Good luck with getting our government to pass that law. Also while you are at it why not go ahead and pass some other laws that should be passed-
1) Outlaw cigarrettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and anything else that has been proven to cause cancer
2) Eliminate all forms of gambling since you have more of a chance of being struck by lightning on the way to purchase a lottery ticket than winning a big lotto prize (NOTE: Maybe even consider eliminating people being able to individually invest in the stock market since most people lose money because they don't know how to invest.)
3) Eliminate individuals from being able to file patents on inventions since it's a known fact that only 3 out of 5000 patents become successful products
4) Get congress to eliminate all financial support from people and groups trying to push their agenda through congress
5) Require the government to balance their budget and pay off the national debt
6) There are to many other laws that should be passed but one probably eliminating attorneys that take advantage of these laws to make money would probably have an even tougher chance of passing.
Good luck with your campaign but I wouldn't give up my day job to pass any of the above.
Prediction: SIGA Technologies Will Win Appeal Of Pharmathene Law Suit [View instapost]
Thanks for the notice. I stand corrected as to the submission date for court purposes. However I think anyone listening to the above oral arguments would come to the same conclusion so it is really only putting off the inevitable reduction in the award to Pharmathene.
DA Davidson does an about-face on Herbalife (HLF -1.3%) this morning, upgrading the shares to Buy once again after the company made assurances that they didn't see any risk of a delisting notice from the NYSE, nor do they believe they're in violation of their loan covenants. Davidson had cut the stock to it to Neutral earlier in the week due to uncertainty over the the news of KPMG resigning as its auditor and its impact on the company's NYSE listing. [View news story]
Matt- Like your opinion has any value either- you have written so much garbage no one even listens to you anymore if they ever did.
George Soros has reportedly withdrawn several hundred million dollars from Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital over the past few months. The reasons aren't yet known, but perhaps Soros isn't pleased with the way Ackman has so publicly backed himself into a corner. Despite some big hits, Pershing Square was up on the year through February, though shy of the S&P's gain. [View news story]
only a matter of time until THE BIG SQUEEEEEEZE -> JCP to ZERO & HLF to $100+ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Publicly Available Lessons Regarding Pyramid Schemes: What Should We Think About Herbalife? [View article]
and don't forget Ackman's (who started all of this) presentation which ASSumed products were sold at 65% of SRP which was based on ONLY 0.1% of Herbalife sales made on eBay. Also there was absolutely no basis by Ackman for the 70% of products sold at retail. In other words, this is all about people guessing about Herbalife being an illegal pyramid.
In my opinion, anyone that shorted as many shares as Ackman with as little knowledge as he had, 300 slides without any real basis, and then declares a stock is going to zero is either dramatically reaching or hoping and praying for someone to come in and help him. In fact, after accusing Herbalife of being an illegal pyramid scheme, Ackman comes out with 41 pages of questions. Obviously even Ackman has more questions than answers.
I have sold insurance before and I can tell you that I was on 100% commission with no base pay. Also what they didn't tell me even though it was a large well known insurance company was that a lot of policies cancel within the first year and that I would have to repay all commission advances on those policies.
I know the guy that hired me was a terrific sales person but he got in a position where he had taken so much advance commissions that he was in a bind because of all of the policy cancellations. If he would leave the company, he would have been required to pay a large sum back so he was trying to sell his way out of it.
Nomenclature: Will Herbalife Copy Nuskin? [View article]
Matt since Ackman's whole thesis is based upon Herbalife being an illegal pyramid, I wonder why he has been slow in answering Icahn's challenge per this excerpt from Icahn's Feb 15th CNBC interview-
"NOW MY FTC ATTORNEY WHO'S HAD 22 YEARS EXPERIENCE WORKING ON WITH THE FTC IN THE BUREAU OF CONSUMER PROTECTION HAS STATED THE FOLLOWING "HERBALIFE IS A WELL RUN LEGAL MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING COMPANY" THAT MEANS A LOT. NOW I HAVE NOT SEEN I LISTENED TO ACKMAN THE OTHER DAY WHEN HE SPOKE AT THAT CONFERENCE AND I STUDIED THE 300 PAGE PAPER WE HAVE NOT REALLY SEEN ANY EXPERT OPINION IN THAT PAPER. AND THE MOST INTERESTING THING I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT WHOLE CONFERENCE WAS THAT ACKMAN STATED THAT HIS LAWFIRM SULLIVAN CROMWELL WHICH ARE HIS ATTORNEYS AND WHICH WE'VE NEVER HEARD FROM NEVER SEEN ANY EVIDENCE OF SULLIVAN CROMWELL HAS SAID ANY OF THIS. HE SAYS SULLIVAN CROMWELL IS COMFORTABLE THAT HLF IS A PYRAMID SCHEME. I DOUBT THAT YOU KNOW I'M A BETTING MAN AND I WOULD BET AND GIVE ODDS THAT SULLIVAN CROMWELL HAS NEVER SAID THAT PUBLICLY. WE SEE IT THEY NEVER SAID IT PUBLICLY AND I SAY I CHALLENGE ACKMAN WHO KEEPS ON TALKING ABOUT TRANSPARANCY TO BRING OUT SULLIVAN CROMWELL AND HAVE THE SULLIVAN CROMWELL ATTORNEY SAY THAT THIS IS A PYRAMID SCHEME"
Herbalife, The MLM Model And Generational Bias [View article]
Ackman has failed to answer Icahn's question about Ackman's attorney's stance as to Herbalife being an illegal pyramid scheme included in this excerpt from his February 15th CNBC interview-
"NOW MY FTC ATTORNEY WHO'S HAD 22 YEARS EXPERIENCE WORKING ON WITH THE FTC IN THE BUREAU OF CONSUMER PROTECTION HAS STATED THE FOLLOWING "HERBALIFE IS A WELL RUN LEGAL MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING COMPANY" THAT MEANS A LOT. NOW I HAVE NOT SEEN I LISTENED TO ACKMAN THE OTHER DAY WHEN HE SPOKE AT THAT CONFERENCE AND I STUDIED THE 300 PAGE PAPER WE HAVE NOT REALLY SEEN ANY EXPERT OPINION IN THAT PAPER. AND THE MOST INTERESTING THING I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT WHOLE CONFERENCE WAS THAT ACKMAN STATED THAT HIS LAWFIRM SULLIVAN CROMWELL WHICH ARE HIS ATTORNEYS AND WHICH WE'VE NEVER HEARD FROM NEVER SEEN ANY EVIDENCE OF SULLIVAN CROMWELL HAS SAID ANY OF THIS. HE SAYS SULLIVAN CROMWELL IS COMFORTABLE THAT HLF IS A PYRAMID SCHEME. I DOUBT THAT YOU KNOW I'M A BETTING MAN AND I WOULD BET AND GIVE ODDS THAT SULLIVAN CROMWELL HAS NEVER SAID THAT PUBLICLY. WE SEE IT THEY NEVER SAID IT PUBLICLY AND I SAY I CHALLENGE ACKMAN WHO KEEPS ON TALKING ABOUT TRANSPARANCY TO BRING OUT SULLIVAN CROMWELL AND HAVE THE SULLIVAN CROMWELL ATTORNEY SAY THAT THIS IS A PYRAMID SCHEME"
There may be some bumps in the road a long the way from Ackman and his short buddies trying to scare the longs out of owning shares of HLF but the long term prospects for Herbalife are based on a solid foundation of growth. The fact that obescity and poor nutrition is a worldwide epidemic and that Herbalife has aggressive people out there spreading the word of a solution with their daily consumption model will eventually be the downfall of Ackman and the shorts.
Ackman V. Icahn - Don't Forget Whitman [View article]
Matt,
I have warned you that this is going to end up bad for shorts. If Ackman is waiting for the FTC or SEC to step in and help him, he is in for a long wait. As I have tried to tell you before, do some research on how the Prepaid Legal Services MLM short attack turned out and you will get some insight on how this will turn out. In that case, Prepaid Legal got in trouble with both the SEC & FTC as well as other legal battles AND THE STOCK STILL DOUBLED OVER 10 YEARS.
