MURPHY IS A SLEAZEBALL, LIAR AND CHARLATAN!
There, I got it off my chest.
Just got a letter from him, or more to the point, a promotion from "Michael Murphy, Editor, Technology Investing." It's sent out from a publisher in Maryland, and probably wasn't even meant for CTSL subscribers. Probably got me off a mailing list.
This is almost too good, so I'll pass on some key points:
It's a new magazine. Edited by the guy we all love to hate. They will sell me a subsciption for only $130 for the first year (12 issues). Some of the quotes from the promotional mailing are priceless:
"Within the next few years one biotech company I follow very closely will announce the stunning news: They have found how to make the 'immortal genes' switch cancerous cells off in our bodies...
What do you think that stock will be worth 8 hours after the announcement?"
Dunno myself. But if he's talking Geron, it's gotten plenty of publicity without him. Seriously, his letter keeps their name a "secret" while simultaneously quoting a NY Times article about them...
"Brazil, China and India are now awarding contracts to build their first nationwide digital wireless networks...But the fastest growth in this area is with providers of microwave frequency services...Our favorite has a growth estimate of 39.9% a year over the next 3 years."
Cool. A company that can estimate it's future growth to a tenth of a percent. OK, it's a pretty good business, but give us all a break.
"The future already belongs to a computer company you've never heard of. Run by one of Silicon Valley's great legends, Ken Oshman, this company has developed the standard for the 'intelligent' home."
Did I miss something? Got to wonder why I haven't read about this one in CTSL...
"What's better than one Microsoft? TWO Microsofts!...It's pretty clear that the only way for Microsoft to overcome its own success and rid itself forever of monopolist accusations is to split into two companies. Investors will have a choice (I'll tell you which to choose when the time comes), but if you buy ahead of the news you'll have a wonderful ride."
Duh. Guess that's why he's stayed out of it so long.
"Profits from Y2K?...The truth is no one's making much money. But another computer glitch that's been totally overlooked will strike down computers worldwide in the next 12 months."
OH NO! Please don't tell me he's going to buy into the September 9th, 1999 bullshit. The basic idea is that many programmers use a string of 9's to signify an end of record, so obviously all computers will fail on 9/9/99, right? (Ignores the fact that it's pretty much always '090999' or '990909', nobody stores month or day as a single digit.)
"One company now has the technology to reduce the size and weight of your car battery to something like the size and weight of a bottle of water...The Big Three car makers are thirsty for this new technology...and only one company owns the patents and can produce it."
Sounds an awful lot like the hype I've heard on the Valence (VLNC) thread. A total scam. And another company which I'm surprised we haven't heard about in CTSL if it's really so good.
He also lists the last 10 stocks he sold and how much they made for him:
1) Seagate 23.3%
2) Level One 83.4%
3) Applied Materials 169.9%
4) Ontrack 112.8%
5) Credence Systems 104.7%
6) Premisys 146.2%
7) Read-Rite 68.3%
8) StoreMedia 55.1%
9) Brooktree 42.0%
10) Lumisys 75.7%
Is it just me, or does that list look slightly "modified" from the recommendations he's given out in CTSL?
Oh and by the way, if you subscribe now, you'll also get special reports:
* This Changes Everything: 5 technological breakthroughs that are about to redefine out world and give investors windfall profits.
* What every investor should know about Y2K
* Miracle Drugs, Miracle Cures: Building a pipeline from the world's most advanced laboratories to your bank account.
* How to Profit from the Coming Internet Shakeout.
* What Nobody is Telling You About Microsoft, Intel, IBM and the Big 12 Technology Stocks Everyone Owns.
As if this weren't enough, the whole mailing is peppered with quotes from Hulbert, et al, talking about how great Murphy is. Maybe there should be some dates on those quotes? How about it Mike?
And how about a date on the enclosed article reprint about Murphy and how great he is. Doesn't even say what magazine it's from.
Bottom line. Murphy's exhausted his current subscriber base. He's completely lost it and we know it. So he off fishing for a bunch of total suckers. Probably pitching it to the uninformed and undereducated, like the woman who I've corresponded with over the years who's lost more money than she could ever afford to in ROSS because of his crappy call in a national magazine.
This new letter offers no more substance than the endless promotions I get in email and hardcopy from a hundred others who claim to have all the answers. In just a few years he's gone from successful stock picker to complete joke. Maybe he should just retire to that Llama farm of his...
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