Doc - I have never objected to your making money shorting ASTN - My objection has been to the crap you and your guru, Auric, have been spewing to try to discredit ATG -- to back the false claim that ATG is a pump and dump stock rather than a legitimate company which may one day be worth a lot more than it is today (or was back in May when it was trading in the mid-teens).
You know what I mean -- your persistent posting of (or reference to) 144's filed by holders of stock acquired in private placements 3 years ago (who are NOT insiders in the way that term is intended to be understood) to imply that officers and directors (or those close to them) are selling because they know something regular investors don't know (FALSE); the statements Auric has made implying that ATG's founders and key officers have criminal roots (when exactly the opposite is true); the utter lack of any insight into ASTN's business that leads Auric (with you as his cheerleader) to compare ATG to ECNs (which couldn't have less to do with ATG's business, or pose less of a threat to ATG if they tried) and to cite other systems (e.g., Optimark) which have been unsuccessful by any objective standard as competitive threats or as being better than ATG because some of their backers are well known; false statements about preferred stock issued in recent private placements to imply that ATG is at risk of a so-called "floorless" death spiral when it simply isn't true (and ignoring the benefits that the $20 MM raised at market prices brought to the company); the endless posting of any fact or issue, no matter how tenuous in its relation to ATG, but which you or Auric imply are negative to ATG, while ignoring the fact that ATG competitors are having tech problems, are phasing in their systems, etc.; implying that a price decline in a bear market involving very light volume has a bearing on Ashton's financial health, and is the be-all and end-all of what investors should consider in order to understand ATG as an investment, when in fact Ashton has enough cash to operate for another 3 years (or more) without another dime of revenue, and is on the brink of several major developments that should bode very well for the company and its stock price; etc.
I have conceded that ATG's rise to the mid-teens this past May and later in the summer was premature, while holding to the position that investment in Ashton in the long term will pay off (as it already has to those who bought it in the 2 years prior to the SEC's approval). I have backed my view with facts about ATG's business plan and progress in implementing it, its balance sheet and capitalization, the SEC's position on its system, its alliances with SDS, Belzburg and McGregor, other recent positive developments, and other items that bear directly on the question of ATG as an investment, in order to give context to the current price situation and the position that long term investment in ATG will pay off, and you have basically diddled yourself and your guru by telling us how perfect your timing always is, and relying on the price decline as the answer to all questions. Yeah, Doc, ASTN has declined 60% in price since May 1999 -- but never mind that it has also appreciated over 400% since January 1999, and is trading almost 50% higher than it IPO price while at the same time tripling the number of outstanding shares -- thus increasing its market capitalization by 1200% this year already and 500% since its IPO -- that's not helpful to your position so it is to be ignored. It's all a matter of perspective, something you don't recognize even exists - that is - that "perspective" is possible, and that this is not a black and white situation.
So be it. You are just here to make money - and also to drop a load of BS every now and then, to nudge your "simple money making intentions" along a little. If ATG's management played as fast and loose with the facts as you and Auric do on a regular basis, they would be defending lawsuits from their stockholders. Oddly enough, your buddy Auric is doing just that (defending lawsuits based on the truth or falsity what he has stated publicly) while hiding behind the First Amendment. That's the reason I am so critical of you and Auric, Doc -- because facts matter, and analysis matters -- you have plenty to work with to engage in a legitimate debate about ATG as an investment, and instead, you choose to peddle garbage and call it something other than what it is. I may be wrong about ATG -- I don't think so, but I concede that things may not work out as I expect they will, just as I acknowledge that this has taken a lot longer to happen than I originally expected. You and Auric, on the other hand, would never admit that you might be wrong on this one even though you already are demonstrably wrong about much of what you have said about ATG - and for that, you and your posts deserve to be exposed for what they are - small minded attempts to rub it in, while falsely disparaging something you know nothing about. Make your money, Doc, while you still can - it isn't going to be much longer before the longs are laughing and you are telling us how you covered just before it happened.
MST |
