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Pastimes : Investment Chat Board Lawsuits -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (1312)	4/6/2001 4:05:48 AM
From: EL KABONG!!!	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12465

interactive.wsj.com April 6, 2001 Value Line Strikes Again With a Cybersmear Suit By AARON ELSTEIN WSJ.COM Value Line Inc. has sued another former employee for criticizing its chief executive on the Internet. The venerable money manager and fund researcher filed suit in a Manhattan state court against Mark DaSilva, a former Value Line research analyst, and 10 anonymous parties listed as "John Does." The March 21 suit alleges that the defendants libeled and defamed the firm and its CEO, Jean Bernhard Buttner, who owns 86% of the company. Value Line, based in New York, seeks $10,000 in relief and $1 million in punitive damages. Court documents don't specify how or where Mr. DaSilva and the other unidentified defendants defamed Value Line or Mrs. Buttner, or why Mr. DaSilva was the only defendant listed by his actual name. But Value Line Treasurer David Henigson confirmed that the company's legal proceedings are intended to root out those who are anonymously assailing the company and Mrs. Buttner on Internet message boards. Mrs. Buttner wasn't available to comment, and Value Line's lawyer, Irwin Echtman, declined to comment. Mr. DaSilva didn't return calls to his home in Coram, N.Y. Value Line officials confirm that he once worked for the firm as a research analyst, but wouldn't say when or why he left. Two years ago, Value Line sued Christopher Bischoff, a former co-manager of the Value Line Aggressive Income Fund, after he called Mrs. Buttner, 65 years old, an "old dodo," among other things, on an Internet message board. Value Line contended that Mr. Bischoff's messages were intended to destroy Mrs. Buttner's reputation. The parties are working toward a settlement, says Mr. Bischoff's lawyer, Agnes McKeon. Legal experts estimate that some 120 cybersmear suits have been filed across the country. But the only other Wall Street firm known to have filed such a suit is Credit Suisse First Boston, the investment-banking unit of Zurich's Credit Suisse Group. Last July, CSFB sued a New Jersey scientist and several others for saying on a Yahoo message board that a pharmaceuticals analyst was "lying" to customers. The case was settled in December after the scientist, Chuan Chang, agreed to no longer post any false or defamatory statements. Cybersmear suits typically allege that message-board postings have libeled companies or their top executives. After filing suit, the companies subpoena Internet-service providers such as Yahoo! Inc. or AOL Time Warner Inc. to learn the identities of those writing offending messages. News of Value Line's latest cybersmear suit has circulated on a Yahoo message board. Since March 23, three people say they have been notified about subpoenas served by Value Line. Among them is Richard Ozaroff, a 75-year-old former Value Line vice president who lives in Greenacres, Fla. Mr. Ozaroff, who says he worked at Value Line for 20 years, says he posted a message last year criticizing Mrs. Buttner and her management abilities, but removed the post at the request of Mr. Henigson, Value Line's treasurer. Mr. Henigson confirmed that account. Unlike many Wall Street firms, Value Line is controlled by a single shareholder. Mrs. Buttner, the daughter of the company's founder, owns an 86% stake and rules a seven-member board that includes three employees who report to her and one outside director who is her brother. At 4 p.m. Thursday, Value Line shares were unchanged at $39.25 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Unlike many financial stocks, Value Line shares have been spared in the recent market downturn, trading near their 52-week high of $43. Jon Foster, president of Howard Capital Management, owns more than 114,000 shares in Value Line, or a 1.1% stake. "It hasn't lost me money in the last 12 months," Mr. Foster says, and he applauds Mrs. Buttner for keeping the balance sheet cash-rich and debt-free. But he wishes she were more aggressive in marketing the company's mutual funds and publications. "Value Line is historically one of the strongest brands in financial services," Mr. Foster says. "In the hands of a bigger marketing machine, it could be really be something." In business since 1931, Value Line is known for strong stock research and turning out Wall Street talent. Jeffrey Vinik, former manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund, and Zalman Bernstein, founder of the investment firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., both started at Value Line. The company's core product is the weekly Value Line Investment Survey, which contains reports from the firm's analysts about some 1,700 stocks. It is widely read by professional money managers. The firm also runs 15 mutual funds with $5.8 billion of assets, according to its most recent annual report. But growth has stalled amid growing competition in both money-management businesses and financial publishing. For example, while Value Line charges $345 a year for its mutual fund survey, Morningstar Inc. offers similar mutual-fund analysis free on the Web. Value Line said in regulatory filings that the availability of free and low-cost data on the Internet "is believed to have had a negative impact on revenue growth." For the quarter ending Jan. 31, Value Line earned $11.8 million, or $1.19 a share, on revenue of about $25 million, compared with a profit of $14.1 million, or $1.41 a share, and revenue of $24.1 million in the year-earlier period. Write to Aaron Elstein at aaron.elstein@wsj.com KJC

