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TO ALL THOSE WHO THINK WRITING THE SEC IS NOT WORTH IT:
Every investor that writes to the SEC and mentions NSS issues will be heard,they will get a case number and a form email back.They are investigating what they will and are sworn to secrecy until all is unravelled and charges are laid to the guilty partys.The more case files that are started the more grease the squeeky wheel gets,if it doesn't squeek,why fix it!!! I wish every investor would start to care about thier investment and do what they can!!Even if they were to take my form letter and just submitt it for thier own,with thier own name on it.I have sent my letter to all parties I could think of..ie..US Senators,US representatives,NY govenor,SEC,SEC-oiea dept,SEC-Jim Daly,US President, US Vice-President,NY Attorney General,US Attorney General....Did I miss any one???
COME ON EVERYONE GET BUSY!!!
KEEP IT UP RIGHTY!!!! I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET THIS MESSAGE ACROSS FOR A WHILE. I EVEN WROTE THE WHITEHOUSE, AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL...SEE BELOW:
TO THE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES with cc: to VICE PRESIDENT @whitehouse.gov
Subject-- SEC Reform--Executive Order 12866
DEAR SIR: I am sending to you today information on the inside workings of one of our supposedly more responsible regulatory agencies since theSEC has decided to suspend from trading 35 companies in a massive crack down on investment spam.Since your executive order has been accepted operations have been put in place to implement "Operation Spam-alot". In its latest round of closures it has crippled these 35 companies more than it will ever do them good.Please allow me to share the comments of a group of investors from IHUB- EQBM message board,some 80- 100+,who are now injeopardy of loosing everything they had ever invested. The average investor needs to be protected from many sources and our opinion the SEC is this protector. Thanks...
Recently the SEC announced 'Operation Spamalot' during which the trading of 35 companies was halted due to what they stated was repeated spamming campaigns. I am a shareholder in one of the company they have targeted, Equitable Mining (EQBM). From publically available information, myself and other shareholders of EQBM can find no reason why EQBM was included in this effort. By one site's account, only 8 spam e-mails have ever been recorded for EQBM, the latest of which was over 14 months ago. On the other hand, the SEC has looked past 19 of the top 20 recorded spam offenders, some of which number in the 1000+ offenses in e-mails. To date, the SEC has been unresponsive both to EQBM's shareholders and to EQBM's CEO as to the real reason why they suspended trading of this company, and is why the shareholders have now turned to their representatives to try and find some understanding in their actions. I appreciate any information that you or your staff may be able to provide regarding this matter.
Apart from the devastation the SEC's actions wreck on the shareholders and companies, there is mounting evidence that Operation Spamalot is a hoax. Possibly to deflect some of the attention placed on the SEC because of recent "stock shorting" scandals.
Please note that most of the stocks on the list (including EQBM) do not spam in any significant way. At the same time, many more heavily spammed stocks are ignored by the SEC.
See, for instance, this link:
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=17725043&txt2find=spamnation+
This link compiles the spam emails of stocks on the SEC's 35 offending companies and compares it to spam emails received by stocks generally. Only one of the SEC's 35 is among the worst offenders and four have sent ZERO spams! (Note: EQBM is very low on the list with only 8.)
I would ask you to note that even the SEC does not claim that the companies themselves sent these spam emails, but that they are the victims of “boiler room” operations. Thus honest companies and small honest investors are devastated while no action whatsoever is taken against the accused perpetrators.
I ask finally that you note the small size of these companies as compared to the fanfare and press exposure the SEC has given itself. I submit that, far from protecting investors, the SEC has merely rounded up the usual suspects in an effort to mask the fact that it is not fulfilling its role as regulatory watchdog and it has done so to the financial detriment of many small, honest investors.
It appears that the SEC's motives for the suspension were not on our behalf, rather the opposite, akin to the DTCC's chill on the Soma divis. ie: That powerful people were caught in NSS in the divi snafu, and the suspension may provide a means for them to cover EQBM cheaply on the gray market, and possibly cover Soma divis if EQBM suspension concerns can downdraft SA1.
Call it conspiracy theory if you like. But also consider this week's conviction of Scooter Libby. Corruption exists in gov't, always has and always will. And money & influence buy corruption.
Also contacted in this matter:
Senator Charles Schumer (D- NY) 202-224-6542 202-228-3027 http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/contact/webform.cfm
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D- NY) 202-224-4451 202-228-0282 http://clinton.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm
Representative Michael Arcuri (D - 24) 202-225-3665 202-225-1891 http://arcuri.house.gov/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm
Also The U.S. Attorney General's Office
Date:3/11/2007
EVERYONE READ THIS:
Folks out of curiosity I just completed an exhaustive six hour research project on the 35 companies suspended for trading.The results are unbelievable and yet anyone can retrace the steps I took and confirm it for themselves.Of the total number of companies, only a handful, only four, were really operating an apparent business and not scams in my opinion.
