Spam Stock Site in Economist Magazine

Posted At : August 25, 2006 1:23 PM
Related Categories: Spam, Projects

For all those people interested in my Spam Stock Tracker site, it was mentioned in Economist Magazine this month. You can read the story here.

In related news I am getting more stock spam email than ever lately. I keep going back and forth from frustrated to impressed by the volume.

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I'd noticed your spam-stock a while ago, (Nice idea!) and recently read the economist article. If your spam portfolio loses money so consistently, I wondering why you wouldn't try the opposite: short sell every spam promoted stock.

# Posted By Jim | 8/25/06 4:31 PM

Good question.

A) I am not that smart. or as Homer would say S.M.R.T
B) From what I am told it is very hard to short them as brokers are not interested and the volume is pretty slow and when there is volume it is on the downside already.

# Posted By Joshua | 8/25/06 5:36 PM

Your comment that you are "getting more stock spam email than ever lately" rings true with me. Within the past week or two I've been getting HUGE amounts of stock spam that my spam filter just isn't catching. I couldn't figure out whether there was something wrong with my email provider's spam filter, or whether the spammers are getting smarter.

# Posted By A different guy named Jim | 8/25/06 10:12 PM

Jim wrote:
"If your spam portfolio loses money so consistently, I wondering why you wouldn't try the opposite: short sell every spam promoted stock."

A quick Google search for "short penny stock" turned up this from investopedia.com:

"There are many restrictions on the size, price and types of stocks you are able to short sell. For example, you can't short sell penny stocks and most short sales need to be done in round lots."

It's unfortunate. If you could short penny stocks, I bet lots of people would do it in response to spam email until the spam became unprofitable for the spammers.

# Posted By A different guy named Jim | 8/25/06 10:37 PM

Regarding short selling, this is exactly what the spammers are doing. Should everyone get in on this, there will be the trailing end of investors that loose lots of money, and the leading edge that make lots of money. It's how the market works. This practice is an interesting spin on market manipulation (which isn't legal)

Regarding the increased volume, and why it's getting past filters, yes, it seems to have caught on as an idea, pretty conservatively, the spammers can almost guarantee themselves a few percentage points (in a day) so it's not suprising. Thre reason it's getting past filters is that it's a well distributed email that's coming as a single image, pretty hard for filters to know whether that picture is something you'd want or not. Beyond the wit of spam filters in other words.

I agree though, I'd like to see the same stock table listed where it was sold two market days after purchasing, I'm not so sure it would be such a grim picture.

# Posted By SteveC | 8/28/06 3:01 AM

Regarding the images in spam lately. What is interesting is I have outlook configured to NOT show images by default. I am not sure how the spam emails are getting by the setting, since many other even legitimate emails show blocked images until I approve them. I wish I had more time to look into it. Maybe when I get back from the Honeymoon.

# Posted By Joshua Cyr | 8/28/06 10:29 AM

The reason that you can't short right after a spam blitz goes out is that most brokers don't let you short stocks at prices below $5. These are penny stocks (<$1).