by Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe | October 17, 2013 3:16 pm
Patrick Cox[1] has found a new home — he has issued many a tempting teaser campaign over the years, and I was wondering what had happened to him after leaving his Breakthrough Technology Alert[2] in the hands of Ray Blanco[3] this Summer.
Well, I can stop wondering — he jumped to a new publisher and just launched a new letter called Transformational Technology Alert[4] for John Mauldin[5] at Mauldin Economics[6]. And it looks like he’s going to be continuing to spoon up the life-changing technologies — and, of course, promises of unheard-of wealth from early investments in the companies in the forefront of these technologies.
Like his old letter, this one’s pricey — “list price” $1,995 and “on sale” launch price of $895, which is similar to the pricing that was pitched for his previous publication in recent years. That indicates he’s still looking at very small stocks (if you recommend a lot of stocks with sub-$100 million market capitalization, it’s a lot better to have 100 readers paying $1,000 a year than to have 2,000 people paying $50 a year — you have a better chance of not causing the share price to go crazy when your readers buy or sell it).
So yes, before we even start to unravel his favorite picks that he’s using to launch his new letter, we should mention that they’re probably very small stocks, and we’re not going to be doing them any favors by sharing them with all our favoritest friends (that’s you). I have no idea whether or not you’ll like the stocks we’re going to find today, but please don’t rush out and buy ’em just because I’m sharing the tickers with you — if they go up because of Patrick’s attention and for no other real fundamental reason in the days ahead, odds are they’ll come back down again when the attention wanes. They almost always do.
So what’s Patrick teasing now?
Well, let’s start with a taste of the teaser pitch …
“When you finish this letter, please speak to your children and grandchildren.
“What you’ll see below will affect their lives just as deeply as yours.
“That’s because you’re about to see a little-known story with the power to make you wealthier than you ever imagined.
“It also stands to change your life and the lives of everyone in your family in astonishing ways beyond the collection of wealth….
“What you’re about to see could release you from worries about struggles in retirement[7], providing for your family, or making certain your children and grandchildren have every advantage starting out in life.
“The opportunity I’ll reveal to you represents what I believe is the greatest wealth-creation event of this century.”
So have no fear, Patrick Cox did not leave his hyperbole machine at Agora[8] — he’s still got it, and it’s chugging away. His past ads touted the emerging medical technologies as being similar to the introduction of the printing press, or of the railroad, or computers, real advances that dramatically changed the globe, and he’s essentially on the same track today with the stocks he’s touting.
More from Cox:
“The three companies I will reveal to you here, taken together, could change every life on earth… for the better.
“You don’t need special connections or ‘venture capital’-style wealth to participate.
“That’s what makes what I’ll reveal to you so special.
“You can take a stake in all three of these revolutionary firms for a pittance….
“One share of each of the three companies in Build Transformational Wealth from Three Tiny Companies currently totals just $15.84.”
He talks about the founding of Pfizer, which was started with $2,500 in borrowed money and became a $200 billion company, and the similar story of the launch of Merck (he does not, of course, mention the hundreds of companies that hoped to become the next Pfizer and have languished for decades or gone bankrupt, that would take some of the fun out of it).
But OK, we get the idea, right? Small stocks, huge potential. Now … what are the actual companies?
Well, we start with the one that seems to be his favorite, here’s how he touts it:
“I Believe This Company Will Go Down in History as the Most Important (And Lucrative) Firm Ever Created”
He’s not messing around there, eh?
“Imagine if one company had the lead in the quest to rebuild strong, healthy hearts, livers, lungs… and also cartilage… tendons… and more.
“Now imagine if this company also had a way to test for cancer that was accurate years in advance… notifying folks long before the cancer threatened a person’s life.
“Now… also imagine if this company had patented processes that made it the unofficial clearinghouse for any other company on earth that wanted to do similar work.
“All three of these traits exist in one company.”
So … of course you want to buy that stock, right? So who is it? More clues:
“This company recently hired the ex-head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA[9]) to serve on its board.
“This company has subsidiaries in China[10]… relationships with geniuses in Europe and Israel[11]… but is based in and trades on an exchange right here in the US.
“And when I recently spoke with the CEO, he revealed ongoing work that floored me.
“In short, his company has devised a flexible, painless, and natural ‘framework’ that can be placed inside an organ or, for example, a knee.
“This natural, biological framework then regrows into whatever organ or joint… or cartilage… or artery… is needed…..
“… in late August, the company announced it has received approval to begin human clinical trials on one of its regenerative framework products in a European country.
“Earlier in August, the company announced it had found what it thinks could be the specific gene that raises the likelihood of breast cancer. The finding was released in the scientific journal Biomarkers in Medicine.
“When word gets out about what this company is doing… I doubt many people will know how to react.
“Plus, as I mentioned, this company currently has patents and agreements on how these complex processes function.
“What I mean is, this company owns the world’s premier library of information on how to test these treatments.”
And Cox is expecting a catalyst, too, which is the urgency he throws in to try to get you to act quickly on your subscription — he thinks news will be coming in eleven days:
“I’m expecting further news about this company on October 28. I don’t want you to miss it… I want you to be on board long before then.
“The news I’m expecting on October 28 deals with this company announcing to the world just how powerful its platform really is.”
So what’s the company?
Well, we fire up the good ‘ol Thinkolator and get our answer pretty quickly this time — Patrick Cox is again teasing his old favorite BioTime (BTX)[12]
Cox has been all over this stock for almost as long as Stock Gumshoe has existed (we launched in 2007, in case you’re counting) — I think the first time I wrote about a Patrick Cox teaser for BioTime was back in the Fall of 2008[13] and he was expecting a dramatic announcement then, too. The stock has been wildly volatile over the years, getting as high as $10 or so in 2010 after they got relisted on the AMEX (they traded over the counter before that), and his touting of the stock over the years has been quite consistent — he’s said pretty much the same things whether the stock was trading at less than $2 or at $7.50 — the stock is at $3.75 now and has mostly bounced up and down in the $4 neighborhood over the last two years.
BioTime is run by Michael West[14], who also founded Geron (GERN)[15] and is a stem cell pioneer, so that’s really the focus of the company — indeed, they just recently bought access to the Geron stem cell portfolio, drugs and patents, so they continue to try to grow into the core provider of stem cell materials and data as well as a developer (through a bunch of subsidiaries) of stem cell-related treatments, everything from aesthetics to cancer drugs.
And to be honest, I haven’t looked very closely at the company in recent years and I have a hard time understanding them. They’ve grown quite a bit in market cap over the last five years, both because the stock has risen since 2008 and because they’ve more than doubled their share count since then, but as far as I can tell they are still a very long-term speculation from any kind of valuation perspective — they still have to sell more stock to keep going most quarters, and they burn through about $25 million a year in cash, mostly for R&D. They do have revenue that has gradually risen over the years, but it’s still at a trivial level — revenue has never come close to covering even half of their operating expenses, and that relationship between inflow and outflow has been worse, not better, with the last twelve months bringing in about $4 million in revenue (gross revenue, total sales — not profits) and sending about $30 million out the door in expenses.
So you really have to believe in the story for BioTime, and think that they’re building something transformation, to think that they’re worthy stewards of your investment dollars. If you’re more interested in that short term stuff Cox teased about, you’ll have to guess about what they mean — they are likely to release their next quarterly update in early November, and I suppose they could always release R&D news or deal details, but beyond that they don’t have any presentations on their calendar for the balance of the month. The big news that has shaken up their balance sheet lately is the acquisition of those Geron patents and programs (though Geron shareholders liked that a lot more than BTX shareholders did), so they may well put together some kind of presentation about that potential … dunno.
Now, I mentioned at the top that these kinds of little stocks are not for the faint of heart — they go up and down wildly. Here’s another quick excerpt from Cox’s ad, lest you think that he’s only promising that these will make you rich tomorrow (that’s the implication, of course, but not the direct promise):
“Yes, the companies I’ll show you are best viewed as tiny speculations. Don’t buy them with dollars you need month to month. The best way to play these companies is in small, reasonable bites. That way, your transformational benefits build over time….
“This means $1,500 or $2,500 could be enough to take a stake that sustains your family with vast wealth for generations to come.
“(Remember, full disclosure commands that I advise you again – use ‘speculation capital’ to buy these stocks. NOT money you need to pay the mortgage or your electric bill.)”
So does BioTime sound like it’s about to begin another upswing? See some potential there? You’ll have to spend more time looking at their plans and their subsidiaries than I did to make any kind of educated guess, but we can at least point you to the name and ticker and send you on your way … and if you’d like to come back and report what you think with a comment below, well, we’ll be delighted to hear your thoughts.
And yes, there are two other picks teased in this new ad — I’m running out of time, but we’ll get to those other two as soon as we can in a future article, early guesses to get your brain percolating are that he’s still pounding the table for Nanoviricides (NNVC)[16] and maybe also Inovio (INO), but I haven’t fed those through the Thinkolator yet or made certain they’re matches for the current teaser. If you feel like pitching in on those and saving your friendly neighborhood Gumshoe the effort, well, you’re welcome to it!
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Too bad I had to read your advice Fred ,after buying Cox’s Breakthrough Technology Alert for $895…… then losing big on 3 of his 4 recommendations. Maybe he should be a science teacher instead of an investment adviser…either way….he’s certainly a convincing writer……live and learn….
