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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Zia Sun(zsun) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StockDung who wrote (8289)	6/14/2000 11:37:00 AM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Respond to of 10354

Five Ways to Stay Out of Trouble Anyone who's seen Boiler Room -- Hollywood's take on how one renegade brokerage firm peddles stocks of nonexistent companies -- will probably never be tempted to take a cold call from a broker again. And yet low-priced stocks remain an attractive way to get in on the ground floor of a company that could be destined to be the next Yahoo or Microsoft. If you?re interested in a stock you?ve never heard of being sold by a broker you?ve never met, here?s how to stay out of trouble: When you are dealing with stocks priced at less than $5 a share, check out the promoter, the issuer, the broker and anyone else involved. Maybe they?re related or even housed in the same building. Treat an Internet posting as if it were an annoying evening phone call from a pushy aluminum-siding salesman who doesn?t realize you live in an apartment. For penny stocks -- and stocks of very small companies in general -- use the SEC Edgar database to review trends in the shares outstanding, insider holdings, and loans and warrants in effect. (What to look for.) Any time you are tempted to deal with a new broker, ask for his or her disciplinary record (and that of the broker?s firm) at the National Association of Securities Dealers Regulation Web site. The likelihood of fraud increases as you go from the New York Stock exchange to Nasdaq to the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board to the "pink sheets." If the stock you?re interested in is not traded on an exchange (for example, it?s listed on the pink sheets), it?s regulated at the state level. Use our state securities locator map to find your state?s regulators. kiplinger.com