NeoMedia Technologies, Inc (NEOM)

[jonesieatl]

OT: OT: OT: re: TS

Maybe he is being vewwy vewwy quiet as his fellow stock "commentators" nearly get subpoenas.

LOL, just kidding, but that Overstock/Cramer/Greenberg thing is a HOOT! Is Patrick Byrne a nutcase or what??!!

by Herb Greenberg
TENAFLY, N.J. (MarketWatch) -- What a wild time! First we have the subpoenas from the SEC for info from me and my Dow Jones Newswires colleague, Carol Remond.

Then we hear Jim Cramer also gets a subpoena. Then we get news that SEC Chairman Chris Cox is claiming no knowledge of subpoenas.

Then we get Overstock.com restating several years worth of earnings, and saying in an SEC filing that "management acknowledges the implications of the misstatement on the effectiveness of the company's internal control over financial reporting ..."

No wonder Overstock's president, Patrick Byrne, is working overtime alleging a conspiracy among short-sellers, hedge funds, research firms and the press. His company is in turmoil, but that's something short-sellers had figured out long before it became evident to the public.

The hostile reaction to warnings, such as those often reported with great professional confidence in this column, is typical. People and companies rarely complain if I write something positive. But write something negative and all hell often breaks loose. Nobody wants to hear the other side of the story.

Yet when it comes to investing, there can be nothing more critical than knowing why somebody is on the other side of a trade.
Sometimes they're merely selling a stock they own because they think it is too pricy. Other times they're selling stocks they have borrowed.

It's completely legal (unless they're selling shares that don't exist) and it is part of what makes this market efficient.
I believe it was Warren Buffett who said Rule No. 1 is to avoid losing money. Rule No. 2 is to never forget Rule No. 1.

As simple and elementary as that would appear, however, that's counter-intuitive, especially to the average investor.
Human nature is all about making money, not avoiding losing it. Yet the smartest investors put risk before reward.
That's where the shorts and others who are critical of public companies come in.
They poke and prod the underbellies of businesses, dissecting their financials, business strategies and even the quality of management. (Imagine that! Questioning management!)

Management personality and characteristics, including intellectual honesty, can be as telling as anything. Overstock may be the most current example, but it's hardly the only one.

Remember the bullying by Al Dunlap of Sunbeam? Or the famous "a-hole" comment by Enron's Jeff Skilling? Or how about Tyco International's Dennis Kozlowski?

This is all part and parcel of what happens when you air a company's dirty laundry, whether it is fraud, the reality that the company is little more than a fad or just pointing out that earnings quality is starting to erode.

Are there crooked shorts? Sure, just as there are crooked longs and crooked executives. The trick is separating the good from the bad. That's what I attempt to do, and I'm proud of it.