I am used to seeing SPAM from shady brokerages that tout some stock or another. These buy recommendations all seem to be for chinese companies and seem to be intended to somehow manipulate the market by encouraging trading in these stocks. I have not seen this tactic before. Has anyone else seen this type of SPAM and is the reason just to temporarily raise the stock price so that the holders of junk shares can sell at a profit during the raise of price?
209422
I've gotten a TON of it too in one of my accounts.  \n\nI think you're reasoning is rihgt.  they are just trying to raise the price so they can profit.
502703
Are you getting junk mail from them, too?\n\nI even have gotten phone calls from Telemarket scammers with similar song and dance.\n\nIf you have serious business,.. sorry for bothering you.  But every day I get stuff from there and the UK saying I won lottery, need to claim my stocks,.. and even got one saying I had a family member on one of the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers so I need to claim their over 5 Billion Pounds.
46964
Although I don't have an answer for you other than what was already posted, this is actually good information to have! I was thinking of purchasing from Target.com, but after reading this apparent scam they have, I will take my business elsewhere. Thanks for asking the question and giving me some much needed insight about this companys tactics.
343270
I've done that with what I call 'loose change'.  Sometimes I've got a few dollars sitting around, obviously not going to make a lot of interest and not large enough for something substantial.  If some risky thing has been going down but I still feel it worth holding onto (its kinda fun when you sweat over a $90 stock moving a couple of bucks while a stock selling for less than a dime now goes for a buck or two, and yes, I've had that happen), then making an extra small trade can average down the value of your position.  When the stock starts to tick up for whatever reasons, you now have a lower break-even or profit point.  Again, it is only if you've got a few bucks left not doing anything and at Scottrade for $7 plus a half-point, it doesn't hurt much.  Of course, I also got a couple that are cluttering up my list because it will cost more to sell than they are worth today but that is part of the risk, right?
168448
Well it NEVER is a good sign when a company gets delisted off the stock exchange. To put it bluntly, kicked off. Even before they stopped trading completely (on what they call the pink sheets) the stock price never went beyond $1.03 a share. I tried to look at their financial statement on their web site but low and behold no financials? The news on this company is so sparse that there is no way I would invest based upon the way the management is hiding all relevant information on the company except of course their statement they will be relisted on the exchange soon.
129959
Indonesia Fund (IF) has had major intraday gyrations recently but liquidity is bad, at least on odd lots.  I had to wait several minutes for a market order to fill a few days ago.  I have had better luck buying and selling with limit orders.\n\nBallard Power (BLDP) volatility has spiked to an extreme this month.  FCEL, AMSC, and EMKR can generally be counted on to move somewhere every day--I just wish I could figure out which way.  These aren't penny stocks.  The spreads are decent.  I don't trade them enough to comment on liquidity but market orders have always filled right away.
503319
Occasionally the charts are correct.  Occasionally they are not. When they are not it is call a whip saw.  I tend to use charts but I do not rely on them completely.  I have been whip sawed more than once.  If the stock if fundamentally sound and the chart appears good, then I am apt to invest in it.  I have frequently regretted it.
323396
There's sooooo much poor information here.\n\nWhen you invest in most stocks the Stock Exchange manages things so you are guaranteed to find a buyer if you're selling and guaranteed to find a seller if you're buying.  The large banks are granted favourable trading terms in return for being in the market and quoting a price to take those 200 MSFT shares off your hands.  They can drop the price they're prepared to pay when more people are selling than buying but they commit to being in the market and quoting a price most of the time.\n\nPink Sheets and Over The Counter are basically the same thing (the name Pink Sheets comes from the fact that closing prices were printed and distributed at the end of the trading day on pink paper).  It is a seperate market for stocks not quoted on the main market.  Basically, when you want to buy or sell a stock there is no guarantee there will be anyone prepared to trade with you.  The more popular stocks normally trade reasonably well but there are thousands of stocks on the OTC market that trade no volume for weeks at a time.  Most of the shareholders will be held privately and if no one is prepared to sell you're not going to be able to buy.  If you are able to find a seller you run the risk of paying a large spread (the difference between the buy and sell price).  On the main market the buy or sell price for MSFT will be the same.  On the OTC market the buy price for a stock might be $10 higher than the sell price.\n\nThe biggest danger is that something happens to the stock while you're holding it and you find yourself locked in.  If I buy MSFT I can sell the stock seconds after bad news is announced by going to my PC and logging onto my brokerage account.  If I hold OTC stock I can only sell my stock if there's someone out there prepared to buy.\n\nOTC stocks are not neceessarily up and coming, as with penny stocks choose very carefully.  Stocks quote on the OTC market for a number of reasons, and there are definately some bargains out there.  But it is much much more risky than the main market.
478537
More than spam...the link takes you to Nigeria where you are asked for personal financial details. I also get really genuine looking emails from my UK bank asking me to confirm account details...again, avoid these at all costs. The old saying is that if it looks to good to be true, it probably isn't true.
