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AGORACOM Launches Small Cap Investor Blog For Best Member Posts

Posted by AGORACOM at 8:38 AM on Monday, November 29th, 2010

Good morning to you all. I’m happy to announce that we have launched our Small-Cap Investors Blog to celebrate, highlight and share the amazing information posted by AGORACOM members within HUBS. AGORACOM has grown into the best online small-cap community on the basis of quality over quantity by combining:

  • An Amazing Reputation System – Members Get Promoted Through A Combination Of Activity and Rankings By Fellow Members
  • UGC (User Generated Content) – Members Post Photos, Videos, Presentations, Analysis
  • An Amazing Wiki-Style System – Promoted Members Can Edit Information, Delete Offending Posts, Ban Offending Members

OUR MEMBERS DESERVE TO BE ROCK STARS

As a result, our members are simply generating amazing content that far surpasses what is typically found at other small-cap communities and needs to be shared with the rest of the world. How are we going to do this? Glad you asked. Great member posts are going to proliferate in the following streams:

  1. AGORACOM Front Page – Check Out The Widget Now Appearing At AGORACOM.com
  2. AGORACOM News Flash – Daily Breaking News Posted On Every AGORACOM Page
  3. Twitter – We’ll Be Launching A Twitter Account That Publishes Every Post
  4. Facebook – We’ll Be Including Every Blog Post Within AGORACOM Facebook
  5. iPhone – Our iPhone App Launch Is Imminent and Our Members Blog Is Already Included!

Regards,
George

Posted in AGORACOM Members, AGORACOM News And Events, All Recent Posts, Small Cap Community Buzz | Comments Off on AGORACOM Launches Small Cap Investor Blog For Best Member Posts

Michael Jordan – The Highlight Reel Begins At Preparation (Video)

Posted by AGORACOM at 7:04 PM on Sunday, November 28th, 2010

“Failure gave me strength.  My pain was my motivation” – Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan pulls back the veil in this video to teach us that greatness has more to do with preparation than DNA.  Watch and learn.

If you like these kinds of motivational pieces, click on the “life” category at the bottom to see my previous posts.

Regards,
George

Posted in All Recent Posts, Life | Comments Off on Michael Jordan – The Highlight Reel Begins At Preparation (Video)

Paul Kondakos Stepping Down From AGORACOM

Posted by AGORACOM at 10:38 AM on Wednesday, November 24th, 2010

Good morning to you all.  With mixed emotions, I am writing to advise that Paul Kondakos is stepping down from AGORACOM on November 30th after 10 years of dedication to the creation of the best small-cap community on the web.

I founded AGORACOM 13 years ago and turned it into a great little business that benefited from the rise of Web 1.0.  In 2000, it became clear to me that AGORACOM had the potential to become something great – but I would need someone great to help me get there.  The first and only person I turned to was Paul.  We had already known each other for 10 years up to that point and worked side-by-side building a powerful Hellenic Students Association at York University in the early 90’s.  I counted him as one of my best friends – and it didn’t hurt that he had earned himself an MBA and law degree in the mid-90’s.

The next 10 years saw us work side-by-side creating “AGORACOM 2.0”.   We knew we had an uphill battle competing with incumbent finance sites already well ahead of us in the space – but didn’t count on being hobbled by the dot-com burst, Enron, Worldcom, 9/11 and the ensuing invasion of Iraq.  Suffice it to say, new business was hard to come by.

Nonetheless, we worked hard and through the night on too many occasions to count.  We prevailed and AGORACOM grew to achieve success from a member satisfaction, traffic, business and recognition point of view. It was a great and remarkable ride.

I said mixed emotions at the outset because – as AGORACOM now embarks on its next stage of growth and development – it will be hard to imagine not having Paul around.  He’s wicked smart and his skill sets are a perfect complement to mine.  You can’t just replace that.

On the other hand, I’ve always known that Paul doesn’t / can’t stand still.  10 years in one place (other than his family) is probably at his outer limits, so his resignation doesn’t come as a surprise. He is an entrepreneur and craves the challenge of new business.  As such, I am happy for him and know that I don’t have to wish him luck in achieving his next success.