All thirty one others were total scams and bs companies, many of them had no current ihub board whatsoever and most of them had no ihub activity following its progress and no posts for up to six months from any investors. So it is dubious to think that these absolutely dormant stocks were targets of spam campaigns, no freaking way is that true,in my opinion this entire SEC action was designed to hurt just four companies and hide that fact by including thirty-one others who have no real business operations.The funniest result which became apparent is that all four were suspected of having massive naked short seller positions,and in fact all four had recently taken some action which if left unchecked could create serious problems for the NSS crowd,for example, one company decided to reverse split big time, but not just the outstanding shares. ALL of the authorized and outstanding is apparently being reverse split,another company announced a symbol and cusip change which is an obvious problem for shorts.Another issued a dividend, trading on a foreign exchange several months ago and to this day the DTCC has failed to deliver the actual dividend certificates because simply said "there are not enough certificates to go around based on what the brokers claim to have in their customer accounts" so the DTCC said it "chilled" the dividends until further notice, wow, "chilled"(EQBM) anyone can verify my research by simply going down the symbol list from the SEC announcement and check the ihub board for each, then spend some time researching the stock, its press releases, its posting history and whatever you can find on pinksheets.com. You will soon realize what I just realized, this whole thing is one of the biggest scams I have ever seen perpetrated on innocent investors and small emerging companies, no less by the SEC.It was vey cleverly designed to try to camouflage the real intent by including these handful of companies in a larger mix of scammed companies and thereby trying to hide the obvious from the public.Again, the stated reason for the suspension, which was clearly identified by the SEC as spam campaigns that could hurt investors is a bunch of krap,over half the companies on that list were not actively followed by any investors and the vast majority of them were dormant forgotten pieces of junk that no one was interested in and the few that were included, all four of which had real business operations and intentions for success were all targets of massive naked shorters.But don't take my word for it, do the research yourselves and see,
I just hope that this blows up in their face bigtime, I am looking forward to watching the NSS special on Bloomberg TV at 7PM Eastern on Tuesday, I hope they rip into it really hard.
ONE MORE TIMELINE THEORY:
1. Overstock spear headed this NSS issue and everyone thought the CEO was crazy and that NSS/FTD's/phantom shares did not exist.
2. Then the SEC finally admited that the NSS issue could exist but only a very small amount.
3. Then the SEC came out and said that it does happen more than they thought but not near as much as indicated.
4. Then the SEC came out with REG. SHO.
5. Now we have recently had the SEC issue a grandfather clause on all the NSS prior activity. Thats because they know they can't prove it, and don't want to get caught with their own pants down.
6. Now you have the SEC being pressured to overturn the grandfather clause.
7. Throughout all of this, we can see that these NSS companies were seeing some covering by the shorts, but no big deal because the public hadn't really caught on.
8. Then, we can see that as time went on and the public caught on, those NSS companies stock would jump rather big when the shorts started to cover.
9. Then, we can see that even more NSS companies were addressing the issue in even beter ways and the stock would jump huge when the shorts covered! This was due to retail X shorts buying the shares at the same time.
10. Then we started to see those companies being moved to the "greys".
11. Then we started seeing the brokers not allowing trading on these companies.....I think it was Pavis that went HUGE!!
12. Now we see that these NSS companies are having their trading suspended before they even get the chance to push/force the NSS to cover!! HMMMMMMMM
13. Can anyone imagine the ramifications IF the SEC/DTCC/Government/markets were to be exposed as to how long and how big this theft on the American people has/is????
14. This is why I believe the powers that be have been/are trying to kill this movement before it heats up too much more!!
15. The shareholders/companies involved in this NSS debacle NEED to contact the right people! Such as John Q Quinn/ Bob Obrien of the "Sanity check"/ Dr. Decosta/ and anyone else with the power/voice that can make things happen!!!
SSSOOOO BBBBEEEE IITT!!!
WHAT'S WRONG,KITTY KITTY DON'T LIKE THE PURPLE KOOLAID???
EST TU PARLES FRANCAIS?? I was born in New Brunswick,Canada...Lived on the english -french boarder and learned it but have not used it since my jour de college a montreal...College Militaire Royale de St. Jean.
IMO the SEC has had a hand in this so far to keep it from trading after the suspension.I think they are still investigating the NSS issue.Here is my second letter to SEC:
Dear Mr. Smith:
Thank you for your email and for taking the time to alert us to your concerns.
We take your email as a request to investigate short selling in EQBM.
We will carefully consider your request for an investigation. But at this
point, our office can do nothing further to help you. This is because the SEC
generally conducts its investigations on a confidential basis and neither
confirms nor denies the existence of an investigation until we bring charges
against someone involved. We cannot provide you with updates on the status of
your complaint or of any pending SEC investigation. We know this policy can be
frustrating, but it protects the integrity and effectiveness of our
investigative process and preserves the privacy of the individuals and entities
involved. Our policy is more fully described below.
Once again, thank you for writing to us.
Sincerely,
ROBERT T GREENE
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(202) 551-6331
INFORMATION ABOUT SEC INVESTIGATIONS
Each year, thousands of investors ask the Securities and Exchange Commission to
investigate the activities of other investors, financial professionals,
corporations, brokerage firms, investment companies, stock exchanges, and
others. These complaints generally suggest some impropriety or misconduct and
sometimes make a plea to the SEC for direct assistance in resolving a grievance.
The SEC has the authority to investigate whether violations of the federal
securities laws have occurred, and we make every effort to evaluate promptly and
thoroughly the information provided by investors. But we cannot investigate
every investor complaint. While many investor complaints do lead to full
investigations and, if appropriate, to enforcement actions, we cannot guarantee
that our review will lead to further investigation or that the SEC will take any
legal action.
We also cannot provide you with updates on the status of your complaint or your
request for an investigation. The SEC generally conducts investigations
confidentially for two main reasons. First, we can conduct investigations more
effectively if they are not announced publicly. For instance, important
documents and evidence can be destroyed quickly if people hear of an
investigation. Second, we keep our investigations confidential to protect the
reputations of companies and individuals if we find no wrongdoing or decide we
cannot bring a successful action against them. The SEC will not typically
confirm or deny the existence of an investigation unless, and until, it becomes
a matter of public record as the result of a court action or administrative
proceeding.
When there is proof that someone has violated the securities laws, the sanctions
may include financial penalties, orders to surrender profits, cease and desist
orders, or an injunction by a court to prevent further violations. The SEC may
also bar individuals from working for a securities firm, investment adviser, or
investment company. We can also ask a federal court to bar individuals from
being officers and directors of publicly held companies. In some situations, we
may refer a case to the Department of Justice for possible criminal prosecution.
