This little article does indeed hit close to home - a very interesting read. I'm sure you can figure out who's who..
>=================ÿ CYRIUSS' NOTES:ÿ July 07/98ÿ ===================
>____________________________________________________________________
>
>PART II: ANATOMY of a Stock Operator
>
>ÿ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>ÿ Because our previous article, "Anatomy of a Stock Promoter",
>ÿ stockhouse.com
>ÿ drew an enormous email response and, subsequently, many questions,
>ÿ we felt each of you deserved a more thorough explanation about
>ÿ stock operators.ÿ Mr. Short has gone to press for with Part II and,
>ÿ rumor has it Part (3), "The Myth of Stock Promotions" is already
>ÿ in the works.ÿ You are also waiting for the scoop on a key
>ÿ technical indicator from the Chartist. We've been late on this,
>ÿ keep an eye out for the inaugural issue of the "Technical Register".
>ÿ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>MR. SHORT
>Exclusive to Mr. Cyriuss
>July, 1998
>
>MORE ABOUT STOCK OPERATORS
>
>ÿÿ After perusing numerous chat forum subjects, we concluded that the
>average investor is in the dark about how a small cap deal really works.
>While many blame the promoter(s), few are even aware a stock operator
>manipulated them into their misery.
>
>
>ÿÿ Examine any thread with several thousand postings and you will hear,
>after the stock's demise, the pathetic grumbling of the believer. The
>investor believed the story. The investor blamed the stock promoter or
>newsletter writer, often for his own failings. The regulatory campaign
>against newsletter writers exists only to beat the bushes and flush out
>the true crooks: the stock operators. This strategy is hardly working
>and stock operators continue fleecing the public.
>
>ÿÿ Early in our own education on Wall Street, we learned about newsletter
>writers. If they are so good, why are they writing about the stocks
>instead of trading those stocks themselves? Successful traders are often
>too busy to share their secrets with you. No professional trader, in his
>right mind, would tip you off to a hot stock until AFTER he accumulated
>all the stock he could, even if went into hock to do so. Successful
>stock operators operate along that same course.
>
>ÿÿ Professional currency operators, hedge fund operators, only begin their
>media campaigns to generate bids so they can cover their positions. Did
>you notice recently the media uproar, over the Japanese Yen, just before
>that currency reversed course? That is how they manipulate the media so
>they can close out their positions. A hedge fund operator, on the order
>of George Soros, lends money to help bail out governments, as he earlier
>did with Russia, with a $200 million bridge loan.
>
>ÿ The most successful stock operators were once stockbrokers or traders
>that turned to the promotion game because it paid better. Only when they
>mastered marketing did they become operators.
>
>ÿÿ In the penny stock world, stock operators turn to this vocation because
>they were banned from promotions or censured because of one or more
>failed promotions. Have no sympathy for such characters because their
>incompetence or criminality generally rings up more than $10 million in
>losses before the regulator stings them. In their shadow world, and
>often-extravagant lifestyle, the promoter sinks deeper into the bog and
>becomes an operator. When his name has been sullied, he becomes an
>operator.
>
>ÿÿ The stock operator is the truly dangerous force in the penny stock
>market. Because he is hidden and very effective, the operator has the
>capability of creating high drama in a stock. He is the one who feeds
>hyperbolic phrases to his stable of unwitting, but bought, stock
>promoters. He is the one who hires the slugs to riddle chat groups with
>flowery projections about the stock, the same slugs that howl about the
>shortsellers and ridicule detractors. It is the stock operator who
>trades the stock to higher price, forcing shorts to cover and enticing
>the average shareholder to buy more and more and more.
>
>ÿÿ The stock operator bribes brokers to recommend the stock to clients. He
>is the one who greases the wheels for funds to add positions. He weaves
>the story for the promoters and captures their souls with options, cheap
>or free stock. Others he locks into private placements, which means
>you'll keep hearing about that stock until the letter writer or promoter
>has cashed out.
>
>ÿÿ The best stock operators are more effective in a bear market.
>Speculators are more desperate for a good score to bail them out of
>their previous losses. Most of the tricks used by today's stock
>operators were perfected before and during the US Great Depression.
>Indeed, the greater part of US securities law was born after the bottom
>of that economic collapse because of the scams that conned investors
>during the long drought of that period.
>
>ÿÿ If you recently lost in the western Canadian or OTC markets, you are
>among the best candidates for the next big scam. You will be eager to
>recoup your losses. Your name is on an email or fax list. Someone has
>your phone number or your address.ÿ You attended an investment
>conference, subscribed to a newsletter or joined a chat forum, right?
>They will find their way to you. But, in actuality, it is you who will
>reach for their next story.
>
>ÿÿ There is no shortage of lemmings itching for the quick buck. Penny
>stocks offer a leverage unavailable in the senior markets. Where else
>can you potentially gain by 1000% or more? That, at least, is the hope.