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (1312)	4/6/2001 12:34:09 PM
From: betone	Respond to of 12465

Medinah Source ragingbull.lycos.com ragingbull.lycos.com

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (1312)	4/6/2001 3:44:33 PM
From: Handshake™	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12465

and Yes Mr. Mitchell I do owe you and your thread an apology for blasting out at Mr. WLD. Notonly is Mr. WLD entitled to voice his opinion pertaining to Medinah Minerals on this thread, I just think it is very unbecoming for an individual with no class to make his assertions when he can't back up anything else as I have proven. Thank you, and again I humbly apologize!

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (1312)	6/14/2001 2:05:43 AM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12465

Re: 6/13/01 - [AZNT/ANTD] CEO Michael A. Sylver's Letter to Stockholders June 13, 2001 Dear Amazon Natural Treasures.Com, Inc.'s Stockholder: We are not sure if you have been made abreast of the happenings here at Amazon Natural Treasures.Com, Inc. Therefore, we will take a moment to brief you on the events of the last several years. In 1997, a group of illegal stock manipulators and shorters out of Canada targeted Amazon Natural Treasures, Inc. with malicious intent and shorted our stock price down from $3.82 to $0.12 per share in hopes that the company would go out of business creating a terminal short they would never have to cover. As part and parcel of this illegal strategy the 'shorters', and others in league with them, 'sold' some 12.5 million 'naked' shares, i.e., shares in excess of the shares actually issued by the company! In order for the company to protect the stockholders, a Federal lawsuit was filed against these perpetrators. After three years, the company finally was triumphant in Court. Since the settlement of the court case on November 9, 2000, the company has engaged in an aggressive program to clean-up stockholders equity by initiating several innovative procedures. For your perusal, enclosed please find a series of Press Releases put out by the company. One of the major strategies of the company in its move to eliminate the over 12 ½ million +/- shares 'naked' shorting of the stock was the utilization of an Internet Trading System known as 'NIPHIX'. Since the reverse split took effect on February 6, 2001, the company was successfully trading on the Niphix Trading System under symbol 'ANTDC'. The last sale of our stock on Niphix was $49.00 per share. Due to a breach of contract on the part of Niphix Investments, Inc., and in a continuing effort to protect stockholders equity, Amazon Natural Treasures.Com, Inc. has introduced a new venue. Holders of record of Amazon Natural Treasures.Com, Inc.'s stock certificate(s) may place them on this venue to assist the brokers/dealers/market makers cure their 'Failure to Deliver and Failure to Receive' requirements as set forth in NASD Rule 15c.3-3 and the NASDAQ letter UPC #036-2001 dated April 10, 2001. This venue can be found on Amazon Natural Treasures.Com, Inc.'s website: www.amazon-treasures.com under 'online auction'. If, you hold your stock in hand and wish to participate in the 'online auction', please send your stock certificate(s) to the Transfer Department of Amazon Natural Treasures.Com, Inc., 4011 West Oquendo Road, Suite C, Las Vegas, NV 89118. Please certify your signature on the back of the certificate with a 'signature medallion guarantee', which can be secured from your local bank. The Transfer Department is an SEC licensed activity, which is required to and does maintain its records completely separate from the company and from the on-line auction. The Transfer Department is required to hold your stock certificate(s) in house in safekeeping. If, your stock is still with the Niphix system, please contact Computer Clearing Services, Inc. at: 818-242-9333 (Contact: Thelma) and have them send your stock certificate(s) to the Transfer Department of Amazon Natural Treasures.Com, Inc. You will be notified as soon as your stock certificate(s) arrives at the Transfer Department of Amazon Natural Treasures.Com, Inc. After acknowledgement of receipt of your stock certificate(s) by the transfer agent, you will be able to place your stock on the auction venue if you wish. Some