The SEC publishes news releases about its lawsuits and administrative actions,
and the news media often report on them. You can read and download the SEC's
""Enforcement Actions"" on our website at
www.sec.gov/divisions/enforce/enforceactions.shtml. Or you can obtain hard
copies by contacting us at:
Office of Public Reference
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, DC 20549-0102
Phone: (202) 551-8090
Fax: (202) 777-1027
E-mail: publicinfo@sec.gov
From: A.HOWARD SMITH [mailto:a_howardsmith@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 9:50 AM
To: Help; PublicInfo
Cc: OIEA
Subject: NAKED SHORT SELLING---A CRIMINAL THIEF
Dear Sir: I am writing today about the case that was started centering aroun
EQBM(Equitable Mining) of which i am a shareholder.I feel your recent suspension
of this stock has and is promoting a very different picture to us as
stockholders and to the rest of the investment community.Below I have included a
recent stock informational paper taken from another stocks attempt to make it's
shareholders aware of what they are facing as a company.I assume that you are
fully aware of the ramifications if this paper were to be released to the
investing community as a whole. The small investor who after reading this would
think twice before joining the ranks of the criminally defrauded investors who
trusted that things were as they seemed to be in the markets.
>>>>If you haven't read this, and wonder what is happening to EQBM, I encourange
you to compare what is written here with what you are observing on XTMS.
Advanced Small Business Alliance (ABSA) Position Paper
SHORT SELLING COMBINED WITH FRAUDULENT STOCK MANIPULATION
Submitted by Gregory J. Halpern – CEO, Circle Group Holdings, Inc.
Mr. Halpern is the Director of the Midwest Regional Chapter for the CEO Council
August 12, 2005
Small Business Hurdles
The millions of small business professionals that own and operate small
companies in this country produce a majority of America's private gross domestic
product, most of the taxable revenue to the treasury, and most of the new jobs
every year. Between 1990 and 1995 they created 76 percent of America's new jobs.
In 1998 alone, this sector created 31 million new jobs in nearly 900,000 new
companies. And this trend is expected to continue. A crucial component of our
domestic economic engine is the ability to create funding through access to the
capital markets. Everyone who owns or runs a publicly traded small business
knows the hurdles that they must overcome in order to make their business
successful, including obtaining funding, completing all of the regulatory
filings, competing for market share, and compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley with the
outrageous cost burden it imposes, to name a few. Small public companies, and
many others with the goal to get to the capital markets accept all of this, plus
long hours, late nights, and weekends as what it takes to grow their business,
improve the world with their products and services, and create wealth for
themselves, their employees, their shareholders and the economy.
But small public companies and their shareholders are facing a severe problem,
and they are looking to the Securities & Exchange Commission, the Justice
Department, and the F.B.I. to help them get urgently needed relief. The problem
is that short selling is being intentionally combined with fraudulent stock
manipulation to destroy the value that small American businesses in the capital
markets work so hard to achieve. The points contained in this position paper
have tremendous merit for all small public companies but it must be pointed out
that it was written with a bias because our company, Circle Group Holdings, has
been under constant attack from a well-organized group of criminals for over a
year and a half. Our management team and employees, who are all owners of the
company’s stock, are tenacious, tough minded, fighters of injustice, with
multi-faceted business experience and backgrounds in martial arts. Thanks to our
intestinal fortitude learned from these backgrounds, we have survived the
attacks, and fully expect to survive any additional attacks. From early 2004,
until the present, Circle Group has successfully battled its attackers by
getting several public web sites and chat boards to remove malicious phony
content, getting a protective court order and winning motions on cutting edge
Internet jurisdiction issues. We found out through this experience that one of
our attackers is now a defendant in other securities matters and is currently
being prosecuted by the SEC for another unrelated stock fraud. Tragically, many
other small public companies have gone out of business. Still more will not
survive the attacks or mount any serious defense against the perpetrators who
work in hiding, often live and/or operate off shore, have completely phony
identities and are cloaked by the anonymity of the Internet.
For additional perspective our company, Circle Group Holdings has a legitimate
natural food technology solution for obesity called Z-Trim that was developed at
the U.S. Department of Agriculture over many years with significant amount of
taxpayer dollars. Many anonymous attacks have been made against the company and
its personnel in particular saying that Z-Trim is a scam. Except for bashers, no
one on the planet has even suggested that Z-Trim invented by one of the world’s
most influential agricultural scientists, is a bad invention. Yet the bashers
who attack the company, post numerous outrageous lies about Z-Trim. It is
amazing that the number one health problem in the world today is obesity, and
this outstanding technology could reverse the course of this devastating
disease, yet here is this group of criminals posting lie after lie with their
only goal to destroy the value of the company’s equity and shareholder value.
Many innovations and inventions that could have benefited humankind will never
get to market because of the companies that were destroyed by these criminals.
When just looking at approximately 5000 small and micro-cap companies that have
an average issued and outstanding share total of 40 million shares, and
multiplying that by an average $5 loss on share value, we estimate the losses to
investors to be at least a trillion dollars annually. The number is probably a
lot higher when you factor all the other companies attacked and then lost jobs,
potential new economies of scale that never develop, lost capital markets
formation, increased cost burdens on government and families to support those
individuals wiped out, lost individual and corporate taxable revenue to the
treasury, lost improvements to our lives from innovation that does not occur,
and lost investor confidence in the emerging markets as well as erosion of the
American Dream.
Therefore, the primary objective of this Position Paper is to provide valuable
information and suggestions that if heeded, and if existing laws are enforced,
will help countless companies and their shareholders avoid suffering this fate
in the future. Without help, many companies will not survive, and many more will
have their shareholders’ value severely damaged. The criminals who perpetrate
the attacks being discussed here are bold, well organized economic terrorists
who commit securities fraud daily, without punishment, and who benefit immensely
from the technological advances of the Internet and the economics of regulatory
authorities who are challenged to justify the cost of pursuing these crimes.