>More lose 70, 80 or 90 percent of their investment than those lucky few
>that score a double or better. Just as there are great numbers of future
>losers lining up to spin the penny stock roulette wheel, there are
>dozens of new promoters champing at the bit to launch a new career.
>Hundreds of new speculators, who think they can beat the odds. This game
>won't stop because of the regulators.
>
>ÿÿ The veteran stock operator is far too clever to be caught. His attorneys
>skillfully devise a strategy to detect and eliminate regulatory
>reprimand. Poor suckers, those newsletter writers - they are bribed by
>the operator and would also harm themselves by blowing the whistle. The
>same goes for others trapped in his web. Regulators can do little in
>stopping even the most treacherous operator. A handful every few years
>are nailed, but rarely are those the best operators.
>
>ÿÿ Many stock operators are merely auditioning for the job. One finds those
>half-baked stock promotions that helplessly sputter, leaving investors
>bid-less, after a few short weeks. Amateur promoters, with not much of a
>position, bluster and fumble while their following sinks down the drain.
>IR staff that cash out their options during the first rocket ride.
>Traders and shortselling syndicates obliterate their promotions. Indeed,
>these traders and groups accelerate the upswing so they can obtain a
>large enough short position to make it worth their while. Financiers who
>initially fund these mock operators blow them away during the
>roller-coaster ride.
>
>ÿÿ The better the stock operator, the more glorified the presentation. The
>price target will represent a stratospheric valuation. The story will
>include the overcoming of known obstacles, which are always to the
>company's benefit. The opposition will be painted as incompetent or
>desperate for what this company has. In the final, sometimes in the
>earlier, stages there will be takeover talk. After all, if the property
>or product is so good, a brand-name company will want what your tiny
>company has in their stable of acquisitions. Because there are the
>occasional, if infrequent, successes, the possibility alone sounds worth
>the minor speculation. If you've been had before, you may even take the
>quick profit, kick yourself for missing the "big run" and then find
>yourself back in the stock at a higher price. That, again, is one of the
>stock operator's tricks.
>
>ÿÿ Blaming the promoters for your losses is as senseless as blaming a gun
>or bullet for someone's murder. Who pulled the trigger? The stock
>operator. He designed the battle and already knows who's going to win or
>die.
>
>ÿÿ Once you are hooked into a story, the exit doors seal shut and you can
>not escape. At the exact moment that you begin to care about the
>small-cap company, you are hooked. There is little to separate yourself
>from the fantasy that is being created, for you, too, have become
>imbedded in this dream. How pathetic are the defenders of those
>manipulated stocks when you read their comments on the Internet chat
>forums. The operators are howling in laughter. So are the professionals.
>Without the little suckers, there is no one to fleece.
>
>ÿÿ An entire industry has grown around the penny stock marketplace:
>newsletters, specialized quote services, news release services,
>stockbrokers, stock promoters, traders, shortsellers, whistleblowers,
>chat forums, financiers and others.ÿ Regulators are too busy and
>under-funded to eliminate the gross fraud perpetuated in this industry.
>The infrequent indicted or penalized promoters are but grains of sand
>across an entire beach. The powerful broker-dealers, especially in
>Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto live too well to resign from
>this industry. The US penny stockbrokers love the fast and easy money of
>the small cap business. They get cheap paper, dump during the
>promotional runup and then shortsell for the ride down the tubes.
>
>ÿÿ Where does this leave you? If you are fortunate, you will suffer minor
>losses and walk away from the game. That is unlikely. What drove you to
>the penny stock markets will keep you there. Speculating in penny stocks
>will never restructure the missing discipline in your life, which led
>you to the hot tip in the first place. Your options are slim: walk away
>disappointed, continue losing until you are broke, evolve into a cynic
>using stock certificates for wallpaper, or learn the discipline
>professional traders use to play these markets. At some future point, a
>new promotion will strike your fancy and you may again be suckered into
>the irresistibility of it all. A new mining discovery might bring you
>back into the exploration market. And so it goes.
>
>ÿÿ The hallmark of successful trades, that which separates the
>professional winner from the novice loser, is technical analysis. There
>is no substitute. Some use it but not enough and even fewer analyze
>consistently well. With the breadth of available technical indicators,
>most shun this subject or barely grasp more than a few basics. In this
>business, knowing a little makes you dangerous. Technical analysis is
>not a toy, but a powerful weapon. Judging from our cursory review of
>numerous Internet chat groups, technical analysis is only occasionally
>mentioned proportionate to the great number of postings discussing
>daydreams and fantasies, rumors and wishful thinking, defenses,
>complaints over shortsellers and promoters, soaring hopes and crushed
>expectations, and general drivel.
>
>ÿÿ It is our hope to radically alter the course of penny stock swindles
>and Internet discussion groups. The next issue you will receive from
>the Cyriuss group of publications: The Technical Register. This Internet
>service will evaluate the most active venture issues traded on the
>speculative stock exchanges, solely on the basis of technical indicators.
>
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~
>
===========================================================================
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>
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