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Suspending “Mark-To-Market” Rules = Japanese Style Recession

Posted by AGORACOM at 8:24 AM on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

Good morning to you all.  Following the SEC’s decision yesterday to ease mark-to-market accounting rules, there is now talk about a temporary or even permanent repeal of the mark-to-market rules.

First, whether you understand MTM rules or not, you need to know this woud be a big mistake that would haunt our economy for years.

“As Japan learned, not taking the write downs only delays the day of reckoning. They propped up insolvent banks, and suffered a decade long recession for it. That way disaster lay . . .” [Ritholtz]

Second, whether you understand MTM rules or not, you need to read the following article to both learn about MTM and learn why any repeal of MTM would be a disaster.

Simply put, you can’t solve your problems by pretending they don’t exist for a little while.  If you are an American, you need to call / e-mail your Federal Representatives and let them know how you feel.  You need to do it today.  You also need to spread this message as fast as possible via blog posts, blog comments and e-mail to your friends.

The US economy can take it’s medicine now and get over it…or lie in bed for 10 years to avoid pain.  Right now, politicians would prefer the latter for no other reason than self-interest. This isn’t being cynical, this is a proven fact following the “CYA” voting that took place in Bailout Bill Part 1.

Regards,
George

Posted in All Recent Posts, US Economy | Comments Off on Suspending “Mark-To-Market” Rules = Japanese Style Recession

John Stewart: “How Many Jews Are Even In Congress!?!”

Posted by AGORACOM at 11:22 PM on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

I have to admit to quietly wondering why Congress was closed for the Jewish holiday after failing to pass a Bill that the country supposedly needed to stay alive.

If you were wondering and bewildered by the same question, take heart in the fact John Stewart was more pissed and bewildered than we were…and it is damn funny:

“Listen up Congress, get the fuck back to work!”

“For the Jewish holiday?  For god’s sake how many Jews are even in Congress?”

“Wall Street is open, I guarantee you they have more Jews on Wall Street than Congress !!”

“I’m here. The Daily Show is on and I guarantee you we have more Jews than Congress !!”

Priceless stuff while making a great point. Here’s the clip.

Regards,
George

Posted in All Recent Posts | Comments Off on John Stewart: “How Many Jews Are Even In Congress!?!”

SEC Charges California Biotech For Fraudulent Stock Scheme

Posted by AGORACOM at 3:59 PM on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

For all the heat the SEC has taken lately, you have to give them full marks for cracking down on the micro-cap pump and dump schemes. Here is the latest:

Washington, D.C., Sept. 25, 2008 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based Telomolecular Corp. and two of its former executives for their roles in a stock scheme based on false claims to investors that the biotechnology start-up company was on the verge of financial and scientific success in developing anti-aging treatments and cancer cures. (FULL STORY)

SMALL-CAP AND MICRO-CAP CEO’S HAVE TO MAKE REALISTIC CLAIMS

The Telomolecular offense isn’t as far off the beaten path as you would think. We still continue to receive calls from companies that make some pretty outrageous claims. Yes, some are complete scams but some are from well-meaning CEO’s that have simply fallen too far in love with their company and waayyyy overestimate their capabilities.

If you fall into the latter, don’t think you’re too far off from getting yourself busted by the SEC. Having evil intentions isn’t a necessary pre-requisite to charges being laid by the SEC.

“Companies raising capital from investors need to provide realistic and
accurate information about their resources and prospects for future
success,” said Marc Fagel, Director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office.”

CONCLUSION

Keep it real. There is nothing wrong with being super enthusiastic about your product or service – but you have to separate that from your public communications and performance expectations. Google wasn’t built in a day, so neither will your company.

Regards,
George

Posted in All Recent Posts, Online Investor Relations, Stock Scams | 1 Comment »

IR Lesson From Bailout Crisis – Main Street Matters!

Posted by AGORACOM at 3:26 PM on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

My friend and colleague, Dominic Jones, publishes the best research and information about online investor relations practices through the IR Web Report. He has counseled some of the world’s biggest and best-known corporations across every sector and in more than a dozen different countries. As such, when he writes, I listen.

A couple of days ago he posted a must read article about the the single most important lesson we all can learn from the current crisis: Main Street matters.

Given the fact he wrote the article prior to voting and rejection on the bailout bill thanks to the people’s revolt, it’s safe to assume this important lesson has now graduated to a commandment.

