should look for in a new company are barriers to entry, patents, and consumer demand. Here are the questions you need to ask yourself when analyzing the probability that a company will be successful:

1) Barriers to Entry: Are there are obstacles that will make it difficult for the company to sell its products or services?

2) Patents: Is the product that the company is going to sell patented? A patent will prevent other companies from producing the exact same product.

3) Consumer Demand: Will there be a demand for what the company is selling? Sometimes a company has a great new invention or an exciting technology, but if it is not something practical that consumers are going to want or need, then it does not matter how great it is.

Try to set aside some money for investing in penny stocks and start while you are still young. The earlier you get started, the more money you can make in the long run. Just make sure you do your homework before you invest and you should do extremely well.

 HOW TO DAY TRADE ONLINE :

Day traders buy and sell stocks, currencies or commodities online throughout the day hoping to reap quick profits. Execution speed is paramount. Online day traders are not linked directly to the market through their home computers. When they press "Enter," their orders are sent to brokers, who then send the orders to a market for execution. By the time the orders reach the market, prices could vary greatly from quoted prices.


Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You'll Need:

* Brokerage account
* Monitors
* Trading software
* Forex mini account
* Computer


Step 1

Equip yourself with a good trading computer (you need at least 1,024 MB of RAM and a 100 GB hard drive), at least three monitors (flat LCD screens are easy on the eyes) and a fast Internet connection. Online day traders must be able to receive streaming, real-time information for quotes and charts. DSL, cable modem or a T1 line is better than any size phone line modem.

Step 2

Purchase direct-access trading software. This allows you to skip several time-consuming steps when trying to execute your buy/sell orders.

Step 3

Learn day trading basics. An online day trader must know the difference between "bid" and "ask," between the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ and what "selling short" means.

Step 4

Choose an online broker. Your broker is responsible for executing your trades. Look for a brokerage firm that offers instant execution of your orders, high leverage with a small margin deposit and low spreads.

Step 5

Deposit the hefty minimum amount required by law into your brokerage account when you plan on day trading securities.

Step 6

Open a Forex mini account with the minimum required amount when you plan on trading currencies.

Step 7

Make sure that the stock quotes and account updates you are receiving are real-time and not delayed. Speed is of the essence when you day trade online.


Tips & Warnings

*
Ask your broker about contingency plans for executing trades in the event of website outages, delays or any other interruptions. Make sure that the firm has a backup plan.
*
If you want to focus more on day trading and less on handling orders, stick to day trading currencies. You won't have to concern yourself with order routing or worry about where your order will be sent.
*
Be very skeptical about any day trading company ads that promise you risk-free investments and quick profits. More online day traders lose money than make money.AND NEVER INVEST MONEY YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE !!!!!

THIS LINK HAS SOME STOCK TRADING SOFTWARE REVIEWS THAT MAY HELP YOU DECIDE WHAT PROGRAM BEST FITS YOUR NEEDS..www.stocktradingsoftwarereviews.org/

The Basics Of The Bid-Ask Spread:

You've probably heard the terms spread or bid and ask before but you may not know what they mean or how they relate to the stock market. The bid-ask spread can affect the price at which a purchase or sale is made  - and an investor's overall portfolio return. What this means is that if you want to dabble in the equities markets, you need to become familiar with this concept.  

Supply and Demand
Investors must first understand the concept of supply and demand before learning the ins and outs of the spread. Supply refers to the volume or abundance of a particular item in the marketplace, such as the supply of stock for sale. Demand refers to an individual's willingness to pay a particular price for an item or stock. (For more insight, read Economics Basics: Demand and Supply.)

The Spread
The spread is the difference between the bid and ask for a particular security.

The size of the spread and the price of the stock is determined by supply and demand. The more individual investors or companies that want to buy, the more bids there will be; more sellers results in more offers or asks.

On the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) a buyer and seller may be matched by computer. However, in some instances, a specialist who handles the stock in question will match buyers and sellers on the floor of the exchange. In the absence of buyers and sellers, this person will also post bids or offers for the stock in order to maintain an orderly market. (For related reading, see Understanding Order Execution.)

On the Nasdaq, a market maker will use a computer system to post bids and offers and essentially plays the same role as a specialist. However, there is not a physical floor. All orders are marked electronically.

