Joost,
Your sale yesterday at $35 now seems well timed. Did you know the following was coming?
Jyra Research Report Disavowed by Meta Group
Stamford, Connecticut, Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Meta Group
Inc., an computer industry research firm, said it didn't write a
report on Jyra Research Inc. that Jyra touted before its stock
doubled this month.
Jyra, a London-based software company, said Aug. 6 that an
article produced by Meta Group called Jyra's software a ``must
have'' product for large companies.
Joe Gottlieb, Meta's executive vice president, said the
report was produced by another company and distributed by Meta.
Gottlieb said Jyra took the remarks out of context and used
Meta's name without its approval. ``They sort of took advantage
of the situation,'' Gottlieb said.
Jyra's shares more than doubled since it put out a news
release about the report, climbing to 32 5/8 yesterday from 15
5/8. Its shares fell 1 1/4 to 31 3/8 today.
Meta, based in Stamford, Connecticut, distributes reports
from other vendors, including Computerwire, a U.K.-based service
that prepared the June 1 report on Jyra.
Besides denying authoring the report, Meta officials said
they disagreed with it. ``It's a lot more positive on Jyra than I
would have been,'' said Patrick McBride, vice president of Meta's
services and systems management strategies group.
Jyra Vice President Archie Adams maintains the report is
authentic. ``As far as we're concerned, it is a Meta Group
report,'' he said.
Jyra began trading on Nasdaq's electronic bulletin board in
September 1996 under Rule 504, a provision of U.S. securities
laws that allows companies to raise less than $1 million in a
public offering without filing financial statements with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares closed at 1 3/32
on Sept. 24, their first day of trading.
McBride said he was surprised by Jyra's current market
capitalization of nearly $200 million, given the company reported
a $489,000 net loss on revenue of $226,000 for the second
quarter.
The report distributed by Meta isn't the only one that touts
Jyra's prospects.
Financiale Strategie, a Dutch newsletter published by Rienk
Kamer, an investor who advises companies that own Jyra shares,
has also recommended Jyra's stock.
In a letter sent to U.S. investors who made inquiries about
the newsletter's reports, managing editor Wouter Smit said Jyra
may be in discussions with Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc.
about ``a large contract, or a joint venture or (you never know)
a takeover.''
A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment. A spokesman for
Cisco said he had never heard of Jyra and was unaware of
discussion between the two companies.
Jyra filed a registration statement with the SEC in January
that was approved July 31. The document registered more than 1
million Jyra shares to be sold by a group of shareholders,
including companies advised Kamer.
Jyra's Adams said he hasn't seen an English translation of
the Financiale Strategie article. ``Mr. Kamer has Financiale
Strategie, which he puts out at his discretion,'' Adams said.
``It has nothing to do with us.''
Adams said Kamer has disclosed his connections with the
company in the newsletter.
* * * * *
I feel a little bit good but mostly a little bit bad. I'm glad you told me you sold, but I wish I'd known why. It would seem CISCO knows nothing about JYRA. Is there some misunderstanding? Who at CISCO is working with them. The fact that META didn't write the report, you knew because I told you privately. But I believe it will come as a big surprise to other stockholders. Further, and more importantly, they disagree with ComputerWire's conclusions, even though they contractually distribute the report. Since META is a very well thought of computer research firm, and ComputerWire is a nobody, this is very bad news. It certainly confirms what I wrote you privately about my suspicions on the timing of the press release coming on August 6, right after the Kamer and clients 1 million shares became free to sell on July 31st, and long after the report itself was published on June 1st. It seems so premeditated, I wonder if Kamer and his clients did not in fact sell into the doubling in the stock price following the press release?
The web address for the article is:
bloomberg.com@@z@tVLgcAnP2P48Si/mag/mag1/cnlkup.cgi |