After a miserable half decade in the capital markets, if the economy is to ever
improve in a noticeable way, this problem must be fixed. While serving large
corporations to better prevent rampant fraud exposed in recent times, Sarbanes
has not served small business in any way to restore investor confidence in the
market as evidenced by the lack of capital market investment and investors
continued knee jerk reactions to nearly every piece of daily news. The good news
is that the legal system in place, if utilized as suggested herein, already
provides the ability to remove most of the current network of criminals from the
capital markets and restore investor confidence, thereby stimulating many other
areas of our economy.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN???Never seen any pictures??She and Larry both sent us video clips ,hers was at valentines day.And Larry's was later,nice shades!!!Maybe he has problems at the airport.Don't know!!
Your problem is you think you need news everyday,wake up this is not CBS,or FOX channel...this is pinky land,where there is no requirement for regular updates.I believe we have been getting all kinds of news and the topics are wide spread,read -n-weep or just wait for a real development to finally happen and be reported.Larry is trying to handle it all and you keep shooting at him with your big mouth and meanwhile the rest of us are left to cleanup your mess and try to push this stock to those who want to make a fortune...GIVE US A BREAK<<<PUT UP OR SHUT UP<<<
sorry, i might be too harsh...i'm waiting too.
YES, SOME OF US FELL FOR THE HYPE(LIES)SHOULD BE TURNING THEM IN TO THE SEC...FOR FRAUD AND THEFT...THEY WILL PROBUALLY SQUASH IT AND TURN OVER TO ANOTHER TICKER SYMBOL AND DO IT AGAIN.COME SEE ME AT EQBM FOR MORE INFO...
I'M HOLDING ON TO MY MILLION SHARES, MAYBE SOME DAY I'LL BUY/OWN THE COMPANY.
TAKE YOUR CONCENTRATION OFF OF LARRY AND POINT IT TOWARDS THE SEC...WRITE YOUR LETTERS AND BE SPECIFIC.THEY HAVE TO READ THEM AND IT COULD RESHAPE THIER POLICY.SEND THIS ALONG...
http://www.advancedsmallbusiness.org/positionpaper.htm
READ IT FIRST, THEN TALK ABOUT IT...DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING .
Righty, you are such an admirable foe that he keeps coming back for another jab.After reading that stock paper with all the frauduallent dealings it occurs to me that you guys run a really tight ship not allowing bashers to get thru the cracks.My congrats to you...THANK-YOU Seems like other boards should rise up and fight as hard to keep thier PPS.
hey murphy: send us the info you have,address we'll lookin to it...and let you know
THANKS,DERF1,For your kind word of encouragement...here is a congressional letter you could send to your representative:
TO:
Recently the SEC announced 'Operation Spamalot' during which the trading of 35 companies was halted due to what they stated was repeated spamming campaigns. I am a shareholder in
one of the company they have targeted, Equitable Mining (EQBM). From publically availableinformation, myself and other shareholders of EQBM can find no reason why EQBM was included in this effort. By one site's account, only 8 spam e-mails have ever been recorded for EQBM, the latest of which was over 14 months ago. On the other hand, the SEC has looked
past 19 of the top 20 recorded spam offenders, some of which number in the 1000+ offenses in e-mails. To date, the SEC has been unresponsive both to EQBM's shareholders and to EQBM's CEO as to the real reason why they suspended trading of this company, and is why the shareholders have now turned to their representatives to try and find some understanding in
their actions. I appreciate any information that you or your staff may be able to provideregarding this matter.
Apart from the devastation the SEC's actions wreck on the shareholders and companies, there is mounting evidence that Operation Spamalot is a hoax. Possibly to deflect some of the
attention placed on the SEC because of recent "stock shorting" scandals.
Please note that most of the stocks on the list (including EQBM) do not spam in any significant way. At the same time, many more heavily spammed stocks are ignored by the SEC.
See, for instance, this link:
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=17725043&txt2find=spamnation+
This link compiles the spam emails of stocks on the SEC's 35 offending companies and compares it to spam emails received by stocks generally. Only one of the SEC's 35 is among
the worst offenders and four have sent ZERO spams! (Note: EQBM is very low on the list with only 8.)
I would ask you to note that even the SEC does not claim that the companies themselves sent these spam emails, but that they are the victims of “boiler room” operations. Thus honest
companies and small honest investors are devastated while no action whatsoever is taken against the accused perpetrators.
I ask finally that you note the small size of these companies as compared to the fanfare and press exposure the SEC has given itself. I submit that, far from protecting investors,
the SEC has merely rounded up the usual suspects in an effort to mask the fact that it is not fulfilling its role as regulatory watchdog and it has done so to the financial
detriment of many small, honest investors.
It appears that the SEC's motives for the suspension were not on our behalf, rather theopposite, akin to the DTCC's chill on the Soma divis. ie: That powerful people were caught
in NSS in the divi snafu, and the suspension may provide a means for them to cover EQBM cheaply on the gray market, and possibly cover Soma divis if EQBM suspension concerns can
downdraft SA1.
Call it conspiracy theory if you like. But also consider this week's conviction of Scooter Libby. Corruption exists in gov't, always has and always will. And money & influence buy
corruption.
Also contacted in this matter:
Senator Charles Schumer (D- NY) 202-224-6542 202-228-3027
http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/contact/webform.cfm
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D- NY) 202-224-4451 202-228-0282
http://clinton.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm
Representative Michael Arcuri (D - 24) 202-225-3665 202-225-1891
http://arcuri.house.gov/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm
NOTE: It is by no means original for this comes from 3 of the best posters here on ihub.I just compiled and arranged it for my liking...So go ahead shove it in thier face...maybe something will come of it...
