Patrick Cox writes an expensive newsletter in which he identifies companies he believes are "Gamechangers". BTX and NNVC are but two of several. Below is an update he shared with subscribers last month (found this on another board). The link you posted reminded me of this, so I wondered if it's part of the problem he identifies below.
January 19, 2011
Don't Sell BioTime: Huge Profits Coming
Dear Breakthrough Technology Alert Reader,
I'm sending this unscheduled alert out to you today primarily to get the headline above circulating. The last couple of days have been extremely interesting, though a bit distressing. I'd like to tell you about them.
As I've told you in the past, breakthrough biotech companies are a favorite target of short attackers. Because new technologies are often confusing to people who do not take the time to study them, it is possible for unscrupulous groups to spread uncertainty and panic among many investors.
If you've spent any time at all on the message boards at investment sites, you know the kinds of nonsense that I'm talking about.
The more transformational a technology is, the easier it is to get people doubting it. Take, for example, NanoViricides (OTCBB: NNVC). This company's remarkable technology combines nano-sized polymer structures with biological ligands -- nanoviricides. The ligands "signal" to the target viruses that they are inside human cells. The viruses attack these nanoviricides and are, in turn, dismantled and harmlessly removed.
I know this sounds like science fiction.
In fact, the company has proven the technology over and over in conjunction with some of the world's most important scientists. It's real. It works, and it will revolutionize the way medical science deals with a broad range of viruses. Viruses, incidentally, are only now beginning to be truly understood. It appears, in fact, that they play roles in conditions we never suspected, ranging from obesity to chronic fatigue syndrome. So NanoViricides' future is vast.
Nevertheless, there is a minor industry based on convincing investors that NanoViricides is some sort of hoax. For a long time, if you did a Google search on the company name, the top paid search results were screaming claims that the company was a scam. If you searched my name, it often returned accusation that I was part of the NanoViricides scam.
I wish, by the way, that I did own part of NanoViricides. I am prohibited by my arrangement with Agora Financial.
Dr. Eugene Seymour told me that he had tried to contact Google about putting an end to this slander, but could never get a response. Google's informal corporate slogan, by the way, is "Don't be evil."
Anyway, there are several reasons that people might attack a company in this manner. Some are probably simply trying to sell a report about NanoViricides, or at least get credit card information from people foolish enough to fall for the trick.
Sometimes, however, these tactics are part of a broader short attack. Many of you know, in fact, that these short attacks are taking place because you have been offered money to "rent" your shares. I hear about it constantly, and this does not happen to just NanoViricides. The last time I reported it, Pro-Pharmaceuticals was being targeted.
In general, the greater the company's potential, the more attractive it is to short attackers. If a company has generated a lot of "buzz," it is likely that a lot of "traders" have decided to buy shares. These people often know nothing about the company's management, technology or market potential. They're just surfing trends.
As a result, groups that specialize in short attacks can manipulate them. These groups are expert at spreading rumors. They seem to have people planted on the boards who can say just the right thing at just the right time to trigger a stampede.
When I lived in Silicon Valley, I knew quite well the man who was then Steve Jobs' CFO. He frequently described his job in terms of warfare. I was skeptical at first, but he convinced me that a group of people were waging war against him and his company. If he didn't fight back, they would succeed.
Why would anybody attack a company run by Steve Jobs? They did so because sophisticated traders, as you know, can make money by driving a stock price down. In the age of the Internet, with the means to reach millions of investors, this has become a serious problem. Normally, I try to ignore these attacks because they usually don't hurt the companies they attack. They hurt the investors who sell their stock at low prices.
I've been hearing for some time about a massive short attack coming on BioTime (AMEX: BTX).
One source tells me that a group has spent $35 million so far in preparation for a big drop in price, at which time they would acquire the underpriced stock and fulfill their short orders, making a massive short-term profit. I don't worry about BioTime, because the company's IP and potential are so amazing.
I do worry about investors, however, who might fall prey to short attackers. The attackers are engaged even now in psychological warfare against BioTime. We've talked about this in the past, and I'm confident that you won't fall for it. Unfortunately, I've learned that my last weekly alert has been used to spread misinformation about BioTime to others.
Specifically, as you will recall, the headline was "A (No Rush) Sell Order & a Review of BioTime's Cardiovascular Therapy." I don't always write my headlines. I'm not very good at it, and other people on my team are. But I did write that one. Therefore, it distresses me to find out that it is being used by some to say that I've issued a sell order on BioTime, instead of API Technologies (OTCBB: ATNYD).
Since the headline of my alert is "outside the firewall," people apparently read my headlines and try to figure out what they mean without subscribing. Who knew?
Anyway, the rumor is spreading that I've issued a sell order on BioTime. In fact, as you know, I'm more excited than I've ever been about the company.
For years, Dr. Michael West has been making history, but it's been largely in the area of research. Finally, he has begun the process of bringing what amounts to a nonsurgical heart and vascular system transplant to the market. As I've previously explained, the market for this therapy is nearly unimaginable. Several years ago, I predicted that the company would someday rival the Big Pharma companies that dominate the medical scene today. I'm more convinced now than ever.
Anyway, you already knew this, but I wanted to make it clear. I'm putting this alert out so the headline will help counter the effort being made to cast doubt on BioTime.
Incidentally, tell your brokerage firm never to rent your shares of any stock.
Yours for transformational profits,
Patrick Cox
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