Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Water stocks- still the site leader – sign of things to come?

I have been saying for over a year that I would like to personally own a water company- that’s where I would put my own money. We still see water stocks as the leading inbound search phrase on our site consistently- backing up my thoughts.
As Mother Nature forced her hand with violent rain and wind storms causing turbidity issues, Vancouver recently had the largest boil water advisory in Canada for over a week
Bottled water prices varied at locations as supply and demand caused several locations to sell out. This was a short term problem in a major city area, and we saw the panic set in immediately. What are we going to do if the problems escalate on a global basis due to global warming, desertification, growing population, infrastructure problems and pollution ? Some say we could face water wars in the future.
I actually moved my spring water supply into the garage from the carport during our recent water crisis .
The investment community has used phrases like- water the next oil…
We can live without oil , but drinkable water is essential .
Personally, I would like to own a water source, but investing in water is the next best thing for now.

For more info visit our www.water-stocks.com portal

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

A time to be thankful, whether the market and your stocks are up or down

We can all find a reason to complain when we are loosing money on paper or in our accounts in the real estate or stock market, but think deeper at how fortunate we are compared to so many others, that we at least have the luxury to invest and take on risk.

As contrast, there are millions of people and a lot of them children, that staying alive is the risk. Finding food, water or medicine are the goals, vs. ours of building our wealth.

I am guilty of complaining, I admit it, but I also have a lot of days and moments when the reality of the news and conditions in the world slaps me in the face and says “snap out of it".

We are fortunate even in the midst of our capital losses. We are still in the game!
If you are winning- remember to give, share and spread the good fortune around to those in need.

Happy Thanksgiving to all…

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

New additions to our Renewable Energy Portal
This month the face of the renewable energy stocks portal - www.renewableenergystocks.com changes as OTCBB: XSNX leaves the site after being a featured company for two years and new companies- ZAP and Rotoblock join us this week.

ZAP (OTCBB: ZAAP) has been a leader in advanced transportation technologies since 1994, delivering over 90,000 vehicles to consumers in more than 75 countries. ZAP is at the forefront of fuel-efficient transportation with new technologies including energy efficient gas systems, hydrogen, electric, fuel cell, alcohol, hybrid and other innovative power systems. ZAP has structured its business activities in two parts: automotive portal and consumer products. The automotive portal will focus on building upon its independent distribution network by offering a line of electric and alternative fuel-efficient vehicles. Consumer products focus similarly on targeting new markets that advocate the use of advanced forms of transportation. The Company continues to expand its line of battery powered vehicles, scooters, off-road vehicles, mopeds and more, and has entered into the energy and electronics market with innovative battery technology. www.zapworld.com

Rotoblock Corporation (OTCBB: ROTB) is focused on the continued development and improvement of its energy efficient Oscillating Piston Engine to the state where its mechanical, ecological and economic viability leads to the profitable licensing of the manufacturer's rights to a proprietary patented design or a partnership for its manufacture. The Company was incorporated in Nevada, is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, and has its operating labs in Vancouver, Canada. The Company has full rights to the patents of the original Oscillating Piston Engine and believes the Rotoblock Oscillating Piston Engine has particular and useful applications in developing countries such as China and India and will be including these areas in the marketing and commercialization phase of this engine. www.rotoblock.com



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Thursday, November 09, 2006

Water stocks- still the investors favorite

Investorideas.com has noted a growing trend following Hurricane Katrina, with inbound investor searches for the phrase “water stocks” and investing in water consistently dominating the diversified umbrella of sector portals – usually coming in at number 1,2 or 3 in terms of search rank


Water-stocks.com new featured company is WaterBank of America (OTCBB: WBKA), a manufacturer of hygienic ice cubes and bottled water with a strategy to create and acquire a “bank” of top quality springs to address global water scarcity problems.

WaterBank of America compensates Investorideas.com; see disclaimer on our site

To look at stocks in the sector
Visit Our Current List of Water Stocks in the Sector:
http://www.water-stocks.com/Water-Stocks/Stock_List.asp
Tech Stocks – Back In Favor

Investorideas.com has just initiated its Tech Stocks investor and industry portal - http://www.techsectorstocks.com


We have created stock directories for internet stocks – breaking them down into several sub categories including Internet Community (Social Networking) Stocks

We also have a directory of Semiconductor stocks , wireless, telecom and storage stocks.

Based on our usual formula for our investor and industry portals we have tried to create a destination where investors following the sector can start their due diligence with our resources and directories- but the bottom line decision is up to the investor or their broker !

