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Strategies & Market Trends : Anthony @ Equity Investigations, Dear Anthony, -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony@Pacific who wrote (67106)	2/16/2001 1:05:10 PM
From: mmmary	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 122087

HOMS does not look good to me either I didn't go into their financials. I'm just looking at it as a RE person. I'm a licensed broker and appraiser marycummins.com . I also tried looking for homes through this service for the heck of it. One, the data is extremely out of date. My old condo was listed in there six months after I told them I sold it. They had a house I'd listed and sold in there over a year after I told them I sold it. I would still only get one call a month and it was priced so well that I sold it with multiple bidders in three days. I think they just like keeping a huge fake inventory. When I was looking for a new place, I emailed and called these listings and they were all sold months ago except for one which was way over priced. I have full MLS access and that is the only way to find a home in certain areas. If you want a good deal, you need to work with a live agent as they have pocket listings and other deals. The MLS works with listing link which must be a part of this service. The data gets to listing links at least two weeks after it's first listed. These are not fresh homes. If you have good credit and want a conforming loan you can legally get a $25 computer appraisal so the appraisal business is dying. Right now I build auto dealer websites. We use the sites just to generate leads. It is currently almost impossible if not illegal to sell cars over the internet. It's a great way to advertise and inform but you cannot consumate a deal on line. Not every dealer has every color or model available so you'd have to order and wait months or call all the different local dealers. Same with homes. You still have to kick the tires and check out the kitchens. I realize that homs is just a portal site but I don't see it helping people buy or sell homes the way they say it should. I've also had bad experience with the finance section. The guy who was going to buy my condo used the service to shop a loan. He took the best bid. Needless to say that his best bid turned into a nightmare. He ended up with a quote higher than anything he could get from a broker or bank. They weren't direct lenders at the lending tree so they had to add on a bunch of fees. They also have to price the loans so they can resell them for a profit instantly so they're padded on the front end and back end. I turned him onto my loan agent which gave him a better deal. The loan still fell through because even though the lending tree assured me in writing that he wsa pre-approved, they didn't bother to check his credit which was horrible. Again, I didn't look at the financials. If they are just a portal site making money off ads and leads, then maybe it makes sense. It does not make sense for the consumer unless they just want decorating tips.

To: Anthony@Pacific who wrote (67106)	2/16/2001 2:07:24 PM
From: StockDung	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 122087

BioPulse's Tijuana Cancer Clinic Shut Down by Mexican Officials San Diego, Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- BioPulse International Inc.'s controversial Tijuana cancer clinic was shut down yesterday by Baja California state health officials, two weeks after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission told the company it is investigating claims BioPulse makes to attract patients. The clinic provides more than 90 percent of the company's revenue, according to its regulatory filings. Revenue for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2000 was $3.1 million. ``Yesterday, we made the inspection and we found out that the clinic was advertising and offering cancer treatments that aren't authorized,'' said Alfredo Gruel, head of regulation at the state's Public Health Service Institute. ``They are applying procedures that are not authorized in Mexico.'' Without mentioning the closure, BioPulse issued a press release today saying it will sell the Tijuana facility's assets. Company executives weren't immediately available for comment. The clinic's treatments, which the company has declared are unproven, include inducing daily comas in patients and injecting patients with vaccines made from their own urine. Gruel said the clinic didn't have a license to conduct such procedures as inducing comas. The closure did not affect homeopathic treatments at the clinic. Those procedures are properly licensed, officials said. BioPulse has also been banned from advertising its cancer treatment operations, said Gruel. He said he expects the company to file a complaint and seek an injunction against the state actions. Mexico also bans companies from testing experimental procedures, even when they have disclosed to the patient the nature of the treatment and its experimental stage. ``In Mexico you can't do experimental treatments, unless you have a permit from the authorities,'' said Gruel. BioPulse publicist John Liviakis promotes BioPulse on his Web site, lfcent.com./biopulse.html, as ``enjoying high success rates in treating cancer and other diseases.'' A recent SEC filing by the company appeared to contradict its own spokesman. ``To date, none of our technologies have proven effective, been submitted for or received FDA approval for marketing in the United States,'' the company said. Last month, Bloomberg News reported that some U.S. cancer experts were concerned that BioPulse's treatments, besides being ineffective, could harm patients. The clinic charges patients $5,700 a week, although it accepts other forms of payment. In October, it treated a woman in exchange for her father providing a $225,000 loan to BioPulse, according to a recent regulatory filing. Feb/16/2001 13:27 ET For more stories from Bloomberg News, click here. (C) Copyright 2001 Bloomberg L.P.