Jamie:
Sorry I'm taking so long to respond, but SBAM has been pretty low on my list of priorities these days (one look at a chart should tell you why).
I had heard that Stella Bella was on an acquisition binge, which I applaud and I sincerely hope is successful. However, I've had nothing but bad feelings about the company's abilities to live up to their somewhat inflated claims. Reuters carried a release this week about SBAM buying another company which they (SBAM) said would increase the revenues 1000 (one thousand) percent. Coupled with the fact that the principal marketeer, Steven Zubkis, claims that SBAM will soon be a $300 stock, there is the serious issue of puffery going on. I think Zubkis also runs an outfit called Z3, a holding company of sorts that (among other things) flogs SBAM stock to potential investors over the phone. SBAM is in litigation both as defendant and plaintiff on a number of shareholder-related suits, which is something else to consider. I've been a shareholder for two years now, and I have received nothing (nada, zilch, etc) from SBAM management in the way of corporate communications. No press releases, no shareholders meetings, no election of Board members, no earnings announcements, no statements, no Christmas cards, no annual reports... nothing. To be fair, as a Bulletin Board stock, SBAM is not REQUIRED to release this information, but it would be a courtesy that any investor would appreciate. Since I live in San Diego, I figured it would be a snap to swing by corporate headquarters one fine day to see what I could learn from Investor Relations. Guess what, Jamie: there IS no corporate HQ. There is a roasting facility of 2000 sqft or so and one management-type chap at a small desk in a small room. Bells started going off immediately, but not loud enough for me to sell. Darn.
SBAM was brought to my attention by a radio program called The Financial Power Network, which has since added a disclaimer that companies pay a fee to the host, Steve Bonnenberger for being reviewed on the show. The Network (http://financialpower.com) recently stopped plugging Stella Bella for whatever reason.
I'm trying to be as fair to SBAM as I can, but from where I sit my money appears to have gone into Stella and has never been seen again, and I have no idea why it vanished. Failed merger? Tax problems? Crooked CFO? Foreign competition? Countless Reg S filings that have diluted me down to mere pennies on the dollar while I remain blissfully ignorant? No idea.
On the other hand, upside potential exceeds downside risk by a factor of at least ten, so step up and take a chance.
Good luck!
RS |