Regards,
George

Posted in AGORACOM News And Events, All Recent Posts | 1 Comment »

873,000 Investors, 50 Million Page Views On AGORACOM Year To Date

Posted by AGORACOM at 12:02 AM on Friday, November 19th, 2010

Good evening to you all. As most of you know, I like to share AGORACOM traffic data on a regular basis and today is no exception.  I was a little distracted for the quarter ended September 30th and with things getting back to normal around here, it was a good time to report on our traffic.

I’m pleased to report that the number of visitors (873,000) visits (5,820,000) and page views (50,000,000) to AGORACOM remain very strong despite a couple of extraordinary matters this year compared to last year, which I will discuss further below.

Please find enclosed a Google Analytics shot of our traffic year to date (January 1, 2010 – Nov 17, 2010)

The continued strength in our traffic can be attributed to the following reasons.

1. Social Media

We have really turned on our social media efforts in 2010, which have resulted in:

SOCIAL MEDIA IS MEANINGLESS WITHOUT TRAFFIC

Furthermore, we’ve worked hard at cross-promoting our social media channels AND providing a variety of content on each. If you’re a small-cap company that is simply creating Twitter and Facebook accounts to post press releases, you are simply wasting your time (Beware Of ….  The Rise Of Social Media IR “Experts” a.k.a Pretenders)

Cross-promote and differentiate so that investors have options to consume what is most important to them.  If you can’t do this internally, call me.

2. Cross-Promoting Great Content

We recently introduced a “News Flash” feature that allows us to provide investors in every corner of AGORACOM with breaking/important news as it happens (both small-cap specific or macro-market related). As a result, investors that may be focused on a particular HUB or group of HUBS on AGORACOM no longer feel as if they are missing important news.

Click-through analysis shows these are a big hit with AGORACOM visitors and a good reason to both keep returning to the site and consuming our content.

3. Great Platform

Small-Cap Investors continue to flock to AGORACOM thanks to what we believe is the best small-cap community platform on the web. By providing Wiki and UGC tools to our members, we’ve put significant control into their hands and that has benefited the entire community. From adding/editing/updating content, to self-policing their own HUBS, members have created a small-cap community that is more informative and cleaner than any other small-cap site on the web. It isn’t perfect – but it is as close to perfect as you can get using today’s technology.

DECREASE IN PAGE VIEWS

On the flip side, we have seen a decrease in page views over the same period last year that can probably be attributed to two items. First, one of our busier HUBS was Freewest Resources which was acquired by Cliff’s Natural Resources in Q4 2009 after a long and bitter battle with Noront Resources, which also happens to be a very busy HUB on AGORACOM.  As such, with Freewest being taken over, we haven’t had the benefit of page views for one of the prominent players within the Ring Of Fire, nor have we had the benefit of the debate between two very busy HUBS.

Second, as a result of our OSC matter, several of our high-profile client HUBS have been put on hold, leading to page view losses there as well.

Nonetheless, 873,000 visitors and 50,000,000 page views is pretty good for a slow year.

CONCLUSION

Going forward, we’ll be adding further fuel to the fire via the following exciting initiatives:

* Our upcoming mobile push in November, including the launch of our iPhone App and of course our Blackberry partnership

* An expanded content push (Holding our cards close to our chest)

* A greater social media push (Look for Facebook and Twitter integration announcements)

Thanks to our great clients and members for continuing to make AGORACOM the best community platform within the small-cap industry.

Regards,
George

Posted in AGORACOM News And Events, AGORACOM Traffic, All Recent Posts, Online Investor Relations, Web 2.0, 3.0, ... | Comments Off on 873,000 Investors, 50 Million Page Views On AGORACOM Year To Date

AGORACOM Settles With OSC On Contrary To The Public Interest

Posted by AGORACOM at 2:32 PM on Friday, November 12th, 2010

Good afternoon to you all.  I am pleased to announce that we have reached a settlement with the Ontario Securities Commission on the basis of acting “contrary to the public interest”.

It is an understatement to say that we are all happy to have fairly settled this matter.  We have worked very hard and take great pride in the fact that AGORACOM has become the leading online platform for small-cap companies and investors, so we are more motivated than ever to get back to the business of delivering an industry leading platform for years to come.

LESSONS LEARNED

Our organization has learned some hard yet very important lessons through this matter.  Specifically, the need for strict written policies is absolute in order to avoid potential problems and conflicts.  I assure you that we are well into that process on multiple facets of our operations and that we will continue to operate within a different policy culture.