It is important to note that when a firm posts a top bid or ask and is hit by an order, it must abide by its posting. In other words, in the example above, if MSCI posts the highest bid for 1,000 shares of stock and a seller places an order to sell 1,000 shares to the company, MSCI must honor its bid. The same is true for ask prices.

Types of Orders
There are five types of orders that an individual can place with a specialist or market maker:

1. Market Order - A market order can be filled at the market or prevailing price. By using the example above, if the buyer were to place an order to buy 1,500 shares, the buyer would receive 1,500 shares at the asking price of $10.25. If he or she placed a market order for 2,000 shares, the buyer would get 1,500 shares at $10.25 and 500 shares at the next best offer price, which might be higher than $10.25.

2. Limit Order - An individual places a limit order to sell or buy a certain amount of stock at a given price or better. Using the above spread example, an individual might place a limit order to sell 2,000 shares at $10. Upon placing such an order, the individual would immediately sell 1,000 shares at the existing offer of $10. Then, he or she might have to wait until another buyer comes along and bids $10 or better to fill the balance of the order. Again, the balance of the stock will not be sold unless the shares trade at $10 or above. If the stock stays below $10 a share, the seller might never be able to unload the stock.

3. Day Order - A day order is placed with a specialist or market maker and is only good for that trading day. If it is not filled that day, the order is canceled.

4. Fill or Kill (FOK) - An FOK order must be filled immediately and in its entirety or not at all. For example, if a person were to put a fill or kill order in to sell 2,000 shares at $10, a buyer would take in all 2,000 shares at that price immediately, or refuse the order, in which case it will be canceled.

5. Stop Order - A stop order is an order that goes to work when the stock passes a certain level. For example, suppose an investor wants to sell 1,000 shares of XYZ stock if it trades down to $9. In this case, the investor might place a stop order at $9 so that when it does trade to that level, the order becomes effective as a market order. To be clear, it does not guarantee that the order will be executed at $9. However, it does guarantee that the stock will be sold. If sellers are abundant, the price at which the order is executed might be much lower than $9. (For more insight, see The Basics Of Order Entry.)

Bottom Line
The bid-ask spread is essentially a negotiation in progress. In order to be successful, traders must be willing to take a stand and walk away in the bid-ask process through limit orders. By executing a market order without concern for the bid-ask and without insisting on a limit, traders are essentially confirming another trader's bid, creating a return for that trader.

  Now you can practice Trading with a free Simulator Account! Click on this link for a free acct. that will let you learn to Day Trade by doing...simulator.investopedia.com/Default.aspx

10 BIGGEST INVESTMENT BLUNDERS !

Just because these mistakes are big doesn't mean they're obvious. Being aware of related costs and keeping your goals in mind will help you avoid the traps.

We asked experts to weigh in on some of the most common mistakes investors make, and while it's easy to see that chasing hot stocks (the most frequently cited mistake) would be an exercise in futility, they reported other less obvious pitfalls to watch out for.

There are never any guarantees when investing, but avoiding these 10 missteps will better your chances of success.

1. Mismatching investment with goal
Need that money in the next couple of years? Don't put it in a hot emerging-markets fund.

Consider when you'll need access to your money. This will help you avoid unnecessary transaction fees, penalties and risk.

"If you pick the right investment vehicle for the right timeline, you've got it 90% in the bag," says Richard Salmen, a certified financial planner and the national president of the Financial Planning Association. "If your goal is only six months to two years off, you don't want to put your money in an investment vehicle that could fluctuate enough that you might miss it."

For some goals, such as paying for college, it may make sense to use a mix of investments, says Gail MarksJarvis, author of "Saving for Retirement (Without Living Like a Pauper or Winning the Lottery)."

"If you are saving for college and your child is within three years of going to college, you've still got seven years until that last year of college," she says.


So while the bulk of short-term college savings should probably be very safe in CDs or short-term bonds or a high-yielding savings account, maybe some of that money could be invested in stocks. "Just remember the rule of thumb," she says, "that money you'll need within five years shouldn't be in stocks."

2. Discounting fees
Fees may sound minuscule at 1% or 2%, but they can gouge your returns by thousands of dollars.

"It's hard to beat the stock market," says MarksJarvis. "There's one thing you can control and that's what you pay to be a part of the stock market, and that's where the expenses come in."

While all mutual funds have expense ratios, which cover investment advisory, administrative services and other operating costs, some are much higher than others.