Herbalife has so much more going for it and now with some major players stepping in on their side, I believe this is going to be an even worse result for the shorts. Ackman's pyramid allegation rests on their analysis of 0.1% of sales made on eBay. As you can see from his 40 page of questions for Herbalife-> that ACKMAN HAS MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS.
For anyone to really understand why Herbalife WILL NOT be considered an illegal pyramid by the FTC, please have them read my Seeking Alpha article- http://seekingalpha.co...
Blackrock Nearly Doubles Stake In Herbalife Ltd. Can 362 Institutional Holders Be Wrong? [View article]
If you think it is wrong that the people at the top of Herbalife are making most of the money, Here is an excerpt from an article I wrote on solving the government's debt crisis-
First we must understand who the rich are and what they control. Per Edward Wolff, a professor of economics at New York University, the top 5% own more than half of all the wealth of this country. In fact, in a 1998 study the top 20% owned 83% of the wealth and the bottom 20% basically had zero wealth which means that the other 60% of our population owned 17% of the wealth. So anyone looking at these numbers can only realistically come to one conclusion, the upper 20% of our population is going to have to play a large roll in solving our problems.
The median household only has about $62,000 in wealth as compared to the top 1% that has an average wealth of $12.5 million. (Per Edward Wolff, a professor of economics at New York University)
NOTE: Sounds like the US is an illegal pyramid based on Ackman's arguments but I doubt that he goes after the government since he is in the top portion of the upper 1%
Might Other Companies Be Liable If Herbalife Is A Pyramid? [View article]
For those people complaining that the people at the top of Herbalife are making all the money, Here is an excerpt from an article I wrote on solving the government's debt crisis-
First we must understand who the rich are and what they control. Per Edward Wolff, a professor of economics at New York University, the top 5% own more than half of all the wealth of this country. In fact, in a 1998 study the top 20% owned 83% of the wealth and the bottom 20% basically had zero wealth which means that the other 60% of our population owned 17% of the wealth. So anyone looking at these numbers can only realistically come to one conclusion, the upper 20% of our population is going to have to play a large roll in solving our problems.
The median household only has about $62,000 in wealth as compared to the top 1% that has an average wealth of $12.5 million. (Per Edward Wolff, a professor of economics at New York University)
NOTE: Sounds like the US is an illegal pyramid based on Ackman's arguments but I doubt that he goes after the government since he is in the top portion of the upper 1%
Are Herbalife's Nutrition Clubs Operating In Violation Of The Law? [View article]
Here is part of the Prepaid Legal Service story so you can understand that a lot of bad things can happen to a MLM but it still keeps on keeping on (Fortune Hi-Tech is an exception since they may have had a commission structure that wasn't legal):
NOTE: To make a long story short(1997 to 2011), Prepaid had all kinds of trouble with the SEC, legal problems, etc. and with shorts attacking plus Cramer, Greenberg & more but in 2011 it was taken private at a share price that was over double what it was when the short attack began:
In 2001, the Wyoming Attorney General issued a press release announcing "When we discovered that Pre-Paid was using prohibited income representations to promote their multilevel marketing program, we warned them that the representations were prohibited by Wyoming law". Pre-Paid paid $4,000 in lieu of civil penalties, reimbursed the state for $1,000 in costs, and refunded $2,000 to participants who claimed to have been misled.[5][6] In July the same year, the company was forced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to stop counting the commissions they paid out to sales associates as assets, instead of expenses,[7] the same way other types of insurance companies do, though they did not release their updated, halved, 2000 earnings figures until February 2002.[8]
Pre-Paid Legal has faced ongoing troubles in Missouri. After the company settled complaints in 2001, a number of similar suits arose. The company won in a jury trial against two plaintiffs,[9] but after losing others, including one in which a former customer was awarded $9.9 million[7][10] settled with more than 400 others. The company, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of which Pre-Paid Legal CEO Harland Stonecipher is a director,[11] have described the lawsuits against the company as "frivolous" and "abusive".[12]
Pre-Paid Legal reported to the SEC that less than 25% of its sales representatives sold more than one insurance plan in 2005, but avoids reporting such information to prospective sales representatives.[13]
In October 2009, Tulsa World reported[14] that Pre-Paid Legal had been subpoenaed by the SEC for various documents including those pertaining to a stock repurchase program that Pre-Paid started in April 1999. (And in 2006, the company said it would repurchase $27.4 million of shares owned by executives.)[13] The SEC reported that thus far that its demand for documents is a "fact finding" mission.
