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Microcap & Penny Stocks : ABTX - Agribiotech -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Big Dog who wrote (7010)	1/16/1999 10:58:00 AM
From: John S. Baker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8359

I basically agree with you about the "facts" ... it's the knee-jerk reactions by investors (or their counselors/brokers) who don't pay as close attention to the facts as we do. JSb.

To: Big Dog who wrote (7010)	1/16/1999 4:42:00 PM
From: Big Dog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8359

The Wall Street Journal--Corporate Focus--October 27, 1998 Agribiotech's Sale Plan Prompts Debate on Prospects "Seed Company's Strategy is Viewed as Both Profit Opportunity, Sign of Trouble" By John R. Emshwiller Taking advantage of the soaring stock market of recent years, seed company Agribiotech, Inc. has grown at an incredible pace. Now, the company faces a moment that could determine whether it is remembered as a flower or a weed. After watching its stock tumble over the past several weeks, the Henderson, Nev., company announced recently that it had hired Merrill Lynch & Co. to explore the possible sale of part or all of the company. Depending on whom one listens to, the move is either the sign of a troubled company or a great profit-making opportunity. One thing that critics and boosters can agree on is that the idea of getting very big, very fast has been central to the Agribiotech story. In 1994, the company had annual sales of $29,000. Currently, sales on an annualized basis are over $400 million. To achieve this growth, the company acquired more than 30 smaller seed and related companies using as currency millions of shares of Agribiotech stock, which was rising in price from below $2 a share to nearly $30 earlier this year.... Then came the fall, While stocks generally began dropping this summer, Agribiotech nose-dived by some two-thirds... Besides being hurt by the broader fall in stocks, Agribiotech has attracted heavy interest from short sellers.... "Shorts have been spreading a lot of lies and rumors," says Agribiotech's chairman and chief executive, Johnny Thomas. "It has been very, very vicious." ... ... ... Short sellers also dug back into Agribiotech's complex stock-issuing pratices... Dr. Thomas...staunchly defends Agribiotech's stock issuing practices... Dr. Thomas says that when the Securities and Exchange Commission reviewed that transaction, it "suggested" that Agribiotech report the deal in financial statements as a "preferential dividend" ... and that the company complied. Dr. Thomas says the spreading of negative information by short sellers helped push down the stock price, which in turn has made it too expensive to continue issuing shares to grow through acquisitions. Hence, the move towards a potential sale of Agribiotech. ... ... ... Whoa. I'm a single finger typer. That took a long time. Hope that helps!