More than just lip service, for example, AGORACOM has implemented a public facing IP address check that displays any multiple aliases posting from the same IP address on our website.  Furthermore, as part of our settlement with the OSC to avoid any potential future conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to serve as officers or directors of any of our clients.

It’s also an expensive lesson. We have agreed to pay $150,000 in costs and monetary payment over the next 18 months. That’s fair given the resources expended by OSC staff, whom I would also like to thank for working with us towards this fair settlement.

With respect to recent revelations concerning our private messaging system, I want to assure our members that stricter controls and policies have been implemented to protect your privacy.  Specifically, even in the case of a violation being reported within the messaging system, no private message of a member can be viewed without your prior written consent, with the exception of a court order.

An official press release with more complete details will be issued within 24 hours of the settlement.

ONWARD AND UPWARD

With this matter firmly behind us, we are anxious to move forward with upgrades to AGORACOM that we have been holding back on.  For example, over the next few days we will be:

  • Launching our iPhone App
  • Announcing our Facebook integration
  • Launching a front-page blog for the best AGORACOM members.

Our upgrades won’t end there, so keep a look out for news pertaining to another online conference, CEO Skype interviews and further cutting edge developments that you have come to know us for.

THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

AGORACOM would like to thank the following for their unwavering support over the last 7 months:

  • Consolidated Spire Ventures, Northern Tiger Resources, and Razor Resources
  • The numerous CEO’s and industry participants that took the time to call, e-mail, Skype or pull us  aside at industry conferences to show their support
  • Our amazing members for their unconditional support and great words of encouragement
  • Our great employees for believing in our vision and vowing to make it even stronger
  • Our friends and family for never losing faith and reminding us of who we are
  • Jim Douglas, Tyler Hodgson and their team at Borden Ladner Gervais for their outstanding work and support during the settlement phase.
  • Dominic Bortolussi and his team at The Working Group for their great web and iPhone development/ideas these past few months.

I want to personally thank everyone above for their great support over the last 7 months.  We asked for the benefit of the doubt in our April 1 Public Response when more severe allegations were announced – and you provided it.   I am eternally grateful for your courage and faith.

The fact that this experience was at times a difficult one does not overshadow the fact that it was also a great one. You have truly served to reaffirm both the value and purpose of AGORACOM as a place that amalgamates great people and great ideas, leading to great decisions.  I look forward to delivering this ideal to the small-cap industry for years to come.

To this end, I want to apologize to everyone in this group for everything that has taken place over the last 8 months.  Things happened on my watch, so I take full responsibility for them.  They will not happen again.  I will personally see to it that AGORACOM is worthy of the contributions you have made to our success by emerging as a stronger and better organization for years to come.

Regards,
George Tsiolis, LL.B
Founder
AGORACOM

Posted in AGORACOM News And Events, All Recent Posts, OSC | 11 Comments »

Major Richard Winters – “I Served In A Company Of Heroes”

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:40 AM on Thursday, November 11th, 2010

If you haven’t watched the mini-series Band of Brothers, you need to.   This isn’t a series about war, it is a true story about honor and the sacrifice a generation of young men and women made to propel us into our way of life.  I’ve watched it twice now – and I am still speechless.

Though no solider should or wants to be held above the others, I could not help but unconditionally admire Major Richard Winters.  I could give you my top 100 reasons below – but I will let the first 30 seconds of this interview do the talking.

Today, don’t just buy a Poppy and drop some money into a Veteran’s box.  Take 30 seconds to thank them for their selfless acts and tell them how much better the life of you and your family is today.

Thank-you Veterans.  You are simply nothing less than legends that have earned the respect and thanks of every generation that has and will come after you.

With thanks, respect, admiration and appreciation,

George, et al.

Posted in All Recent Posts, Life | Comments Off on Major Richard Winters – “I Served In A Company Of Heroes”

US Federal Reserve Heroin Injections Are Going To Kill The Patient

Posted by AGORACOM at 1:59 AM on Monday, November 8th, 2010

David Stockman, Former White House Budget Director Under Ronald Regan, tells it like it is.  As a test of his credibility, he doesn’t believe the new Republican Congress is going to solve the problem either …. though he does believe Ron Paul’s anticipated oversight of the Fed is going to finally lead to real debate.

Take 4:34 and watch this video.

