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AGORACOM Acquires Grandich.com, Appoints Peter Grandich Chief Commentator

Posted by AGORACOM at 7:35 AM on Friday, October 3rd, 2008

TORONTO, October 3, 2008 - AGORACOM (http://www.agoracom.com), Canada’s largest small-cap investment community and only provider of monitored online communities to public companies, is proud to announce the acquisition of www.Grandich.com, the home of The Grandich Letter, a leading newsletter analyzing the metals and mining markets within global stock and bond markets. The Grandich Letter has been published since 1984, has over 11,000 subscribers and also serves as an investor relations vehicle for Grandich clients.

In addition, AGORACOM is very pleased to announce that Peter Grandich, publisher of the Grandich Letter, has been appointed Chief Commentator and can be found at http://grandich.agoracom.com

ACQUISITION COMBINES POWERFUL SMALL-CAP COMMUNITY WITH LEADING COMMENATARY

The combination of AGORACOM and Peter Grandich represents the next generation of financial communities, in which investors read in-depth leading commentary and then have the ability to interact with both management and investors in a monitored, professional and courteous environment.

Over the past 12 months, the AGORACOM small-cap community has attracted over 1,200,000 investors that have read over 101,000,000 pages of information, while Peter Grandich commentary has been quoted in major financial media such as The Wall Street Journal, Marketwatch, CNN, GlobeInvestor, Financial Post and BNN.

George Tsiolis, Founder of AGORACOM, stated “This is a momentous occasion for two reasons. First, from a personal point of view, I have admired Peter Grandich for several years for both his integrity and his analytical abilities. I’ve never met someone with such an uncanny ability to perfectly call tops and bottoms, only to then go out and publish them despite not always being in the best interests of his clients. His calls on the perilous state of the US stock market and financial industry were well documented long before the public had any hint of the problem – and don’t start me on his crystal ball for the gold market. His value to AGORACOM is immeasurable.”

“Secondly, from a business point of view, you could not find a more complementary combination. Investors need access to consistent and high-quality commentary, as well as, the ability to then collaborate and exchange ideas with other investors and CEO’s. We now have that.”

Peter Grandich, Founder of Grandich Publications stated “Today’s news marks a significant step forward for both Grandich readers and clients. The importance of not just the internet but Web 2.0 capabilities can not be overstated. We live in a world where investors demand both the ability to interact and the option to receive information on their own terms. AGORACOM provides both a blog and monitored forums format that provides the best interaction tools I have ever seen. At the same time, my commentary will now be available for consumption via web postings, e-mail, RSS Feeds and even Twitter. Moreover, through the use of tagging and search engine techniques developed by AGORACOM, my commentary will reach a new audience that I could never have dreamed of ever reaching. Grandich readers and clients should be very happy today.”

Grandich went on to add “On a personal note, I have invested a significant portion of my life, time and energy into my work. George Tsiolis and his team at AGORACOM are the perfect fit for this next step of mine because they put integrity above all else. They have mastered Web 2.0 and ushered in the next phase of communications and investor relations – but they did it by truly caring about their audience and clients first – a rare combination today. As such, I have no doubt that we are going to accomplish great things together for many years to come.”

About AGORACOM – No Profanity, No Spam, No Stock Bashing, No Stock Hyping

AGORACOM (http://www.Agoracom.com) is North America’s only small-cap community built to serve the needs of serious small-cap and micro-cap investors. No rumours, profanity, stock bashing or hyping. Over the past 12 months, AGORACOM has attracted over 1,200,000 that have read over 100,000,000 pages of information.

AGORACOM Investor Relations (http://www.AgoracomIR.com) is North America’s largest online investor relations firm for small-cap companies. We have partnered with the world’s biggest internet companies, including Globe Investor, Yahoo, AOL, Google and Blackberry to market our clients to a massive audience of new small-cap investors. We have served over 250 companies since 1997.

About Peter Grandich

With no formal education or training, Peter Grandich entered Wall Street and within three years was appointed Vice President of Investment Strategy for a leading New York Stock Exchange member firm. A prolific and often-quoted writer, he edited and published four investment newsletters.

Labeled the Wall Street Whiz Kid, Grandich gained national notoriety by being among the very few who not only forecasted the 1987 stock market crash just weeks before it happened, but on the very next day he predicted that within two years the market would reach a new all-time high – which it did. Proving his 1987 forecast was no fluke, Mr. Grandich said in January 2000 that the year 2000 will go down as the year the great mega bull market of the 80s and 90s came to an end.

