SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Microcap & Penny Stocks : The Hartcourt Companies, Inc. (HRCT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Investorman who wrote (1731)1/19/2001 12:03:58 PM
From: funincolo  Respond to of 2413
 
(COMTEX) B: Subsidiary Launches New Enterprises Management Software S
B: Subsidiary Launches New Enterprises Management Software SalesNet and
Timekeeper 2001

New York, New York, Jan 19, 2001 (Market News Publishing via COMTEX) -- The
Hartcourt Companies Inc., hartcourt.com, an investment and
development company focused on Internet infrastructure and content delivery,
announced that the Logicspace unit of StreamingAsia, its Hong Kong-based
subsidiary, has launched the latest generation of its enterprise management
solution software SalesNet 2001 and TimeKeeper 2001.

"Demonstrations of the software applications at the ASP World Conference and
Expo last week were met with wide acceptance," said Ginger Lau, Marketing
Manager of StreamingAsia.

SalesNet 2001 is a versatile and easy to use sales management software tailored
to meet the needs of sales and marketing executives at small to medium sized
companies. The software can be operated in the client/server mode or installed
in the workstations of end users.

SalesNet 2001 can keep account and customer contact information in a corporate
database that can be shared by different management levels while eliminating
data loss. Management executives and sales staff can track the progress and
projected sales of each transaction anytime, anywhere. The software can also
provide instant sales forecasting for better sales planning and management.
SalesNet 2001 can facilitate more efficient information flow as well as time
saving steps not available from conventional forecasting reports.

To further expand the capabilities of the software, SalesNet 2001 will also
support WAP and PDA access to enhance mobile data retrieval and provide further
convenience for clients who travel frequently or work outside of the office.

All information stored in SalesNet 2001 can be secured based on the needs of
clients. Role level security is also available to protect the integrity of the
information by eliminating leakage to other internal or external sales units.

TimeKeeper 2001 is an Internet/ Intranet based Human Resources Management and
project cost control software suitable for companies with a large workforce.
TimeKeeper 2001 can store employee records including attendance, sick leave and
annual leave. Clients can keep track of these records through a web browser
anytime, anywhere. Employees can also easily check their annual leave balances
from the web, thus reducing the administrative effort of the HR department and
operations team.

Clients can also compute the manpower cost of each project and productivity of
employees based on the information from TimeKeeper 2001. With TimeKeeper 2001,
clients can allocate their human resources more effectively and conduct instant
cost forecasting and planning to enhance the productivity and profitability of
their companies.

Hartcourt CEO, Dr. Charlie Q. Yang, commented, "The latest generation of
LogicSpace's management software is a fine complement to the menu of products
currently being marketed throughout Asia by the sales team of StreamingAsia. We
are happy with the maturation of these companies and anticipate significant
revenue growth later this year and beyond. It is my intention to elaborate on
the growth potential of the markets we serve when I host an open meeting with
Hartcourt investors later this month in Washington, D.C."

Dr. Yang's investor meting is scheduled for Monday, January 29th, 2001, and will
be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Bethesda, Maryland, from 7-9 PM. The hotel
is located at One Bethesda Metro Center. Directions to the location can be
obtained from the information center at the hotel by calling 301-657-1234.

Those wishing to attend the event are kindly asked to make reservations with Ms.
Grace Li at The Hartcourt Companies, Inc., in Los Angeles, 310-410-7290 ext.
203.

About StreamingAsia and LogicSpace

The Hartcourt Companies, Inc., which owns 50% of StreamingAsia, announced on
September 21, 2000 that it has signed an underwriting agreement for an Initial
Public Offering of StreamingAsia. StreamingAsia (http://www.streamingasia.com)
provides a wide range of Internet services including software for Web portals
for the delivery of "streaming" or live and on-demand video and audio content
over the Internet, content publishing, web page design, system architecture and
solution implementation.

Established in Silicon Valley in 1997, Logicspace, (http://www.logicspace.com) a
wholly owned subsidiary of StreamingAsia, has extensive business development
offices in Southeast Asia including China, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Logicspace specializes in ASP, XML, JAVA and JAVASCPRIT applications, web page
design, system architecture and solution implementation as well as professional
consultation services relating to Internet and e-Commerce solutions.

Detailed information on Hartcourt can be obtained via the company's Web site,
hartcourt.com.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this news release may constitute "forward looking"
statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934. Such forward looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other
factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievement
expressed or implied by such forward looking statements to differ materially
from the forward looking statements.