"Let's take a $10,000 investment that earns an annual return of 8% before expenses for 20 years," says Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com. "If the money is invested in a fund with an expense ratio of 1.25% instead of an index fund at 0.25%, the investor would incur an additional $4,128 in costs over that 20-year period. But the ending account value of the higher expense fund would be $8,000 less than if invested in the lower expense fund because of the loss of compounding on the money paid out in expenses each year."

To complicate matters, some funds impose sales charges or loads. Load funds are available only through an investment adviser or broker who is compensated by sales commissions.


Picking no-load funds is one way to save money on fees. Instead of going through a broker, call a mutual fund company directly to purchase a fund.

"If you were paying your broker 5.75% for a load, you would say to yourself, 'Well, that's the cost to play, I might as well pay it,'" says MarksJarvis. "But if you were putting $10,000 into the fund, that would mean you were giving your broker $575 to pick that fund for you and that you were putting $9,425 to work."

While it might be worth paying a load if you don't have the time or inclination to make your own investment choices, just remember, it's hard, even for a skilled money manager, to make up for those extra fees.

"The fees will be higher for those funds," says John Pallaria, an adjunct professor in the CFP program at Boston University, "but in return, they're getting competent advice which will, in theory, give better results to offset the cost."

For no-load mutual funds, investors should aim to keep their annual expenses under the following thresholds, according to McBride:

* Active domestic equity: 1%.

* Active international equity: 1.25%.

* Active bond funds: 1%.

* Index equity/bond: 0.5%.

3. Letting investments languish
If you've arranged to have money siphoned out of your paycheck directly into a savings account -- pat yourself on the back for taking that step. But don't stop there.

Saving money is a great start, but if you're not investing it wisely, you'll miss out on long-term gains, says MarksJarvis.

She illustrates this point with the example of a 35-year-old who, by holding $30,000 in a savings account until she retires, will have $46,000 after earning interest and paying taxes (assuming a 2% average annual return and a 25% federal tax bracket).

"On the other hand," MarksJarvis says, "if you put that same $30,000 into a 401k or an IRA, you wouldn't be paying taxes on the money as it builds up year after year. By investing in a simple stock market (index) fund, that very same $30,000 would likely, if it followed history, turn into about $540,000 (assuming retirement at age 65 and an average annual return of 10%)."

4. Paying taxes
Why give Uncle Sam money any earlier than you have to? Instead, put your money to work for you.

In the above example, what if the investor bought the same mutual funds in a regular taxable account instead of investing in an IRA?

MarksJarvis explains: "If they earned the same return on their investments, instead of having $540,000 they would end up with about $260,000 because it would be taxed. This again assumes a 10% average annual return, retirement at 65, and a 25% federal tax bracket. Taxes take a huge amount out of the wealth that builds up year after year after year."

People sometimes forget to factor in the upfront tax benefits of 401k plans, says Salmen. "One of the typical mistakes that I see people making is paying extra on their mortgage but not funding their 401k or putting enough into it. Mortgage interest is usually your cheapest interest rate and there are tax deductions on top of that. Money that you put into a 401k, you're getting an upfront tax deduction on," he says.

Of course, you'll have to pay taxes eventually -- but not until it's time to take withdrawals from your tax-deferred retirement plan.

5. Failing to strategize
It's time to pick funds from your 401k lineup. All you do is pick the ones that performed the best, right?

Wrong. Before you research the investment, there are a couple of things to think about. First, plan your investment strategy.

"For any investment program, sometimes people jump right to the investment they choose," Pallaria says. "But they need to determine what asset classes they want to cover before jumping to investments. Once you've got the asset classes, now go pick the investments that are best in these categories."

Next, make sure you're comparing apples to apples.

Some funds don't make as much money as others -- by design. A bond fund cannot compete with a stock fund because of the nature of their respective holdings. However, different types of funds serve different purposes. The bond fund can have a stabilizing effect on one's portfolio.

"For example," MarksJarvis says, "someone might have a bond fund that perhaps an adviser put them in because that's supposed to be the safe part of their money. And they'll look at it and they'll say, 'Well, I'm only making 4% in that fund and I have this stock fund that's up 12%. Why not go with the 12%?'

"Well, there's a perfectly good reason," she says. "That 12% money is not going to be as safe."
6. Misreading the label
You bought a bunch of different funds -- so that means you're diversified, right? Not necessarily.