"NEVER TRUST THE GOVERNMENT TO DO ANYTHING THAT MAKES SENSE"
THE OLD WISE MEN SAY" IF IT DON'T MAKE SENSE,THERE'S A BUCK IN IT SOMEWHERE"
HERE IS SOMETHING THAT WAS SENT TO ME ABOUT THE GENERAL MARKET CONDITIONS THIS DOES HAVE A BEARING ON EQBM NOW THAT DALIAN IS IN THE PICTURE...
From : Robert Edwards Sent : Monday, March 19, 2007 4:25 PM
: Is it over yet?
Dear A howard,
Over the last couple of weeks, I've gotten many calls from
subscribers asking about the market and if the pullback will
end soon.
At Schaeffer's, our goal is to help you make money,
regardless of market conditions. And our Research team has
put together the detailed report below to give you our take
on the recent market events.
This is a very important report and I encourage you to give
it a read right now. They've even included a link at the end
to a chapter on Money Management from our Home Study Program -
very important in today's environment.
If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call.
Robert Edwards
Schaeffer's Consultant
********************************************************
"Is it over yet?"
That question is perched on the tongue of many investors
right now following the violent swings the market has endured
during the past few weeks. After a three-month pullback and
consolidation in May through July 2006, the market rallied
with the predictability of a metronome. From its late-July
low, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) gained more than 19 percent
before tagging a multi-year high of 1,461.57 on February 22.
As investors review their portfolio holdings, they are left
wondering if the market will repeat itself this time and
rocket higher as it did in July 2006. Or do we have more
downside to endure from here? We'll soon touch on where we
think the market is headed from here, but first, let's
discuss the reasons for the pullback.
Reasons for the Pullback
From that February peak, the SPX has dropped approximately
6.7 percent to its low reached on March 14. The recent drop
in the broad market can mostly be attributed to two large
factors that have been prominently featured in the media:
the "Asian Contagion" and the ongoing subpime saga.
The ball started rolling on February 27, when the Shanghai
index endured a single-session plunge of nearly nine percent
on fears that the Chinese government would impose a series of
policies that would work to dampen speculation in the country.
Concerns in the region quickly shifted to Japan, as the yen
continued to rally against the various major currencies.
This had a painful effect on the export-dependent country, as
overseas earnings could be seriously hurt by the more
valuable yen. A stronger Japanese currency makes exporters'
goods more expensive overseas while lowering the value of
overseas sales when they are converted back into yen.
This rally in the yen has been fed by the unwinding of what
is known as the carry trade. For more than a decade,
investors have profited by borrowing yen at ultra-low
interest rates and using the funds to buy higher-yielding
investments based in other currencies. However, a variety of
hedge funds, insurance companies, and mutual funds have
started to exit those bets, which involves buying back the
sold yen to repay their loans. In the process, they've
sparked a sharp rise in the yen.
A second factor weighing down the broad market has been the
ongoing subprime lenders' woes. The steady rise in interest
rates has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of
mortgage defaults and delinquencies across the country,
particularly among subprime loans. In fact, on March 14, the
Mortgage Bankers Association said the rate of homes entering
the foreclosure process hit a record 0.54 percent and the
delinquency rate on U.S. home loans leapt to 4.95 percent
from 4.67 percent three months earlier. The rise was led by
subprime mortgages, where delinquencies increased to 13.33
percent from 12.56 percent, and FHA loans, which saw a
record-high delinquency rate of 13.46 percent.
At the center of much of the fervor has been New Century
Financial, which in the same week not only announced that it
was no longer accepting new loans, but also that all of its
lenders under its short-term repurchase agreements and
aggregation credit facilities had either discontinued their
financing or notified the company of their intent to do so.
Meanwhile, Accredited Home Lenders announced that it may look
to raise additional capital and cut more jobs, while
continuing to negotiate with its bank lenders about extending
funding.
Overall, while not totally unexpected by Wall Street, the
news from this group has shaken a number of financial
institutions and sent ripples of weakness throughout the
broad market.
How to Position Yourself with Options?
We'll soon get to where we think the market is headed next,
but first I wanted to look at how you can take advantage of
this increased volatility by adding a new level of trading
diversity to your portfolio in the form of options.
There are three important reasons why options are a great
investment vehicle.
1. Limited dollar risk and limited dollar exposure
As an option buyer, you benefit from being able to control
the movement in a stock for just a fraction of the cost of
purchasing that stock. Typically, it will cost you
significantly less to purchase one call contract, versus the
100 shares of the underlying stock that the same call
contract controls. Plus, you can never lose more than this
modest dollar amount. As a result, you can keep the bulk of
your investment dollars in the safety of cash, where it is
immune to the wild and often scary swings in the market.
2. Leverage
You can achieve percentage gains from your successful options
investments that are five, 10, and even 20 times the gains
achieved by stock or mutual-fund investors.
One example would be if you bought a December 125 call on the
Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts (SPY) on July 18, 2006 -
when the broad market reached a bottom. This call could have
been purchased for around $5 per contract. If you held that
option until expiration, the call would have been worth
roughly $17, allowing you to lock in a profit of more than
200 percent.
3. Profit in Bull and Bear Markets Alike
This is certainly a claim that none of the traditional
mutual-fund families can make, and it is at the heart of why
experienced options traders have profited in volatile
markets. Even if your outlook for the market is bullish, you
can add a new layer of diversity to your portfolio by holding
a few put positions. Puts enable you to achieve leveraged
profits with limited dollar risk when a stock declines in
price.
One of the more popular uses for options is as a hedge
against positions already held in an equity portfolio. If
you're concerned that the market may fall during the next
several months, but don't want to sell the stocks in your
portfolio, you have two choices. First, you can acquire
"portfolio insurance" by purchasing index put options. For
example, a portfolio heavily exposed to technology stocks can
be hedged by purchasing put options on the Nasdaq-100 Trust
(QQQQ). In the simplest terms, put options will rise in value
when the underlying index falls in price. Therefore, some or
all of the losses sustained due to the decline in value of
the stocks in your portfolio are offset (or partially offset)
by the increase in value of the purchased put option.
