Overstock.com: The Circus Continues

Sam Antar has often referred to Overstock.com and CEO Patrick Byrne as the gifts that keep on giving. And he sure is right! There is never a dull moment when it comes to wacky conspiracy theories and accounting woes that never end.

Last week, Overstock (NASDAQ:OSTK) announced that it wouldn’t be filing its 10-Q for the third quarter on time. The reason? Patrick Byrne had created another clever (but completely wrong) accounting treatment for another accounting error recently discovered, and the auditors wouldn’t sign off on it. Continue reading

Overstock.com Admits They’re Clueless About the Accounting Rules

This week Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) notified the public that they wouldn’t file their third quarter 10-Q on time. The reason:

The registrant has been unable to complete its financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, as it is continuing to analyze the proper accounting treatment for $785,000 the registrant received during the first quarter of 2009 as repayment under a new agreement with the vendor for amounts the registrant overpaid to the vendor in 2008 and early 2009. The registrant believes the amount is properly recognizable in the first quarter of 2009, when the cash was received. However, the registrant is continuing to review the issue, and may ultimately conclude that the amount should have been recognized in 2008. Continue reading

Conservatism is no excuse for false financial statements, Overstock.com

I’ve written extensively in the past about the train wreck that is Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and its nutty CEO, Patrick Byrne. Just when I think there couldn’t possibly be more to write about the horrible company and Byrne’s crazy antics, I’m proven wrong.

For those that have been following Overstock.com for the past few years, it came as a great surprise that the Securities and Exchange Commission decided to investigate the company and its financial reporting. It came as a surprise because for three years, Sam Antar (former CFO of Crazy Eddie and convicted felon) has been exposing their financial reporting misdeeds on his blog. Yet the SEC didn’t seem willing to take any action. Continue reading

More Financial Statement Fraud at Overstock.com

White collar crime fighter and reformed felon Sam Antar has done it again. He has exposed the most recent financial statement fraud being perpetrated by Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and wacky CEO Patrick Byrne.

Of course, this doesn’t come as any surprise to anyone who has been following the company. Overstock cannot turn a profit, and when management claims they have turned a profit (or managed to record a lower loss than usual), the one thing you can be sure of is that they’ve violated a bunch of accounting rules and are committing blatant acts of financial statement fraud. Continue reading

In Agreement: Overstock.com Sucks and Patrick Byrne is Wacky

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 the company made money. Financials are restated. More money is lost. Financials are restated again. More money is lost…

You see a pattern, I hope? Continue reading

More Accounting Mistreatment By Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and CEO Patrick Byrne

Last week, Sam Antar exposed yet another set of accounting manipulations by Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and CEO Patrick Byrne. Those who have carefully followed the Overstock saga are no doubt unsurprised at company’s use of a little accounting “presto chango” to make the fourth quarter of 2008 look better.

Had the company reported its financials properly for the year, the fourth quarter would have shown a loss of $800,000. With this bit of accounting magic, Overstock.com instead reports a profit of $1 million. Continue reading

Wondering Why Frauds at Public Companies Aren’t Being Pursued by the Feds?

Consumers are often left wondering why the Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t heavily pursue allegations of fraud against public companies like Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA), Herbalife (NYSE:HLF), and the like. I’ve always said the answer is simple: There are not enough resources devoted to investigating and prosecuting fraud in public companies. Executives are free to use phony accounting measures and other false information to hype the company with little fear of action by the SEC. Continue reading

Overstock.com and Gradient settle lawsuit

On Monday, a press release announced that the long legal battle between Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), its nutty CEO Patrick Byrne, and Gradient Analytics was over.

It was somewhat disappointing, when it seemed that the heart of the lawsuit was an attempt to silence critics. Scare research firms so much that they’ll be reluctant to publish negative opinions about public companies. Public companies win. Continue reading

Overstock.com and Naked Short Selling

An article on the Industry Standard by managing editor Ian Lamont, “Overstock.com CEO: I’m not vindictive.”, explores a recent blog post made by Patrick Byrne on his site that attempts to expose corruption on Wall Street. Byrne is the completely inept CEO of Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), the man who has run it into the ground and racked up almost a quarter billion dollars in losses since 2000.

Byrne has been ranting for a while that naked short selling of stocks (an illegal act, by which a stock is sold short before actually securing/borrowing shares to short) is rampant on Wall Street and that something must be done about it. He claims that naked short selling is responsible for his company’s stock price experiencing a serious downward trend since 2005. Continue reading

Details on the Overstock.com Cyberstalking and Spyware Campaign

A couple of weeks ago, I commented on a post that Judd Bagley, chief Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) stalker and “Deep Capture reporter” made on the InvestorVillage message board for Overstock. He stated there: “…my first master stroke was getting a tracking cookie placed on the laptop computer of Dan Schoenherr…”

I thought it might be important to revisit the cyberstalking and spyware tactics used by Judd, with a little help from Scipio Africanus, a blogger who did much to expose dirty tactics used by supporters of Overstock.com. Continue reading

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