A Brief Look At The Criticism Of Professional Labor Organizations

Money-Bleeding Blinkx IPOs On Market Known For Losers

from the across-the-sea dept

Wed, May 23rd 2007 12:21pm — Joseph Weisenthal

Video search engine Blinkx has gone public with an IPO that raised $50 million for the company. Blinkx hits on all the right buzzwords these days, like search, video and advertising, but because the company is nowhere near profitability, it's got some people worried that its IPO is a sign of a bubble. The bubble question is one that a lot of people are wrestling with at the moment. So far, while the IPO market has been quite hot, public market investors don't appear to have lost their heads. The thing about the Blinkx IPO is that the company went public in London on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). During the early years of Sarbanes-Oxley, going public on this market made sense as a way to raise money while avoiding onerous regulations. But the fact of the matter is that this market is where the dregs go that can't make it on more established exchanges. Over the years, performance has been downright horrible on this exchange, a reflection of the companies that go public there. So perhaps we shouldn't read a whole lot into the fact that a company with shakey financials managed to go public on an exchange that's known as a haven for poor performers.

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13 Comments

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GoblinJuice, 23 May 2007 @ 12:48pm

Learn something new every day!
I had never heard of the Alternative Investment Market - until this story.

w00t! Another rathole to throw my money into! ;-)
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IronChef, 23 May 2007 @ 1:57pm

SOX compliance for foreign-registered companies
It's a real short sighted strategy to be listed abroad- Once you have more than 10,000(?) US-based investors in your company, you are subject to SOX compliance again...
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Jo Mamma, 23 May 2007 @ 2:31pm

Not a bubble
Nope, not a bubble. If they were able to raise 50 BILLION I'd call it different. There are always a few dumbass hedge funds or individual investors that can be duped into this garbage.

But there's still time. If I had to place a bet, I think we're still headed for one.
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|333173|3|_||3, 23 May 2007 @ 6:44pm

new careeer: duping morons
I should set up a series of businesses, each with all the right buzzwords, and then spend all my time swanning around agreeable resorts on the company dime, doing so-called promotional work, speaking at confrences, and pying myself an astronomical salary (for teh amount of actual work), adn then going bust, before doing the same thing all over again. /end{joke}

the way to avoid SOX would be to operate as a forgien company, witha wholly owned subsidiary in the USA,, so that the subsidiary does not need to be SOX compliant because it has no US-based investors, and the offshore parent does not need to be SOX compliant because it ahs no operatios in the USA.
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mkam, 24 May 2007 @ 5:25am

Re: new careeer: duping morons
You mean like Infinium Labs and that hit job they put on the investors.
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTEy

Don't worry when the phantom console comes out all that investment is going to pay off.
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Thelf, 24 May 2007 @ 10:03am

XG Technology on the AIM
Speaking of the AIM, XG Technology are listed on this exchange with their "innovative low-power, long-range broadband technology" - so far so uninteresting, until you see their market cap is some $1.62 billion dollars!?! (see http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=XGT.L&m=L&d= )

For a company who seem big on hype, but light on customers or ecosystem, this strikes me as incredible. Anyone know anything about these folks?
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Thelf, 25 May 2007 @ 2:23am

XG Technology on the AIM
Speaking of the AIM, XG Technology are listed on this exchange with their "innovative low-power, long-range broadband technology" - so far so uninteresting, until you see their market cap is some $1.62 billion dollars!?! (see http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=XGT.L&m=L&d= )

For a company who seem big on hype, but light on customers or ecosystem, this strikes me as incredible. Anyone know anything about these folks?
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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2007 @ 12:03am

When you say light on Customers do you think 57 million is light? When you say light on ecosystem, is Telefonica not heavy enough for you. When you say 1.62 billion...are you forgetting they started off as 500 million? Anything posted on this hack of a site by the idiots that either read or write it needs to be ignored. Hey Thelf, I´m betting I made more cash with xG than you have accumulated in your life? The moronic drivel that pervades from this particular site never ceases to amaze me. Grab a Kleenex if you´re going to cry about everyone making cash but you.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2007 @ 12:07am

And Joe, I think the only loser is you, buddy. Oh the NYSE is such a great place to list with Enron and others. If you want to rob investors you can easily do it from the NYSE or the Nasdaq...you mooch. Once again, this ridiculous excuse for a website goes to show why the internet needs to be policed. Garbage like your article Joe needs to be thrown away, not uploaded.

This article sucks, and this site has always sucked.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2007 @ 12:10am

Re: Learn something new every day!
That´s not surprising that you never heard of the AIM. You are a stupid American, and we all know that Stupid Americans know next to nothing regarding their own country, let alone anything that takes place outside of it.

This site and all it´s readers should be condemned.
It really stinks. I´ve never met such stupid morons before. By the way, the AIM made me 12 percent yesterday.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2007 @ 12:16am

I just have to add something else regarding the "last 10 years".... The last 10 years, the Dow is up 6 thousand points, less than 10 percent a year...the Nasdaq is up 1000 points, 60 percent in 10 years, and the S & P is up 500 points, about 33 percent in 10 years. THAT REALLY SUCKS!!! Joe, you are an absolute idiot who should have his internet capabilities slashed to only when Mommy and Daddy are around. Pathetic, but definitely par for the course of this hack of a website.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2007 @ 12:27am

Wow this site really sucks, and I guess you would know what was made for losers since this site is designed for such a person.

This site really sucks.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 May 2007 @ 12:20pm

Re:
Not to mention Countless Frauds, Insider Trading and ridiculous abuse of power by the SEC and the NASD. You are the loser, Joe, but I think you already know that.
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