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To: jhild who wrote (3299)	8/4/1998 6:50:00 PM
From: MMpro	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12810

*OT* Now that's what I call a Basher!!! Check out what that short-selling fiend, Manuel Asensio, can do to a stock. Turbodyne (TRBD) was attacked today by Asensio and caused the stock to go from $15 down to $5 and finally close at $10 ! Short-seller Targets Turbodyne The Motley Fool - August 04, 1998 12:28 August 4, 1998/FOOLWIRE/ -- Manuel Asensio is at again. This time the short-seller's target is Turbodyne Technologies (Nasdaq: TRBD), a recently incorporated Delaware firm (formerly a Canadian federal company) that manufactures permanent mold and sand aluminum castings through its Pacific Baja subsidiary. The old news is that Pacific Baja accounted for 100% of the firm's revenues in both fiscal 1996 and 1997. However, the company has tied its future profitability to its two primary, "proprietary" products, the "Turbopac" and the "Dynacharger." Incorporated into these two products is what the company calls Turbodyne Technology -- a "patented" technology designed to optimize air flow to internal combustion engines, resulting in "efficient" fuel combustion in both diesel and gasoline engines. The company's shares have been almost cut in half this morning, losing $7 7/16 to $8 3/8, because Asensio & Co. issued a press release entitled, "Turbodyne Possesses No Valuable Technology." Not one to mince words, Asensio went on to state, "Turbodyne does not possess any patents on any ignition, combustion, fuel or intake design or product that offers engine manufactures any new technology in emission reduction or power output..." and that, "No manufacturer has ever incorporated a single Turbodyne product in a new engine or vehicle." Indeed, none of the Turbodyne Products are commercially produced except for the Turbopac 1500 product and limited production of the Turbopac 2500 product. The other models of the Turbopac product and all models of the Dynacharger product remain in various stages of development. However, in April the firm did enter into a five-year sales and marketing agreement with Detroit Diesel pursuant to which Detroit Diesel will exclusively market the Turbopac product as part of its mechanical engine rebuild kit for the EPA Urban Bus Program. In June, the firm delivered the initial stocking order consisting of 100 Turbopacs to Detroit Diesel. This, of course, doesn't invalidate Asensio's claims because the deal involves some retrofitting, as opposed to incorporation into a "new engine or vehicle." As well, the patent claim by Asensio is true in a strict sense, but Turbodyne has been advised by the U.S. Patent Office that its Turbodyne Systems and Dynacharger applications have been approved -- Turbodyne is now just waiting formal approval of its final drawings. The point of this column today is not to provide support for either Asensio's or Turbodyne's claims, but rather to highlight the irony of a wholesale sell-off due to the fact that an institutional money manager in New York has made a pronouncement about the merits of a particular technology. Turbodyne has made it abundantly clear in all of its SEC filings that the future of the company hinges on its technology. What happened to good old-fashioned "scuttlebutt" of the Phil Fisher variety and the central element of to Fischer's idea -- independent verification? If the technology is the key to the company's business, don't believe the firm's claims or any short-seller's claims either, if it has to come to that. Ask the potential customers why the heck they have adopted or decided not to adopt a certain technology. Perusing the company's 6K filing for twenty minutes would reveal the following statement: "The Company also provides each Turbopac-TM- product to OEMs, including Navistar, AlliedSignal, Volkswagen and MAN, for testing to demonstrate the superior performance and marketability of the Turbopac-TM- products to these manufacturers." If the company is giving away product to OEMs for trial testing, by all means give these firms a call and see whether or not they have yet passed judgment. At very least, an understanding can be gained of the performance issues involved. The bottom line is that investors don't have to wait for any money manager to determine whether or not a particular technology has potential. -- by Alex Schay Peace Riccardo Got post 3300!