Debentures seem to be the kiss of death, especially as the conversion date approaches. In my experience with micro-caps which have utilized convertibles, there have been huge price spikes in a relatively short span of time, followed by even bigger crashes, from which no recovery ever took place.
Debentures are often a desperate attempt by a cash strapped company for a quick fix. As the debenture holders all convert, (and they usually do)far too many shares flood the market at once, causing a major imbalance and dilution problem.
A classic example is software maker SYCR. In little over 4 months, the share price rose from .50 to $4 3/4. After the debentures were converted, the stock plummeted to .03.
Without the debentures and the boiler room types associated with the trading of this company, I would seriously consider IBUY as an intriguing, albeit high risk play. Yes, they are woefully underfunded right now and are having growth issues. The positive on this is that this growth problem is being caused by their tremendous popularity and not lack of customers. This is a fairly typical problem for a small company that suddenly gets more customers than they can handle. Remember AOL? For years, they were horrendous with service complaints and quality issues. While IBUY is no AOL, the key is if they are able to get the funding to expand their operations, while addressing consumer complaints. If not, the point is moot. |
