Vaso Corporation (VASO)

[thesmalls]

Mgmt remains out to lunch and hostile towards shareholders. Not ironically, they blame pissed off and frustrated shareholders for their lack of communication.

Peter Castle let Netwolves go in the tank and then orchestrated a private takeover for pennies on the dollar before unloading that to Vaso for a hefty payout. Ma said several.times that deal was accretive (as well as the rest of their acquisitions). Yet, they have lost money every quarter since and the GEHC division has been the ONLY sector to actually make money.

Another huge selloff at multi year lows and mgmt is once again silent.

[OBrien]

No idea, someone apparently gets a kick out of selling $2 worth or shares to get the price low...
Obviously no one believes in the company but at under .02 I added a lot. 2Mil Market cap is worth the risk for me. Own well over 2M shares now.

[PithicusKong]

Wherefore art thou Obrien? ....please explain to me: Who or what entity sells 200 shares @ .012c......for a value of $ 2.40, what logic is behind such a trade? Is this company ready for the compost heap?

[PithicusKong]

They should send it to them in the form of a certificate to hang on their office wall...preferably over Ma's desk. A reminder of his crappy performance.

[eecpfan]

S&P Global Market Intelligence gives Vaso a "D" rating -- its absolute lowest.

How many quarters now has the company been hiding the results of its $18 million purchase of Net Wolves from one of its own directors?

Before the purchase Vaso had about $14 million in cash. Today it has close to just $2 million.

The company released its first quarter results yesterday. Was there an announcement? If yes, I haven't seen it yet. But why bother, the results are so poor. But why bother from management's side, if Ma can keep drawing his inflated salary and the chairman and/or compensation committee do nothing. Hey, isn't that fiduciary breach -- a CEO continuing to take a salary that's grossly disproportionate to the corp's financial results and the fiduciaries who should rein it in instead just acquiescing?

[PithicusKong]

Looks like a long recovery....if any. Stock beaten up pretty badly.

[thesmalls]

Not for management. They again did VERY well while the shareholders got kicked inthe groin (again). SG&A remains horribly bloated and STILL increased though only "less than 1%."

Cash is now down to $2MM. What was it before Netwolves acquisiton...? $13-15MM? Didnt Ma tell us the Netwolves acquisiton would be accretive? What happened? Just like Mobicare, Biox and the rest.

Still ZERO mention of the stock price in PR. They quit doing CCa after the quarterly because they never had an answer for that. Instead, they blamed the unrest on stock flippers. Bunch of BS.

[PithicusKong]

Financials are out.....another tough year.

[thesmalls]

Sorry - I meant Joshua instead of Simon.

[thesmalls]

My understandung of thw corproate governance around estates and transferring of shares is suspect at best but how it was explained to me the survivors of the estate could liquidatetheir holdings individully without being subject to being an insider/5% rule assuming they individually did not inherit more than 5%. It is murky at best. Tht being said, there has been undeniable, systematic liquidation for years since they have passed. Dempsey had the $6MM payoff disguised as a stock buyback but those shares would have been absorbed years ago. The current insiders havent filed Form 4s. So - where could that many shares be coming from...? Unfortunately, I have over 1MM reasons to hope your scenario is correct (Simons interests lining up perfectly with common shareholders). However, if that is the case nd he is a saavy businessman- WTF is he allowing his company to be systematically robbed through ridiculously bloated SG&A and get the virtually same summary quarter after quarter...? Why does he not clean house and remove the pigs from the trough?

The company generates enough cash to pay salaries and bonuses and thts it. Every acquisition they made they claimed was accretive. Yet, they havent made money from since 2013(?). Netwolves brought revenue but still isnt producing earnings. When are those synergies supposed to bear fruit?

I would love to go back to being positive but I just am not seeing it. Why would Simon let this continue with his ownership/control? He makes very little as a BOD member vs what his stock could be worth. What gives...?!

[PithicusKong]

Excellent...thank you.

[eecpfan]

On your (Small's) comment that the selling is coming from the (Simon) Syrbnik estate:

It appears you are mistaken on that point. First, his estate qualifies as an "insider" since it holds more than 33% of the issued and outstanding shares. SEC regs require all insiders (officers, directors and anyone holding 5% or more, by my best recollection) to make a filing with the SEC within a certain number of days of purchasing or selling shares. Second, the executor of his estate is none other than our Chairman of the Board, Joshua Markowitz. (Simon and Joshua were brothers-in-law. When Simon died, his wife, Joshua's sister, inherited all or the vast majority of Simon's shares. When she died a few months later, Joshua was appointed executor of her will, under which Joshua and member(s) of his family inherit all/most of the proceeds.)

Since there have been (as far as I can see -- someone double-check) no SEC sale-related filings by either the Syrbnik estate or by Joshua as executor, you have to assume that none of the selling involves shares that Simon purchased.

But bear this in mind: Joshua Markowitz now in large part controls this company, because Simon's estate owns 33% of the company and Joshua controls the estate. Corporate governance dynamics get funky, but when you own 33% you can usually place a majority of board members who support you on the board. Which means he can throw some of the board and/or some or all of the management out if he chooses to. Or keep everyone intact. The point is, he's nearly absolute kingmaker here. Simon was before him. But Simon, a brilliant businessman in his prime, no long possessed the will or energy to act in his final years. Decades younger than Simon, Joshua remains at the height of his powers and is a savvy attorney. One can only assume that he will do what is best for the shareholders because of his family's collective ownership interest in 33% of Vaso -- i.e. because his wife and son stand to inherit the shares owned by Simon's widow that she inherited from him, as I recall.

Then there is question of his brother Louis's estate and its ownership of 27% of the outstanding according to the latest proxy statement. If Simon and Louis's estates worked together, no question they could do anything they want to the company. But it's not clear how much the executors of each are or are not in agreement on how to run Vaso.

The question then remains: Who is the source of the selling? Apparently not the estate of either Simon or his brother Louis. The larger point in my opinion, however, is that there is now someone at the helm whose interests perfectly align with ours as common shareholders and who possesses the capacity to act to further them, where Simon did not.

eecpfan
eecpfan

[thesmalls]

There are a lot of longs that have been holding since the 30s, 20s, and teens that believed the company. The only thing that makes sense on the volume/blocks for sales is the late Syrbnik estate liquidating positions. Only positions large enough to keep selling for that long and that systematic. Its possible the selling is finally coming to a close and MMs are rearranging rhe deck chairs.

Next question is who is buying. The average daytrader/swingtrader simply cant afford to tie up that much cash on a stock with the history VASO has had last 4 years. That suggests a more motivated buyer with a lomger term hirizon. Possibly someone that is being fed more info than the shareholders at large.

Or - could just be more manipulation to suggest the end is near and bring in new buyers to keep dumping. The Netwolves mgmt tanked that company and then took it private. Same trend could be argued here.

[PithicusKong]

Personally I think this will have a hard ride up considering the amount of shares that have changed hands in the .02's and .03's....those buyers will be looking to dump those shares for profits from doubles and triples with relation to their original purchase price. Maybe I am wrong but the amount of longs in this stock could be very low.

[nycusa12]

looked like buy

[PithicusKong]

What was that 300 shares at .069c ? Possibly a typo on buy entry?

[nycusa12]

is the tide turning ???? i hope so it's way overdue , GO VA$O

[PithicusKong]

Nice...but I am involved as much as I want to be considering the other stocks that I own. Let's hope the tide turns soon.

[OBrien]

Still averaging down some. Picked up that block at .03 this morning.

[OBrien]

Added again at .0255-.026..

There seems to be a pick up in both GEHC advertising for the “ Centricity” viewers along with a big push on networking.
VasoTechnology has been consistently hiring over the last few months. It will be interesting to see if I.T. sales are ramping up.

[OBrien]

Looks like a good buy so far!

[PithicusKong]

I increased my holdings last week at .026c It remains to be seen whether it was a good move or not. It has been lower that my purchase price. Have a good weekend and March break if it is applicable.

[OBrien]

Been a buyer again the last couple days at .025-.027
4Mil market cap is crazy low but still not without risk.
We need to see that they are still capable of producing a profit.
Q3 wasn’t terrible so maybe they can improve that in Q4.

[OBrien]

Should be out end of March...way past due for a good Q4

[PithicusKong]

Still getting beaten up....thought the new year might bring some renewed interest to the upside. When is updated financial info due?

[OBrien]

Yes, Ive traded some shares here and there but still holding.
A good Q 4 sure would be nice to see...

[PithicusKong]

Are you still in this O'Brien. I went to school with a Michael O'Brien....but that was like a hundred years ago in grade 3, I believe.

