To: Roger A. Babb who wrote (692 ) 6/28/1999 12:54:00 PM From: Ohshaw Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 2514
In listening to the recent conference call by CUST (replay available on customtracks.com ), I was struck by their reluctance to give any specifics on what they are doing. They would not even comment on when they thought they might be profitable, saying such information made public would hurt them somehow. With their attitude of "security through obscurity" it seems unlikely we'll get much from them for a while. Does anyone know what we are supposed to learn from their new website coming out in the next few days? I suspect a name change announcement, and some hype, but no details. Anyone have specifics they may have promised to divulge? Regarding the insider buying, I just want to remind people of the scammy little technique known to a few, brought to light by RA Babb, who points out, "There is a shady area called "stock loans" that are used to circumvent these [insider trading] rules and also to hide the fact that an insider is selling. In my opinion, these are also illegal. Works like this: Insider borrows against his shares, delivering the shares as security. Loan shark SELLS the shares immediately. Insider receives X% of selling price as his "loan" and writes the loan shark a "call" for his original shares that are now gone. At end of term, insider can walk away with no recourse or he can repay the loan. Of course he would not repay the loan if the share price has fallen. But if the share price is up, the loan shark will exercise his call which means that he simply returns the loan payoff money. Either event simply means the loan is not repaid and rights to the shares are forfeited. Net result of stock loan: the insider sold his shares and delayed reporting it until the end of the term of the loan. In my opinion, illegal and as a stock holder I would sue any insider I caught doing this trick! "