I don’t know, Bob…Science Teacher? I don’t think he knows science very well. I think Mr. Cox’s true calling lies in the field of professional BS artist. I happen to have great respect for good teachers and professors, and a real disdain for charlatans, such as Patrick Cox. And yes he can write, too bad he uses his writing skill to bamboozle people, to victimize and cheat them. No, I think his true calling is that of Jailbird.
I’m a retired money manager. Regarding newsletter publishers; invest in any of their recommendations at great risk to your wealth. These so-called gurus and their copy writers and publishers hype a multitude of stocks and strategies to separate the many fools from their money. Remember if you aren’t an insider you are an outsider. If you believe you will get rich buying a newsletter which costs $39 to $1995, then I have a priceless piece of art to sell you that hangs on my refrigerator courtesy of my youngest son. Now regarding, John Mauldin, I’ve known him personally for 20 years give or take and have done business with him. He is a great fellow to watch a ballgame with while drinking a beer. However, the idea that John is either brilliant or an economist makes me laugh. He is neither. He is modeling Mauldin Economics etc. on his good friend Bill Bonner’s Agora Publishing. You will get more and more of John’s best friends on the planet earth sharing their invaluable words of wisdom as he builds his publishing empire of hype and hyperbole and hubris. Many of these cross promotions of Mauldin for Doug Casey or Bill Bonner are poorly veiled pump and dumps. The real money isn’t in your subscription dollars, but in pocketing money when they promote a German oil field penny stock as the next Bakken. What John Mauldin is really good at is reading and scanning information and repackaging and recycling it into a new body of work he calls his own. Essentially, he is a copy editor and neither an economist or investment guru. Go ahead and drink the Kool Aid, but you’ve been told the truth.
I believe the accompanying chart comes in handy when it comes to the discussion of this sort of investment opportunities:
http://www.businessinsider.com/biotech-stock-blow-ups-since-1990-2013-10
In reference to John Mauldin above: To be blunt if not polite I’ll use an expression that a North Carolina fellow used in 1964 on the division v.p. of a huge “defense contractor who was more interested in shipping a bad Polaris missile guidance package on time than a good package late. ” I can hot make chicken salad out of chicken s—.”
I was actually typing in my credit card details for the adevrtised newsletter, when I found your site… and came to my senses. Mr. Mauldin’s recommending the other “guru” nearly did the trick.
Best of all, I found the stories & experience shared here realy calming. Thanks 🙂
But then again, my grandchildren may see this differently realizing what then-future “Apple’s” I neglected back in the days…
Your grandchildren will love you for who you are, and because you didn’t squander their inheritance on some get rich quick stocks. If you want investment advice and you’re not a Gumshoe irregular, I urge you to join up. You’ll find the most sound unbiased advice anywhere. I was lost in a sea of sharks until I found this site. And no I don’t get paid to say that. Just a grateful newbie.
Read “Ending Aging” by Aubrey de Grey for the science leading slowly to the Cox “promised land”. The book is ten years old but de Grey has a site somewhere with more recent info. Nothing here is investment related – just science – mostly over my head but more exciting than Cox could ever infer. Maudlin may have touted the wrong guy. Thanks to all Gumshoes for the truth.
Or check out some of Aubrey de Grey’s You Tube speaches, they are a real eye opener. And overall if you want to know about the future overall look at: http://www.singularityweblog.com/
In shot AI/Robotics, nanotechnology and Biotech will be big.
Hmmm, just ran across this page inadvertently after signing up for Patrick Cox’s newsletter via Mauldin Economics in early November. I’ve invested in all 4, Biotime, Nanoviricides, Inovio, and Galectin Therapeutics since the initial recommendations. Biotime is about flat, Nanoviricides after being the victim of a bear raid is down about 20% but was down as much as 40% where I doubled up, Inovio is up about 50% and Galectin Therapeutics is up about 90%, mostly on the back of the very positive news from Intercept Pharma. Maybe I’m being naive or jinxing myself but seems his stock recommendations do have some legitimacy behind it and is beyond a pump and dump scheme. Much similar to what’s happening in robotics, 3D printing, graphene technology, and IT in general, I think we are entering the matriculation stage of the dot.com and DNA sequencing era, the fruits of which we are only now starting to see and do think we’ll see some major revolutionary breakthroughs in the coming decades. I hope I’m not back here in a few months with my tail between my leg crying about these companies going belly up but it seems to me, the opposite may be more the case. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire and there seems to be a lot of smoke coming out of Biotech. Besides Intercept, just look at Illumina. Some major breakthroughs happening and I expect many more.