So, where do I fit into that equation?
A well-intentioned sucker, which puts you in the vast majority. There's nothing wrong with wanting to turn pennies into dollars on some struggling but honest public company that, with adequate capital infusion, will have a good chance of succeeding. The flaw here is that if a company is not allowing its shareholders -- its owners -- to monitor and verify its actions, it has to be assumed to be, plain and simply, a scam.
Ask yourself this simple question: if *you* were trying to raise money for an honest venture, what's the downside to submitting timely audited financials to the SEC? It can't be money as that's just another business expense you take into account when seeking capital to grow your company.
If someone tells you "well, err, they could be telling the truth or not, we don't know all the facts": run away! They are blowing smoke to keep you invested while they hope their freebie shares that came at your expense will hit the jackpot. Again, there should be no reason why, if a company is honest, they can't put the true facts in an audited SEC filing.
To make money on non-reporting pink sheets, the overwhelming vast majority of which go swiftly out of business, you need to be adept at the greater fool theory. You need to find a sparsely followed company with a very low pps that has a good story you can hype to others. If the CEO has a track record of starting, pumping, and trashing companies, that's like striking gold. Then you need to clear your conscience that in order to make money you have to start building a house of cards to get others involved. You need to convince yourself not that the company is likely a scam, but that, "well, err, they could be telling the truth or not, we don't know all the facts."
Do you truly have what it takes? I don't think so. And that's a compliment.
- Jeff |