The second way you can hedge is by purchasing puts against an
individual stock that you already own. This is called buying
a married put. For example, if you don't want to sell a
certain stock, but you think it may fall during the next few
months, you could purchase a put option on that stock. Should
the stock fall, your put option will increase in value and
offset (or partially offset) the decrease in value of your
stock position.
If you would like to learn more about hedging your portfolio
with put positions, including the calculations you would make
for those hedges, please click on the following link to a
page in the Education section of SchaeffersResearch.com.
http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/schaeffersu/options/general/using_options_for_hedging_purposes.asp...
Where Do We Go from Here?
While sitting before your computer screen, watching the Dow
Jones run through triple-digit gyrations on seemingly daily
basis, it's easy to forget that we've been down this road
before. In May 2006, the SPX pulled back roughly eight
percent from peak to trough on concerns very similar to some
of the ones we are seeing today. From that low, the index
went on to rally more than 19 percent before hitting a peak.
Now any investor worth his salt will be quick to remind you
that past performance is no guarantee of future returns, but
there have been a few developments recently worth
highlighting. The snap-back rally in the Dow Jones
Industrial Average (DJIA) on Wednesday, March 14 saw the
blue-chip barometer shift nearly 200 points from its intraday
low (below 12,000) to its above-breakeven close.
It was also very encouraging to see the CBOE Market
Volatility Index (VIX) sprint to a new calendar-year high on
this pullback. This move in the "fear barometer" serves as a
nice contrarian bullish signal.
While the SPX tagged a new pullback low, its intraday nadir
was less than one percent below its March 5 low (1,363 versus
1,373), so the VIX action potentially indicates a new spike
in fear that was far from fully explained by the underlying
price action.
Furthermore, much of Wednesday's action appears to be an
example of the market being punished, not for any new adverse
developments, but for the continuation of developments that
had already been beaten to death in the media.
Overall, traders have responded to the 2007 decline with
overwhelming pessimism. The 10-day moving average of odd-lot
shorting activity has not only taken out its second-quarter
2006 level, but it is now resting at its highest level in
more than six years. This spike in shorting activity comes as
the indices test longer-term support. Such activity might
exaggerate declines, but it also represents future buying
power that can help support an advance.
On the options front, put trading has been extremely heavy.
In looking at the put/call volume ratio for all stock and
exchange-traded fund (ETF) options across the front three
months options, we saw 11 straight trading sessions of
readings above 1.0. This is by far, the longest consecutive
days streak going back to 1999.
Furthermore, the financial media has been filled with
analysts commenting that this pullback is only the start of a
much larger drawdown in the market. By comparison, the end
of the tech bubble in 2000 was matched with unwavering
confidence by both investors and analysts that a bounce back
was just around the corner. As you'll remember, the SPX
continued to decline amid this optimism for roughly two years
before finally reaching a bottom in late 2002. On the other
hand, pessimism is swamping the current market environment
despite a smaller pullback and potential short-term bottom.
We maintain our bullish outlook for the broad market. But we
continue to suggest that you keep a solid 20 percent of your
investment capital in the safety of cash; the return on a
short-term CD is currently about as good as the average
dividend payout across the S&P 500 Index.
We view the current market as a huge opportunity for options
players. In fact, options were made for this very reason.
We think for the reasons outlined above that the market will
move substantially higher from here. However, these are
volatile times and volatile times call for options. If we
are wrong on our market call, options will minimize your
exposure to the market as they are a fraction of the cost of
the stock. If we are right, you can sit back and enjoy the
leverage and returns of 10-20 times your money.
During these volatile times, it is extremely important that
you adhere to strict money management guidelines when making
decisions regarding your portfolio. As a bonus to
subscribers, we have included a link that will take you to
the Money Management chapter of our "10 Days to Successful
Options Trading" home-study program. This chapter explains
key concepts such as diversification, allocation, and setting
appropriate expectations, along with providing other
important information.
http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/moneymgmt/
If you have any questions, please call toll-free
HEREis the ramblings of a mad investor,and the response from Mr.Daly's office, SEC:
Mr. A. Howard Smith
a_howardsmith@hotmail.com
Dear Mr. Smith:
Thank you for your e-mail to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and for
taking the time to alert us to your concerns in regard to the SEC’s suspension
of trading in shares of 35 companies, including Equitable Mining Corp., which
you sent as a result of your reading a bulletin board posting of the SEC’s
response to another investor on this matter.
Similarly, we welcome your comments because they help us to regulate and enforce
the laws that assure fair and orderly securities markets. We maintain a
database of information about the complaints and inquiries we receive. This
database allows us to track whether a troubling situation may be developing
about a particular issue, company, broker, stock, or other securities product.
The information you have provided will be reflected in our database.
In my e-mail to the investor who posted my response, I made reference to the
SEC's investigative policy. As to this policy, please understand that the SEC
generally conducts its investigations on a confidential basis and neither
confirms nor denies the existence of an investigation unless we bring charges
against someone involved. We do this to protect the integrity and effectiveness
of our investigative process and to preserve the privacy of the individuals and
entities involved. As a result, we are not able to provide investors with any
future updates on the status of their complaint or of any pending SEC
investigation. An investigation becomes public when the SEC files an action in
court or in its internal administrative process. The SEC publishes news
releases about its lawsuits and administrative actions, and the news media often
report on them. You can find information about public enforcement actions on
our website (http://www.sec.gov/litigation.shtml).
We know this policy can be frustrating, but, again, it protects the integrity
and effectiveness of our investigative process and preserves the privacy of the
individuals and entities involved. In sum, then, the SEC's response at this
time is limited to the trading suspension release
(http://www.sec.gov/litigation/suspensions/2007/34-55420.pdf) and the related
press release (http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2007/2007-34.htm) the SEC issued on
this matter on 030807.
