Thursday, June 5, 2008

A colourful charachter stoops to paid stock shills

Joseph Gutnick - better known as Diamond Joe Gutnick - is a colourful charachter.

Here is a lovely profile from Forbes Magazine which in 1996 described his fortune and his (major player) status in Israeli politics.

In the article it was pretty clear that the relationships Diamond Joe had were mutually beneficial. Joe spent his money on conservative Israeli causes and famous conservative New York Rabbis and Israeli Prime Ministers promoted him and his stocks.

Joe's fame does not end there. He was the target of a purported (but real) al-Qaeda assassination plot. Indeed his name turned up in the notebook of an al-Qaeda operative on trial in France as recently as last year.

I have to be careful about what I say about him though. He sues people so this will be a post lacking in colour. He famously sued Dow Jones (ie Barrons) in the Australian courts for something they put on the internet about his business interests. He won. The High Court of Australia (equivalent to the US Supreme Court) judgement is here.

Barrons has removed the story - so I can't even link it.

Joe Gutnick has run several gold and diamond exploration companies - with some success and some failures. He spent 9 years on the BRW Australian rich list though unusually for a successful miner he has dropped off. At other times ventures have become very problematic - as this story about the insolvency of Centaur mining will attest.

He received the "Diggers Award" at the (famous) Kalgoorlie Diggers and Dealers conference.

The Rabbi/shills even went so far as to predict where he will find diamonds and/or gold. Australian fund managers were once accused of taking those predictions too seriously - because they were often right. Yes - he did actually find diamonds. And his gold companies actually produced gold proving Mark Twain wrong. (Twain's definition of a gold mine: a hole in the ground with a liar on top.)

Investing with Joe is speculative - but he has form both as an explorer/miner and as a stock promoter.

So imagine my surprise when I find that Diamond Joe's latest venture is being promoted in PAID penny stock adverts. I have a junk email address which I use to subscribe to dodgy stock emails. I don't look at it much - as there are literally thousands of emails in the box. But this one caught my eye:



So far nothing unusual - but the contact detail really caught my eye:

Legend International Holdings Inc Mr. Joseph Gutnick, +011 613 8532 2866 Chief Executive Officer Fax: +011 613 8532 2805 josephg@axisc.com.au or New York Office General Manager Business Tel: 212-223-0018 Fax: 212-223-1169 legendinfo@axisc.com.au

Visit Legend International Holdings Inc.
Website:
www.lgdi.net

And the last disclaimer

This email was sent to you from STOCKGROUP's Newshotline. If you wish to take yourself off from the subscription (Investor), please use this link to cancel future deliveries. Thank you. The Information in a Stockgroup Media Inc. Newshotline is A PAID ADVERTISEMENT and is for the viewers information only. Legend International Holdings Inc. has paid a fee not exceeding $2500.00 in cash or stock to have their corporate information featured. The corporate information is purely and solely the responsibility of Legend International Holdings Inc. and it is neither commented upon, researched, or in any manner the responsibility of Stockgroup Media Inc, whose only function is as a supplier of media facilities. Any information provided by the advertisers of Stockgroup Media Inc., through its media services, is not to be construed as a recommendation or suggestion or offer to buy or sell securities, but is provided purely as an informational media service. Stockgroup Media Inc. makes no warranties or undertakings as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. All due diligence should be done by the reader or their financial advisor. Investing in securities is speculative and carries risk. Persons who wish to buy or sell securities should only do so in consultation with their registered securities advisers.


Oh how times change. Once Diamond Joe could get an Israeli Prime Minister to shill for him. Now he is stuck using StockGroup's News Hotline as a PAID ADVERTISEMENT.

(Disclosure: no positions.)

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