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Non-Tech : UAI - Unistar - BB reverse merger that moved to AMEX -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Harpo who wrote (8)	7/20/1999 3:58:00 PM
From: Q.	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 133

Unistar Blames Illegal Short-Sellers for 27% Stock Decline Dallas, July 15 (Bloomberg) -- Unistar Financial Service Corp. blamed ''malicious'' and illegal sales by rivals for a 27 percent decline in its shares. Stock of the insurance agency company declined 14 7/8 to a two-month low of 41 1/16. The American Stock Exchange halted trading for 4 1/2 hours. Including a 6.8 percent drop in the stock yesterday, the company lost almost one-third of its market value, or about $440 million, in two days. ''There's just no reason for this malicious attack we've had in the last two days,'' chairman and chief executive Marc A. Sparks said. Sparks blamed the plunge on a ''handful of illegal short- sellers,'' or investors who sell borrowed shares and would profit if the price falls. Such sales may be illegal in Unistar's case because they involve so-called restricted stock issued subject to certain conditions, Sparks said. About 95 percent of sales in recent days involve borrowed shares, Sparks said, citing information from the exchange. An exchange spokesman declined to comment on whether short-selling accounted for most of the Unistar shares sold in recent days. The Dallas-based company is ''using every bit of available regulatory investigation'' to find out who's behind the sales, Sparks said. ''Our advisers on Wall Street are very concerned.'' Even so, the Dallas-based company's shares are trading at about twice their January low. ''We're completely on track with our business plan,'' Sparks said, adding that the company's business is growing at a 100 percent annual clip. Unistar buys small agencies that sell automobile and other personal property-and-casualty insurance. It earns commissions from the business in its 160 stores. It shifts the insurance liabilities and premium earnings to other insurers. ''We're a commission financial service business,'' Sparks said. ''Life up until yesterday has been very good.'' Through yesterday, Unistar was the best-performer among U.S. insurers with a market value of more than $900 million. Its 136 percent year-to-date gain compared with a 53 percent advance by Executive Risk Inc., which owed its number-two status to a takeover agreement.

To: Harpo who wrote (8)	7/20/1999 4:09:00 PM
From: Q.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 133

interesting fact: when UAI was OTC:BB, they claimed to be Nasdaq. I checked this on a Bloomberg terminal today. They did this in their first 8 newsreleases, beginning last summer. Right at the top of the newsrelease, where they gave the stock symbol UNSF. Thereafter they indicated that they were OTC BB. There was no newsrelease to indicate that they were delisted from Nasdaq to OTC:BB, so I assume that they were OTC:BB the whole time and they finally quit this misleading misuse of the Nasdaq tradename.

To: Harpo who wrote (8)	7/20/1999 4:22:00 PM
From: Q.	Respond to of 133

CEO Marc A. Sparks - background info This is an unusual name that helps in doing some background searches. A nationwide phone directory search turned up only 3 phone listings for "Marc Sparks". Two of these had middle initials different from "A". There is no assurance that the person named in the following posts is the same as the Marc A. Sparks of UAI, but there is a fairly high probability. The info is not damning, like some I've seen for CEO's of OTC:BB companies, but everyone can make their own judgment.

To: Harpo who wrote (8)	7/20/1999 4:26:00 PM
From: Q.	Respond to of 133

May 8, 1985, Wednesday, BC cycle SECTION: Regional News DISTRIBUTION: Arizona-Nevada LENGTH: 140 words DATELINE: RENO, Nev., BODY: Businessman Marc Sparks of Dallas, Texas., failed Tuesday to post the required $1.4 million deposit with the bankruptcy court to take over the Cal-Neva Lodge at Lake Tahoe. Sparks submitted a letter of credit which was rejected by the court which said it should have been a cashier's check. Sparks had submitted the winning bid last week of $14-million for the hotel-casino and had to post the deposit for $1.4 million by the deadline Tuesday. With Sparks out of the picture, FMR Capital of Phoenix, which submitted the second best bid, was given a chance to take over the business. FMR now has seven days to put up a deposit of $1.4 million and then pay off the rest in 30 days. Steven Chanen, a Phoenix attorney who is president of FMR said he did not see any problem with coming up with the money or meeting the deadlines. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH