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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Computerized Thermal Imaging CIO (formerly COII) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patricia who wrote (4799)	7/2/2000 5:23:02 PM
From: ayn rand	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6039

INVESTORS BEWARE: SWINDLERS ABOUND AS NET LURES FOOLS Kathy Kristof Los Angeles Times Syndicate July 2, 2000 No one knows precisely how many individuals cruise the Internet's copious stock chat rooms and bulletin boards with the intent of manipulating stock prices by not only finding greater fools, but by creating them through imaginative tales of riches about to be made. What's certain is that they are many and their ranks appear to be swelling daily, as more investors go on-line and are lured by the promise of making millions at the mere click of a computer mouse. Investors beware. "You cannot wait for the SEC to come along and protect you," Emshwiller says. "The world is moving too fast and the temptations are too great." In some ways, Internet cons are like the investment swindles of yesteryear. The swindler generally tells you "inside" information that you need to act on immediately or the opportunity will be lost. But there's a huge difference that often makes these new economy swindles harder to resist: the Internet medium. First, they don't call you on the phone to give you a hard sell and urge you to send them a check via Federal Express. Instead, they're reaching you through a medium that can connect millions of people at a time. And rather than sending them money directly, they want you--and all the other people lurking in a chat room or reading an on-line bulletin board--to click over to your favorite broker and make a trade. What you probably don't know is that, if enough people like you take the bait, the tipster can make a fortune trading in the opposite direction. While you feed the buying frenzy, pushing the stock's price up, the tipster sells shares in what he knows to be an overvalued or even worthless company. By the time you find out that the stock is worth little or nothing, the tipster probably has gone on to a new stock, a new chat room and maybe a new moniker. "A lot of it is adapting to this new medium," says Philip Rutledge, deputy chief counsel for the Pennsylvania State Securities Commission. "The public needs to understand the ulterior motives. The tipster may be trying to `pump and dump.' They talk up a stock because they bought it and they need you to feed into a buying frenzy so they can sell." This type of scam is what the title of Emshwiller's book is all about. A "mo-mo mama" is a stock driven by trading momentum that's often fanned by a handful of chat-room tipsters. A "scam dog" is one step worse--a stock that is overvalued at best, a complete fraud at worst. Listening to these tipsters is seductive because they often can drive the price of a stock up just by saying it's heading higher. If you are quick on your feet, you can make a profit through rapid-fire buying and selling, Emshwiller says. Unfortunately, few investors are that quick. They end up coming home after a long day's work to find that the stock they bought in yesterday's buying frenzy has crashed today. There are no easy ways to protect investors from venal tipsters on the Internet, experts agree. Neither the SEC nor private watchdog groups appear to be close to stemming the rising tide of Internet-based stock swindles. Instead, investors need to protect themselves in dull, old-fashioned ways. Do your own research. Determine whether a company has value before you buy it, Emshwiller says. Investigate the backgrounds of company officers. You'd be surprised how many corporate "consultants" have criminal records or backgrounds pockmarked with allegations of fraud, he adds. chicagotribune.com does this sound like any stock we know?

To: Patricia who wrote (4799)	7/3/2000 12:24:47 AM
From: chirodoc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6039

*********SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE*************** the tactics used by the bashers are common and simple. find people involved with a company and find as much negative stuff on them as possible and then twist the truth to imply that they are unethical. THE BLOOMBERG ARTICLE the bloomberg article is full of half-truths and statements taken out of context. for example: 1. the statement that coii did something unethical by giving the mexican consortium a discount on their shares is laughable. the original deal (negotiations started over a year ago) was set up when coii was a fraction of the price it is today. the discount only seems huge because of the huge price appreciation that has occurred. 2. yuri parisky probably did say that the cti machine would not be used as a stand-alone device. after all, they are applying to the fda as an adjunct. what else could he say as they prepare to submit for this purpose. however, the article neglected to say that dr. parisky is one of the chief proponents of coii and feels that it will one day be a respected adjunct to mammography. the bloomberg story was written by a hack writer with a penchant for these kinds of stories. his history demonstrates that other companies are aware of his tendency to produce slanted, unsubstantiated, yellow journalism. DAVE JOHNSTON so dave johnston has a few lawsuits against him. so what? how many lawsuits do you think that bill gates (msft) and larry ellison (orcl) have against them. in the last couple weeks we have seen that the justice department has declared that msft engaged in numerous illegal activities, oracle has been paying spies to harrass msft, and even the secret service has been paying prostitutes to get secrets from our enemies. in this light, dave johnston, in 35 years of business has had a few lawsuits against him. so what? that is part of doing business in america. in these suits he has never been found guilty of anything serious. in fact, his problems look pale compared to the problems of bill gates, larry ellison and the majority of successful ceo's. dave johnston is an overly exuberant person. when someone sees the cup as half full or empty, he sees it as overlfowing. his enthusiasm can obviously get him in trouble as it did by making announcements about chinese sales years ago, because he had letters of intent, but no cash in hand. that is why he hired mr. packer--he wanted someone running the day to day operations of the company who was more likely to under-promise and over-produce. that is mr. johnston's main weakness--unbridled enthusiasm. WHY ARE THE BASHERS DOING THIS? there is only one reason--blatant stock price manipulation. WILL THEY CONTINUE? yes CAN THE PRICE DROP? yes WHAT SHOULD AN INVESTOR DO? that depends on your position. see my other post on playing in a manipulated market (after this one) for more information. WILL COII PREVAIL? i have no idea. my guess is that they will be accepted on nasdaq once they have reviewed all of the issues pressed by the short sellers. WILL COII FIGHT BACK? yes. you can expect a vigorous defense. HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR COII TO RESPOND? see my piece about pearl harbor for more information. YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION. BUT MY GUESS IS THAT THE PRICE IN THE 6-8 RANGE IS TOUGH TO TRADE OR SELL. IF IT DROPS BELOW 5 I BEGIN BUYING AND WILL DOLLAR COST AVERAGE IN. I AM CONFIDENT COII IS RUN BY HONEST, HARD-WORKING INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE BEING UNREASONABLY TARGETED BY VICIOUS SHORT SELLERS FROM THE UNDERWORLD. good luck to all, curtis