Press Releases Scams and Successes: Reading Between the Lines
Your mother always told you, “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.” That popular adage holds particularly true with regard to penny stock companies’ press releases. Certainly all press releases are optimistic; companies would not release them otherwise. But when looking to invest in a company, be aware of overly ambitious, optimistic, and unsubstantiated press releases. A company that has had annual revenues of 10 and 11 million for the past two years and that claims that the coming year will bring revenues of 40 to 50 million, better have a darn good reason. Examining press releases by breaking down the argumentt https://npfinancials.com.au/ into its underlying logic is an excellent way of uncovering reasoning that has been intentionally muddled to appear better than it is. For example, if a company says that its software sales increased 300% over the past year but do not indicate what percentage of their total revenue was composed of software sales, be suspicious. If a company does not lay out a detailed plan explaining how they will make money and increase earnings, it is likely that their only source of revenue is selling valueless shares to sucker investors.
Another diversionary tactic more frequently employed by Pink Sheet Stocks but which have also been used by OTC-BB stocks, is ambivalence about their filing status. These companies know that one of the most sure-fire ways to increase the price of the stock and thus the earnings of the investor is if the stock becomes listed on a higher exchange. (That is, the OTC-BB for Pink Sheet Stocks, the NASDAQ for OTC-BB, etc.) Because of this knowledge, unscrupulous marketing firms or even the companies themselves will release information indicating that they either will file or have filed the financials and paperwork necessary to apply for another exchange. This release is typically followed by a sharp increase in the stock price, and then…nothing. If pushed the company generally makes up some garbage about how for one reason or another now was not a good time to file after all, but that they had sincerely planned to all along. The reality is, they were driving up the price so that they could dump the stock and make a killing off unsuspecting investors.
Unless you specifically know 100% for sure that the company has actually hired the personnel and then physically handed over the financials to be evaluated, you should follow this simple advice:
When a company says = What it actually means is
We are planning on filing this quarter = We are planning on selling our shares this quarter.
We have filed with the SEC = We will soon be under investigation by the SEC for what we are currently doing.
That is not to say, however, that you should not generally trust and act upon Press Releases. One type of positive Press Release of particular note to Penny Stock investors is when a small firm announces that they have entered into an exclusive agreement with a larger company to perform some function or service for that company. This sort of press release is particularly important for potential investors for a number of reasons. The first is that unlike announcements which optimistically prognosticate about the future, this sort of announcement is verifiable through the partner company. For example, if ABC Internet Technologies Company signs an exclusive contract to provide General Electric with its accounting software for the next five years you can be assured that the price of ABC Internet Technologies Company will skyrocket. To verify the announcement, you can check with the more established GE who should also release information on the contract. Some of the most pertinent information will be; the size of the contract, the exit penalty on the part of GE, as well as the anticipated initial investment on the part of the Penny Stock Company. This will allow you to predict the new valuation of the company and use this information in deciding on your own plans for buying and/or selling the stock.