On November 19, 2009, Pre-Paid Legal announced[15] that it received a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The proposed draft complaint alleged that Pre-Paid's "ADRS program and related materials violate Section 5(a) of the FTC Act regarding asserted misleading representations, express or implied."[16] On July 27, 2010 the FTC ended its three year investigation of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. without any action.[17]
Forbes magazine again in November 2010 ranked Pre-Paid Legal Services as number 78 out of the 100 best companies in America.
In January 2011, Pre-Paid Legal agreed to merge with entities formed by MidOcean Partners, a premier private equity firm headquartered in New York which it says is "focused on the middle market." The transaction would result in the company becoming privately held. The deal closed on June 31, 2011.[18]
On September 10, 2011, the company announced [19] that it would change its name to LegalShield. The new corporate name for the 40 year old company was said by the company to be part of an overall re-branding initiative following the acquisition of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. by MidOcean Partners.
NOTE: I repeat-> Herbalife will get through this short attack and the share price will continue to rise (maybe even from Herbalife being taken private)!!!!!!!!!!!!
Herbalife's Disclosures Don't Add Up - Again [View article]
Here is part of the Prepaid Legal Service story so you can understand that a lot of bad things can happen to a MLM but it still keeps on keeping on (Fortune Hi-Tech is an exception since they may have had a commission structure that wasn't legal):
NOTE: To make a long story short, Prepaid had all kinds of trouble with the SEC, legal problems, etc. and with shorts attacking plus Cramer, Greenberg & more but in 2011 it was taken private at a share price that was over double what it was when the short attack began:
In 2001, the Wyoming Attorney General issued a press release announcing "When we discovered that Pre-Paid was using prohibited income representations to promote their multilevel marketing program, we warned them that the representations were prohibited by Wyoming law". Pre-Paid paid $4,000 in lieu of civil penalties, reimbursed the state for $1,000 in costs, and refunded $2,000 to participants who claimed to have been misled.[5][6] In July the same year, the company was forced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to stop counting the commissions they paid out to sales associates as assets, instead of expenses,[7] the same way other types of insurance companies do, though they did not release their updated, halved, 2000 earnings figures until February 2002.[8]
Pre-Paid Legal has faced ongoing troubles in Missouri. After the company settled complaints in 2001, a number of similar suits arose. The company won in a jury trial against two plaintiffs,[9] but after losing others, including one in which a former customer was awarded $9.9 million[7][10] settled with more than 400 others. The company, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of which Pre-Paid Legal CEO Harland Stonecipher is a director,[11] have described the lawsuits against the company as "frivolous" and "abusive".[12]
Pre-Paid Legal reported to the SEC that less than 25% of its sales representatives sold more than one insurance plan in 2005, but avoids reporting such information to prospective sales representatives.[13]
In October 2009, Tulsa World reported[14] that Pre-Paid Legal had been subpoenaed by the SEC for various documents including those pertaining to a stock repurchase program that Pre-Paid started in April 1999. (And in 2006, the company said it would repurchase $27.4 million of shares owned by executives.)[13] The SEC reported that thus far that its demand for documents is a "fact finding" mission.
On November 19, 2009, Pre-Paid Legal announced[15] that it received a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The proposed draft complaint alleged that Pre-Paid's "ADRS program and related materials violate Section 5(a) of the FTC Act regarding asserted misleading representations, express or implied."[16] On July 27, 2010 the FTC ended its three year investigation of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. without any action.[17]
Forbes magazine again in November 2010 ranked Pre-Paid Legal Services as number 78 out of the 100 best companies in America.
