The 5 page write up by Simon Keane (starts on P20) of the current edition of Shares Mag is very revealing & only goes to confirm IMHO that if you swim with sharkes you will get eaten.

The seperate editorial on P6 was also very informative & helpful although stating one should be careful, it does seem to be the law of the jungle out there (kill or be killed), which is not how they present themselves, when one is cold called.

How long will it be before FSA wakes up & takes some real action against them remains to be seen, as this firm has had a very chequered past to say the least.

Q.How many people have been on the receiving end of the telephone transcript (published in the report) from this firm ?? it seems to ring a bell in my mind

There were 6 pages in total on this one controversial firm of brokers how many others have been caught in their web & lost capital in the process ??

sarkee,

Indeed, it's worhth buying Shares Magazine just to read that article alone this week IMO, the cover price could prove a bargain if it saves you from falling prey to that type of call in the future.

The FSA already have regulations in place that prevent companies from cold calling you to offer share purchases.

Sadly, Hoodless, and City Equities, as two examples, circumvent the rules by offering "free reports" on popular companies, and by requesting these, if you check the VERY SMALL print at the bottom of the page, you are agreeing for them to call you in the future, hence it's no longer a 'cold call'!

Pacific Securities were recently doing the same thing on emails I receive from news services. When you clicked the box to receive the report, the small print at the bottom gave the game away.

""There's no such thing as a free lunch", nor company report it would appear!


Well done for highlighting this to anyone new to the share game.

about 5 years ago i was sent a offer of a free report by both hoddles & city equities what i did was leave the land line number empty and give your mobile number on the reply card,then after the first call look at the screen display of what the incoming call shows on the screen then when they call again do not answer it but cut them off,after a while they are wasting there time and soon after got feed up and stoped calling.hope this helps as a way of getting a free report then not commiting yourself.

I'm amazed by this thread. I've used HB internet broking for years. Never had a call or e-mail from them.

But then I've never asked for a free report as I like to do my own research and not be swayed by someone elses "opinion".

Andy Its reading & understanding all of the small print as at times I think I need a lawyer sitting on my shoulder plus a magnifying glass !!
I fail to understand why the FSA seems unable or unwilling to do anything about these types of firms once and for all. I wonder if this comes under some section of Human Rights and or Brussels EU laws as a means to stamping this out once & for all.

Woodie Re for your posting, in my experience with Hoodless they don't allow their number so it shows as number with held on landline & a private call on the mobile.....

I do hope that Shares Magazine takes these matters up with FSA very soon & then prints a detailed report for us all to read & be educated on navigating dangerous waters, along with how the regulator will be protecting our rights.

Little Woman May I suggest that you read the 6 page write up then, & perhaps ask the question why did Shares Magazine devote nearly 8% of the current issue to just this firm ??? I think they are making a very clear statement IMHO.

LW,

A harsh reply there, nothing wrong with reading a research report IMO, you just have to bear in mind whether there is an angle or not.

All research is is viewing what is in the public domain, surely?

Woodie,

I tried that, and then they withehld the number.

At one time I didn't answer my mobile to any withheld numbers, as I was receiving so many calls form boiler room brokers!

lw sorry but you must be swayed by someones elses opinion if you use internet,brokers report or newspaper or mag tips even though the final descion is yours after reading the info you have found.

Andy re 7 of 17 Perhaps its the saying birds of a feather etc, if they all practice with holding there numbers.

Sarkee,

I don't think the FSA will intervene, because these are bucket shop type brokers moving on high risk shares to unsuspecting punters, and therefore provide an outlet for the market to dump rubbish into.

It does make you wonder what damage is done by punters being fleeced, and leaving the market foreverafter a bad experieince, but I guess nobody cares!


One thing that I found annoying weas that I gave a private mobile number to City Equities, and they only had that number.

All the other boiler rooms that started to ring me always rang on that number!

It has been suggested in the press that City Equities sell your number onto other boiler rooms, and they have denied this.

They even sent a letter to all their customers denying the practice existed!

I would like to know how my private number came to the attention of about 20 boiler rooms located in Holland, Belgium, Spain, and various other locations!

I didn't give it to them, I wonder who did?

ANDY IT WORKS JUST CUT THE CALL OF IF IT IS WITHELD BUT NEVER GIVE A LANDLINE NUMBER YOU WILL GET NO PEACE LEAVE BLANK ON THE CARD.most withheld numbers are from people that do not want you to know who is calling if you dont answer the phone or cut them of. it will work only problem with doing this if you know someone you want to speak to that also uses a withheld number.

