Hello Minnow
I do not post very much on this board, but I have been in and out of PTEK for a long time and one of the ways to succeed in trading is to get to know a stock's "personality" well. Or so the experts say. I am no expert but I do have a feel for PTEK.
I think PTEK has been very well played by MMs and short sellers. For them it is a dream stock and following their moves, we can make some money. The fundamentals for PTEk are strong. I really like the company and they have good product. Their management appears to be savvy and they were smart to invest in 5 baby IPOs. Hence they have been tagged as one of the baby CMGIs. Problem for them is that the market atmosphere is very different now than it was even 6 months ago, and owning slices of IPOs no longer excites everyone.
When Web MD was about to launch, the share price of PTEK rose and fall in anticipation like a roller-coaster. The WebMD cancelled their IPO and the price dropped from 15+ to 12 in minutes. I almost panicked and sold, but held on (with my eyes shut and fingers crossed). That afternoon Web MD and Healtheon merger was announced. The stock rose to 20+ in less than an hour. Since then it has been a roller coaster ride with many decent spikes, but gradually the stock has eroded down to 10.5+. Just looking at the basics of the company, and for a moment ignoring the IPO investments, this is undervalued... insanely so in my opinion, but this stock is very well manipulated by those with power.
Now we have USANET on the horizon (sensibly delayed for three weeks until interest rate news is out of the picture)and I would expect a brief spike in price. From 10.5 this could spike to...well your guess is as good as mine. But the honeymoon will be brief I suppose, and I will sell again. (I bought at 10.5 today)
Why the manipulation? I have formed the opinion, based on not eveidence or scientific data that PTEK is a merger target, maybe even for MSFT. PTEK and WebMD share the same office space and now MSFT is on the same board. These companies know each other very well, and I think accumulation has been taking place.
To respond to your question to Rande Is, I think 10-11 is a safe bet to buy. But always have your finger on the sell trigger for those spikes. It goes up and down quickly, and you have to watch the trades.
Hope this helps.
Be well |