In January 2011, Pre-Paid Legal agreed to merge with entities formed by MidOcean Partners, a premier private equity firm headquartered in New York which it says is "focused on the middle market." The transaction would result in the company becoming privately held. The deal closed on June 31, 2011.[18]
On September 10, 2011, the company announced [19] that it would change its name to LegalShield. The new corporate name for the 40 year old company was said by the company to be part of an overall re-branding initiative following the acquisition of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. by MidOcean Partners.
NOTE: I repeat-> Herbalife will get through this short attack and the share price will continue to rise (maybe even from Herbalife being taken private)!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are Herbalife's Nutrition Clubs Operating In Violation Of The Law? [View article]
If you are so confident about your article, then why is the title of your article a question? -> "****Are**** Herbalife's Nutrition Clubs Operating In Violation Of The Law?"
Like most of the articles by shorts here on Seeking Alpha-> throw as much mud as possible hoping something will stick but not really presenting anything new or definite. ****Are**** you really sure about your short case or are you just hoping something will work?
Herbalife: What Have We Learned? [View article]
1) Outlaw cigarrettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and anything else that has been proven to cause cancer
2) Eliminate all forms of gambling since you have more of a chance of being struck by lightning on the way to purchase a lottery ticket than winning a big lotto prize (NOTE: Maybe even consider eliminating people being able to individually invest in the stock market since most people lose money because they don't know how to invest.)
3) Eliminate individuals from being able to file patents on inventions since it's a known fact that only 3 out of 5000 patents become successful products
4) Get congress to eliminate all financial support from people and groups trying to push their agenda through congress
5) Require the government to balance their budget and pay off the national debt
6) There are to many other laws that should be passed but one probably eliminating attorneys that take advantage of these laws to make money would probably have an even tougher chance of passing.
Good luck with your campaign but I wouldn't give up my day job to pass any of the above.
Prediction: SIGA Technologies Will Win Appeal Of Pharmathene Law Suit [View instapost]
DA Davidson does an about-face on Herbalife (HLF -1.3%) this morning, upgrading the shares to Buy once again after the company made assurances that they didn't see any risk of a delisting notice from the NYSE, nor do they believe they're in violation of their loan covenants. Davidson had cut the stock to it to Neutral earlier in the week due to uncertainty over the the news of KPMG resigning as its auditor and its impact on the company's NYSE listing. [View news story]
George Soros has reportedly withdrawn several hundred million dollars from Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital over the past few months. The reasons aren't yet known, but perhaps Soros isn't pleased with the way Ackman has so publicly backed himself into a corner. Despite some big hits, Pershing Square was up on the year through February, though shy of the S&P's gain. [View news story]
Publicly Available Lessons Regarding Pyramid Schemes: What Should We Think About Herbalife? [View article]
In my opinion, anyone that shorted as many shares as Ackman with as little knowledge as he had, 300 slides without any real basis, and then declares a stock is going to zero is either dramatically reaching or hoping and praying for someone to come in and help him. In fact, after accusing Herbalife of being an illegal pyramid scheme, Ackman comes out with 41 pages of questions. Obviously even Ackman has more questions than answers.
Herbalife Is An Endless Chain [View article]
I know the guy that hired me was a terrific sales person but he got in a position where he had taken so much advance commissions that he was in a bind because of all of the policy cancellations. If he would leave the company, he would have been required to pay a large sum back so he was trying to sell his way out of it.
