Some scams are more subtle and some are easier to spot, so let's make sure we understand each other on today's post before we get started. Portage Resources (POTG.pk) is in Category Two and one of the most blatant rip-offs I've seen in 2011
I've been watching with amusement the pump and dump scam that is running around Portage Resources (POTG.pk) this last week, with plenty of bullshit in the paid tout press and it seems there's more than enough money left in the supposedly cash-strapped America to see this company move to frankly ridiculous valuations.
POTG.pk now quotes at 74c a pop and when we recall that the company has 637 million shares outstanding (yeah dudes I shit thee not, and to make matters worse 75% of those shares are in the hands of the delinquent piece of toadcrap and company CEO Paul Luna) this means that the company is being valued at $471m right now. So what do you get for your money, folks? You get:
A letter of intent (i.e. not even a real asset and not even a contract to option in on a real asset, but a piece of paper that says the company intends to do a deal...nothing else) on a property in the politically impossible-to-mine North reaches of Peru.
A bullshit resource that has nothing to do with reality of 58m oz silver, but even if it had you're now valuing those ounces at $9 each, a mile above anything in the serious market, even amongst companies that are producing silver today.
A CEO who really is a piece of shit lying scumbag, of that be in no doubt.A company with five hundred and thirty-three dollars in the treasury as per its last quarterly report. Doesn't that strike you as a little thin for a junior that the market is valuing at half a billion (with a B)?
The incessant pumping of boilerhouse scumbags who have a track record of separating the naive from their wedge. Have a look here and here for more.
The problem is that it's really difficult so far to get a lend on this thing and short it. If you can, do so, because it's the easiest money you'll make this year. Be clear that POTG.pk is being run to benefit insiders only, they're screwing thousands of people over right now and will leave the arena with your money in their pockets if you're daft enough to invest in this scam.