UPDATE: CAL-BAY INTERNATIONAL, INC. (OTCBB: CBYI) – SAME OLD SPAM
September 18, 2002
Those e-mails promoting Cal-Bay International, Inc. (OTCBB: CBYI) just will not go away. The messages continue to arrive and, as before, they contain outdated, out-of-context, misleading information. (For our earlier stories on Cal-Bay see, Cal-Bay International, Inc. – A Smell Test and Cal-Bay International, Inc. – Same Old Spam).
The promoters (who concede they were paid $27,000 to publish these “reports”) are a shy bunch; they use a variety of untraceable identities and never cite Cal-Bay on the e-mail’s subject line. In fact, one of the “reports” claimed the subject was “In The News Today,” although, of course, it was not.
Now it is. The latest wave of e-mails are an abbreviated version of the earlier messages. Still, they have ample opportunity to be inaccurate. Take the first paragraph, for example, which claims that Cal-Bay “has filed to be traded on the OTCBB,” and notes that “share prices historically INCREASE when companies get listed on this larger trading exchange.” The message goes on to say that Cal-Bay “is trading around 25 cents and should skyrocket to $2.66 – $3.25 a share in the near future.”
There is a fundamental problem with that theory, however. The e-mails that offered this prediction were dated September 9, 11, and 13, 2002. But Cal-Bay already was listed on the OTC Bulletin Board at the time. In fact, it has been listed since July 11, 2002.
So investors should not be counting on that projected price “INCREASE.” In fact, Cal-Bay shares, which were trading at around 25 cents on July 11th, are now priced at about 29 cents.
So much for that bounce to more than $2 a share.
As we noted in our September 26, 2001 article on Cal-Bay, some of the initial e-mails touting Cal-Bay attempted to rely upon information contained in a research report prepared for Cal-Bay by Meehan Capital Management Group, Inc. of Orlando, Florida. Those e-mails routinely misquoted and distorted the Meehan report.
Indeed, Meehan seemed to be quite disturbed by such efforts to misuse its research. In a notice on its website, Meehan distanced itself from the promoters, insisting that it had nothing to do with the misleading e-mails. Meehan subsequently went further, claiming that unknown promoters had been distorting information contained in several of its research reports. In response to that abuse, Meehan declared that it was removing all research reports, including Cal-Bay’s, from its website.
The Cal-Bay report has disappeared from the Meehan website. Does that mean the relationship between Meehan and Cal-Bay is over? Perhaps not.
Cal-Bay’s corporate website identifies the Company’s “Investors Relations” contact as Trey Meehan of First Capital Investors, Inc., 1080 Woodcock Road, Suite 276 Orlando, Florida. It even offers a link to the First Capital Investors web page – although when we checked we found only the name “First Capital Investors, Inc.”, a reference to “Florida-California,” a picture of a fish, and the words “coming soon.”
We wondered whether Trey Meehan and First Capital Investors were related to Meehan Capital Management. Here is what we learned. First Capital Investors registered its website – the one that is “coming soon” – on May 21, 2002. The Administrative Contact is Trey Meehan who can be reached at tmeehan@meehancapital.com.
Trey Meehan is also listed as the Administrative Contact for the Meehan Capital website – at the same e-mail address. The registration form for the Meehan website lists the address for Meehan Capital Group as 1080 Woodcock Road, Orlando, Florida, Suite 276 – the same address provided by First Capital Investors. Meehan and First Capital also share a telephone number.
Now that First Capital Investors is handling investor relations for Cal-Bay, perhaps they can determine who is sending out the misleading e-mails. Back in August 2001, Cal-Bay promised to take action against the illegal spammers. The Company claimed at that time that it had instructed its attorneys to take legal action. More than a year has passed, and the Company has not indicated whether legal proceedings ever were initiated.
If the Company and its advisors can track down the promoters who have been sending those misleading e-mails, maybe they can persuade them to stop – or at least turn them over to the regulators.
Frankly, we’re tired of getting all of that junk mail.
©2002 Stock Patrol.com. All rights reserved.
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