[PithicusKong]

I just cannot get over the huge trade volumes just about every day....how the hell does one explain this? The economics of these trades do not make sense.....it has to be a broker messing around with the stock because the broker costs of the trades exceed the value of the trades themselves. ?????

[OBrien]

Came across this which I believe came out last week...

https://www.innovationhubusa.com/vasotechnology/

[thesmalls]

I think between them they controlled 60-70MM shares. The sellers seem to be consistently selling since they passed. The heavy selling started in high teens or low 20s. Assuming they avg around 9-10 cents across that time - that is $9-$10MM. If the estate is contested, they may be liquidating for cash value. Who knows. Clearly the sellers are NOT Interested in long term potential or maximizing SP sells. It remains a liquidation.

Current Q once again shows a ridiculously bloated SG&A line that is largely traced back to the bloated overhead in mgmt.

[OBrien]

Again a small improvement from last Q. Havent dug in to the 10Q thoroughly yet but did see the IT segment backlog is now $14.8Mil. This is up from $12.4Mil in Q2 and $10.2Mil in Q1

[PithicusKong]

T.D.Waterhouse daily chart is all screwed up today.....it initially showed the previous mentioned .0320c for 300 shares as I mentioned....now it shows a couple of thousand at that price and 300 at .0390c. Would be helpful to have accurate trade values especially from a large institution like T.D.

[PithicusKong]

It's almost pitiful to watch the action today......125,000 has moved at almost .04c and the last trade that I can see was for 300 shares at .0320c.....what the hell...that's a $ 9.00 trade. What is going on with this stock O'Brien? Why would an individual do that......it doesn't make sense.

[PithicusKong]

I see the 3rd quarter results are out......they seem to be surviving OK.

[PithicusKong]

Is there any reason why the Syrbnik estate would want to keep shooting themselves in the foot by dropping the share price constantly? After all the lower the price the less the estate gets on the sale. Is there some kind of tension between current management and the Syrbnik clan.

[PithicusKong]

I see the downward slope...but this has been a penny for years. It's not like it came down from $10.00.....If it is the Syrbnik's.....why the constant selling....family dispute, need for money? It's not like the money retrieved from the sale of stock is producing income like a big lottery win. Are any of the Syrbnik's living hand to mouth? I don't know much, if anything, about them.

[thesmalls]

Tax loss selling...? Have you looked at the 5 year chart...?


The selling has gone on unabated for years . More than likely-from the Syrbnik estates.

[PithicusKong]

Is this early tax loss selling or has some fundamental of the company changed?.....other than management having little or no skin in the game.

[PithicusKong]

Unfortunately it was a forged Picasso.....

[PithicusKong]

Yes, I see that.

[OBrien]

Dunno, but someone is taking the opportunity to paint a little lol

[thesmalls]

ASK has adjusted back down. Not quite where it was at but in the same ballpark. Apparently an anomaly or this is being manipulated which doesn't appear to be the case.

[thesmalls]

No news I can find. Also bizarre to have it that wide and the ASK th that far away from normal an hour after open. One offer at $0.0618 for 16K and next is 14K at $0.104. Been consistently 6-7 offers of the same amount for weeks. Why were they all pulled prior to market opening where an oddball could bit at 0.12?

[PithicusKong]

Why the spread this AM?

[PithicusKong]

There is a "V for Vengeance" on this stock.....miniscule trades at miniscule trade prices. $ 50 trades just don't make sense, and no word from the company as why this process is occurring. Someone must know the reason for this aberration.

[PithicusKong]

Someone on another board had mentioned share signals that are used by brokers to signal what they or their clients want...such as 100 share trade supposedly meaning shares wanted but no drop in price....it that actually correct. I understand that the signals are in increments of 100 shares up to a 500 share limit.

[OBrien]

That’s been happening on both sides for a long time. Someone what’s it on a higher price and someone else wants it low.

[PithicusKong]

Hey O Brien.....can you explain today's first trade.....why would an individual pay .05c when there is obviously more shares available at a lower price. Considering how this has been trading ( not sure if trading is an appropriate word ) why would someone automatically do that and then watch the ask drop as it has done many times in the past and then see it trade at the bid which is considerably lower. It's almost as if someone is willing to spend a couple of hundred buck to artificially inflate the price knowing full well that the ask will drop.

[PithicusKong]

Is an individual or MM trying to purposely drag this down....a trade for $ 140 What person would actually do that?

[PithicusKong]

Some interest today.....not a lot but a rise none the less on positive volume.