He appears almost daily in the financial media on TV, radio, the web and in print. Grandich also speaks at major investment conferences worldwide and has been awarded Best Speaker Award eight times. His company, Grandich Publications, also provides a variety of services to publicly-held corporations on a compensation basis.

CONTACT INFORMATION

MEDIA INQUIRIES

Mitchell Fanning
Director of Marketing / Communications
MitchF@agoracom.com

Jo Schloeder
Creative Approach, inc.
Phone 732-751-1004
E-Mail: jo@CreativeNJ.com

CORPORATE INQUIRIES

George Tsiolis, LL.B
President
AGORACOM
Info@agoracom.com

Canada Hires High-Profile Litigator To Evaluate Proposed Google-Yahoo Ad Partnership (Monopoly)

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:42 AM on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

The Canadian Department of Justice has retained David Kent, a litigator and antitrust expert in private practice with Toronto-based McMillan LLP, to review the proposed partnership between Yahoo and Google. You can read the full article here.

Speaking on behalf of AGORACOM, our clients, their shareholders and the entire small-cap industry, we urge Mr. Kent and the CDJ to prevent the advertising partnership between Google and Yahoo, as it would significantly decrease competition within search engine marketing, leading to unnecessary higher prices.

Our position is widely supported including, for example, the World Federation of Advertisers that have expressed concerns that the deal will hand Google too much influence over the search-advertising market, which could result in higher prices and fewer options for advertisers.

In addition, leading tech blog – TechCrunch – recently published “Yahoo, We Can’t Afford A Monopoly Even If It Kills You”, which outlines in detail the significant monopoly creating risks of any such partnership.

We love Google.  We love Yahoo.  We don’t love Goohoo.

Regards,
George

AGORACOM Gets CEO’s In Front Of Bay Street’s Top Fund Managers, Analysts and Brokers (An Exclusive Event)

Posted by AGORACOM - Mitch at 11:09 PM on Monday, September 29th, 2008

TORONTO, September 29, 2008 – AGORACOM, North America’s largest Investor Relations Firm is proud to announce a series of upcoming poker networking events giving public companies the rare opportunity to present their company’s message to Bay Street’s top brokers, fund managers, analysts and institutions.

“Every other month AGORACOM hosts an all expenses paid “Bay Street Hold’em” Poker Tournament,” says George Tsiolis, President & Founder of AGORACOM,  “These events are one of the most sought after networking events on Bay Street and typically ‘sells out’ within two hours of announcing them!   All attendees are top brokers, analysts, and decision-makers on Bay Street, representing over 40 different institutions, who collectively control between $5 – $7 billion worth of assets.”

The Opportunity

At every poker event, AGORACOM gives one company the opportunity to be its Exclusive Sponsor.  The sponsor’s message is delivered directly to this captive audience of brokers throughout the entire evening.  As well, sponsors are given the opportunity to network with this influential Bay Street group.

View the video of one of our latest poker events on YouTube here:

The AGORACOM “Bay Street Hold’em” Poker Sponsorship Package

“I highly recommend AGORACOM’s ‘Bay Street Hold’em’ Poker tournament to any junior company looking for Bay Street branding. It is an incredible opportunity to present your company’s message to a captive audience and network with Bay Street’s top money managers on a personal level. Rarely can a junior company position themselves in such an atmosphere.  My company has sponsored this event twice and has plans to sponsor it again in the near future.” Mike Belantis, Timmins Gold

Participating as a sponsor is an opportunity for public companies to receive great marketing exposure in addition to gathering knowledge, and networking with key industry players.

AGORACOM BSH Sponsorship offers the following benefits:

  • Your name added to the event title as the official event sponsor
  • Acknowledgement of sponsorship during opening remarks
  • Press release announcing and promoting sponsorship.
  • Slide show with logo placement running during poker event.
  • Table/booth for displaying marketing materials.
  • Logo placement on customized poker felts.
  • Logo placement and mention in 3 pre-promotional email invitations to over 200 top brokers and analysts.
  • Logo placement and mention in post-event email blast thanking players for attending event.
  • Logo placement and mention in post-event video, which will be posted on YouTube.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

$20,000 (Non-AGORACOM client price)

$13,500 (Special AGORACOM client price)

Currently AGORACOM is taking sponsorship applications for the following dates:

September 18th                RESERVED

Nov 2008                          Available for sponsorship

Jan 2009                           Available for sponsorship

March 2009                       RESERVED

May 2009                          Available for sponsorship

July 2009                           RESERVED

*Spaces are limited so we will be working on a “first come first serve” basis.

