RE: SETO. . . Gary, thank you very much for the timely and complete answers. Several have asked what I thought about it. . .so in looking for answers, one of the first things I did was read all their news stories. But that last one, kept bothering
me as an "outsider" knowing very little about the company.
In response to all that requested my views on SETO:
The company started out in oil, went to tool manufacturing, then on a buying spree of Malaysian companies into metal recycling and the like and now batteries. On the down side, it's hard to know what business they are in from day to day. On the plus side, it was a good time to buy Malaysian companies on the cheap.
The company seems to be sound and solid. . .a long history of reporting financials and other data to the SEC, positive earnings, a fairly aggressive growth campaign and they seem to be relatively clean , as OTC stocks go.
I remember now why they were familiar. . . I have done DD on them before. . .It has been well over a year, and I remember being impressed more for the wafer technology than anything else. . .but it looks like all the other stuff [and boy is there a lot]. . is paying the bills and then some.
I thought they would pursue the wafer technology thing, but when the Asian crises hit, it appears they saw opportunities that others did not. The companies they bought were satisfied to accept shares [dilluted as they are] in an American
company, because those shares were fairly liquid and convertible to U.S. Dollars.
Pretty clever.
I have not yet dug into the nitty gritty of the financials, as that is typically the last thing I look at, when reviewing a penny stock.
Applying my "rules" to buying penny stocks [which most everyone has read], I must say this:
First, I don't like the fact that Semicon Tools is a Nevada corporation with an their office in New York. That violates one of my rules, which means I will have to look more closely at their history. I am told they have not reversed, so that eases my mind in that regard for the most part.
Second, they have assets and revenues from a foreign country. Now with a big cap, this would be no big deal. . . but since we are in OTC, my rule about "verifiable assets and revenues" comes into play.
The fact that they report these assets and revs to the SEC, means that I am 90 percent sure they are not lying about them. But it sure would be nice to hear a FIRST HAND report about these new assets. If someone were to visit Malaysia,
would they say that these were well-tooled factories or shops that had X number of workers reporting regularly and that finished goods were being trucked out regularly? Would they say that these were broken down shacks with nobody there
or that they could not find any record?
I know what I am told about the factories, but I wrote those rules to FORCE ourselves to be more skeptical when it comes to OTC company claims. It is too easy to WANT to see things with rose colored lenses. So, I must state that while
impressed by the company exploiting a weakened country by buying up its businesses [as any good capitalist would], I am reserved by these very same assets, due strictly to not having VERIFICATION. Personally, I like to see products or services with my own three eyes.
Now. . .the touchy part. Gary, after reading your explanation about the Fuji name and re-reading the Edgars about it. . .I am still not convinced, tho pliable. Fuji makes batteries sold in America. . .I use them every day, cuz they are cheap. . .and an alkaline is an alkaline. Here's the rub. Fuji makes batteries. . .sold wherever. . .the fact that SETO owns a Fuji that makes batteries is being publicized in America.
Without a disclaimer disassociating them from the OTHER well-known
Fuji that makes batteries, I believe the press release to be misleading.
Bottom line on this topic: If Seto's Fuji made soap, I would have NO PROBLEM whatsoever. Who could confuse the Fuji soap company with the Fuji company that makes film and batteries? But when they drop the names of Sony, Panasonic, etc.
in the same sentence where they talk about Fuji making batteries. . . I believe it to be misleading.
Now, the word misleading should not be misunderstood. By saying that these press releases are misleading, I am not saying that the company is no good. I have not made a connection to the company. Am I saying that the new Public Relations
firm that SETO just hired is no good? Perhaps. . . it defies logic that the person that wrote that PR, with FUJI in capital letters would never have realized that it might be misleading to some investors with nothing but stars in their eyes.
That I doubt. Am I saying that the La Guardia firm is bad? No. I simply cannot imagine that a PROFESSIONAL press release writer in New York City or wherever would not think of the FUJI blimp or that distinctive green and white logo on any one of the dozen times they wrote that press release.
So at this time, unless there is a connection that has not been made, the company does not bother me. . . just the PR firm. Perhaps they should go back to the OLD PR firm. I had no problem with any of those releases. But this La Guardia releases just ONE. . .and I have problems.
I am trying to be as fair as I can be here. Will continue to look into and watch SETO. Especially interested in the NEXT press release.
I'll spam this over to the SETO thread, so as not to cause undue alarm there.
Rande Is |
