SCAMMOLA!!!!
11/07 15:55
Spectrum Brands Shares Soared on 'Anti-Anthrax' Flashlights
By David Evans
Hauppauge, New York, Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Spectrum Brands Corp. stock tripled this week after the company began selling a $139.95 portable flashlight its Web site claims will kill anthrax bacteria.
``Wipe-out surface germs in less than 5 seconds, including anthrax bacillus,'' goes Spectrum's sales-pitch for the battery- operated ultraviolet flashlight, called the DeGerm-inator.
While Spectrum shares surged -- from 79 cents on Nov. 1 when it became an anti-terrorism company to $2.75 yesterday and $2.38 today -- the flashlight's manufacturer warns the germ-killing device shouldn't be sold as an anthrax destroyer.
``That's not right,'' said Jon Cooper, president of Spectronics Corp., which makes the device. ``I don't want people ordering this thinking they can protect their loved ones against anthrax spores on their mail. What do you expect for $139?''
Michael J. Burns, 34, Spectrum's president since Oct. 25, said he hasn't begun marketing the flashlights. ``I have no idea why my stock has run,'' he said. ``We have not taken in a dollar on any DeGerm-inators.''
Spectronics sold 18,000 Degerm-inators the past year to kill common germs found anywhere from computer keyboards or telephones to toilets and toothbrushes, said Cooper. The device doesn't kill anthrax spores, he said.
Cooper said Spectrum signed a contract last week to buy 100,000 DeGerm-inators for about $5 million, with full payment due this week. If payment isn't received, the agreement is off, said Cooper.
Shopmama.com
The Westbury, New York, maker of ultraviolet-light goods sells about 1,000 products for sterilization and various other uses. The company, formed in 1955, has about 200 employees, said Cooper.
Spectrum, a money-losing company with no connection to Spectronics, previously sold golf clubs called Wondersticks. It formed a ``Spectrum Homeland Security Solutions'' unit last month to sell products to fight bio-terrorism.
Hauppauge, New York-based Spectrum had no sales for the nine months ended June 30 and net worth of negative $15,075.
Burns is also president of Ecom Digital Properties Inc., which owns a Web site called Shopmama.com that helps consumers shop for low prices.
``Shopmama.com is in the process of becoming one of the Internet's largest comparative shopping resources and interactive malls,'' according to its annual report for 2000, filed on Sept, 17, 2001. According to the report, Ecom had no revenue in 2000, and a negative net worth of $255,254 on Dec. 31.
Shares of Ecom, which files reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, aren't publicly traded.
Ecom's telephone has been disconnected. Its Web site offers shoppers the chance to win a 2000 Ford Explorer. The fine print says the contest ended at midnight on Dec. 20, 2000. |