I have passed your concerns on to the people at the SEC who specialize in the
issues you’ve raised. If they have any questions or wish to respond directly to
you, they will contact you.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to write to us.
Sincerely,
Jim Daly
U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Office of Investor Education and Assistance
100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549-0213
(202) 551-6340, (202) 772-9295 (fax)
oiea@sec.gov
________________________________________
From: A.HOWARD SMITH [mailto:a_howardsmith@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 4:28 PM
To: OIEA
Subject: EQBM AND OPERATION SPAM-ALOT
HELLO MR. DALY: I HAVE ALREADY READ ONE LETTER THAT WAS SENT TO AN INVESTOR
FRIEND OF MINE TODAY ABOUT THE SUPPOSED ACTIONS OF EQBM(EQUITABLE MINING CO.--PI
NK SHEETS) FROM YOUR OFFICE. HOW DO WE GET THE TRUTH???THE SEC HAS TURNED
COMMUNIST AND IS TREATING COMPANIES AS AN OFFENDER BEFORE PROVEN SO.I BELONG TO
A MESSAGE BOARD AND WE HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS STOCK WITH GREAT ANTICIPATION
FOR MORE THAN A YEAR AND THE SEC WILL BE CRUSHING IT UNDER IT BIG BOOT WHEN IT
IS THE NAKED SHORTERS THAT HAVE BROUGHT US TO THIS SPOT. YOU MAY HAVE A GAG
ORDER GOING AND REFUSE TO GIVE OUT INFO BUT WE ARE GOING TO OUR CONGRESSIONAL
REPRESENTATIVES ABOUT YOU UNDERHANDED DEEDS. THERE ARE MORE CONSTRUCTIVE WAYS TO
HANDLE THESE MATTERS. I AGREE, THAT SPAM IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE TO DEAL WITH ,SO
GET THE SPAMMERS!!!! DON'T CRUSH US. I HAVE 60,000 IN THIS COMPANY AND YOU HAVE
JUST CUT OFF MY HEAD. HOW CAN I FEED MY FAMILY IF YOU DEAL THIS WAY
INDISCRIMINATELY INSTEAD OF GETTING ALL THE FACTS FIRST. THERE ARE ABOUT 80 OF
US ON THE IHUB -EQBM MESSAGE BOARD,AND WE OWN THE WHOLE FLOAT!!!BUT THERE ARE AT
LEAST 118MILLION SHARES THAT ARE NAKED SHORTED AND WHEN ,NOW BECAUSE OF THE
SUSPENSION WE WILL BE THROWN TO THE WOLVES ON THE GREY SHEETS TO BE BATTERED AND
BEATUP AND ROBBED BY THE VERY ONES THAT CAUSED THE MESS IN THE FIRST
PLACE...MARKET MAKERS AND HEDGE FUNDS.
IN SHORT ,I COULD WRITE SO MUCH MORE HOW THAT I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS MOSTLY
BECAUSE OF A BRIBE TO TAKE AWAY VALUE FROM THE COMPANY JUST AS WE WERE STARTING
TO GET SOME MOMENTUM FROM VARIOUS ACQUISITIONS OF THE COMPANY AND OTHER THINGS
THAT THE CONGRESSIONAL REPS. CAN LOOK INTO .BUT IF THE FACTS ARE KNOWN THIS WILL
PROBUALLY JUST GET DELETED ON YOUR END...I GOT A COPY, AND MY SENATOR WILL HAVE
ONE TOO,AND OTHERS. YOU NEED TO DO RIGHT!!!YOU REPRESENT THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN
THE WORLD!!!THANK YOU AND PLEASE RESPOND BACK WITH OTHER THAN A FORM LETTER...
A HOWARD SMITH
________________________________________
read it a few more times.... all the info is in/on ihub MB somewhere as it has been mentioned many times.
NO,that is fine...it is all important .If we say it enough just maybe they will believe it.And BBBBBBBBuuuuuuuuuYYYYYYYY!!!
thanks kermit,i didnt know if anone had noticed that aspect of it....and kermit how can one get back and forth to the ibox with out going through the search page all the time(that's confusing),there must be an easier way with this software...
what was that??
righty, one thing has bothered me since I first saw the pictures of SOMA/tailings pond.I noticed that in on of the close up pictures of the lines that the building that housed that/those line(s) was without a roof.The rafters were there but no boards or of course no shingles.Seems like it has been shut down for a long time and suffered some damage.It doesn't show if either they had torn off the roof or of if even were is a stage of repair.I believe it was the farthest building away in the picture of the tailings pond. From what i have heard, the SOMA site has been reverted back to earlier rev. so you may not now be able to get a closeup of the line.
It is possible that the project has sat around for a long time waiting for some investor with capital to get it up and running again, and was started in one line only(in the good building).
I know! You fail to see the revelance of this.
When art was talking about dak not knowing of Larrys business practices and that they would probually not sign seeing the SEC actions ,it seems obsurd to imagine this with the extended time Larry was in contract negotiations with Dak. And ,of course, Larry got a much better deal than what we thought was going to happen,possibly because they had been shut down so long.
I had other things to saybut was called away from my computer for other things...
Hey there is someone there!!!! I thought i was all alone, to man the ship. I went over to Stockhouse MB,and i think I picked a fight with herscu1. It seems like they have no idea what's going on over there so I have some info for them. There old posts but still good news to know...good night going to bed
You should do the same!! Get your beauty sleep...
go to former post#33851...read what Larry has to say about it. Then go back even further to post#33372. Just what I tell my homeschooled girls,"Read the directions first and you won't get it wrong" so.... read the posts don't ask others.
TO herscu1: see I'm here, and I got some info for you.Come on over.EQBM will make it!!!
Oh yes, letme go see what I have left of those emails...