Monday, November 06, 2006

The changing face of investor relations and the internet …

Ten years ago, when I started my firm our firm, Econ Investor Relations (prior to name change) offered public companies traditional IR and Pr services. Prior to using email on a regular basis and internet exposure, we would build a mail and fax list for shareholders and brokers following the company and send news out accordingly. We would republish news releases in Investors Business Daily, Barons and other investment papers and would see the shareholder list (NOBO) list rise in terms of number of shareholders. Direct communication by phone, following up, was critical. The internet played a minimal role in our services. In fact, my original website was AIMInvestor.com. It stood for “Analyzing Investors and Media “. AIM Mutual funds sent me a notice of suit for a Trade Mark Infringement for a substantial amount of $$ to change my website and relinquish the domain to them . It made no difference to me at the time, so I did in a heartbeat and Investorideas.com was born. As it turns out, now that I understand the power of the internet, it was a much better domain name in the long run!


Times have changed… Fast forward to today…
We have re-positioned our entire business model since 911 and phased out of traditional IR/PR and now focus on positioning companies within their industry sector and no longer perform IR services (we no longer take calls or emails from investors and brokers specific to individual companies)
We now operate our business online and it is 100% of my business model. Everything else we do supports our Investorideas.com hub of industry sector portals. The role has completely reversed from 10 years ago.

What we have learned in this transition:
We have found the life of a news release is shorter for investors – typically 2-3 days
Investors and brokers are very online savvy and can find news, research and info on the internet never found before
Message boards are more damaging to all parties than informative ( my opinion) and can be used to manipulate markets either way
The internet creates a more “fair” playing field for investors - news is immediate and so is disclosure in terms of requires SEC filings
Headlines with relevant key words are the most important part of the news release
Public companies that don’t keep their web site current , updated and search engine friendly are missing out on potential investors and business
The internet is a tool for inaccurate information- not only on message boards, so- investors need to determine validity of source
What’s hot in terms of industry sectors investors follow changes quickly – trends shift quickly from commodities to nanotech to renewable so staying on top of the news is imperative
Or… you can visit our site daily and sign up for some of our news letters and let us do part of the research for you

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Ethics and the Stock Market- can they co-exist?

I feel a bit like Kerry Bradshaw sitting writing this column- bringing up questions of ethics in a world dominated by greed and fear – it seems as complicated and non- answerable as some of her dating questions.

I have been in this business for over twenty five years and think I have “seen it all” until yet another dishonorable or inept member of the human race proves me wrong.
It’s been my experience over the years , that failures and resulting losses in the stock market are a combination of : lack of character, lack of ability, lack of execution and lack of funding on the part of all players from the investor to the CEO, and to firms like mine caught somewhere in the middle.

I have heard every lie, every excuse and every reason for ignorance imaginable. I once had a fund manager complain about a client we dealt with years ago, when their stock was spiraling downward. I asked him if the read the SEC filings referencing the convertible debt on the books – with no “floor”. His responded indignantly he did not read SEC filings! So there is one example ( out of many I could expound upon) of investors trusting a fund manager that did no due diligence, a company that entered into a bad deal to satisfy funding needs at the time , and my firm caught in the middle of a pile of crap at the end.

So maybe I should do more due diligence and pick better clients? With the recent onslaught of corporate SEC investigation and hedge fund investigations, there have been SEC filings/ charges against some of the previously most respected and well thought of companies and individuals in the investment community.

Would I have taken on Martha Stewarts Company on as a client pre-SEC? Yes – and I would now as well.

I think we all have to take a closer look at the reasons we participate in the investment community at any level and own our answers for ourselves. If we wanted to be purists we could volunteer for a Church or a non- profit…. Like there is NEVER ANY SCANDAL OR WRONG DOING THERE………

I think we should add disclaimers to news releases and filings for public companies and investing in general that are more in line with the requirements of the pharmaceutical industry …
Warning, investing in this company or fund may cause head aches, nausea, impotence and diarrhea!

So just like Kerry Bradshaw would wonder - If all men are dogs – why do we keep putting ourselves out in the dating world???- then comparably if the investment community is plagued with a lack of ethics and brains – why do we continue?... Because just like Kerry – we are looking for “Mr. Big”

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Our Homeland Security investor and industry portal-
Homelanddefensestocks.com featured in article- Growth of the Homeland Security Economy click here
HomelandDefenseStocks.com, a website that gathers and publishes information about the homeland security and defense industries, has been inundated with requests from conference organizers who want their homeland conference listed on the site, said Dawn Van Zant, the Web site’s president. There are so many conferences now, Van Zant said, that conference planners are beginning to specialize in areas within homeland security. To differentiate their shows, they are focusing on topics like biometrics, maritime security and border protection.