We know you're sick of the dollar-a-share crowd. After all, it's not like a little market shift will revive goners like Theglobe.com and Drkoop.com. But the media reported plenty of twitching among the down-and-outers this week.
Take Theglobe.com. Its founders got so deeply involved in pop culture they rated a sitting with Oprah. Now they're out, replaced by the former senior veep of the American Institute of CPAs, a guy old enough to be their father. Somehow it doesn't wash, does it? The media didn't think so. Reporters found it painful to watch. TheStreet.com's Michael Brick called the company's fall from grace "achingly public." Forbes.com quoted new CEO Charles Peck addressing - big surprise - the need to achieve profitability. But no one holds much hope, outside the company or in. As TheStreet.com noted, underwriters Bear Stearns and Volpe Brown Whelan (now part of Prudential Securities) have dropkicked coverage of the company. And Forbes.com's Mei Fong noted Theglobe's three main shareholders - founders Todd Krizelman and Stephan Paternot and chairman Michael Egan - have sold fat blocks of their stock.
Drkoop's press clips included tales of hefty quarterly losses and the bailing out of its COO and CFO. That was the good news. The bad news - investors have thrust a class-action suit at Drkoop. According to MSNBC columnist Christopher Byron, the suit charges that several execs - including Chairman C. Everett Koop, the company's prez and CEO, a top VP and at least two directors - ditched huge amounts of stock in advance of an auditors' report that doubted the company could continue as a going concern.
How long will Nasdaq put up with such droopers? Thirty consecutive sub-dollar days gets a company a warning letter, according to UpsideToday's Stefani Lako Baldwin. Then the company has another 90 days to get the stock above $1 for 10 consecutive trading days. If it fails, it's de-listing time and banishment to the OTC Bulletin Board. OTC could become a real Net party. Baldwin reported 347 of the 4,400 securities that trade on the Naz have a stock price hovering between 75 cents and $3, including Theglobe.com, Drkoop.com, Salon.com (SALN), Fogdog (dossier), E-Stamp (ESTM).com, and Value America (VUSQE).
Theglobe.com Names New CEO
TheStreet.com
Theglobe.com's Founders Step Down, Hire New Chief
Forbes.com
Drkoop Tumbles on Warning, Staff Defections
TheStreet.com
Drkoop.com Makes A Louse Call
MSNBC
Life After $1 A Share
Upside.com
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