Well, I may not be vocal, but sadly, I am experienced. I was a GIFS shareholder, thanks to an internet rag and my own stupidity/inexperience. For background, I also bought Olympus when it was olpv, after which it immediately reversed split. I hung on to it until the run up and then bailed because it reminded me of GIFS.
When I refer to my own stupidity regarding GIFS, I mean this: First I gave credibility to an inernet rag that in hindsight didn't deserve it. Secondly, I believed the company's SEC filings and press releases. It never occurred to me that a company would lie to the sec, and that those lies could be retrieved at the sec site. And as it turned out, it wasn't that they lied about one thing or another, they lied about everything. And finally, while I was never a Gifs "Yea," I did buy enough of the "evil shorts" notion to discount the "nays" of the GIFS thread, of which Tonto was one. (Their information turned out to be very accurate.) I was still looking for an exit point when the stock disintegrated.
Others have brought up the circumstantial similarities between GIFS and RMIL -- a claim of naked shorts, calling of certs, an offshore element, hype, questions about whether the company has done or produced what it claims -- but what strikes me is the eery similarity in the tone of this forum with the tone of the GIFS forum. There were yeas, there were nays. But the innocent or naive yeas banded together as a group in serious collective denial of the facts. No one could accept that they may have invested in a scam until it was too late. Even when we thought we were being objective, a certain amount of ego remained, and often it was the ego that was calling the shots. Now, all the yeas are gone or much poorer, while the nays are still around. These days I listen to them, and consider a few my internet friends.
When you're in a controversial stock, it's tempting to look for posts that reassure you. I try to force myself to look for the posts that raise legitimate questions, and if those questions aren't answered with facts but with abuse from other posters, it's a red flag.
That said, I really do hope that all turns out well for rmil shareholders, because I know how it feels to be scammed.
BTW, I went to an old bookmark, the ovis homepage and it asked for a password? How long has it been like that? Sorry if that's addressed elsewhere, but jeez, this thread is big enough to deserve its own search engine. |
