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Super Hero Fashion Guide
http://www.joecartoon.com/videos/953-super_hero_fashion_guide
FORWARNED IS FORARMED
The following is copied from Barron's, November 13, 2006 issue. It should be of interest to penny-stock investors. I added the bolding in the second paragraph.
Fred
TECHNOLOGY TRADER
By BILL ALPERT
A Dubious Inheritance
AS THE INTERNET EATS THE LUNCH of the print media, I fret for investors who might someday find themselves with only online sources to inform them. I have an obvious self-interest in print journalism, but so do investors. With rare exception, television, Websites and blogs still don't do the deep reporting needed to prove a stock under- or overvalued. And the Internet is still populated by bogus news sites like CEOcast.
Before YouTube was a twinkle in its founders' eyes, the CEOcast Website (www.ceocast.com) was hosting video investment clips and e-mailing newsletters about small-cap stocks. Like a boiler room broker, CEOcast's newsletters start out talking about the market and large-cap stocks like Disney or Cisco Systems, then switch suddenly to penny stocks. You've got to read the newsletter's fine print -- or filings at the Securities and Exchange Commission -- to learn that CEOcast is shilling penny stocks in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and shares. But those disclosures still don't tell you what you need to know about an ersatz news site like CEOcast.
Three years back, I reported evidence that CEOcast was run by a big-time financial felon named Michael S. Wachs ("On the Internet, a Second Act," July 28, 2003). In 1997, Wachs had pleaded guilty to diverting $20.8 million in assets as an executive at Chase Manhattan Bank. He made restitution, served 11 months in federal prison in Allenwood, Pa., and agreed to be barred from the banking and brokerage industries. As I reported, CEOcast and Wachs told me that Wachs didn't own or control the firm. Instead, ownership and control rested with a fellow named Kenneth Sgro.
Well, this past April, Sgro died. In a lawsuit recently filed in a New York state court, Sgro's widow, Olga N. Starisky, presents documents suggesting that CEOcast was and is controlled by the felonious Wachs -- contrary to CEOcast's documentation filed with the SEC and the IRS.
Indeed, her pleadings in the suit include documents from Michael Wachs himself, indicating that he has enjoyed millions of dollars in annual income as a stock promoter, even as his 1997 agreement barred him from working on Wall Street. If the allegations prove out, then investors may want to do their own due diligence on longtime CEOcast clients like the drug-addiction treatment company Hythiam (ticker: HYTM) and Internet telephony firm Voip. (VOII). Neither Wachs nor his lawyers responded to inquiries I made over several days.
In an affidavit filed with her suit, Starisky says that Wachs has been the "de facto majority owner" of CEOcast and "has dominated all aspects of the company's management since its incorporation." Wachs' criminal history made him try to disguise his role, Starisky states. After the Barron's exposi, the company's federal tax returns increased Ken Sgro's CEOcast ownership from 30% to 99%, with the remainder purportedly held by Wachs' wife, Rachel Glicksman. But the bulk of compensation went to Wachs' wife -- who, the widow attests, was a no-show employee fronting for Wachs.
The little stock promotion firm was a great moneymaker. CEOcast tax returns show revenue growing from $3 million in 2002 to $5 million in 2004. So the majority ownership attributed to Ken Sgro would seem to be worth quite a bit. But after receiving letters from Starisky's lawyers, Wachs said he would buy out Sgro's interest in CEOcast for one dollar. In September, Starisky filed suit for an accounting, appraisal and buyout of her late husband's interest in the company.
As of last week, Wachs hadn't filed a response to Starisky's allegation that he is trying to "steal" CEOcast. But in an Aug. 18 letter to her lawyer, Wachs made some interesting statements. Wachs said that CEOcast had paid him and his wife $2.1 million in 2003, $3.4 million in 2004 and $3 million in 2005 -- while Ken Sgro's take declined over the same period from $205,000 to $131,000. The business had paid virtually no dividends. Ken Sgro's ownership was upped from 30% to 99% "at the company accountant's suggestion for tax purposes," with no money paid for the ownership change.
Attached to Wachs' letter -- according to the widow's pleadings -- were two CEOcast documents that seemed to support Wachs' claims. A memo dated January 2002 assigned 87% of CEOcast's profits to Wachs and his wife. All voting and management control resided with the couple. A second document, dated December 2004, said that if Sgro died, Wachs could buy out Sgro's survivors for $1, without giving them any bank deposits or shares held by CEOcast because Sgro "contributed an insignificant amount of revenue and played a nominal role in the development of the company."
In his own affidavit, the widow's lawyer, Kenneth L. Moskowitz, said that the December document was neither valid nor genuine. It had an unnotarized signature of Ken Sgro that was a forgery -- according to a handwriting expert retained by Moskowitz.
Regardless of whether the court leaves CEOcast in the hands of Michael Wachs, it's clear that investors shouldn't rely on information from him or his company. If the court filings of his partner's widow are to be believed, Wachs is a liar and a fraud.