If any of these sponsorship opportunities interest you please contact paulk@agoracom.com.

About AGORACOM – Investor Relations Firm For Small-Cap Companies: AGORACOM Investor Relations is North America’s largest investor relations firm for small-cap companies. We have partnered with the world’s biggest Internet companies, including Globe Investor, Yahoo, AOL, Google and Blackberry to market our clients to a massive audience of new small-cap investors. We have served over 200 companies since 1997.

AGORACOM Investor Relations has displaced the telephone and e-mail as primary IR communications devices. Our IR HUB delivers two-way investor relations in near real-time that is 24/7/365 accessible to shareholders around the world and goes far beyond text by offering both audio and video communications.

AGORACOM is North America’s only small-cap community built to serve the needs of serious small-cap and micro-cap investors. No rumours, profanity, stock bashing or hyping. Our traffic ranking is above the top 1% of all websites around the world.

CONTACT INFORMATION

MEDIA INQUIRIES

Mitch Fanning

Director of Marketing / Communications

mitchf@agoracom.com

CORPORATE INQUIRIES

George Tsiolis, LL.B

President

AGORACOM

info@agoracom.com

SEC Charges Bogus PIPE Promoters In $52 Million Ponzi Scheme

Posted by AGORACOM at 5:07 PM on Monday, September 15th, 2008

“PROMOTERS” NEED TO STOP PLANNING GET RICH QUICK SCHEMES

It still surprises me to see penny stock promoters thinking they can get away with pump and dump schemes. Kudos once again to the SEC for cracking down on stock scams that are a scourge on the small-cap and micro-cap industry:

Washington, D.C., Sept. 15, 2008 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged an Irvine, Calif., attorney and two other promoters for conducting a $52.7 million Ponzi scheme in which they sold investors bogus PIPE (private investment in public equity) investments, promised unrealistic profits, and misappropriated more than $20 million of investors’ funds to function as their own personal piggy bank. [FULL STORY]

INVESTORS NEED TO STOP FALLING FOR GET RICH QUICK SCHEMES

I could preach but this quote from the SEC sums it all up:

“Investors must be wary of promoters, even securities attorneys or other purported ‘
experts’ who offer investment opportunities with high returns but fail to disclose
complete and verifiable information about the investment they’re touting,” said
Rosalind R. Tyson, Regional Director of the SEC Los Angeles Regional Office.
“In this case, as alleged in our complaint, the so-called PIPE investments did not
exist. The defendants raised millions of dollars from unsuspecting investors
and simply used it to enrich themselves.”

Admittedly, when it comes to trust, this has been a rough year for investors. Wall Street, regulators and the SEC have all failed at their jobs – but this shouldn’t stop you from exercising common sense when it comes to “too good to be true” scenarios.

Regards,
George

AGORACOM Surpasses 1,000,000 Small-Cap, Micro-Cap Investors For The Year

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:36 AM on Thursday, August 28th, 2008

I am very pleased to announce that AGORACOM has hit a major milestone this month, our 1 millionth visitor! If a picture is worth a thousand words, this snapshot from our Google analytics is worth 1,000,000 words:

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGE, CLEAR GRAPH]

As you can see, the actual number of visitors is 1,109,628. We surpassed the 1,000,000 mark on July 25. With respect to dates, we started counting on October 5, 2007, when we we announced the launch of our wiki-powered “Investor Controlled Discussion Forums”.

When we made first made the announcement, we set out to destroy the stock discussion forum status quo that we have all come to hate over the past 10 years thanks to unrelenting spam, profanity, stock bashing, stock hyping and assorted noise. Many thought it could not be done because we could neither change habits nor unseat the incumbents. We not only knew we could, we knew that we would. Now, more than lip service, the following numbers speak for themselves:

THE TALE OF THE TAPE

(Figures for October 5, 2007 – August 27, 2008. All figures reported by Google Analytics)

  • Unique Visitors 1,109, 628
  • Visits 6,764,163
  • Page Views 90,633,470
  • Pages Per Visit 13.40
  • Avg Time On Site 10:04
  • Number Of Countries/Territories 205
  • Top 10 (Canada, USA, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Mexico)

The numbers look even better when you consider

  • We built our model on quality vs quantity. As such, this is pure discussion. No spam, flaming and bickering traffic.
  • We are only focusing on small-cap and micro-cap stocks …for now.

THE STATUS QUO IS CRUMBLING

We are very happy to see the data back up our theory that investors deeply desire the ability to amalgamate and discuss individual stock investments in a civilized community. investors are no longer willing to accept the unacceptable.