400921
Allow me to add just a little bit to the first responder. This data is not very helpful in determining good stocks to buy.  The only helpful data presented is the P/E and the dividend and market cap.  The pe only tells you how expensive the stock is in relation to its earnings.  That is helpful.   For example Microsoft is a fairly expensive stock.  The average pe of the S&P 500 is around 17, so MSFT is considerably more expensive than the average.  The pe is sometimes used in conjuction with the expected growth rate.  The pe is divided by the expected growth rate to give a peg ratio. The lower the peg ratio, the better value a stock is considered to be.   The only problem is the expected growth rate may not materialize.   The market cap tells you the total value people have placed on the company.  In general the larger a company the less likely that the company will experience rapid growth but the more likely the company will experience consistantt earnings, with the exception of the U S automotive manufactures. \n\nThe target price is a bunch of crap.  That is the projected price based on analysts' projections.  Most analysts can not find their rears with both hands.  If you look at all the analysts ecommendations for a stock you will find them scattered all over the map, from sell to strong buy, with a preponderance of buy recommendations because that is how brokerage firms make their money, selling stocks.  \n\nYahoo finance has a very decent site for researching stocks.  If you have an on line stock broker, they will also have research materal.  Some more than others.  Fidelity, I believe, has the most.  Fool.com has a CAPS section where you can find out what 26000 investors think are the best stocks to buy and the worst.  I find it very interesting and the basis for further research.
202228
Some maybe many of the brokers that you talk with are in the business of selling stock. They have things they want to peddle. So it can be a disadvantage to your well being to follow their advice. Many of the on line brokers do have representatives that you can talk with. The two that I deal with do. TD Waterhouse and Fidelity. They will charge you a higher commission to talk to a broker (order taker in this case).  I am sure there are good, knowledgable brokers out there but your chances of finding one are not real good. The good brokers have a customer base that trades millions of dollars at a time. They are not particularly interested in nickle dime trade. \n\nPerhaps to start you might think about a no load mutul fund. Go to Yahoo Finance and use their tools to find funds that have a high Morningstar rating, at least a 4 star and expenses of not more than 1.5% That strategy will minimize your risks, but not eliminate them. Back in 2000-2, most funds lost money, some a lot of money. But they did not loose as much as those folks that invested in Enron or Delta or United. \n\nThe trick to minimizing risk is to diversify, not only among companies buy also across political boundaries. However, the more diversified one is the closer to the market norm will be ones returns. For that reason index funds have become the current rage. The theory being that it is too difficult to beat the market. 70% of mutual funds do not beat the market. \n\nThough I do have mutual funds, I prefer to take my chances on being able to pick the best companies to invest in myself. Sometimes I make good picks. Other times they are disasters. But I have only myself to blame. I like it like that. \n\nSorry about the misspelled words. Spell checker does not seem to be working at the moment.
305535
Not that I'm convinced that any tools help an investor trade, but I don't see much at this site that I like. But then I'm not a trader, I'm an investor. I won't invest in a single stock anymore as I learned my lesson the hard way, only once and it wasn't a big deal but that's all it took. Then I went to Morningstar, enrolled in their education workshop, I think they call it Personal Learning or something like that. Took every course they had to offer and I still read almost daily newlestters from them. In addition when it comes to mutual funds I simply like low cost, no-load, long tenure management, top notch Total Returns, and because of that I like reading msn moneycentral and look for Jim Jubak and others. But even here be cautious as even the best of the best have bad year returns once in awhile, link #1:\n\nThen watch MOFQX, I'm not saying to buy it but it is the most interesting mutual fund I've ever heard of. It's a relatively new fund and it is quirky but what an idea. And it is still climbing. Who knows. Read, read, read and then sleep on it. If you want the really easy way out, go with TRowe Price or Vanguard's Life Strategy style funds. They match your risk with your age and they are the cheapest arounf. Other than that if you will promise yourself to keep up with the markets, ETF's are great but only if you drop all you are going to at once as trades dimish your returns because of trading fees. Good luck.
664675
It's a Conspiracy!\n\nYou spend hundreds of words complaining, but offer no real specifics, nor a solution. What is it that is illegal about selling short? You don't tell us anything but wa wa wa.\n\nYou seem rather knowledgeable about the subject, so you must know that these short traders provide liquidity to the markets, and they must cover at some point, provididing an artificial rally. When they get caught in a short squeeze you probably don't complain.\n\nYou sound like one of those typical people whom Norman Vincent Peale remarked about:\n\n"Americans used to roar like lions for liberty. Now we bleat like sheep for security." --
660183
Take a look at the recent Readers Digest.  They report on scammers who buy property real cheap from people in financial trouble.  They told of this one family who was in danger of foreclosure and these "really nice people" had them sign a bunch of refinance papers with blanks on the form ("we'll fill them in for you later").  Even though they had a bunch of money in equity it turns out that they sold out their house.  The scammers then sold it to someone else as rental property, who then evicted them because the scammers failed to tell them that they were now supposed to pay rent to the new owner--naturally, not knowing, they hadn't paid rent.  Then the "nice people" were gone, with the profits.  I wouldn't touch that "opportunity" at all.
276149
If the email is someone trying to tell you to help them with some bank deal and you'll make a lot of money, just mark it as spam.  A complete scam and I can't imagine that anyone would read it and think "oh, this sounds like a good idea, let me provide them with my bank account"
545515
Coach has maxed itself out @ almost $40.00 per share and will never offer you much of a return unless it plummets back down to it's foundation price.  \n\nIt is too high and was only a productive purchase to those smart enough to get in on the ground floor.  \n\nIt is rated at an 8,  a great stock to own but as far as it going up enough to make you money...  I don't see it happening.  It wont ever become an Abercrombie or an american eagle.  I don't think so anyway...  always go with your gut!  I would hate to be the deciding factor and you not do something you should have done. \n\nCheck out Psun...  It just split and is still cheap!
326703
EAG is trading this morning. $1.54 last trade, has traded over 65000 shares this morning. Whatever broker you are using is a moron. The pennies you are saving from using a moron is costing you lots of aggravation and lost trading opportunity. There are lots of discounters out there...i would find another if i were you!