Posted in All Recent Posts, Bond Bubble?, Gold $2,000, US Economy | Comments Off on US Federal Reserve Heroin Injections Are Going To Kill The Patient

Gold $2,000 Much More Likely Than Gold $1,000 Was 3 Years Ago

Posted by AGORACOM at 4:38 PM on Thursday, November 4th, 2010

This Is A Dynamic Image, So Price May Differ From Original Post Date

At the risk of celebrating too early as I watched gold sky-rocket this morning, I waited until the end of day to have gold confirm a $35 rocket ride and a closing price of $1,384 and change.  I won’t go into the QE2 analysis – because you (should) know that story very well by now.   In case you don’t, here is a quick link to Google’s QE2 + Gold news articles.

When I first started this blog, one of the topic categories I created was “Gold $1,000” in February of 2007.  It was ambitious because gold was trading in the $650 range, yet here we are trading 113% higher after 45 months.  Today, I’m officially changing the name of the category to Gold $2,000 and feel more confident in that number being reached than I was about gold hitting $1,000 back in February 2007.

Why Is Gold A Better Bet To Hit $2,000 Than It was To Hit $1,000?

I will quote from one of my previous posts as the foundation for gold appreciation remain intact and even stronger than before:

Gold is now silently being recognized as the world’s reserve currency. Fiat currencies are being printed at will with no accountability. This paper inflation is weakening the purchasing power of world currencies, and the risk of rendering them worthless is rising. Nations have elected to print and spend instead of stimulate economies through investment, tax reductions, and technological advances. Gold is now seen as a safe haven. Our conservative investment portfolio has a concentration in Gold, Mining Stocks, and Silver in anticipation of this fundamental expectation, and in response to technical analysis charts. We believe Gold is going much higher over the coming years. (Via Technical Indicator Index)

Bottom line? Most world Governments are broke. They’re broke at the Federal, State and Local levels. The response has been to print and borrow more money. You don’t need a fancy graph or chart to tell this is going to end badly. Rather, just imagine what your grandfather would say if he was sitting beside you right now. When you’re broke, you cut spending, stop borrowing and sell assets to pay down your debt. You make sacrifices and start all over again as best you can. As an individual or small business, this is what your lenders would force you to do.

Governments are no different except for the fact they can photocopy as much money as they need. That’s fine and dandy in the short-term – but how much confidence would you have in the long-term prospects of someone that kept handing you photocopied IOU’s?

If you understand this concept, then you now understand why investors are losing confidence in currencies and turning to gold.

AMERICA IS FINE WITH THIS SCENARIO – SO EXPECT MORE AND MORE

To this, I will add the following new revelation – the USA is just fine with this entire scenario for one very powerful reason … they would never be able to make interest payments on their debt if Treasuries dropped and rates increased.  Never.  See, as long as a person/government can continue to make its monthly payments, creditors won’t call in loans no matter how nervous they are about the debt owed to them.   Make the monthly payments and everyone prays for another day.

Stop making the payments – and all hell breaks loose.  Treasuries start selling off like wildfire and interest rates rocket.  This very scenario happened to Greece in May when rates went from 7% to 22% in one day before the EU saved the day (temporarily).

DEVELOPING NATIONS ARE HUGE BENEFICIARIES OF QE I AND II – NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY COMPLAIN

On the flipside, a huge beneficiary of QE1 and 2 have been developing economies.  Why?  American institutions are borrowing money at ridiculously low rates and putting it to work in developing economies that are actually growing.

Yes, these developing nations are publicly bitching about the risk of “heating up” from inflation – but they have two significant internal controls to keep a lid on things.  Tax rates and government spending.  As things heat up, they can simply raise taxes and lower government spending, leading to fiscal utopia.  Citizens won’t mind because they’re making a boat load of money from $USD inflows.

You might be wondering why I didn’t add interest rates as a third inflation control tool for developing nations.  I’ll leave that answer blank for now and look forward to seeing your responses below.

CONCLUSION – GOLD, GOLD GOLD

The gravy train can only stop once the US economy begins to achieve actual GDP growth, lower unemployment and rising real estate prices.  When that will happen is anyone’s guess. Until then, this mad cycle will continue …. and gold will climb.

Now you know why Gold $2,000 is much more likely to happen than Gold $1,000.