Since I’ve already declared it a must read, I won’t ruin it by re-hashing it here – but I would like to give you a couple of his best quotes”

“Investor relations shouldn’t only be about hobnobbing with analysts
and portfolio managers, it must also support strategically important
retail investor communications.”

“Companies that don’t have dedicated IR website managers in-house can’t take advantage of even a fraction of the opportunities available to them to build and maintain relationships with their investors.”

Regards,
George

Posted in All Recent Posts, Online Investor Relations, Small-Cap CEO Lessons | 2 Comments »

AGORACOM Client Intelligence Report – September 2008

Posted by AGORACOM at 12:00 PM on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

AGORACOM Client Intelligence Report – September 2008

We’re pleased to provide you with the September 2008 edition of the AGORACOM Client Intelligence Report.

WHY AN “INTELLIGENCE REPORT”

For the benefit of our new clients, we call this newsletter an Intelligence Report because it provides you with important information, data and trends that impact your business – information that you normally don’t have time to find.

In addition, this newsletter gives you a chance to look into our crystal ball and know what AGORACOM is working on months before the general public. You can’t find these tidbits on our blog, so we call them “Off The Blog” and ask that you keep them confidential. As you know, we move faster than any IR firm on the planet, so knowing what we are doing in advance helps both of us coordinate our activities. This is especially true for what we expect to be an extremely fast moving and exciting year in 2009.

In short, greater market intelligence that puts you ahead of all of your peers.

I can’t stress enough my recommendation that you review our monthly newsletter carefully for the purposes of incorporating some of our market intelligence into both your IR and business initiatives.  AGORACOM is now the largest small-cap IR firm and site on the continent thanks to our effective use of web technology.  As such, following us will help you achieve your goals.

OFF THE BLOG … Shhhhh

**For confidentiality reasons, the “Off The Blog” items are not mentioned in the blog posts as they are only available to AGORACOM clients**

ON THE BLOG

Bullish Indicator – Small-Cap Gold Company CEO’s

If you’re a fan of “ear to the ground” anecdotal evidence, then you’ll want to know that we’ve received our 3rd call from a small-cap gold company looking to begin an online investor relations program. Read more…

The Ultimate Investor Testimonial – We’re Onto Something

This month, we received an amazing shot of pride and joy thanks to one of our members who sent us the following private message. Read more…

Small-Cap CEO Lesson: 93% Of Americans Want To Interact With You Via Social Media

If you’re a small-cap CEO that continues to doubt the power of online investor relations, then consider this recent study. Read more…

AGORACOM Launches 30-Second TV Spots On CNBC, Bloomberg, BNN

AGORACOM has taken yet another giant leap forward with the launch of 30-second TV spots on the best business television channels in North America. Read more…

We Are Officially Living In The Financial Matrix

You may think the source of our economic problems stem from banks gone wild, or regulators gone missing. Look again. Read more…

SEC Bans Short Selling – NFL Bans Blitzes – MLB Bans Double Plays – NHL Bans Goalie

Barry Ritholtz (The Big Picture), one of the smartest finance guys in the galaxy, sums this issue up nicely. Read more…

Kinross Fails To Acquire 90% Of Aurelian – Extends Offer For A 2nd Time. Community Wins 3rd Battle

Kinross Gold issued a press release in September with the following headline: KINROSS NOW OWNS 90.7% OF AURELIAN SHARES. That may be true – but it is also misleading. Read more…

Small-Cap CEO Lesson (Canada) – Stephen Harper Goes Web 2.0, Why Aren’t You?

If you are a Canadian Small-Cap CEO that still doubts the power of Web 2.0 as your primary IR tool for finding new investors then you need to consider the fact that Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has gone Web 2.0. Read more…

We hope you found this edition of the AGORACOM Client Intelligence Report to be helpful. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us or your AGORACOM representative for further assistance.

Thank-you and have a great day.

Yours truly,
George Tsiolis

Posted in AGORACOM Client Intelligence Report, All Recent Posts | Comments Off on AGORACOM Client Intelligence Report – September 2008

AGORACOM Financial News TV – Breaking Small-Cap And Micro-Cap Financial News At The Open (Sept 30/08)

Posted by AGORACOM at 11:13 AM on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

Good morning to you all. Please find enclosed a summary of the breaking small-cap and micro-cap financial news we highlighted on our TV show this morning. It’s September 30th and we’ve found 3 great press releases and stock halts from both sides of the border to report on at the open. Another great day for small-cap and micro-cap financial news.