To: Investorman who wrote (1731)1/20/2001 1:38:08 PM
From: StockDung  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 2413
 
FEATURE: Regulator pledges crackdown on stock manipulators

.c Kyodo News Service


BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Kyodo) - By: Geoffrey Murray China's securities regulators have finally declared war on stock market tampering, which threatens to damage investor confidence.

Officials now admit that the stock markets, which outperformed the rest of Asia's bourses in 2000, are seriously undermined by speculation, insider trading and price manipulation.

Zhou Xiaochuan, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), pledged at a national conference the authority would crack down on all irregularities ''to build up a healthy stock market and pave the way for more economic reforms.''

Zhou said a new supervisory framework to monitor operations of securities houses has been established to allow oversight of trading, brokering and management of accounts within firms.

The new controls are also thought to include electronic tracking and surveillance systems to reduce currency fraud and insider trading.

Security house executives will face ''tougher treatment'' for involvement in market manipulation, although no specifics have been revealed. To prevent fraud in asset restructuring, the commission is drafting a temporary regulation on takeovers of listed firms.

Speaking at the same national seminar on the future of the banking, securities and insurance industries, Premier Zhu Rongji launched a broadside at mismanagement and corruption lurking just beneath the surface of China's growing financial markets.

He said serious violations should lead to closure of financial institutions and confiscation of their licenses.

The CSRC disclosed recently that in the past two years it had uncovered 40 cases of illegal activity involving securities institutions, while in the past year more than 1,000 people had lodged complaints against brokers.

Zhu cautioned officials at the CSRC, the People's Bank of China, and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission that dereliction of duty would not be tolerated and officials could lose their jobs.

Financial and monetary stability are crucial to reform of the country's lumbering state economy. Much is riding on the continued ability of the government to turn to the country's stock markets to help transform its own debt-ridden enterprises into shareholding companies to overcome their capital shortages.

How serious is the problem?

The Shanghai Securities News has reported more than a dozen listed companies whose stock prices shot up to abnormally high levels due to alleged manipulation had nose-dived as fears of the crackdown emerged and shareholders scuttled to get rid of the evidence.

There have been growing calls for greater protection of investor rights, stemming from several high-profile cases of troubled listed companies that were under investigation for possible illegal activities linked to their listing and financial disclosure.

They included heavily indebted retailer Zhengzhou Baiwen -- bailed out by the central government, but on the brink of being the first publicly traded company to be delisted from a Chinese bourse.

Two years ago, Shanghai-listed telephone component firm Chengdu Hongguang Industrial supplied false information to gain listing.

Two of the most high profile cases involve Yian Technology and Zhongke Chuangye. The prices of shares in the two companies both headed for the stratosphere towards the end of 1999, but, last year, when CSRC investigators began to sniff around, the prices collapse in panic selling that threatened the very survival of the markets.

Many people were shocked by the fall; none more than government officials who realized that had the irregularities at Zhongke and Yian not surfaced, the market could have faced genuine catastrophe.

Investigations suggest the speculation in Yian involved a major securities brokerage in Shanghai that used its own funds, while speculators in Zhongke had allegedly obtained funds illegally, putting up stock as collateral.

According to a leaked report from the Shanghai Stock Exchange, much of China's recent bull market may very well have been faked.

Contents of the report appeared in the Caijing Zazhi (Finance Magazine), a well-respected monthly financial journal with ties to the Stock Exchange Executive Council, a state-backed think tank.

The report cited widespread examples of collusion on prices, volume and timing of sales, all-cash payments to eliminate paper trails, old-fashioned insider trading -- even secret meetings in bathhouses to ensure no one was wearing a wire -- and various other means of deceiving investors and bending prices up and down.

One of the most common practices was said to be buying and selling of holdings, known as churning on Wall Street, and creating the illusion of high volume where little or no real volume exists.

Any institution discovered churning its own holdings to create fake volume as bait to attract buyers can already be charged with market manipulation under existing Chinese securities law. Penalties can include five years behind bars and a very stiff fine.

The report documented several periods in which unscrupulous activities were carefully monitored. During the 80 trading days from Aug. 9 to Dec. 3, 1999, investigators discovered one fund-management company had manipulated 76 separate stocks through various funds.

During the same period, a fund was caught buying and selling seven of its own stocks. Two different funds operated by the same management company were discovered buying and selling 11 different stocks in each other's holdings.

The country's 10 leading fund managers quickly issued a strong denial, saying their trading was transparent and protected investors.

The timing of the report is sensitive, however, as the government is preparing to give the fund management industry a more influential role in China's stock markets.

It recently issued guidelines on the operation of open-ended funds, a new financial instrument in China.

China's estimated 52 million individual investors dominate the domestic markets. The 10 fund management companies occupy only 11%.

AP-NY-01-19-01 2129EST