Oh wow, Samgee. I've already explained. And so have others.
Sand getting into your hair, your eyes, your ears, by now? To switch metaphors, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it think. Just one more try: go have a look at the MTEI thread.
If you want to persist in your belief that I'm short this stock, well, fine. Your problem.
Um didja see this?
July 31, 1998
Trading Halt by SEC Roils
Mountain Energy Debate
By JASON ANDERS
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE EDITION
When the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission halted trading of tiny
Mountain Energy on Wednesday, it intensified what was already one of the
most heated and controversial on-line debates.
Since being formed through a reverse merger
in June, the Houston oil company has been a
hot topic on the Silicon Investor Web site's
(www.techstocks.com) discussion forums.
More than 7,200 messages have been posted
about the stock, which is quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board.
The SEC ordered the trading suspended until Aug. 12, it says, because of
questions raised about some information Mountain Energy distributed about
its land holdings and the value of that land -- issues that message board
participants have been debating for weeks.
And it has been an ugly debate, says Silicon Investor.
"Dealing with this message board has been an absolute nightmare. It's the
worst I've ever seen," says a spokesman for the discussion forum. "At its
worst we were getting flooded with about 200 complaints a day. That went on
for about two weeks. It took so much time to read through them, it made it
impossible to get anything else done."
For its part, Mountain Energy
concedes that some press releases
may have contained inaccurate
information, but says those releases
were issued by the management of
the shell company, International
Casino Cruises Inc., into which
Mountain was merged. Mountain
Energy says the releases were
issued without its approval.
"Anything before June 24 was written
by them, and we had nothing to do
with it," says Jack Uselton, president
of Mountain Energy. "We were
flabbergasted when [the SEC] halted
trading. I don't know what the hell is
going on, but I know we haven't done anything wrong." Mountain Energy has
filed a lawsuit against the management of International Casino Cruises, and
some financial firms it alleges improperly received stock from the prior
management. The defendants couldn't be reached for comment.
Mr. Uselton says he wants the company to disclose additional financial
information to investors, but says he can't do that because the former
directors haven't turned over some key data. He also says that neither he nor
anyone else affiliated with Mountain Energy has sold any stock, as some on
the message board have alleged.
The SEC declines to elaborate on its
investigation into Mountain Energy, but that
hasn't stopped message board participants from
weighing in with their own theories. The stock's
supporters say the SEC's investigation will once
and for all clear Mountain Energy's name. Many
critics believe the stock will never trade again.
Both sides have pointed fingers at the other, claiming stock manipulation and
citing the stock's wild ride as evidence. Shares of Mountain Energy climbed
from six cents a share at the beginning of May to $1.53 in early June, only to
fall back steadily to 18 cents a share before trading was halted. Silicon
Investor says the bulk of the complaints it received seemed to be part of an
organized campaign by some message-board participants to expel certain
"bashers" -- a person who makes derogatory posts on message boards in an
effort to drive down a stock's price.
At its height, the bickering included death threats. Silicon Investor says a few
users posted messages in public and in private hinting that harm could come
to some of Mountain Energy's critics if they didn't keep quiet. "I don't know if
the threats were legitimate, but I know we took them seriously," says the
Silicon Investor spokesman. Some Mountain Energy supporters have
suggested that some of the stock's critics authored the threats themselves.
"A lot of things are coming to light that we've been saying for a long, long
time," says Janice Shell, one of the most active participants on the Mountain
Energy message board. "These people go on and on about the need for due
diligence or research, but their idea of due diligence is calling up the
company and believing everything handed to them."
Ms. Shell and others have been accused by other board participants of being
paid to attack the stock on behalf of "shorters" -- investors who make bets
that a stock will fall in price. She says she has never held a position in
Mountain Energy, and has no financial interest in the stock. But Mountain
Energy supporters say something just doesn't add up.
"They say they're there to save us from the
pump and dumpers. However, pump and dump
time is long gone on this stock, and they're still
harping on it. There has to be a reason," says
Eric Deaver, a frequent participant on the
message board.
Mr. Deaver, who says he has faith in the
management of Mountain Energy, says the
so-called bashers have ruined what was a good
message board -- and a good investment. "I don't have a problem with
someone raising an issue. I think that's responsible. I have a problem with
these people who do nothing but bash the stock all day long," he says.
Mountain Energy took a shot at its on-line critics in a press release at the
beginning of the week, where it said: "It is human nature to wish for quick
returns on an investment, and this drives a need for positive information ... .
However, if the management moved quickly to give out unproven information,
they would be as guilty of irresponsibility as those sources of misinformation,
who are currently so active on the Internet."
Mr. Uselton says he questions the motives of the message board participants
who have attacked Mountain Energy. "This stuff is coming from people who
know nothing about the company. I just don't understand why they are there,
why they keep at it," he says.
Ms. Shell, who says she invests in several stocks but none quoted on the
OTC Bulletin Board, admits that she is "completely obsessed" with unraveling
what she calls "the Mountain Energy story." And, she says, the story isn't
over yet. "I'd like to believe now that this board will calm down, and then I will
depart," she says. "But I just know that as soon as trading reopens, there are
going to be a lot of posts saying 'this baby is going to the moon.' And then I'll
be back."
Write to Jason Anders at: jason.anders@news.wsj.com |
