This is not Gerry's department, but in the expectation that stockwatch management may occasionally check this thread, i'll paste in a discussion Will and i have been having in regards to stockwatch's practise of placing pronouncements of editorial opinion in their headlines for news releases -
' Author: marcos -- Date:2002-03-13 23:38:19
Subject: who writes headlines for stockwatch anyway
' Capital Alliance insider sell shares' - from the 08/03 release
... now if that was a true representation, which it is not, there
should be an s added to sell, it's bad english as it stands ... but
more importantly, the header makes it sound as if said insider
is bailing on the company, which is far from the case, what
he's doing is a gypsy swap, crossing free-trading paper to
players so he can use the cash to take down part of the
upcoming PP
It's like there's some snotty ill-informed editorial content in the
headlines sometimes, bad mood on the part of the editorial
department du jour perhaps ... another example is the last
release out of ngt.v - ' National Gold stops false advertising'
... well from where did stockwatch get 'false', it was an
analyst's report they had posted on their website, without
having seen it i'll just bet it was extrapolating current info and
projecting plans into the future in a speculative manner,
however chances are there was nothing demonstrably 'false'
about it ... to editorialise in this ignorant manner is stupid
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Author: WillP -- Date:2002-03-14 08:58:44
Subject: Hey Marcos - How's It Going?
The short answer is, I don't know who writes the
headlines, but I think it's whoever enters the releases
into the system. There have been occasions that I have
wondered about the accuracy of the headlines, I must
confess.
However:
' Capital Alliance insider sell shares' - from the
08/03 release ... now if that was a true
representation, which it is not, there should be an
s added to sell, it's bad english as it stands ... but
more importantly, the header makes it sound as if
said insider is bailing on the company, which is far
from the case, what he's doing is a gypsy swap,
crossing free-trading paper to players so he can
use the cash to take down part of the upcoming PP
Ahh, the gypsy swap. OK.
It's like there's some snotty ill-informed editorial
content in the headlines sometimes, bad mood on
the part of the editorial department du jour
perhaps ...
So, was CPT's headline more accurate in your opinion
-- "Insider to Participate in Private Placement
Offering"?
Frankly, I think the Stockwatch headline is a good
balance in this circumstance.
another example is the last release out of ngt.v - '
National Gold stops false advertising' ... well from
where did stockwatch get 'false', it was an analyst's
report they had posted on their website, without
having seen it i'll just bet it was extrapolating
current info and projecting plans into the future in
a speculative manner, however chances are there
was nothing demonstrably 'false' about it
Well, this one sent me to the dictionary, I must confess.
There are several definitions of "false" including
"deceptive," and for that one the example offered was
"false advertizing".
OK. Was it deceptive?
It's now down to semantics, I suppose. It was against
the regulations to do what they did, that's clear --
without offering an opinion as to whether or not it
should be.
Even the company now says that the opinions and
views offered "should not be relied upon by the
investing public."
It's a debatable point, for sure, but I think you could
find better examples of poor headlines.
Regards,
WillP
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Author: marcos -- Date:2002-03-14 12:18:53
Subject: agreed - it's debatable
I've never seen the header cpt put on the release
as i get all releases through stockwatch, but if
they said 'insider to participate in PP' then yes
that is far more accurate, because that is what is
happening ... and notice how it says 'in order to
partially his participation in PP' ... looks like he
will take down more than the 1200k, so it ends
up as a net buy, therefore i not at all humbly
submit that in stockwatch's search for a verb
they might more properly have alighted on 'buys'
instead of 'sells' ... and with the s on the end of
the word to make it proper english, that would
be a nice touch, sort of a bow to convention
sure, but deemed civilised by many, noblesse
oblige, doncha know
'I think the Stockwatch headline is a good
balance' - is this a news service or an exercise
for aspiring judges or some kind of wannabe
surrogate mother - i pay it each month on the
understanding that it is the former, fwiw ... just
the facts ma'am, not all the news that fits in the
way stockwatch likes it, they can take their
sense of balance and shove it sideways, clearly it
needs improvement and this action might help
I propose this experiment Will - try getting in on
that PP ... heh heh
If they truly have any interest in 'balance', then
having proclaimed to the world that an insider
has bailed out, on his taking down even more in
the PP they will post the header 'insider loads his
truck on cpt shares' ... and please please may
they take special note of the s on the end of the
word loads ... unless there is more than one
insider involved, in which case conventional
english dictates 'insiders load their trucks with
cpt shares' ... for a modest per-minute fee i
might consider making myself available for their
remedial language needs, btw
It was deceptive, i maintain ... as for the ngt
dissemination that so offended the cdnx, i never
saw it so can't comment much, but i understand
it to have been a report by a newsletter writer
that used descriptions not approved by said
exchange ... which does indeed come down to
semantics, however there is precious bloody
little semantical about stockwatch's choice of the
adjective 'false', that was editorial comment, no
question .... however you have to give them this
- they did not miss the s in the spelling of the
word, lol
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Author: WillP -- Date:2002-03-14
12:56:50
Subject: Marcos
I've never seen the header cpt put on
the release as i get all releases
through stockwatch, but if they said
'insider to participate in PP' then yes
that is far more accurate, because that
is what is happening ... and notice how
it says 'in order to partially his
participation in PP'
I guess we will have to agree to disagree
on this one. The requirement for the news
release was to indicate that the insider
was selling, not that he was buying, right?