If you are new to the show, it is a daily, fast-paced, edgy report that we put out at or before the open everyday that strictly reports on the best small cap and micro cap news of the day in 3-5 minutes. You can watch AGORACOM TV right from our home page .

If you miss an episode or want to search for your company in our archive, you can visit our industry leading Small-Cap Podcast site at any time:

If you want to subscribe to our Small-Cap RSS Feed or download our podcast everyday via iTunes, or your favourite podcatcher, just use the following:

As always, don’t forget to visit the AGORACOM Marketplace where we list compelling summaries for over 85 great small-cap and micro-cap companies that you can sort by exchange and industry to suit your personal investing tastes.

TODAY’S SMALL-CAP AND MICRO-CAP BREAKING FINANCIAL NEWS BEFORE THE OPEN

Our daily show focuses on content over form so that you can get profitable information into your hands as fast as possible. The same holds true for these entries in our small-cap, micro-cap news blog, where I simply cut and paste my TV notes for your benefit, without any editing, so don’t give me a hard time! 🙂

Now, onto our show notes for the day.

** Denotes an AGORACOM Client. AGORACOM TV Only Reports News From AGORACOM Clients That Meets The Same Newsworthy Threshold Of All Other Press Releases.

  • International Tower Hill Mines – TSX-V:ITH, AMEX:THM $2.25
  • Kirkland Lake Gold – TSX:KGI, AIM:KGI $6.85
  • Dematco Inc – OTC BB:DMAT $0.08

Posted in AGORACOM Small-Cap TV | Comments Off on AGORACOM Financial News TV – Breaking Small-Cap And Micro-Cap Financial News At The Open (Sept 30/08)

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

Posted in All Recent Posts, Small and Micro-Cap Space, Web 2.0, 3.0, ... | Comments Off on Canada Hires High-Profile Litigator To Evaluate Proposed Google-Yahoo Ad Partnership (Monopoly)

Gold Supply Tightens With Germans And Swiss Halting Reserve Sales

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:20 AM on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

Good morning to you all.  On September 17th I discussed the increasingly tight supply of gold that led Bloomberg to run a story about prices running to $950/oz. The story cited decreased production, increased demand and falling Central Bank sales in 2008.

With respect to the latter point, we heard from two Central Banks yesterday.Germany’s Bundesbank will hold on to the vast bulk of its gold reserves in the next 12 months, the central bank said on Monday.

First, Germany’s Bundesbank, the second-largest holder of gold behind the U.S. Federal Reserve, said it would not sell any more gold apart from 6.5 tonnes to the German finance ministry that was already agreed upon.

Second, the Swiss National Bank reported it concluded the sale of 250 tonnes of gold, announced in June 2007, and said it had no plans for any further gold sales.

SNB is now holding 1,040 tonnes and stated it planned no further reduction.

Regards,
George

 

Posted in All Recent Posts, Gold $2,000 | Comments Off on Gold Supply Tightens With Germans And Swiss Halting Reserve Sales

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

Posted by AGORACOM 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 [email protected].

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

[email protected]

CORPORATE INQUIRIES

George Tsiolis, LL.B

President

AGORACOM

[email protected]

Posted in AGORACOM News And Events, All Recent Posts, Online Investor Relations, Small and Micro-Cap Space | Comments Off on AGORACOM Gets CEO’s In Front Of Bay Street’s Top Fund Managers, Analysts and Brokers (An Exclusive Event)

AGORACOM Sponsors Toronto Cambridge Conference 2008

Posted by AGORACOM at 8:33 PM on Monday, September 29th, 2008

Good morning to you all. AGORACOM is proud to announce that we will once again be sponsoring the Toronto Resource Investment Conference (AKA Toronto Cambridge Conference).  The conference is taking place this Saturday and Sunday, where you can find us in booth # 203.

Yes, in case you are wondering, we will once again be hosting the premier hospitality event – Bay Street Hold ‘Em At The CN Tower!  Look for the official announcement tomorrow but for those of you that need a refresher, take a look at the following:

With gold making another move towards $1,000, the conference should be a great one. See you there!

Regards,
George

Posted in AGORACOM News And Events, All Recent Posts | Comments Off on AGORACOM Sponsors Toronto Cambridge Conference 2008

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