TAVA is not a scam. If it was it wouldn't be in the Russell 2000 and 3000.
A lot of people here are annoyed, quite understandably, by Bill Wexler's periodic postings of his Strong Sell recommendation on TAVA. But there is actually a point behind his perseverence, and posts like Michael's which contain statements like this illustrate the point succinctly.
There are people new to these threads all the time, and, strangely enough, few, if any of them, bother to read the entire thread before participating! I know this must come as a shock to many of you, especially the person who, in answer to a number of questions I had, effectively pointed me at the 20,000 message archive, and said, "your answers are in there, good hunting." (And this was one of the more coherent responses!)
Similarily, Michael, you appear to be ignorant of a basic fact about the Russell Indexes, a state which I will remedy at once, even though it means repeating myself.
In short, the Russell Indexes are, in effect, mechanical measurements of market capitalization. All that inclusion in the R2K and R3K signifies is that, as of 5/31/98 (I think), TAVA's market cap was among the 3,000 largest in the U.S. (but not among the 1,000 largest). It says absolutely nothing about whether or not TAVA merits such a cap. Listing on the R2K is no guarantee of a stock's fitness for investment.
Lest you cling to the notion that size at some point makes a company scam-proof, look at Cendant, or, more historically, the late, unlamented Diana Corporation.
As an addendum, I would note that if the Russell Indexes were to be recalculated today (and this would be true at the time of Michael's post as well), TAVA would be among those de-listed. |
