Hi Cynthia,
Welcome to the club - the club of those who have discovered the hard way that market makers such as HJM are sales organizations posing as financial advisors. They even have the nerve to charge horrendous commisions for the priviledge of directing your money towards "investments" that benefit them. All of my my losses the past year have been from not knowing I should hang up when a market maker calls.
A market maker is going to push a stock no matter what the prospects. Their so-called research departments are nothing more than promotions for the particular garbage they need to unload. Their loyaties are to themselves and the companies whose stock they push. The only time I've seen a genuinely-sound recomendation come from a market maker was when they were trying to entice a new "mark" to send them money. Once the bait is taken, and the new mark's trust is gained, it's time to load them up with garbage. And always, always, they want you to send more money.
IMO, the only way to go is an online or discount broker. It's just too difficult to separate the competing interests, to know when a "recommendation" is really just an attempt to use your assets to shore up or soften the fall of a company in trouble.
I just closed my account at HJM this past week, using a transfer form to transfer the remaining assets to my discount brokerage account (real simple procedure). At least I'll be able to salvage the 15% remaining of my original contribution, at 1/3 the commission cost.
I took a preliminary look at DTPT. Chart-wise, it looks promising (off the bottom with increased volume), but the little news available raised red flags to me. Revenues down significantly, and a new stock offering to raise revenues. A concerted sales effort by HJM to sell the new offering could account for the activity. If so, when the campaign is over it's back down again (this is called pump and dump).(I even had a cocky broker at another market maker say to me onetime "How do you know that I didn't sell all that volume?") Just my opinion, of course.
If you're a new investor, you might want to spend some time studying charts, particularly the 20 and 50 day moving averages. When a stock is below those averages, the momentum is downward, and nobody knows where it is going to stop. The best strategy is to combine technical analysis with fundamental analysis to determine your entry and exit points.
Good luck.
Robert |
