200MPH. IS THIS TRUE WHAT IS SAID IN THE NEWS CLIP? INSIDE??
FOUND THIS ON RB AND WONDERING IF IT'S TRUE >????.
>>>>>>>May 28, 2001 (The Business Press - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- Ignited in part by
President Bush's recently unveiled national energy policy, the stock of a local biodiesel company rocketed May
21-22 to its highest point in six months -- and then encountered turbulence as investors and critics battled online
over the company's merits.
The stock -- which earlier this month hit a 52-week low of 2 cents a share -- quadrupled from a May 18 close of 5
cents a share to 20 cents a share May 23, a date on which it registered as the seventh most traded stock on the
Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board.
Participants on Internet bulletin boards like Silicon Investor and Ragingbull.com logged thousands of messages
as they debated whether Ontario-based Southern States Power Co. ( OTC BB:SSPC) is the next big thing or merely
the latest pump-and-dump scheme, in which short-term shareholders heavily -- and sometimes dishonestly --
promote a stock, then sell it after the price goes up.
In this case, rumors circulating on the two bulletin boards claimed Bush named the company in his May 17 speech
outlining the national energy policy, and that the President gave his address from one of Southern States' biodiesel
plants.
Both tales are false, said Mark Taylor, director of investor relations for Southern States, which relocated from
Louisiana to the Inland Empire last year.
But that doesn't mean the biodiesel market isn't hot, he said.
"Bush's energy policy names biodiesel," he said. "Biodiesel has also received favorable reports on television and
in Barron's magazine."
Southern States, which produces its biodiesel from such substances as grease trap residue and the cooking oil
that fast food restaurants have used for french fries, already has some irons in the fire and some nickels in the
bank.
-- The company is bidding to renew a 60,000-gallon-a-year contract with Deer Valley School District in Phoenix, Ariz.
-- Earlier this month, Southern States struck a $300,000 deal to fuel generators supplying 6 megawatts a day to the
city of Riverside on behalf of the University of California, Riverside.
-- The company plans in June to open a Coachella Valley plant capable of producing 10 million gallons of biodiesel
fuel a year.
-- In late March, the company was awarded a contract to supply a total of 1.6 million gallons of biodiesel to
Rockland Materials of Arizona.
Despite its recent boost, Southern States' stock remains well off its 52-week high of $2.50 a share.
On May 22, at its highest point during the frenzied buying and selling, shares traded for 45 cents.
Volume, however, was phenomenal.
More than 21.6 million shares were sold on May 22.
Since, according to MarketGuide.com, the company only has 4.2 million shares available to the public on the open
market, that means the typical share in the company's float traded hands nearly five times that day.
Message volume kept pace: As of May 16, Ragingbull.com had about 1,000 messages posted by investors
following Southern States, dating back to its origins.
Two days later, the total had doubled.
On May 23, the number of messages had reached 9,758. And the tone of some participants had soured. Said one
cynic: "Pump phase over, dump phase on."
One anonymous poster, going by the handle "Rocketred10," countered with optimism: "SSPC (is) going to roll with
national exposure with the energy crisis."
A message from "200mph" said Bush had specifically mentioned Southern States "on 3 different financial channels
? I've never seen that before."
Another message said Bush made his May 17 address from Southern States' production facility.
Taylor said he has heard rumors that Bush mentioned the company in a speech, but, as far as he knows, it didn't
happen. As for Bush being at the company's Coachella Valley plant, that rumor is definitely false, he said.
By Kent Miller <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< |
