Keith,
My sentiments as well. Below is the response I sent via E-mail to someone who lurks on SI and is a TSIG stockholder. He doesn't belong to SI and therefore can't post, but somehow got one of my e-mail addresses and raised some issues which I tried to address:
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<<Yes, I have posted on the SI forum re: TSIG
<< If so have you read the messages in the CompuServe Investors (CIS:INVFOR) forum that refer to TSIG.
From what a Mark Gilmear (sp?) has been posting, this is a very risky company to put your money into and may even be a scam. Mark says there are millions of shares in the float. Maybe even as much as 60 mil. that we just don't know about.
I'd be interested in knowing what you think about this. >>
I rarely use the CompuServe forum except in particular instances... so I haven't seen his posts. Under what heading in the Investors Forum is he posting? I'll be glad to look at them and let you know my personal opinion. The people on SI have done a lot of DD on TSIG. "Mark Gilmear (sp?)" has access to the Web from CompuServe (and therefore SI). Why doesn't he (and you as well) spend the few dollars and join. It's certainly cheap enough for the info you can get and your questions will be answered... sooner or later. As far as Mr. Gilmear's comments I'll stand by my own experience and opinion. In his case, it seems to be a simple case of "money talks, B.S. walks". If he can base his comments on facts then let him short the stock heavily (if he isn't short already) and then join SI and post them (if, of course they exist). He'll surely make enough covering his short to pay for SI many times over!!
<< ".. this is a very risky company to put your money into" >> So was IBM if you bought it at over 100 and watched it go down to 60!!
<< "may even be a scam" Come on, Jeff. Put up or shut up is my response to Mark Gilmear (if that is his real name ... could be a scam you know <G>)! Everything may be a scam. People investing in start-up companies have no business doing so if they feel that way because they all might be considered "scams." Are major software companies (including MSFT) with their "vaporware" scams?
<< " Mark says there are millions of shares in the float. Maybe even as much as 60 mil. that we just don't know about." Please check the Edgar site for the filings of TSIG. The number of shares presently issued and outstanding and the percentage owned by management is well known. Will the float ever go as high as 60 million shares? Probably. I hope so. A small float means too much volatility and MM manipulation... good for trading perhaps, but TSIG is in my investment portfolio... not my trading portfolio!! Just remember that management's fortunes also depend on the stock price.
Gordon, who is not only heading management, but is also putting his own money on the line, is, IMHO, a superb deal-maker and one tough Board Chairman. That is one of my primary reasons for taking a long, long term position in this Company... besides their corporate plans and the people they are bringing into management.
I, personally, like this Company, but that is just my opinion (and I guess a number of others). The facts are all available on SI and the SEC filings which can be found on Edgar. If the Company is lying to the SEC they go directly to jail and don't collect $200.!!
Best wishes,
Marty
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Below is a note sent to the same party by another SI member he apparently contacted, I think his points are well made. Haven't we all learned how difficult it can be to get a buy order filled when we want it and how TSIG stock can change direction so rapidly? Is this a stock to trade? Not in my opinion... and apparently the poster from the TSIG string agrees.
<< Here is a message that some one sent me regarding TSIG:
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A rather harrowing week with our favorite stock, no? I mentioned at least once (if not more) that there would be news announced this past Thursday. What I was expecting didn't happen. My information came in a private message from a frequent SI poster; he asked that it be kept quiet until made public. I do think my source was sincere. You will have noticed there are many hints about news to be announced in the SI posts. The news is expected to move the stock. . .upward (if you had any question about that!)
Why was there no stock-moving news announced? I speculate that there are MANY things going on in the company right now. Management has stated that they are not going to hype the stock or publish press releases on a one-per-week basis. In other words, they will release the news when they get good and ready.
The stock made a very strong comeback Friday afternoon. I suspect the steady, small gains we saw early in the week were people who were buying and holding in cautious optimism about the "alleged" Thursday news. Then about mid-week, SEC documents hit EDGAR, the self-employed securities analyst posted on CompuServe, and the stock tanked toward $.30. Then I suspect people "in the know" picked up some cheap shares to position themselves for news announcements next week.
You both know this is purely my guessing. I'm just putting 2 and 2 together and <<hopefully>> coming up with 4. As I think about it, if the company knew the SEC documents were going public on Wednesday and knew these were very negative, why not let the market digest the bad news and save the good stuff for next week?
All the SEC documents have "kick-in-the-stomach" bad news in them. The obvious downside is that any potential investor may read the first three pages and drop the whole thing like a hot potato. The upside is that all the dirty laundry is piled in the middle of the floor. This protects us on the downside; i.e. it can't get much worse.
I confess that at one point this week, I decided I would sell if the stock got back to $.50. I was afraid the stock just had too many negatives and the risk was just out-of this-world. I called New York about then, and concluded once again, I'm in for the long haul. If I really turn negative on this stock, I'll try to let you know ASAP. If there is big news announced next week and we should be so fortunate as to see large percentage gains 3-4-5 days in a row, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of trading in and out of the stock on a short-term basis. This will be very tricky to execute and could backfire in a major way. But after the stock reached $.70, who thought we would see $.30 again? It will be very, very difficult to choose the exit and re-entry points.
Consider this scenario: news is announced Tuesday; stock moves up 20-30% per day on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; sell late Thursday afternoon because stocks rarely go up more that 3 days in a row, people may be wary of holding their position over the weekend, or normal profit-taking will occur on Friday. OR sell just under $1.00 assuming that is the goal for a lot of people. Then let another SEC document hit, or normal attrition occurs, or any of a million possibilities, the stock goes down to $.60 and buy the stock back.
I am just rambling; do not consider this as "advice." I have <<rarely>> been successful at the type of trading described above.
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Fellow TSIG posters: I took a bit of time and did a search on Compuserve's Investors Forum. This self-employed security analyst is either short the stock, works for a MM, or isn't all there. Remember the old expressions... "money talks, B.S. walks" and "if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with B.S."! All he does is reiterate a bunch of old new from filings, knocks Gordon, and then... hypes his own penny stock. If he was such a good security analyst he wouldn't be self-employed. He'd be earning a 7 figure income from a major!
Keith, your post is excellent. I sincerely believe those who are willing to lock-up this stock for a few years will be handsomely rewarded. I'm not saying not to watch it (or the market in general for that matter), but stocks and companies such as TSIG don't, IMHO, come along very often and frequently as with all start-ups they can be very volatile. All start-ups are speculations and everyone of us knew that going in originally. Whether someone pays $0.35 or $3.50 hopefully won't make any difference a few years from now.
Best to all,
Marty |