Nomenclature: Will Herbalife Copy Nuskin? [View article]
Nomenclature: Will Herbalife Copy Nuskin? [View article]
"NOW MY FTC ATTORNEY WHO'S HAD 22 YEARS EXPERIENCE WORKING ON WITH THE FTC IN THE BUREAU OF CONSUMER PROTECTION HAS STATED THE FOLLOWING "HERBALIFE IS A WELL RUN LEGAL MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING COMPANY" THAT MEANS A LOT. NOW I HAVE NOT SEEN I LISTENED TO ACKMAN THE OTHER DAY WHEN HE SPOKE AT THAT CONFERENCE AND I STUDIED THE 300 PAGE PAPER WE HAVE NOT REALLY SEEN ANY EXPERT OPINION IN THAT PAPER. AND THE MOST INTERESTING THING I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT WHOLE CONFERENCE WAS THAT ACKMAN STATED THAT HIS LAWFIRM SULLIVAN CROMWELL WHICH ARE HIS ATTORNEYS AND WHICH WE'VE NEVER HEARD FROM NEVER SEEN ANY EVIDENCE OF SULLIVAN CROMWELL HAS SAID ANY OF THIS. HE SAYS SULLIVAN CROMWELL IS COMFORTABLE THAT HLF IS A PYRAMID SCHEME. I DOUBT THAT YOU KNOW I'M A BETTING MAN AND I WOULD BET AND GIVE ODDS THAT SULLIVAN CROMWELL HAS NEVER SAID THAT PUBLICLY. WE SEE IT THEY NEVER SAID IT PUBLICLY AND I SAY I CHALLENGE ACKMAN WHO KEEPS ON TALKING ABOUT TRANSPARANCY TO BRING OUT SULLIVAN CROMWELL AND HAVE THE SULLIVAN CROMWELL ATTORNEY SAY THAT THIS IS A PYRAMID SCHEME"
Herbalife, The MLM Model And Generational Bias [View article]
"NOW MY FTC ATTORNEY WHO'S HAD 22 YEARS EXPERIENCE WORKING ON WITH THE FTC IN THE BUREAU OF CONSUMER PROTECTION HAS STATED THE FOLLOWING "HERBALIFE IS A WELL RUN LEGAL MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING COMPANY" THAT MEANS A LOT. NOW I HAVE NOT SEEN I LISTENED TO ACKMAN THE OTHER DAY WHEN HE SPOKE AT THAT CONFERENCE AND I STUDIED THE 300 PAGE PAPER WE HAVE NOT REALLY SEEN ANY EXPERT OPINION IN THAT PAPER. AND THE MOST INTERESTING THING I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT WHOLE CONFERENCE WAS THAT ACKMAN STATED THAT HIS LAWFIRM SULLIVAN CROMWELL WHICH ARE HIS ATTORNEYS AND WHICH WE'VE NEVER HEARD FROM NEVER SEEN ANY EVIDENCE OF SULLIVAN CROMWELL HAS SAID ANY OF THIS. HE SAYS SULLIVAN CROMWELL IS COMFORTABLE THAT HLF IS A PYRAMID SCHEME. I DOUBT THAT YOU KNOW I'M A BETTING MAN AND I WOULD BET AND GIVE ODDS THAT SULLIVAN CROMWELL HAS NEVER SAID THAT PUBLICLY. WE SEE IT THEY NEVER SAID IT PUBLICLY AND I SAY I CHALLENGE ACKMAN WHO KEEPS ON TALKING ABOUT TRANSPARANCY TO BRING OUT SULLIVAN CROMWELL AND HAVE THE SULLIVAN CROMWELL ATTORNEY SAY THAT THIS IS A PYRAMID SCHEME"
There may be some bumps in the road a long the way from Ackman and his short buddies trying to scare the longs out of owning shares of HLF but the long term prospects for Herbalife are based on a solid foundation of growth. The fact that obescity and poor nutrition is a worldwide epidemic and that Herbalife has aggressive people out there spreading the word of a solution with their daily consumption model will eventually be the downfall of Ackman and the shorts.
Ackman V. Icahn - Don't Forget Whitman [View article]
I have warned you that this is going to end up bad for shorts. If Ackman is waiting for the FTC or SEC to step in and help him, he is in for a long wait. As I have tried to tell you before, do some research on how the Prepaid Legal Services MLM short attack turned out and you will get some insight on how this will turn out. In that case, Prepaid Legal got in trouble with both the SEC & FTC as well as other legal battles AND THE STOCK STILL DOUBLED OVER 10 YEARS.
Herbalife has so much more going for it and now with some major players stepping in on their side, I believe this is going to be an even worse result for the shorts. Ackman's pyramid allegation rests on their analysis of 0.1% of sales made on eBay. As you can see from his 40 page of questions for Herbalife-> that ACKMAN HAS MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS.