You don't want to find out that you're overexposed to a particular market sector after it hits a rough patch. Luckily, staying out of this trap is a matter of learning to read the label.

"One of the typical mistakes that people make is they get a list of mutual funds from their employer and they can't tell the difference between them. They don't know the vocabulary," says MarksJarvis.

Understanding the different types of asset classes will help you strategize (see Tip No. 5). Different asset classes do better at different times. Bonds may do well while the stock market is suffering and large-cap firms may weather tough times better than spunkier small caps. Boring bonds will never match stocks in a hot market and small caps may be better poised to take off like a shot than their larger, lumbering counterparts.
7. Neglecting research
Psssst. Wanna hear a good stock tip?

No, we're not going to tell you about the next Google. We're going to tell you to do your homework.

What to look for:

* Type of fund (large-cap growth, small-cap value, etc.).

* How long the manager has been there.

* How much the fund costs (expense ratio).

* Minimum investment required.

* Portfolio holdings (list of securities).

* Performance information -- remember, past performance does not guarantee future return.

Where to look:

* Morningstar, an independent investment research and ranking site, offers a wealth of free information about mutual funds. Look beyond the star rating, though.

* Ask for the prospectus from the fund company or brokerage firm. This information is often available online.

* Get a copy of the most recent semiannual report (again, you'll likely find it online). These reports frequently feature a letter from the portfolio manager. His or her discussion of the past six months will give you an indication of how he or she runs the fund. A good manager discusses both victories and mistakes.

"When making investments, look to invest in the company and not the stock," says Shashin Shah, CFA, CFP with SGS Wealth Management in Dallas. "Research the company. Look at the Internet, anywhere from MSN to Yahoo Finance; purchase research reports. If you're investing $1,000, you might want to spend $5 to read a research report. Get information from the broker and how they made the picks. Order the company report."

Similar advice applies when you research mutual funds. Sometimes the fund name can be misleading, so you can't judge by that.

8. Putting it off
Retirement is decades away. You don't need to worry about it, right?

In the world of saving, procrastination is your worst enemy. If you're smart, you'll get started early.

According to MarksJarvis, in order to accumulate $1 million at retirement, you'll need to invest just $20 a week in a simple stock market mutual fund when you're 19, about $100 a week if you wait until you're 35, and roughly $300 a week if you delay until age 45, assuming a retirement age of 65 and an average annual return of 10%. (Of course, while 10% is in the ballpark of how the market performed historically over many decades, there's no guarantee that it will continue to do so.)

"Of course, you can catch up," MarksJarvis says, "but then you have to dig in deeper and it's actually a little more painful than if you were just saving small amounts to begin with."

But don't ever give up. A person who, at age 45, has accumulated $30,000 can still end up with a nest egg of about $460,000, if they put away $5,000 per year for 20 years, points out MarksJarvis. This assumes an annualized return of 9.6%.

Many people delay investing because of debt, says Salmen, but there's no excuse not to take the easy pickings.

"Some people want to invest money but say, 'I'm not going to do it until I get my debts paid off, and it makes sense.' For most people, they're never going to get there," he warns.

"At the very least, you should be taking advantage of the company matches in your retirement fund, which deliver a guaranteed 50% return on investment in the first year. That's free money. I don't know anywhere else you're going to get those kinds of returns."

9. Ignoring your portfolio
Buy and hold can be a smart strategy, but buy and ignore won't serve you in the long run.

"I've had new clients walk in with statements in a box and they haven't even opened their statements," laments Shah.

Without reviewing your holdings, you won't know if your portfolio remains balanced, and you won't shift your holdings to achieve new goals or help you cope with changing life events.

The experts differ on how often you need to do a portfolio review. Shah recommends doing so on a quarterly or semiannual basis. Salmen meets three times a year with his clients. But all agree that it's important to review your holdings at least once a year, whether they're within a company-sponsored retirement plan or outside of one.

"Perhaps you're invested 80% right now in equities, and realize, 'I need to think in five years now instead of 10 because I want a vacation home' or 'I got laid off.' If you're looking at your investments regularly, you can shift to fit your circumstances," says Pallaria.

10. Getting emotional
The market is ricocheting all over the place, and when the boss isn't paying attention, you're online buying and selling in a frenzied attempt to dodge the bullets.

"Emotion, both greed and fear, drive more of the decisions than anything else," says Salmen.

