Forbes scoops everyone on Calandra
Forbes Magazine Helping Hands Back to The Promoter
Thursday November 6, 6:34 pm ET
By Nathan Vardi
biz.yahoo.com
Robert Friedland has developed quite the fan club. Of the 11 research analysts following Ivanhoe Mines, 9 rate the stock a "buy" or "speculative buy," according to Bloomberg, a surprising endorsement for a stock trading at 27 times revenue and whose chief potential payoff--a speculative big strike in Mongolia--is years away.
Friedland issues a steady stream of press releases trumpeting ever more impressive results. That information is studied closely by those who follow the stock. "And the hits keep coming," HSBC analyst Tony Lesiak titled his Sept. 22 report on Ivanhoe Mines, which he rates a "buy." "Great results!" exclaimed CIBC analyst Jack Jones in a September conference call, rating the stock a "sector outperformer."
No one applauds louder than Thom Calandra, a columnist at CBS MarketWatch, a business-news Web site, where he writes a column and pitches his newsletter. Calandra has plugged Ivanhoe Mines in numerous columns and has gone on Ivanhoe-bankrolled trips to Mongolia, Beijing and London. He freely admits that he is "a large holder" of stock in Friedland's Ivanhoe Energy and has recommended both Ivanhoe Mines and Ivanhoe Energy in his newsletter. (He has also shilled for Ivanhoe Energy on CBS MarketWatch's weekend network-TV broadcast.) His enthusiasm has been credited by various news wires with moving the stocks higher. "Ivanhoe Energy Inc. shares rocketed 69% yesterday," wrote Toronto's Globe and Mail recently, "after a recommendation by CBS MarketWatch's chief commentator over the weekend."
Calandra has disclosed the junkets and his Ivanhoe Energy shares in his column and newsletter--and sees no problem with his close involvement with Friedland & Co. "I especially have a very, very strong commitment to making money--making lots of money--for my audience," he says.
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