Sunday, March 11, 2007

Income investing goals don't include penny stock tips

Since income investing goals don't include buying penny stocks and riding them while they rise in price (you hope) and then selling for a big profit, this information is no good to me. But some of you still probably listen to stock "tips," so may you'll like these. Heck, maybe they're good tips and you'll make money from them.

I get a lot of financial newsletter solicitations in my mail, and most of them try to entice me by profiling a penny stock that the newsletter publisher claims is the most promising they've ever seen, but just a taste of what you'll get if you subscribe to their newsletter.

Has the EPA really mandated that motor oil be changed to eliminate the sulfur and phosphorus that's added to oil? Will Platinum Research Organization (PLRO) really revolutionize the motor oil industry with their formula that improves motor oil performance without causing the emission of sulfur and phosphorus? I don't know, but it does look good.

And I really hope Acro Security Technologies (ACRO) is everything this mailer/promotion claims. They've allegedly found a quick and easy way to test for peroxide-based explosives. That's the kind used on the London and Madrid subway bombings, and the kind used in last summer's plot to blow up airplanes flying from London to the U.S., and the cause of the onerous restrictions on bringing powders, liquids and gels onto airplanes.

While the mailer for PLRO irks me by asserting that human-caused global warming is true (maybe, but not proven yet), the mailer for ACRO makes me glad it recognizes the true threat to the world posed by jihadist terrorists. I hope that ACRO's product catches all of them trying to blow up the world.

If these companies do succeed and grow, and maybe they'll start paying dividends to their shareholders. That's when I'll be interested. I don't like gambles. And I don't like selling stock to get the benefit of a gamble I took.