Until now, the trash has ruled the day, forcing the masses to abandon discussion forums and conduct due diligence either on their own, or in small groups. It is inefficient but it is the best option we’ve had for nearly a decade.

Eventually, the market corrects inefficiencies and AGORACOM has set its sights on correcting this one.

By refusing to sacrifice quality for quantity, AGORACOM is attracting and will continue to attract smart and conscientious investors that understand the wisdom of crowds. Eventually, quality begets quality and a massive community that both generates its own content and moderates itself will replace the status quo.

HAPPY TO SEE A HAPPY COMMUNITY

Despite the plethora of great data illustrating our success, nothing makes us happier than reading the reaction of our members. Here are just some of the raving testimonials we’ve been able to pull from the site so far.

While we’re talking about our members, I want to take this moment to thank each and every one of them for believing in our model, spreading the word and breathing life into it. Without them, this would be one hell of an application with no users. A special thanks goes out to all HUB Leaders that abandoned their former communities at Stockhouse, Raging Bull, Yahoo Finance and others in hopes of a better experience. I’m glad our promises to you have been fulfilled.

BLOGS CAN NOT REPLACE DISCUSSION FORUMS

With the advent of financial blogs – and some pretty great ones that include Paul Kedrosky, Barry Ritholtz and Mark McQueen to name but a few – some might argue discussion forums are no longer necessary, even outdated. Don’t make that mistake. Blogs are great for insight into the most important economic issues from a wide array of great minds. However, they rarely stay focused on a particular topic for more than a day.

Stock discussion forums, on the other hand, provide investors with an ability to exchange ideas and analyze one particular stock 24/7/365. You might read about macro events (i.e. sub-prime or Apple earnings) on a blog but figuring out the ongoing impact on your specific stock investments requires an extended micro discussion that blogs can not provide.

CONCLUSION

This is Wiki meets IGC (investor generated content) at its finest. There are bigger communities to be sure – but can you find another vertical in which the need for a drastically more efficient model is needed more? Trillions of dollars are at stake. People’s futures are at stake. The implications of inefficient or imperfect information are severe.

Stock discussion forums are vital to the lives of so many people. I believe we are about to witness a paradigm shift that makes them valuable once again. Stay tuned for more.

Regards,
George

AGORACOM Story Takes Top Spot On Yahoo Buzz On First Day!

Posted by AGORACOM at 7:05 PM on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

AGORACOM is very proud to announce that our story covering the Aurelian Resources Online Shareholder Revolt has taken the top spot on Yahoo buzz today.

As of 7:40 PM EST the story is ranking as follows:

#1 in Business Category with 118 votes (#2 = 60 votes)

#9 in All Category with 118 votes (Only 164 needed to get to pass Obama/McCain story in spot #6)

This is an incredible achievement and full credit goes to the entire Aurelian Resources self named “Crew” on AGORACOM. After posting the story this morning at 6:50 AM, the Crew mobilized, spread the word and began to the story.

This also serves as another example of the power of community. Specifically, a properly fun financial community in which investors are given the opportunity to amalgamate and communicate the pro’s and con’s of a company within a moderated environment free of spam, profanity, bashing and hyping.

Finally, this achievement is truly special because it took place on the very first day that Yahoo buzz was opened to all publishers. We’re going to relish this one!

Regards,
George

p.s. For those of you wishing to vote on the story and buzz it up on Yahoo, please find enclosed the following instructions that we posted to the Aurelian HUB:

================================

Good evening to you all. Yahoo Buzz! is a brand new feature released by Yahoo (just last night) in which users are able to submit stories.

The power behind the system is that the most popular stories are promoted to the FRONT PAGE of Yahoo, bringing millions of eyeballs to the story. If everyone votes up the story, it could provide greater attention than anything we’ve done to date.

I submitted the Aurelian story this morning and it is now the #1 “Business” story on Yahoo Buzz with more than 120 votes. It has graduated to the actual “Top Buzz” page as editors at Yahoo authenticated the story.

As such, I ask that each and every one of you (that have not yet already done so) to vote for the story. If you already have a Yahoo ID, it is as simple as the green thumb votes here on AGORACOM. If you don’t have a Yahoo ID, please take 2-3 minutes to create one and vote on the story.

Look for this button when viewing the Aurelian story and click on it to register your vote.

Spread the word!

