Many of the online quote services (free) have access to Canadian markets. I have just tried out quote.com typing VSE:UTO. It worked for me. Looks like the stock IPO'd at 2 and went to 6 on day 1. Has gone to 9 since. Looks like it could be an accident waiting to happen. It's very thinly traded. Also looks like it could be easily manipulated, good if you like to gamble.
I would like to ask if this stock comes anywhere close to meeting any of the criteria laid out by Dan in the header of the thread. If not then what separates it from thousands of other stock promotions?
Here is the latest press release of any significance from the company. It pretty much shows that there is no real business taking place yet. (Other news announces "incentive stock options"...or the standard money making tool of the VSE insider.)
"UNIGLOBE TRAVEL ONLINE INC - Third Quarter Financial Results
Market News Publishing, Wednesday, December 04, 1996 at 22:30
U. Gary Charlwood, Chief Executive Officer of Uniglobe Travel Online Inc. released the Company's third quarter unaudited financial statements on Dec. 3, 1996 for the period ended Sept. 30, 1996.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 1996, the Company had sales of
$193,554 from sales of airline tickets to customers booking directly on to the Company's website, sales of tour packages, and from advertising revenues. Costs of these sales totalled $155,333.
The company received interest income of $1,786 and incurred operating expenses of $749,932 for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 1996, resulting in a deficit of $709,925 at the end of the period. All financial figures are reported in Canadian funds."
Online travel agencies are going to be huge. Microsoft has a travel agency: it will do huge business. As online commerce goes this is a no-brainer. You can research and make your arrangements online, complete with all the glossy brochures, and guidebooks re: local weather, currency, restaurant, customs, laws, etc. etc.
I would be pretty wary of a VSE stock, though. These folks are often very smart operators, putting together all the trappings of a reasonable facsimile or copycat of the great companies in whatever huge growth area is capturing investors' imagination. In short, the VSE has more clever stock promoters than SI has aliases.
There may be nothing wrong with this one, if the parent company is really behind it. Indeed could be huge growth. No evidence of that yet though. Shorts could kill this one in a day if they felt like it. |