of you have asked why Amazon Natural Treasures.Com, Inc. is not trading on any other exchange/market other than an alternative. As previously stated in 1997, our company was targeted with a massive 'naked' shorting scheme that produced a naked short in our stock in excess of 12 ½ million +/- shares. In order for the company to fulfill its SEC audited financial statement requirements, it is mandatory that the company accurately state stockholders equity. The only way the company could achieve this is by enforcing Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 78.235 and 78.250 (copies enclosed). On April 15, 2001, all shares of the company that were not issued into beneficial owners names were deemed void on their face as well as cancelled on the books and records of the corporation. Due to this action and once the SEC and the NASD begin requiring NASD member firms to comply with these rules and the laws, we will then be able to again engage the auditing firm to produce our audited financial statement (the SEC Form 10K). By registering for an account and placing your stock on the 'online auction' venue, you are making it possible for the following to take place consistent with NASD regulations and the applicable securities laws: 1. All the retail stockbrokers must comply with the securities laws and NASD regulations by delivering physical certificates to all beneficial owners to whom they have sold stock since March 1996. 2. In order for the retail brokers to comply, they would need to make demand upon market makers and wholesalers from which the retail stockbrokers bought their shares originally. 3. According to the NASDAQ UPC letter dated April 10, 2001 (copy enclosed) every stockbroker must deliver physical certificates to the beneficial owners. What should occur is the retail stockbrokers, consistent with NASD Rule 15c.3-3 (copy enclosed), will make the demand for the physical certificates that they bought from the market makers and wholesalers. As there is no longer any stock available anywhere except through the 'online auction' venue and individual shareholders, according to NASD Rule 15c.3-3, we fully expect that, when the limitation of time expires, the retail brokers will be required to purchase stock through the 'online auction' or individual stockholders. This will in turn, enable them to deliver the stock to the beneficial owners who have not received their certificates. As the owner of Amazon Natural Treasures.Com, Inc.'s stock certificates, you are free to offer them on the 'online auction' venue at whatever price you determine. These 'online auctions' are simply private transactions between buyer and seller. Amazon Natural Treasures.Com has no involvement as a company in the auctions beyond making the venue available to buyers and sellers at a very modest cost. Whatever monies the retail brokers spend in purchasing your shares should be reimbursed to them in full from the market makers and wholesalers through the NASD buy-in procedure. In other words, the retail brokers have nothing whatsoever to lose when they do a 'buy-in' against the market makers and wholesalers that originally did not deliver the stock, which the retail broker purchased. Also, do not send your certificates to any broker dealers. They will not be able to trade your stock. If, you choose to trade your stock, it can be traded on the 'online auction' venue. However, keep in mind you are not required to do so. To all of you who are new to Amazon Natural Treasures.Com, Inc., we welcome you to visit our website: www.amazon-treasures.com. Two of our top selling products are: - Nature's Treasure, an all natural sweetener - Embe, our libido plus Enclosed please find our product information and handy order form. We know you would want to try our products. All inquiries to this letter should be directed only in writing to our Offices. Written Inquiries may be faxed to 702-942-0101 or emailed to Amazon@Amazon-Treasures.com. Yours truly, AMAZON NATURAL TREASURES.COM, INC. Michael A. Sylver President MAS:jr Enclosures P.S. If, you have not received all of the stock certificate(s) of Amazon Natural Treasures.Com, Inc. that you have purchased from your stock broker or know of anyone else who has not, please notify us immediately. ===== Additional information available at: ragingbull.lycos.com