Wednesday, December 03, 1997
Wiseguys and
Fools
by Mike Kestner
([email protected])
We now interrupt our regular Foolish programming to bring you scenes from "Donnie Brasco 2 -- My Friend Joey," the latest film from the studios of WiseFilms Limited.
A crowd of Wiseguys stands around outside a nondescript storefront. Enter Donnie and Joey.
Donnie: I'd like to introduce Joey Roman. He's a friend of mine.
Lefty: Who is dis guy, Donnie?
Donnie: Joey's gonna do that foogayzee Sonny Red asked us to set up. That stock thing.
Joey: Fahgeddabouddit!
Lefty: You do dis thing right, maybe next time they open da books, you get taken care of… you know what dat means.
Joey: Yeah, it means I can't muck it up.
Lefty: Fahgeddabouddit!
Of course, I'm referring to last week's news that the mob has entered the penny-stock hype business. If you watched any of the numerous market wrap-up shows, you have no doubt heard about it. And if you've been around the Fool for long, you've probably heard about Joey Roman and the "Buy Zeigletics" gag. If not, pick up a copy of The Motley Fool Investment Guide and check out Appendix C. Great stuff!
On Tuesday, I happened to catch one very Wise-looking analyst commenting on the dangers of Penny-Stock Hyping with the advent of the Internet. According to this gentleman, one can go out on the 'Net, pop into a chat room, and hype a stock literally to millions of people. While I can't remember the last time I was in a chat room with a million cyber-nauts, there is no doubt that, through Newsgroups and Message Boards, these charlatans can broadcast their messages on a grand scale to the unsuspecting.
Of course, we Fools are far from unsuspecting. A true Fool wouldn't be caught dead, or even heavily drugged, in a Penny Stock to start with. Hype falls on deaf ears to a Fool. We do our research. And while it's great that the FBI and SEC are looking out for the unwashed masses, we Fools have learned to look out for ourselves.
Fahgeddabouddit!
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