And if Wachs' own claims in the current dispute are to be believed, then CEOcast lied to the public (and to me) in denying that it's been the instrument of a financial felon.
Yo!
I see Matt was in Toronto ...
You let him through your fingers??????
Fred
sorry...I'm going to my room now
A simple "Yup" response would have been adequate.
Fred
sure...once I find a bike
Go on. Ride off into the sunset.
Fred
Woo Hoo!
Shall I order my island now?
I forgot to tell you that I bot another lotto ticket for Soxy, you & me...I got this yesterday...
The National Lottery
International Relations Department,
15, High Hill Ferry,
London, E5 9HG
United Kingdom.
We are contacting you as a result of the annual draw held on 22nd Sept 2005, we wish to use this medium to notify you that your funds are ready for disbursement.
Good day,
From the desk of the Coordinator of The National Lottery, we are delighted to bring to your notice that you are one of our winners. Your email address was attached to leaflet number 0230/4879/0459, with online play raffle Batch number 50/73/11 drawn from over ten (10) million entires and consequently won the lottery in the 3rd category.
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system (a quantitative technique of random sampling) from Australia, New Zealand, America, Europe, North America, Africa, Middle East and Asia as part of International Promotions Program, which is conducted twice annually.
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay of £500,000.00 (Five hundred Thousand Pounds Sterling) in cash credited to Security file No. NL/25013/05 and lottery reference No. NL/55488. This is from total prize money of £4.500,000,00 shared among the nine (9) international winners in this category.
To ensure a smooth collection of your prize, you are to contact the Award Remittance Officer by email immediately you receive this notification email. Note that your funds are ready for disbursement as such you are expected to respond swiftly to facilitate the transfer of your funds as soon as possible. Please find his full contact details below:
Award Remittance Officer
The National Lottery
Name: Mr. Martin S. Henry
Email: awardoffice.uknl@compaqnet.fr
Tel/Fax: 00448709120648
Please provide the Award Remittance Officer with the information below for proper identification of our rightful winner.
1. Your full names:
2. Your address:
3. Telephone/fax numbers:
4. Occupation/age:
5. Amount won:
6. Batch Number:
7. leaflet Number:
8. Reference Number:
9. Security File Number:
Remember, you must contact the Award Remittance Officer not later than a week. After this date, your funds will declared as unclaimed and thereafter given out to charity, as a result of a breach in constitutional claim procedures.
Yours Sincerely,
Miss. Erica Simon
Secretary General.
The National Lottery
N.B. Expiring date for claiming your award is 7th Oct, 2005. Any breach of confidentiality on your part will result to disqualification. Do not reply to this email address, please contact the Award Remittance Officer.
LOL!
It took me awhile to find this post!
During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor
asked the Director what the criterion was which
defined whether or not a patient should be
institutionalized.
"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub,
then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket
to the patient and ask him or her to empty the
bathtub."
"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal
person would use the bucket because it's bigger
than the spoon or the teacup."
Scroll down for the answer
>
>
>
"No." said the Director, "A normal person would
pull the plug."
Do you want a room with or without a view?
BB6 is on....ttyl
steak works...lol
It just didn't look like something I would like. I had steak instead........and the best salad I have ever eaten!
why wouldn't you taste it? BBQ ANYTHING is great! lol
I'm getting tired running back and forth here!!!!
I'm not a big fish person.
She made it on the bbq
you're kidding? How about canned salmon? You can't buy salmon in NYC? lol I prefer meat & could eat that & days a week BUT this salmon was GREAT...just fry it up in a pan...but make sure it is WILD SALMON...
I couldn't find you!!!!!
I've never tasted salmon. My sister made it over the weekend and tried to force me to eat it. I didn't.
I had a great supper tonight...wild salmon...ever had it? Wifey made it with lemon pepper & fried it...even got leftovers for lunch
I moved from the neighborhood to the PALACE!
this is a must see...
http://www.storewars.org/tater_tot.html
lol, the guy's name is Scott Caruthers. A real fruitcake, like saving his fingernails weird. I'll send you a link sometime.
Maybe that's what Alan meant when he used to talk about "multiples"?
never heard that one...geezx...
Did I ever tell you about the space aliens that communicated through telepathic cats and commanded their cultists to conspire to commit murder stock story? The lead cultist CEO of CGYC was also a bigamist that married multiple high school girls. True story.
sounds like a plan alrighty...I'm surprised they couldn't put aliens in the from Ork spearheading all this...
it would make my wife goofy & I would be getting SHSHHD all the time...lol
You need that voice recognition for all that typing
and that roll aggravated my carpel tunnel...lol
Chu, you are on a roll...lol
Why do people say "tuna fish?" They don't say "beef mammal" or "chicken bird!"
Why do people sing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" when they're already there?
Should vegitarians eat animal crackers?
If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages?
If the cops arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?
If a book about failures doesn't sell, is it a success?