Replies to post #12 on OTC-BB Index (fka OTC-Ind)

[Bob Zumbrunnen]

No. I'm the anti-Scam. <g>

OTC-BB's used to be my main thing and I dabbled in one or two in the past couple of years, but they're not my thing these days. I'm more conservative.

I don't have anything against OTCBB as a whole and think an astute, experienced investor with an aggressively speculative mindset can do quite while in them if he doesn't mind doing real research and can handle getting burned from time to time when even real research doesn't show him a problem. And while a lot of people would likely disagree with me, I've rarely been LTB&H on BB's. To me, they're trading stocks. Heck, most are, to me.

It's kinda like options. Upside can be multiples of your money, downside can be every penny of it. And though a good 40% of the options I ever bought expired worthless, the profits made from the other 60% (often an opposite position) more than offset the losses.

The only "problem" I've ever had with OTCBB is the companies in which shareholders want only to cheer on the randomly-named horse they've bet on and ignore anything that doesn't support their optimism. ("That horse has a broken leg, you fool!" -- "Shut up, basher!" <g>)

In many cases, the companies themselves (directly or indirectly via promoters) are responsible for getting that mindset established, and usually for the purpose of picking pockets.

Heck, I was just gonna cite FTEL as a BB I traded very profitably for a long time, and that later ended up on the Amex (I quit once it got there. No trading opps because it just sat), but I see now that it (FCM) has been halted for 2 months. Lordy!

So, no, I don't hate OTCBB. I hate scams, hype, deaf cheerleaders, and people who call the decisions of others mistakes without saying why. And people on both sides of such discussions who lack the intelligence to attack the viewpoint rather than the person.

And it tends to gravitate toward stocks that are cheap, regardless of the exchange or market they're on, because too many people who don't have the experience or resources necessary for that kind of speculation put all their eggs in the one basket and say a prayer.