Andy Interesting info re C E as I received a number of unexplained calls from all sorts of overseas companies & most recently being telecoms. Only way I found to deal with them is to answer then go & make a cup of tea or walk around the garden by the time I pick the phone up again they have gone.

Given all of this bad experience, so far, then perhaps the only possible route is via Brussels and EU laws to effect some action if the FSA is so impotent.

Woodie,

Yes I stopped answering withheld number calls, and checking the answerphone afterwards.

I now have a new number, partly because of the boiler room calls, and partly because I was offered a good number when I switched contracts.



sarkee,

leave them hanging on the line for ages, good idea!

Yes I think it's time for Brussels to get involved here, FSA won't because the MM's need a clearing house, and these guys provide it.

Also, they ring about "pre IPO" shares, and I noted one, SLOGOLD, that has never listed anywhere, yet I received so many calls about this from all sorts of people.

This illustrates another problem, recommending UNLISTED shares.

If they don't list, you can't trade them!

And then there are the "brokers" recommending US stocks.

They are always on the OTCBB!

Apparently you cannot sell an OTCBB stock bought in Europe for 1 YEAR!

They won't tell you this!

Until you try and sell!

And once you have the certificate, where will you take it to sell?

Your local bank won't touch it, and I would imagine it would have to be sent to the US to deal, and then wait weeks for the money.

sarkee,

SLOGOLD are still not listed on any exchange!


http://www.slogoldresources.com/co_info/shareholder.htm


And I was told by so many boiler rooms they would list early 2005!



And this sums up the dangers of boiler rooms nicely, read the last few paragraphs!


http://www.slogoldresources.com/co_info/bulletin.htm

Nice to see our story getting some reaction. Some things to think about: How do these companies reach the conclusion that they should be recommending the stocks they offer to clients? Which comes first - the research justifying the recommendation or the firm's purchase of the stock? And how often does the promise to get you inside the spread amount to anything that couldn't be achieved by a normal broker?

If anyone else would like to go public with their experiences, please let me know.

Shares ed

Hoodless Brennan - Pages 20/21 Issue No. 50.

jlacey/shares ed

REACTION

Sally Smith, who mistakenly placed her faith in Hoodless Brennan, has all my sympathy.

Since purchase my small portfolio reveals the following:-

Dinkie Heel - Down 30%
Europasia Education - Down 21%
Hartest Holdings - Down 55%
Reefton Mining - Down 38%
Physiomics - Down 75%
Pentagon Protection - Down 22%

I could add some more but the list would be endless.

Can you recommend a decent/proper/normal stockbroker?

Hoodless Brennan - Pages 20/21 Issue No. 50.

jlacey/shares ed

REACTION

Sally Smith, who mistakenly placed her faith in Hoodless Brennan, has all my sympathy.

Since purchase my small portfolio reveals the following:-

Dinkie Heel - Down 30%
Europasia Education - Down 21%
Hartest Holdings - Down 55%
Reefton Mining - Down 38%
Physiomics - Down 75%
Pentagon Protection - Down 22%

I could add some more but the list would be endless.

Can you recommend a decent/proper/normal stockbroker?

Interesting the list of HB off loaded toilet paper shares (at a healthy profit) seems to be getting longer by the day and has there been any response from the FSA, no except for the sound of silence as usual !!

Perhaps our champion "SHARES MAGAZINE" will have enough on going new material to start to a weekly column to keep Joe Public up todate.

"Caveat emptor" is very true BUT only on a level playing field not one that slopes in one direction only !!

sarkee,

What Hoodless, City Equities, and Pacific Securities are doing is complying with the law as it stands, which prevents them cold calling without you first inviting them to call you, which you unwittingly do if you take up their offer of a "free" report.

I think even this is only in place to give the illusion that the FSA are doing their job, rather than serve any real purpose, as the boiler rooms either ring from an office based outside the UK, such as Spain, Amsterdam, Brussels etc, or circumvent the rule easily by offering reports on popular shares and utilising the small print to obtain an invite by default.

If the FSA really cared about the small private investor, they could legislate to prevent this IMO.

Andy yes agree thats why I call it a very large slope in ONE direction on the playing field and its not in the direction of Joe Public.

As for the FSA they will not do anything until they are forced to either by public opinion and or media attention and or there political masters.

sarkee, davidcornish

We can take up the cause of anyone where we get a specific complaint like Sally Smith's, backed up by all the documentation. Then it's a case of the facts speaking for themselves. The FSA says it's OK for anyone to be cold-called as long as once they've said 'no' the caller doesn't go on to pressure them, which seems pretty unfair to me. There are dozens of good brokers out there providing proper advisory relationships - I think the APCIMS website has a list.