He describes the all-too-common trap emotionally driven investors fall into: "Most people don't earn what the market earns. They invest too heavily in too-risky investments that are doing well, then drop out when they go back down. They take all their money out of tech stocks, for example, put the money into bonds, then put money back in stocks after prices have gone back up."

His prescription is to invest a little bit of money from every paycheck, diversify, then leave it alone.

Pallaria recommends taking yourself out of the equation as much as possible. "The best thing that people can do to make it easy on themselves is to automate investing as much as possible. Have the money automatically taken out each month or each quarter. That's absolutely the best way," he says.

Called "dollar-cost averaging," this autopilot strategy enables you to buy more shares when the market is down -- and that's the whole idea behind buying low.

Reverse Mergers : The Pros and Cons

A reverse merger (also known as a reverse takeover or reverse IPO) is a way for private companies to go public, typically through a simpler, shorter, and less expensive process. A conventional initial public offering (IPO) is more complicated and expensive, as private companies hire an investment bank to underwrite and issue shares of the soon-to-be public company. Aside from filing the regulatory paperwork - and helping authorities review the deal - the bank also helps to establish interest in the stock and provide advice on appropriate initial pricing. The traditional IPO necessarily combines the go-public process with the capital raising function. We will go over how a reverse merger separates these two functions, making it an attractive strategic option for managers and investors of private companies. (For more information, check out Why would a company do a reverse merger instead of an IPO?

What is a reverse merger?
In a reverse merger, investors of the private company acquire a majority of the shares of the public shell company, which is then merged with the purchasing entity. Investment banks and financial institutions typically use shell companies as vehicles to complete these deals. These relatively simple shell companies can be registered with the SEC on the front end (prior to the deal), making the registration process relatively straightforward and less expensive. To consummate the deal, the private company trades shares with the public shell in exchange for the shell's stock, transforming the acquirer into a public company.

Reverse mergers allow a private company to become public without raising capital, which considerably simplifies the process. While conventional IPOs can take months (even over a calendar year) to materialize, reverse mergers can take only a few weeks to complete (in some cases, in as little as 30 days). This saves management a lot of time and energy, ensuring that there is sufficient time devoted to running the company.

Undergoing the conventional IPO process does not guarantee that the company will ultimately finish the process. Managers can spend hundreds of hours planning for a traditional IPO, however, if market conditions become unfavorable to the proposed offering, all of those hours will have become a wasted effort. Pursuing a reverse merger minimizes this risk.

As mentioned earlier, the traditional IPO combines both the go-public and capital raising functions. As the reverse merger is solely a mechanism to convert a private company into a public entity, the process is less dependent on market conditions (because the company is not proposing to raise capital). Since a reverse merger functions solely as a conversion mechanism, market conditions have little bearing on the offering. Rather, the process is undertaken in order to attempt to realize the benefits of being a public entity. (Read more in The Murky Waters Of The IPO Market.)

Benefits as a Public Company
Private companies, generally with $100 million to several hundred million in revenue, are usually attracted to the prospect of being a publicly-traded company. The company's securities become traded on an exchange, and thus enjoy greater liquidity. The original investors gain the option of liquidating their investment, providing for convenient exit alternatives. The company has greater access to the capital markets, as management now has the option of issuing additional stock through secondary offerings. If stockholders possess warrants – where they have the right to purchase additional stock at a pre-determined price – the exercise of these options provides additional capital infusion into the company.

Public companies often trade at higher multiples than do private companies; significantly increased liquidity means that both the general public and investing institutions (and large operational companies) have access to the company's stock, which can drive up price. Management also has more strategic options to pursue growth, including mergers and acquisitions. As stewards of the acquiring company, they can use company stock as the currency with which to acquire target companies. Finally, because public shares are more liquid, management can use stock incentive plans in order to attract and retain employees. (To learn more, read For Companies, Staying Private A Matter Of Choice.)

Disadvantages of a Reverse Merger
Managers must conduct appropriate diligence regarding the profile of the investors of the public shell company. What are their motivations for the merger? Have they done their homework to make sure the shell is clean and not tainted? Are there pending liabilities (such as those stemming from litigation) or other “deal warts” hounding the public shell? If so, shareholders of the public shell may merely be looking for a new owner to take possession of these deal warts. Thus, appropriate due diligence should be conducted, and transparent disclosure should be expected (from both parties).

