Penny Stock Research Mailbag – Breaking Down Harmonic Energy (ASUV)
Investing in penny stocks can be a great way to make gobs of money in the market. But it isn’t an easy thing to do. There are thousands of penny stocks out there to choose from.
And separating the legitimate penny stocks from the growing number of penny stock scams is tedious, painstaking work.
The good news is… we’re here to help.
Every Friday at PennyStockResearch.com, I publish a “Pump And Dump Alert” that identifies penny stocks being pumped by penny stock promoters. The purpose of the article is to expose potentially “bogus” promotions happening in the penny stock universe.
By bringing these to light, we help our readers avoid getting taken to the woodshed.
Now, since we started publishing the Pump And Dump Alert three years ago, it has become a huge hit with our readers. And as a result, they’ve become more attuned to sniffing out potential penny stock pump and dumps.
In fact, we receive a large number of emails every day from readers asking for our opinion on various penny stocks.
Unfortunately, we just don’t have the resources to respond to every email individually.
So we’re going to start answering some of those questions here. If there’s a penny stock you’d like our opinion on, just shoot us an email at customerservice@pennystockpublishing.com.
One penny stock that we’ve received a lot of questions about is Harmonic Energy (OTCQB: ASUV).
Let’s take a closer look at it now…
I did some digging and found that Harmonic was indeed the subject of a promotion campaign in January. At least one penny stock promoter was paid $10,000 to hype the stock.
In a promotional email, this penny stock pumper told readers that “ASUV investors could see their shares soar 300% to 500% this year!” And as if that wasn’t inflammatory enough, he went on to boast that ASUV could grow by “3,200% over the next two to three years!”
At the time, ASUV was trading for $1.00 per share.
After the email went out, it looked like the promoter might be on to something. The stock surged over the next few days to a high of $1.49.
But it’s been all downhill since then.
The stock reversed course on February 6th and began a free fall that carried it all the way down to a penny per share in September. A whopping 99% of the company’s market value was completely wiped out.
Our take…
The action in this stock definitely bears all the characteristics of a classic pump and dump.
You have a promotional email claiming a development stage penny stock with no revenue and nearly half a million dollars in accumulated losses is poised for massive gains. The stock surges as readers buy up the shares. And then it abruptly plunges as a huge amount of shares are dumped on the market.
So what should shareholders do now?
If you still own ASUV, I’m sorry to say I have bad news for you. It doesn’t look like Harmonic will deliver on any of the promoter’s bold projections any time soon.
A quick review of the company’s SEC filings reveals Harmonic failed to file its 10-K annual report by the filing deadline. The reason given is that the company was “unable to compile the necessary financial information required to prepare a complete filing.”
Of course, filing required documents with the SEC is the bare minimum expectation for any public company. If a company is unable to file reports as required, it’s usually a sign of deeper problems.
And Harmonic clearly has deeper problems…
A company press release from July 29th says the investor who promised $10 million in financing in January has decided not to move forward. Apparently, the investor was spooked by the unauthorized listing of Harmonic Energy shares on the Berlin Borse Exchange.
Yikes… an unauthorized share listing… $10 million in financing lost… things definitely don’t look good for Harmonic Energy.
And by the way, a press release announcing the $10 million in financing was released on the very same day in January that the promotional email was sent to investors. It clearly played an integral role in the stock’s rally.
For future reference, self-serving press releases timed to coincide with a stock promotion campaign are often a huge red flag.
Now, if you still own ASUV, you have two options.
You can hang on to the essentially worthless shares in hopes the company somehow gets things turned around. As you might have guessed, I’m not too confident that will ever happen. Or you can sell the shares and perhaps use the loss to help your tax situation.
If you’re not sure what to do, I suggest you contact a financial advisor or tax professional for personalized advice.
Profitably Yours,
Robert Morris
Category: Penny Stocks