Regards,
George


Posted in All Recent Posts, Gold $2,000, US Economy | Comments Off on Gold $2,000 Much More Likely Than Gold $1,000 Was 3 Years Ago

QE2 = $600 Billion … Until QE3 In July 2011 …

Posted by AGORACOM at 2:41 PM on Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve pledged on Wednesday to start a controversial new billion bond-buying spree to rescue the economy from its current doldrums.  The Fed said it would buy up to $600 billion in long-term Treasurys until the end of June 2011, about $75 billion this month, in a strategy called quantitative easing.

This is the second time the Fed has engaged in quantitative easing, as it snapped up $1.7 trillion in mostly housing-related assets December 2008 and March 2010.

The Fed’s new move comes because the central bank disappointed with the slow pace of growth and worried that the high 9.6% rate of unemployment might put enough downward pressure on inflation to tip the economy into deflation or a period of a sustained drop in prices. The Fed said that the recovery has been “disappointingly slow.”

The Fed purchases are designed to bring down yields on government bonds believing that lower rates could always give the recovery a boost.  More broadly, the Fed wants to prompt private businesses and investors to begin to act with more confidence and help get the economy’s juices flowing. “They are trying to break through the fear,” said J.P. Morgan Chase economist James Glassman.

Doubts persist about whether the plan will work, but many feel the Fed had little choice but to act.

The Fed’s favorite policy tool, the target federal funds rate for interbank lending, has been about as low as it can go, in a range between zero and 0.25%, since December 2008.  The Federal Open Market Committee voted 10-1 to use the credit markets tools.

Still, some observers fret that the move will boost asset markets and not the broader economy.

Full Article At Marketwatch

WHY QE2 IS CLOSER TO $1 TRILLION

UPDATE:  BusinessInsider.com added some great insight that makes QE2 Closer To $1 Trillion

“But there will also be a reinvestment of $250 to $300 billion from payments associated with other securities it already holds. That makes QE2 feel a whole lot bigger, and closer to the top end $1 trillion number that was mentioned.”

Posted in All Recent Posts, Bond Bubble?, US Economy, Wall Street Crooks | Comments Off on QE2 = $600 Billion … Until QE3 In July 2011 …

How Obama Blew A Golden Opportunity To Kick Wall Street Ass And Inspire People

Posted by AGORACOM at 12:13 AM on Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

Man, We Really Had High Hopes For You

I was about to hit the sack when I took one last look at my news stream and found this great post by my friend Barry Ritholtz.

The Tragedy of the Obama Administration

It is a must read.  I am no Obama basher – and neither is Barry Ritholtz.  In fact, we’re both entrepreneurs that believe in the right to compete and earn as much money as your ability (and luck) allow you to.  Not exactly the mantra of the Democratic party.  Nonetheless, if you are like us, you hate any sense of unfair play.  You want to win, or lose, fair and square.  You want your competitors to abide by the same rules.  Wall Street hasn’t played by those rules in over 30 years – and they are now threatening the entire global financial system.

Obama had a chance to change all that – and he failed.  Barry best summarizes this opportunity and failure in the following excerpt:

The opportunity existed to get the renegade banks under control — to reduce their leverage, their recklessness, and to get their hands out of the taxpayers pockets. That opportunity was squandered, and Obama ended up as a defender of the banking status quo. It is where his presidency could have achieved lasting greatness, and instead was turned into just another elected official, who over promised and under delivered . . .

HOW OBAMA BLEW IT

Watching Obama lose the house tonight was painful from a hope point of view.  I personally can’t stand politicians and don’t believe either U.S. party will ever make a difference. But I did believe Obama – the person – was capable of making the changes he campaigned on.  I could write for an hour but it would be futile and I’m tired.  As such, I’ll summarize my view in these 8 bullet points:

  • Americans haven’t been happy with the health care system for decades.
  • BUT they were really mad about Wall Street / Bank fleecing right now.
  • He should have tackled Wall St first and hard.
  • It would have inspired citizens that desperately needed a hero.
  • He could have then ridden that wave into any reasonable legislation he wanted.
  • Obama blew it. I didn’t want him to. I’m a Conservative from Canada – but hoped that someone would stop the Wall Street train wreck.
  • It would have been nice to watch a President act Presidential.
  • Le Sigh.

Regards,
George

Posted in All Recent Posts, Wall Street Crooks | 6 Comments »

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