That's a possibility for sure but did you notice how he did it,sending an email to an outsider! could it just be to stop him from corresponding any further? Or could you sense a underlying hurried atmosphere? Probually reading to much between the lines!!!We don't know!! A good question for Larry!!BTW have we received any more updated news from Larry??
EDIT: Oh yes, Couch. Do you keep up with any other message boards like StockHouse.com? I just ran across that one just yesterday and haven't figured it out yet...
GENTLEMEN,GENTLEMEN AND MAY I STRESS GENTLEMEN...Please lets only keep with the truth,Jim decided to go ,he resigned,let's remember this and not spread rumours...He simply wanted out and left(supposedly - we are not sure for we are not there)
Get a job, do something constructive but don't spread rumours.This is just like bashing,only will cause more problems... Thanks
JR, Do you know what changed on SOMA site? Maybe Jim took back his latest rev.when he resigned??
ok.patience,Larry releases a PR...What does he say???SEC lied about spamming,currently in talks about NSS issue,tell shorts to run for cover come out fighting,only time will tell if we get what we want,JIM didn't like exposure,(anything else?)
Haven't you watched any tv? counter-intelligence always appears without intelligence!!! Do you want to give our position away ?? Some one used to show a quote by Sun Tsu,months back. It said,(i paraphrase)"if able appear unable"
DO you get my drift?? Did IPKL admitt to charges? I have not looked??
patience send me an email,my email address is public,I should like to ask you a question...thanks
one to add to the email list : "shorts won't cover,talking to sec about it.
KERMIT:The agreement was made with SOMA in mind and we were first told that Actel/DAK partnered with SOMA and now it's stated that EQBM gets 35% of pie.Am I missing something???did we purchase DAK or are we partners still???Maybe Larry needs to answer that and clarify it for all of us so were on the same page.
HELLO: Kermit are you home today or do you have to work a day job?I'm looking for work now but not very successfull so i didn't mean to degrade you by this...SORRY.
kEN: THE latest is that the certs will be sent out in our name by mail as i understand so what they are listed under as far as in the accountis not the most critical info. what matters is what they list them as on the cert.Anyone refute this if you have a better understanding of things???
would also be nice to know when they will be sent out!!!
Once again,righty, I cannot private message you, but was my tos of arturo not legal.His statements were a character asassination of Larry, and I remember from some posts that he sent that described his passion to get back at Larry, that is my estimation is wrong according to the ihub rules.
Hello all: A while back in the posts Senator Charles Schumer was mentioned trying to reform NY markets and here is a piece from his home page
http://www.schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/record.cfm?id=267787&&year=2007&t....
He is teaming up with Mayer Bloomberg under the guidance of the governor,Elliot Spitzer. Good reading if you have the time(only affects NY at this time)
hey, Senator Charles Schumer is my senator and I could not
sleep last night so I wrote him and sent some info on to him
before I even knew this today.I will send him some more to
read.
Have you written your representatives or congressman yet???The sec needs reform before it gets worse...
KERMIT What do you mean "the sec talk is off subject" Where do you draw the line with this?? IMO the sec is the problem for roughly 10 days plus(who knows how long)...
does anyone have any recollection whether there was a released company pr stating anything about the Minanca Mine?? i read arty's post from U of H,and it was a collection of statements put together by some publisher not directed by the company at all...could be all falsified facts.!!
HEY ,YOUR UP TODAY!!!Hit 10 and stayed, lets cellebrate(pun intended)!!! Yes ,I'm new been holding for years doubled down, again and again finally close to making a profit.BTW BSWB can I ask how and where you got that little robot...sure is cute.I spend my day on eqbm,you know just over a few streets.Didn't know you were here.I'll keep checking back every once and a while ,kind a looking like a run could be forming,and I wouldn't want to miss that.
For anyone who's wondering were battling with the sec over there and it's good to take a walk away some times....real solid opportunity,got good news coming soon but suspended by sec but company not responsible for any spams sentout if any.We couldn't locate any...I'm just rambling on...bye
Umsatz -- "sales/return/turnover" == daily volume
returns?? like fails to deliver??after T+4 returned no sale?anyone know??
that may be a good plan but think of this ...Would this be the first company to go from the grey sheets to a Global exchange overnight. Also, it would make trading much harder as we would all have to setup and maintain an international acct.it was mentioned a 1soma :10 eqbm share restructure today,seems fair.And ma shu hua today mentioned either by mrs.hui or about her words "restructuring" was mentioned so i sent to her about that.Last plans for meeting to sign and give downpayment for dalian set for Paris to save on visa issue that was mentioned today.Many things to think about................
rhubarb: if i were you i would just let him go if he sees that no one will come back(stoop to his shoe top level) and argue with him then eventually he will stop wasting his time. that would be a great day for EQBM but probually a long time coming with as much negative mooking as he has.righty stayed up into the weeeeeee hours shovelling it all back to that kind of crap and he is worth way more than that.I was ashamed to see that he went sooo far out of his way to try to set someone straight that doesn't even want help.HE'S A GOOD MAN!! but wasting it on swine. Remember "don't cast your PEARLS before swine"...my opinion but it works with children...
SOMEONE should have got to the TA today and talked to ron about our divis since Larry said that they would be sent out in paper form instead of markers.maybe also check with reorg dept tdameriturd and have them try dtc again
might have been able to catch them with thier hands in the pie....humblepie.
HEY BOB: BECAREFULL WITH THESE NEWS REPORTERS THEY ALSO HAVE AN AGENDA THEY ARE PUSHING.If you check out this story it is really 2 stories intertwined together. our suspension and another from yesterday listed on sec website of previously released news items. They are not related. I just sent off a stinging letter to the writer who possibly may be getting them mixed up.Watch them they are sly,trying to degrade the suspended companies...eqbm does not fit the mould of what the story of the suspension says. For us it's a matter of news and NSS situation...