"Letters From the Desk of John Schmitz..."
May 18, 2000
From the Desk of John Schmitz:
May 16, 2000
Editor
Newsday
235 Pinelawn Road
Melville, NY 11747
To the Editor:
In his "Online Investing" column of April 26, Charles Zehren made serious insinuations and damaging accusations against both my company,ÿ PanAmerican BanCorp, and me.ÿ While the article began as a discussion of so-called "stock threads," it quickly deteriorated into a character assassination.
The article erroneously implied that PanAmerican BanCorp is guilty of perpetrating nefarious acts on the Internet.ÿ It neglected to mention that no instances of wrongdoing have ever been substantiated. The article also alluded to interviews with investors without any substantiation of their supposed content.
The only proof that the article offered, in fact, was a reference to an incident from my past -- one that has absolutely no relevance to the Internet and is currently being readdressed.
At PanAmerican, we have continually maintained that stock chats are no place for learning about companies, much less for basing investment decisions.ÿ Not only do we find no merit in anything posted on the threads, either positive or negative; anyone found posting on these threads is subject to immediate dismissal from our firm.ÿ In contrast, Mr. Zehren's article implied that we post daily and even go so far as to hire individuals specifically for that function.ÿ Meanwhile, no mention was made of the fact that individuals posting on their threads could well have their own agenda, such as trying to drive down a stock price so they can purchase shares to sell once the price goes back up.
While the article implied that PanAmerican also broke rules or sneaked around the system in an irresponsible manner, it failed to point out the large number of companies that utilize public shells.ÿ Therefore, merging into a public vehicle, which is done frequently and is allowed under all the current rules and regulations, is hardly a reason for eyebrows to be raised.
Another negative implication of the articles concerned the issue of delisting. PanAmerican is one of several thousand companies that have been delisted, and the reasons for delisting are as varied as the companies themselves.ÿ Serious discourse is needed regarding the change in rules that affected such a large number of corporations.
At PanAmerican, we know how important it is for people to be aware of the perils of online investing, as well as the dangers of misleading information being offered as due diligence both on the stock threads and in the newspapers.ÿ We are venturing into new and uncharted territory and need to proceed with extreme caution.ÿ While Mr. Zehren's article appears to be based on inferences he made through reading the stock threads, he apparently fell victim in the same exact manner about which he warned his readers.ÿ In
an effort to clear up the misconceptions surrounding online investing, I welcome the opportunity to discuss the issues openly with Mr. Zehren or anyone else.
-John A. Schmitz
CEO, PanAmerican BanCorp
¸ Copyright 2000 PanAmerican BanCorp
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