If the public shell's investors sell significant portions of their holdings right after the transaction, this can materially and negatively affect the stock price. To reduce or eliminate the risk that the stock will be dumped, important clauses can be incorporated into a merger agreement such as required holding periods. It is important to note that, as in all merger deals, the risk goes both ways. Investors of the public shell should also conduct reasonable diligence on the private company, including its management, investors, operations, financials and possible pending liabilities (i.e., litigation, environmental problems, safety hazards, labor issues). (For more, see Why Public Companies Go Private.)

After a private company executes a reverse merger, will its investors really obtain sufficient liquidity? Smaller companies may not be ready to be a public company, including lack of operational and financial scale. Thus, they may not attract analyst coverage from Wall Street; after the reverse merger is consummated, the original investors may find out that there is no demand for their shares. Reverse mergers do not replace sound fundamentals. For a company's shares to be attractive to prospective investors, the company itself should be attractive operationally and financially.

A potentially significant setback when a private company goes public is that managers are often inexperienced in the additional regulatory and compliance requirements of being a publicly-traded company. These burdens (and costs in terms of time and money) can prove significant, and the initial effort to comply with additional regulations can result in a stagnant and underperforming company if managers devote much more time to administrative concerns than to running the business. To alleviate this risk, managers of the private company can partner with investors of the public shell who have experience in being officers and directors of a public company. The CEO can additionally hire employees (and outside consultants) with relevant compliance experience. Managers should ensure that the company has the administrative infrastructure, resources, road map and cultural discipline to meet these new requirements after a reverse merger.

Conclusion
A reverse merger is an attractive strategic option for managers of private companies to gain public company status. It is a less time-consuming and less costly alternative than the conventional IPO. As a public company, management can enjoy greater flexibility in terms of financing alternatives, and the company's investors can also enjoy greater liquidity. Managers, however, should be cognizant of the additional compliance burdens faced by public companies, and ensure that sufficient time and energy continues to be devoted to running and growing the business. It is after all a strong company, with robust prospects, that will attract sufficient analyst coverage as well as prospective investor interest. Attracting these elements can increase the value of the stock and its liquidity for shareholders. (For more, read our related article A Guide To Spotting A Reverse Merger.)

by Marv Dumon, (Contact Author | Biography)

Marv Dumon serves as a mergers and acquisitions advisor for a middle-market financial services firm specializing in industrial and energy companies. He maintains established relationships with more than 500 mid-market private equity firms. He also serves as a national business and finance columnist for Examiner.com. Dumon's background includes experience in consulting, finance and operations with several organizations including two S&P 500 companies. He received a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

SEC filings: http://www.sec.gov/  or  http://www.edgar-online.com/  

Charts:  http://stockcharts.com/    or  http://www.stockhideout.com

Pinksheets:  http://www.pinksheets.com/index.jsp

The DD Machine:  http://www.ddmachine.com/default.asp

Yahoo Finance: http://finance.yahoo.com/

Quote Tracker:  http://www.quotetracker.com/index_nn.asp

Better Business Bureau Online: http://www.bbbonline.org/ 

News Boards:  http://www.stockwatch.com/  or  www.cnbc.com/  

Business Wire:  http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?front_door=true&headlineSearchConfigBO=v....

Learn about Options:  http://optionmonster.com

SEC Form Types and Definitions  http://www.gsionline.com/support/formtypes.html

20 GOLDEN RULES FOR TRADERS:  http://www.investopedia.com/

Corporate Bankruptcy:   http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/bankrupt.htm

CYBER FRAUD: http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/cyberfraud.htm

 *****Disclaimer:*****
Opinions expressed on this board are just that. Opinions. We are not a licensed brokers. Trading strategies discussed on this board are often high risk and not suitable everyone. If you are losing money in the market, you may wish to seek the advice of a licensed securities professional.  No one is responsible for your gains or losses in the market except you!   If you follow stocks,and or strategies discussed on this board, you may lose all your money. Please weigh the strategies discussed here carefully against what you are willing to risk.  Please do your own due diligence before buying or selling any security in the open market, there are no guarantees.   Posts about other users and their motivations for posting here (i.e. basher, pumper, flipper) are TOU violations, and will be removed. Continually posting the same or similar information will be removed.  Terms of use REQUIREMENTS OF IHUB can be found at this link: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/complex_terms.asp