Okay, let’s run the promoted stocks scoreboard:
| Ticker | Date of Article | Price @ Article | Price @ 6/27/14 | Decline | Annualized | Splits |
| GTXO | 5/27/2008 | 2.45 | 0.022 | -99.1% | -53.3% | |
| BONZ | 10/22/2009 | 0.35 | 0.001 | -99.8% | -72.8% | |
| BONU | 10/22/2009 | 0.89 | 0.000 | -100.0% | -85.1% | |
| UTOG | 3/30/2011 | 1.55 | 0.000 | -100.0% | -92.3% | |
| OBJE | 4/29/2011 | 116.00 | 0.069 | -99.9% | -89.7% | 1:40 |
| LSTG | 10/5/2011 | 1.12 | 0.010 | -99.1% | -81.2% | |
| AERN | 10/5/2011 | 0.0770 | 0.0001 | -99.9% | -90.5% | |
| IRYS | 3/15/2012 | 0.261 | 0.000 | -100.0% | -100.0% | Dead |
| RCGP | 3/22/2012 | 1.47 | 0.045 | -96.9% | -77.2% | |
| STVF | 3/28/2012 | 3.24 | 0.340 | -89.5% | -61.8% | |
| CRCL | 5/1/2012 | 2.22 | 0.008 | -99.6% | -91.7% | |
| ORYN | 5/30/2012 | 0.93 | 0.026 | -97.2% | -80.7% | |
| BRFH | 5/30/2012 | 1.16 | 0.779 | -32.8% | -16.8% | |
| LUXR | 6/12/2012 | 1.59 | 0.006 | -99.7% | -93.0% | |
| IMSC | 7/9/2012 | 1.5 | 1.220 | -18.7% | -9.5% | |
| DIDG | 7/18/2012 | 0.65 | 0.042 | -93.6% | -74.0% | |
| GRPH | 11/30/2012 | 0.8715 | 0.073 | -91.6% | -77.4% | |
| IMNG | 12/4/2012 | 0.76 | 0.015 | -98.0% | -90.6% | |
| ECAU | 1/24/2013 | 1.42 | 0.004 | -99.7% | -97.8% | |
| DPHS | 6/3/2013 | 0.59 | 0.007 | -98.9% | -97.9% | |
| POLR | 6/10/2013 | 5.75 | 0.050 | -99.1% | -98.4% | |
| NORX | 6/11/2013 | 0.91 | 0.090 | -90.1% | -86.9% | |
| ARTH | 7/11/2013 | 1.24 | 0.200 | -83.9% | -82.2% | |
| NAMG | 7/25/2013 | 0.85 | 0.085 | -90.0% | -89.6% | |
| MDDD | 12/9/2013 | 0.79 | 0.060 | -92.4% | -98.2% | |
| TGRO | 12/30/2013 | 1.2 | 0.150 | -87.5% | -97.1% | |
| VEND | 2/4/2014 | 4.34 | 1.500 | -65.4% | -88.7% | |
| HTPG | 3/18/2014 | 0.72 | 0.100 | -86.1% | -99.5% | |
| WSTI | 6/27/2014 | 1.35 | 0.735 | -45.6% | -99.8% | |
| 8/1/2014 | Median | -97.2% | -89.6% |
Now for tonight’s loser-in-waiting: Apptigo [APPG]. ?This is a company that ?until four months ago was a development stage company for selling Irish horses in the US. ?This is a company that has never earned any money, and only has positive net worth at present because of raising capital when the prior company acquired Apptigo in a reverse marger, and renamed itself Apptigo.
This is a company that says it will make money off of selling apps. ?Well, they have one app at present, and it is called?SCORE – Match Maker. ?It has a grand total of seven likes at the iTunes Store. ?Now let me hazard a guess here, and say that it is difficult to create a broad network for matchmaking. ?The value of a network goes up proportional to the square of its nodes. ?How will they attract enough attention in the iTunes ecosystem to make ?a significant network? ?Even if this is a legitimate company, I don’t see how it will be easy to make it work, as the promoter said it would be easy.
The promoter also said this in tiny type:
Important Notice and Disclaimer: Flying Under the Radar Stocks is an independent paid circulation newsletter. This report is a solicitation for subscriptions and a paid promotional advertisement of Apptigo, Inc. (APPG). Flying Under the Radar Stocks received an editorial fee of twenty five thousand dollars from Micro Cap Media Ltd. APPG was chosen to be profiled after Flying Under the Radar Stocks completed due diligence on APPG. Flying Under the Radar Stocks expects to generate new subscriber revenue the amount of which is unknown at this time resulting from the distribution of this report. Micro Cap Media Ltd. paid nine hundred forty-eight thousand, three hundred sixty-three dollars to advertising agencies for the cost of creating and distributing this report, including printing and postage, in an effort to build investor awareness. This report does not provide an analysis of a company’s financial position, operations or prospects and this is not to be construed as a recommendation by Micro Cap Media Ltd. or an offer to buy or sell any security or investment advice. An offer to buy or sell can only be made with accompanying disclosure documents and only in states and provinces for which they are approved. Do not base any investment decision based solely on information in this report. Although the information contained in this advertisement is believed to be reliable, Micro Cap Media Ltd. makes no warranties as to the accuracy of any of the contents herein and accepts no liability for how readers may choose to utilize the content. Readers should perform their own due diligence, including consulting with a licensed, qualified investment professional. Further, readers are strongly urged to independently verify all statements made in this report APPG?s financial position and all other information regarding APPG should be verified directly with APPG Audited financial statements and other relevant information about APPG can be found at the Security and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov. It is recommended that any investment in any security should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing all publicly available information, including the financial statements of the company. The information contained herein contains forward-looking information within the meaning of section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and section 21e of the Securities Act of 1934 as amended including statements regarding growth of APPG. In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, statements contained herein that look forward in time, which include everything other than historical information, involve risks and uncertainties. ?All forward-looking statements are based upon current assumptions that are believed to be reasonable. In the event any such assumptions turn out to be incorrect, forward-looking statements based upon those assumptions will not be accurate. Flying Under the Radar Stocks presents information in this report believed to be reliable, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. More information can be found at APPG’s website www.apptigo.com. (underline emphasis mine)
I actually like this disclaimer, except for the fact that it is in tiny type, while the proclamation of the investment’s fake virtues are in big type. ?So, I have a simple proposal for the SEC regarding newsletters like this: the type size of any disclaimer must be as large as the the largest type in the document.
This is fair, and consistent with other laws that regulate “the fine print.”
I emailed the CEO of Apptigo to ask him whether he knew about the stock promotions (there are three going on), and whether the company, its major shareholders, or its management was benefiting from the promotion. ?There was no answer, though I wrote to him on Thursday.
Regardless, avoid promoted stocks, dear friends. ?No company of any good reputation pays anyone to promote their stock. ?Avoid promoted stocks.