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Non-Tech : SLJB - Sulja Brothers Building Supply, Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: inchingup who wrote (1443)	4/18/2007 6:12:03 PM
From: scion	Respond to of 1681

SLJB: the silliest press release ever Posted Apr 18th 2007 5:19PM by Zac Bissonnette bloggingstocks.com If you're looking for poorly-written, amateur press releases for entertainment reading, Pink Sheets stocks tend to be a good source of material. A few days ago, Sulja Bros. Building Supplies Ltd. (OTC: SLJB) released the goofiest one that I've ever seen -- and I follow these things pretty closely. First, some background on the company: SLJB, a Windsor, Ontario based construction supply store, soared to a high of around 20 cents a share in September of 2006, as the company issued a string of press releases announcing lucrative contracts in the Middle East. For instance, on September 5th, the company announced that it had closed a cement contract in the United Arab Emirates which would generate $350 million (US) in annual revenue for the tiny lumberyard. The stock's huge upward movement and volume raised the eyebrow of a local reporter who visited the company's office, and wrote a piece essentially saying that the reality of the company didn't seem to match up with the claims of hundred million dollar contracts. Pretty soon, the Ontario Securities Commission had halted trading of the stock (although it still trades OTC in the US) and charged the company and its officers with issuing false press releases and manipulating the trading of the stock while dumping millions of dollars worth of stock -- a classic pump and dump. The company then issued a press release cautioning investors "not to rely upon the press releases and other public statements previously issued by or on behalf of the Company." The OSC has scheduled a hearing in July, and the stock has sunk into the sub-penny range. Then yesterday, the company issued the stupidest, funniest, most ridiculous press release that I have ever seen in my life. The title says it all: SLJB Takes Offensive Position: States Forward Momentum Toward Original Business Goals. The whole press release reads as though it was written in Italian, translated into Spanish by a computer, and then translated into English. The gist of the release is this: After publicly telling investors not to rely on its own statements, the company is going to start suing people who say bad things about the stock. Here are some of the gems from the PR (emphasis added): LAS VEGAS, NV--(MARKET WIRE)--Apr 13, 2007 -- SLJB (Other OTC:SLJB.PK - News) today announced that it began a "seek and destroy" mission on all individuals and/or the organizations they either directly or indirectly represent tied to slanderous media campaigns and internet blog-site defamations... "We can almost consider this a new source of revenue for our company," the spokesperson joked. "There are a lot of people on the hook for this non-sense, and we know who they are. We also know the platforms from where they attack our people and our organization. We will bring them all to like terms," the spokesperson continued... We made promises to shareholders and to longstanding business partners. We intend to keep them, and no one or no group will deter us from this ever. What's amazing is the level of righteous indignation that the company seems to muster. It's as though they expect to be able to see their stock price decline more than 90% while the company issues a statement telling investors not rely on previous PR's, and not have people say anything. Rather than beginning a "seek and destroy mission," the company should just silence its critics the right way: Issue proof of the hundred million dollar cement contracts and release the audited financials showing enormous profits that the company promised. In other words, keep the promises that they they made to shareholders. Although I mentioned this press release because it's funny, there is actually is a message to be gleaned from it: When a company starts attacking its critics rather than simply proving them wrong, sell the stock. Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) has launched a vitriolic campaign against "naked short sellers" whom he blames for his stock's underperformance. Could the fact that the company has never made any money also be a factor? But Byrne can't fix the company' bad business model -- so he attacks the people who recognize it. Bottom-line: When a company's management starts complaining about short sellers or "slanderous media campaigns," sell the stock. If the allegations are untrue, the company can simply refute them. If they don't, it's probably because they can't. bloggingstocks.com