For anyone to really understand why Herbalife WILL NOT be considered an illegal pyramid by the FTC, please have them read my Seeking Alpha article- http://seekingalpha.co...
Blackrock Nearly Doubles Stake In Herbalife Ltd. Can 362 Institutional Holders Be Wrong? [View article]
First we must understand who the rich are and what they control. Per Edward Wolff, a professor of economics at New York University, the top 5% own more than half of all the wealth of this country. In fact, in a 1998 study the top 20% owned 83% of the wealth and the bottom 20% basically had zero wealth which means that the other 60% of our population owned 17% of the wealth. So anyone looking at these numbers can only realistically come to one conclusion, the upper 20% of our population is going to have to play a large roll in solving our problems.
The median household only has about $62,000 in wealth as compared to the top 1% that has an average wealth of $12.5 million. (Per Edward Wolff, a professor of economics at New York University)
NOTE: Sounds like the US is an illegal pyramid based on Ackman's arguments but I doubt that he goes after the government since he is in the top portion of the upper 1%
Might Other Companies Be Liable If Herbalife Is A Pyramid? [View article]
First we must understand who the rich are and what they control. Per Edward Wolff, a professor of economics at New York University, the top 5% own more than half of all the wealth of this country. In fact, in a 1998 study the top 20% owned 83% of the wealth and the bottom 20% basically had zero wealth which means that the other 60% of our population owned 17% of the wealth. So anyone looking at these numbers can only realistically come to one conclusion, the upper 20% of our population is going to have to play a large roll in solving our problems.
The median household only has about $62,000 in wealth as compared to the top 1% that has an average wealth of $12.5 million. (Per Edward Wolff, a professor of economics at New York University)
NOTE: Sounds like the US is an illegal pyramid based on Ackman's arguments but I doubt that he goes after the government since he is in the top portion of the upper 1%
Are Herbalife's Nutrition Clubs Operating In Violation Of The Law? [View article]
Here is a link:http://bit.ly/VLoePv
NOTE: To make a long story short(1997 to 2011), Prepaid had all kinds of trouble with the SEC, legal problems, etc. and with shorts attacking plus Cramer, Greenberg & more but in 2011 it was taken private at a share price that was over double what it was when the short attack began:
In 2001, the Wyoming Attorney General issued a press release announcing "When we discovered that Pre-Paid was using prohibited income representations to promote their multilevel marketing program, we warned them that the representations were prohibited by Wyoming law". Pre-Paid paid $4,000 in lieu of civil penalties, reimbursed the state for $1,000 in costs, and refunded $2,000 to participants who claimed to have been misled.[5][6] In July the same year, the company was forced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to stop counting the commissions they paid out to sales associates as assets, instead of expenses,[7] the same way other types of insurance companies do, though they did not release their updated, halved, 2000 earnings figures until February 2002.[8]
Pre-Paid Legal has faced ongoing troubles in Missouri. After the company settled complaints in 2001, a number of similar suits arose. The company won in a jury trial against two plaintiffs,[9] but after losing others, including one in which a former customer was awarded $9.9 million[7][10] settled with more than 400 others. The company, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of which Pre-Paid Legal CEO Harland Stonecipher is a director,[11] have described the lawsuits against the company as "frivolous" and "abusive".[12]
Pre-Paid Legal reported to the SEC that less than 25% of its sales representatives sold more than one insurance plan in 2005, but avoids reporting such information to prospective sales representatives.[13]
In October 2009, Tulsa World reported[14] that Pre-Paid Legal had been subpoenaed by the SEC for various documents including those pertaining to a stock repurchase program that Pre-Paid started in April 1999. (And in 2006, the company said it would repurchase $27.4 million of shares owned by executives.)[13] The SEC reported that thus far that its demand for documents is a "fact finding" mission.
