Here's my response, Goldfinger:
This is aimed exclusively at the brokers at First United Equities, and not at ASTN or its management. I acknowledged years ago that the First United guys were a bunch of sleazeballs. The period involved - 1995 - 1997 - preceded ATG's SEC approval, and numerous other SEC approvals since then (including in recent weeks). None of this relates to the period after the initial SEC approval (1999) when you first became aware of the stock. The indictment mentions ASTN as a stock they were manipulating, but does not begin to even suggest or imply that ASTN was aware of or assisted in the manipulation.
Everybody who knew anything about First United would agree that they were, in fact, classic "boiler room"-style brokers and may well be guilty of the things they are accused of. I think all of the other companies listed in the story were fly-by-night, and are now "gone" -- it appears Ashton was the only legitimate company First United was ever associated with. It also appears that the "manipulation" described relates back to the period near the IPO (1996) and is focused exclusively on the boiler room brokers.
I don't see anything in the story suggesting that ATG or its management had anything to do with this -- no indictments, no report of co-conspiracy, etc. If there was, surely that would have made it into the story. The fact that you fail to point this out, and essentially imply guilt by association, once again reveals how shallow you are when you look at things like this.
Think about this: The fact that ATG's system was SEC approved, and continues to obtain SEC approvals (as recently as a few weeks ago), reinforces the conclusion that the company is totally legit, that its operations have been scrutinized over and over and over again, and that this story, though troublesome in a "guilt by association" sense, does not really say anything about the present -- nothing to be happy about as an investor, but hardly the big deal you seem to be making of it.
At this point, with eVWAP showing volume bursts (including a 7 figure volume day earlier this week with only 3 or 4 users, and none of the giants who are hooking into the system) and otherwise continuing to do all of the things necessary to be successful (including maintaining sufficient resources to operate for another 1 1/2 years without revenue -- which are now starting to roll in), I think this story is more of a nuisance than a real problem. But that being said, I hope you guys figure out a way to short this. The scorching you will take in the next few months as you scramble to cover at these levels will help fuel a much zestier recovery.
BTW - It is entirely possible that some will react to this story by selling stock, and you and your circle of so-called "truth squad" compadres will no doubt short sell, which may affect the stock price in the very short term, but again, I do not think what a bunch of sleazy boiler room brokers did 4 years ago is going to mean squat next to the accomplishments this company has achieved, and will continue to achieve in the future.
JMO, as always.
MST |