Regards,
George

Gold/Silver/Copper Price Drop Is Actually VERY Good For Small-Cap Stocks

Posted by AGORACOM at 8:42 PM on Monday, August 11th, 2008

Gold got whacked today and finished at $US 820/oz, its lowest point of the year. I actually think know this is a good thing for small-cap gold stocks. Why? Gold’s move above $1,000 was largely based on a US economic catastrophe caused by one or a combination of the following:

  • Banking Failures
  • Real Estate Crash
  • Inflation
  • Stock Market Crash
  • The Village People Reuniting (Would Have Taken Markets Back To 1978 Levels…aaaaaah!)

Any one of these events would have been good for gold prices but terrible for stocks of junior gold companies. After all, if the market is crashing south of the border, would you be buying blue-chip stocks, let alone juniors? The answer is no.

Thus, $1,500 gold and a crushed stock market is in very few people’s best interest. If you need any further proof of this, just take a look at the carnage in the junior metals sector over the past 6 months. Sky-high commodity prices were simply no match against the threat of a possible market collapse.

On the other hand, today’s drop in gold was based on renewed confidence in the US markets over the past several days. The US still has a boatload of problems to deal with and any one of them could still turn ugly – but for now people are feeling as if the US can navigate the rough seas without sinking.

CONCLUSION:

At the end of the day, investors in gold/silver/copper and other precious metal stocks are better off with prices at $750/$14.50/$3.50 and a stable US stock market. This provides the markets with the best of both worlds – economic commodity prices and panic free stock markets.

Spread the word…happy days are coming back to the junior metals markets.

Regards,
George

Aurelian Shareholder Revolt On AGORACOM Makes Calgary Herald

Posted by AGORACOM at 7:23 AM on Friday, August 8th, 2008

The shareholder revolt at Aurelian Resources continues to gain momentum, with the Calgary Herald picking up the story today.

Hats off to Aurelian shareholders for showing the world how a stock discussion community can be used in a powerful and constructive manner.

Regards,
George

Aurelian Shareholder Revolt On AGORACOM Makes Financial Post

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:37 AM on Thursday, August 7th, 2008

The shareholder revolt at Aurelian Resources is picking up an incredible amount of steam, with Peter Koven at the Financial Post covering the story today. Here is a snapshot of the story, which is a great read:

…….continue reading full story here.

Hats off to Peter and FP for covering the importance of this story and the important role of online shareholder communities. Until AGORACOM came along, online stock discussion forums were overrun by spam, profanity, bashing, hyping and flaming. Our Web 2.0 model of combining a reputation system with Wiki and IGC tools (Investor Generated Content) has eliminated 95% of the noise while maximizing constructive and informative discussion.

Hats off to Aurelian shareholders for showing the world how a stock discussion community can be used to enrich investors.

Regards,
George

Prediction Comes True: Small-Cap Shareholder Activism Has Arrived – Aurelian Resources Shareholders Revolt

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:11 AM on Thursday, August 7th, 2008

On September 7th 2007, I posted a story on this blog titled “The Empowerment Of Online Investors – It’s Here For Good”. In that story, I stated the following:

“What does this mean for small-cap and micro-cap CEO’s?

Online investors have almost as much power as you do when it comes to the future
of your company. Unhappy investors are no longer relegated to the vacuum of “harsh”
e-mail and letters to express their discontent. Today, investors can rally in short order
via video, blogs and online forums to challenge you at your next AGM, oust you from
your position or even elect their own slate of directors.

In fact, not only is this possible, I’ll go as far as predict it will actually happen in the
next 12-24 months
as investors make Web 2.0 a part of their daily investing lives.
I’m the biggest proponent of great small-cap and micro-companies but we all know
there are still many companies out there deserving of being the first target of an online
shareholder revolt – and I’ll be the first to applaud it.”

APPLAUDING SHAREHOLDERS OF AURELIAN RESOURCES

Well, here we are just 11 months later and the first real small-cap revolt is on courtesy of the shareholders of Aurelian Resources. Moreover, AGORACOM is the vehicle allowing shareholders to unite. A proud moment for us indeed.

I said I would be the first to applaud it, so bravo to all of you for your efforts. True to my word, I want to congratulate “The Informed, Educated Aurelian Resource Investors” group for its activism efforts.

By amalgamating all shareholders for the purpose of educating, communicating, sharing and analyzing all aspects of this potential acquisition, you have given yourself the opportunity to generate greater shareholder value through:

* Rejection of this offer
* Sweetening of the current offer
* Attracting a better offer

This ordeal is long from over, so don’t give up. Continue to push for a better deal if the majority of you truly believe the Kinross offer is insufficient ….and let AGORACOM know if there is anything further we can do to help the cause.

Best Regards,
George, Paul and the AGORACOM Team