On November 19, 2009, Pre-Paid Legal announced[15] that it received a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The proposed draft complaint alleged that Pre-Paid's "ADRS program and related materials violate Section 5(a) of the FTC Act regarding asserted misleading representations, express or implied."[16] On July 27, 2010 the FTC ended its three year investigation of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. without any action.[17]
Forbes magazine again in November 2010 ranked Pre-Paid Legal Services as number 78 out of the 100 best companies in America.
In January 2011, Pre-Paid Legal agreed to merge with entities formed by MidOcean Partners, a premier private equity firm headquartered in New York which it says is "focused on the middle market." The transaction would result in the company becoming privately held. The deal closed on June 31, 2011.[18]
On September 10, 2011, the company announced [19] that it would change its name to LegalShield. The new corporate name for the 40 year old company was said by the company to be part of an overall re-branding initiative following the acquisition of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. by MidOcean Partners.
NOTE: I repeat-> Herbalife will get through this short attack and the share price will continue to rise (maybe even from Herbalife being taken private)!!!!!!!!!!!!
Herbalife's Disclosures Don't Add Up - Again [View article]
Here is a link: http://bit.ly/VLoePv
NOTE: To make a long story short, Prepaid had all kinds of trouble with the SEC, legal problems, etc. and with shorts attacking plus Cramer, Greenberg & more but in 2011 it was taken private at a share price that was over double what it was when the short attack began:
In 2001, the Wyoming Attorney General issued a press release announcing "When we discovered that Pre-Paid was using prohibited income representations to promote their multilevel marketing program, we warned them that the representations were prohibited by Wyoming law". Pre-Paid paid $4,000 in lieu of civil penalties, reimbursed the state for $1,000 in costs, and refunded $2,000 to participants who claimed to have been misled.[5][6] In July the same year, the company was forced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to stop counting the commissions they paid out to sales associates as assets, instead of expenses,[7] the same way other types of insurance companies do, though they did not release their updated, halved, 2000 earnings figures until February 2002.[8]
Pre-Paid Legal has faced ongoing troubles in Missouri. After the company settled complaints in 2001, a number of similar suits arose. The company won in a jury trial against two plaintiffs,[9] but after losing others, including one in which a former customer was awarded $9.9 million[7][10] settled with more than 400 others. The company, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of which Pre-Paid Legal CEO Harland Stonecipher is a director,[11] have described the lawsuits against the company as "frivolous" and "abusive".[12]
Pre-Paid Legal reported to the SEC that less than 25% of its sales representatives sold more than one insurance plan in 2005, but avoids reporting such information to prospective sales representatives.[13]
In October 2009, Tulsa World reported[14] that Pre-Paid Legal had been subpoenaed by the SEC for various documents including those pertaining to a stock repurchase program that Pre-Paid started in April 1999. (And in 2006, the company said it would repurchase $27.4 million of shares owned by executives.)[13] The SEC reported that thus far that its demand for documents is a "fact finding" mission.
On November 19, 2009, Pre-Paid Legal announced[15] that it received a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The proposed draft complaint alleged that Pre-Paid's "ADRS program and related materials violate Section 5(a) of the FTC Act regarding asserted misleading representations, express or implied."[16] On July 27, 2010 the FTC ended its three year investigation of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. without any action.[17]
Forbes magazine again in November 2010 ranked Pre-Paid Legal Services as number 78 out of the 100 best companies in America.
In January 2011, Pre-Paid Legal agreed to merge with entities formed by MidOcean Partners, a premier private equity firm headquartered in New York which it says is "focused on the middle market." The transaction would result in the company becoming privately held. The deal closed on June 31, 2011.[18]
On September 10, 2011, the company announced [19] that it would change its name to LegalShield. The new corporate name for the 40 year old company was said by the company to be part of an overall re-branding initiative following the acquisition of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. by MidOcean Partners.
NOTE: I repeat-> Herbalife will get through this short attack and the share price will continue to rise (maybe even from Herbalife being taken private)!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are Herbalife's Nutrition Clubs Operating In Violation Of The Law? [View article]
Like most of the articles by shorts here on Seeking Alpha-> throw as much mud as possible hoping something will stick but not really presenting anything new or definite. ****Are**** you really sure about your short case or are you just hoping something will work?