I think your description of their PR machine is dead on. As you know, I was on Exobox for the longest time to crank out the information. As always, I was rebuked on this site, often with some bizarre reasoning (if that's even the right word). Apparently, some people believe that no news is good news. Totally mindless.
I've never in all my years of investing come across a seemingly legitimate company with such a casual approach to self-promotion. It's just plain weird.
In any case, I've yet to see a reason to be either encouraged or dismayed to the point of giving up. I'm rapidly approaching the point of throwing in the towel, but I'm not quite there yet.