I'm all for truth in headlines, however.
Oh, I forgot to comment on the "lack of
an Ess". Yes, I'm sure that someone will
get dinged over that. At least, one hopes
so.
As for National Gold, I can't comment
much either, as I have not seen it as well.
But enough. It's not my fight either way. I
suggest you make your concerns known
to the Stockwatch office.
As for their being editorial comment in the
headlines -- hey I'm not disagreeing with
you whatsoever. I just like it to have a
basis in fact.
Regards,
WillP
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Author: marcos --
Date:2002-03-15 10:06:42
Subject: no, it's not
' The requirement for the news
release was to indicate that the
insider was selling, not that he
was buying, right? '
No, not right - the requirement was
to indicate that the insider is
partially financing his taking down
of the PP by crossing his
free-trading paper to other players
[who likely imho include institutions
who are prohibited under their
charters from holding legended
paper] ... for stockwatch to
concentrate solely on one part of
this process is deceptive of them
An example - let's say John
Woods decides to change his
clothes and stockwatch issues a
release to that effect - according to
their logic with cpt, the headline
would read 'John Woods disrobes'
or 'John Woods starkers in
Vancouver' or 'John Woods goes
nudist' .... because of course he
must take off the current clothes
before putting on the new, so all of
those have 'basis in fact' ....
however they would be deceptive
It's a process, and stockwatch has
chosen to proclaim to the world
only one part of that process ... i
think stockwatch owes cpt
shareholders an apology ... a better
headline would have been 'CPT
insider begins gypsy swap', for
those who don't know what that
means the body of the release
would show them
In re their ngt headline - lots of
companies have links to newsletter
writers' reports on their website ...
don't know if they're still there, but
on the weekend i'm going to check
and maybe warn one or two of my
favourite little outfits of the cdnx
action .... and at the same time, i'll
be all ears for hearing stockwatch's
defense of their adjective 'false' ....
cheers
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Author: WillP --
Date:2002-03-15 11:13:18
Subject: Umm...
No, not right ...
Well, I still disagree. The
news release revealed he
had sold shares, and would
be buying shares in the
proposed private placement,
which has yet to be
approved by the CDNX.
So, it would seem that
although the selling action is
complete, the buying has not
occurred.
Yeah, the gypsy swap
headline would work better
for me too.
In re their ngt headline -
lots of companies have
links to newsletter
writers' reports on their
website ... don't know if
they're still there, but on
the weekend i'm going to
check and maybe warn
one or two of my favourite
little outfits of the cdnx
action
That might not be a bad
idea. At one time it was
A-OK to do so on the
CDNX, but it was not on
the TSE. When companies
migrated to the TSE, they
had to take down that
portion of the web site, I
believe. The status of such
things today, I'm not sure,
but it looks like they are no
longer allowed to do so.
Frankly, I don't think that it's
a favourable step. It seems
the issue is the electronic
dissemination, with snail mail
still being OK.
.... and at the same time,
i'll be all ears for hearing
stockwatch's defense of
their adjective 'false' ....
cheers
Well, hopefully you were
not all ears yesterday, and
actually voiced your
displeasure to them.
Regards,
WillP
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Author: marcos --
Date:2002-03-15 12:27:34
Subject: they've changed
the ngt one, lol
It now reads 'National Gold
cuts out speculative
advertising' ... so i guess
we won't hear the
pronouncement 'false'
supported by any 'basis in
fact' -g-
Cpt one still reads the same,
'Capital Alliance insider
sell shares' ... lamentable
abuse of the queen's english
aside, i maintain that this
editorial pronouncement is
stupid, deceptive, and
demonstrably false - that
cross was one step in a
process by which TC ends
up with more shares than he
had before it, while
stockwatch seems to want
to convey the impression
that he has bailed out of the
company, and this is
absolutely not true
I did intend to raise the issue
yesterday on the SI
stockwatch thread, but SI
was down ... little free time
today, so soon as possible
... as for talking to the office
about it, i dunno, those
headlines are as public as
you can get, so it's a public
concern .... if the powers
that be haven't heard about
this by now, they will ere
long .... cheers '
wwwa.stockwatch.com
... more legible over there since then the italics and bolding come through ... cheers |
