Do you like Justin Bieber? I’ve got to be honest: up until yesterday, I didn’t. I didn’t like his hair, I didn’t like his singing and I really didn’t like the way he dances. Maybe that’s because I’m old, and Justin Bieber is no Bob Dylan. But right now I’m a believer in Bieber.
So what’s changed, you might ask. Has he gotten a better haircut, improved his vocal stylings or somehow found rhythm? Well, the answer is none of the above. Instead, Justin Bieber has thrown the weight of his celebrity behind a noble campaign to stop people from texting—and crashing into other people—when they drive.
This issue is no laughing matter, as every year there are more horror stories about traffic accident fatalities, and even a recent deadly train disaster in California, directly caused by texting. In fact, the push to get people to not text while they drive is a direct descendant of the movement to require the use of seatbelts: a common sense law that saves lives. So young Justin is indeed doing a good deed.
And what company is in league with Bieber and the no-texting-while-driving initiative? Its name is Options Media Group Holdings, Inc. (OTC:OPMG). You probably haven’t heard of this company before, and unless you’ve traded penny stocks for a long time, there’s no reason you should have. Now that they have a deal in place with the world’s biggest teenage heartthrob, however, you may hear more about them in the days to come. And that’s why I like Justin Bieber right now, as long as his name continues to move the share price of OPMG higher.
You can look all you like at OPMG’s financial reports, fundamentals, corporate structure and business history. But all you need to know as Wednesday’s trading day unfolds is that shares of OPMG are very much in play, thanks to the company’s new affiliation with Bieber. This is the kind of phenomenon that fuels the imagination of market participants, and has enough legs to steadily drive up the share price of the OPMG, at least until the story gets old.
Here’s an excerpt from OPMG’s news release: “Options Media Group Holdings, Inc. (Pinksheets:OPMG - News) which recently announced it is changing its name to PhoneGuard, Inc., is pleased to announce that two-time Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Justin Bieber is supporting its initiative to make the world's roads a safer place through their acclaimed Drive Safe™ anti-texting while driving software application suite which disables the texting, emailing and keyboard functions of a mobile phone while in a vehicle moving faster than 10 miles per hour. The Company and Justin Bieber will partner on a series of promotions to save lives through the prevention of distraction caused by mobile devices while driving and to raise money for related charities.”
First of all, hats off to OPMG for coming up with such an amazing idea. The product alone—if it works—is a stroke of genius. And here’s where you have to throw caution to the wind, and assume that Bieber and his handlers were satisfied enough with Phone Guard that they would get behind it to this degree.
Second of all, you may be wondering if OPMG’s news release is real. Well, here’s what Bieber himself had to say: "It is tragic that almost on a daily basis there are reports of deaths and severe injuries caused by drivers who are texting and driving. We need to change the attitudes in our society toward texting and driving and I am making it one of my personal goals to make this happen. Every night we perform we have a banner that goes up that says 'Don't Text and Drive' so it really means a lot to me. We are planning to continue to give $1 from every ticket sold to this cause and the addition of PhoneGuard to this team will help us expand our efforts even further."
JACKPOT for OPMG! Yesterday, market participants took notice in a very big way. OPMG’s shares rose .02 cents to close at .034 on volume of more than 73 million shares. That’s almost one-fifth of the entire 350 million share OPMG float. OPMG’s 52-week-high sits at .0419, well within striking distance of yesterday’s closing price. If this run manages to penetrate that level, there will be more blue sky ahead for OPMG shares.
Of course almost invariably, at some point, there will be some “shaking” of the price lower as traders and long-term holders take profits along the way. But given Bieber’s reputation and the undeniable need to better contain texting-while-driving, I’m betting that the move higher in OPMG shares has just begun.