Not pretty....and this just from a 2 minute search out of curiousity.
ragingbull.lycos.com
ragingbull.lycos.com
evid.com.au
evid.com.au
OZLU – Ozolutions, Inc.
First Chartered Capital
evid.com.au
ragingbull.lycos.com
hksfc.org.hk
asiatradingonline.com
guardian.co.uk
Capital letters
You're right to give a wide berth to the China share pushers
Saturday September 28, 2002
The Guardian
Last week I took a phone call from a stock broker in Beijing called First Chartered Capital Corporation - although I don't know how they found my name and number.
Someone called Joe Long tried to persuade me to put money into a share called Matrix Energy at $1, promising me that any investment would grow by 35% within 60 to 90 days as there is "news due to come to the market." The broker said they only charge 2% commission.
I did not buy. Was I right to be cautious?
LH, Manchester
Yes. You might wonder why someone you don't know is phoning you from Beijing, not known as a centre of capitalism. But phone-based share pushers are having difficulties working phone rooms elsewhere. The Thai authorities made it clear last year that share pushers were not welcome.
The firm is the subject of a warning by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and is on the list of "unlicenced overseas cold callers" kept by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. It is not recognised by the UK's watchdog, the Financial Services Authority.
It may only charge 2% commission but the firm makes huge money on the gap between selling and any repurchases it deigns to make.
First Chartered implies Matrix, which has oil exploration interests in Texas, is Nasdaq-traded. It is not. Instead, it is listed on "bulletin boards, an electronic trading system for stocks which are not quoted on any market, so selling could be tough. And First Chartered says the shares went up from $0.50 to $4 in a month. It omits to say they traded at five cents or less for much of this year and that they have now sunk to $1.68.
Earlier this year, First Chartered bought over 9m shares in Ozolutions, a water purifier, at around $0.10 a share, presumably to sell on to clients. But Ozolutions admits it needs "to receive adequate outside financing to fund capital commitments." Matrix itself recently reported a 43% fall in sales revenues to $71,000 for the nine months to June 30 and a net loss 24% higher at $556,000.
Quite how strong the Chinese Walls are between Matrix and First Chartered is unclear. This is one to avoid - even if promised all the tea in China.
---------------- |
