Selling your soul to Usana Health Sciences for $27,000 a year

Posted by Tracy Coenen on March 29, 2009 · 15 Comments 

If you were going to join a multi-level marketing company like Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA), what would your goal be? Would you aspire to be one of their million dollar earners? That sounds awfully prestigious, doesn’t it?
Well check out this excerpt from a recent press release by the company, and then catch my comments at [...]

The latest bailout scam

Posted by Tracy Coenen on March 25, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Yesterday Obama announced his plan for buying so-called “toxic” assets from banks. The stock market responded positively. Why? The taxpayers are footing the bill for the bailout (taking all the risk), while investors can get all the rewards.
From DownszeDC.org:
For every $100 used to buy “toxic” assets, private investors will put up only $7, while taxpayers [...]

Naked Short Selling: A complete waste of resources

Posted by Tracy Coenen on March 24, 2009 · 14 Comments 

The issue of Naked Short Selling stocks (NSS) is getting some airtime, thanks to the likes of loony Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) CEO Patrick Byrne. He’s a crusader for NSS, claiming over and over that the practice almost destroyed his company. The sad truth is that NSS didn’t really do anything to Overstock.com. Byrne and his incompetent [...]

Spotting a Ponzi scheme or investment scam

Posted by Tracy Coenen on March 23, 2009 · 1 Comment 

All the talk about Bernie Madoff and others has everyone thinking about Ponzi schemes. Have you invested in a potential Ponzi? It’s only natural to be worried, and in my opinion, investors haven’t been skeptical enough.
How would you spot a Ponzi scheme? My latest book, Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide details some questions you [...]

Jurors tweeting?

Posted by Tracy Coenen on March 22, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Our laws have not kept up with technology. Social media like Twitter (with users posting “tweets” for others to read) and Facebook are having a big impact on life, and the impact on the legal system is yet to be determined. The one thing I’ve observed related to the legal system and social media is [...]

Does a down economy cause an increase in fraud?

Posted by Tracy Coenen on March 17, 2009 · 4 Comments 

Two weeks ago the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners sent out a survey to members, attempting to determine whether a bad economy makes fraud rise. I’ve written about this topic before, and the truth is that there is no way for us to know.
People suspect that a poor economy causes more fraud, but it’s absolutely [...]

The idiots in Milwaukee government have finally won

Posted by Tracy Coenen on March 14, 2009 · 2 Comments 

Wisconsin is one of the highest taxed states in the nation. If you live in Milwaukee, you’ve got it even worse. All taxes are through the roof… highest sales tax rate, highest property taxes, most “fees” that are nothing more than disguised taxes…
Every time we turn around, a politician is looking for new ways to [...]

In agreement: Overstock.com sucks and Patrick Byrne is wacky

Posted by Tracy Coenen on March 11, 2009 · 5 Comments 

I’ve written plenty here about perpetual money-loser Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and its wacky CEO Patrick Byrne. Unfortunately, I’ve mostly lost interest in the topic. Why? It’s the same old, same old.
Overstock.com continuously loses money for shareholders. Byrne pretends that profits are right around the corner. More money is lost. Dishonest accounting tricks are used to pretend [...]

Thank Obama for the stock market freefall

Posted by Tracy Coenen on March 6, 2009 · 5 Comments 

From The Wall Street Journal:
It’s hard not to see the continued sell-off on Wall Street and the growing fear on Main Street as a product, at least in part, of the realization that our new president’s policies are designed to radically re-engineer the market-based U.S. economy, not just mitigate the recession and financial crisis.

EchoStar executive didn’t earn college degree

Posted by Tracy Coenen on March 5, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Mark Jackson, president of EchoStar Corp. (NASDAQ:SATS), doesn’t have an engineering degree from Texas Tech, as had been claimed in numerous filings and public relations pieces. The fake degree was also listed in an annual report for ArchosSA, a French maker of portable music and video players.
The company’s explanation? It was a “clerical” error.  (Over [...]

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