by Howard Haykin

On Thursday, the SEC suspended trading in Turbo Global Partners, Inc. (TRBO), a small over-the-counter stock that focuses on acquiring and managing a portfolio of companies. According to the SEC, the company issued false and misleading COVID-19 claims – that it had entered into partnership to sell thermal scanning equipment to detect individuals with fevers (one of the key early signs of COVID-19) when, in fact, it had not.

HIGHLIGHTING THE RISKS OF INVESTING IN A MICROCAP.    Following TRBO’s first press releases on Monday, March 30^th, the stock price jumped 81%. When a second press release was issued four days later, the price of the stock jumped another 62%. Any investors who were ‘hoodwinked’ into buying TRBO shares at these high prices are now sitting with enormous losses.

          Same Time Next Year.    And there’s much more. Back on September 22, 2014, a share of TRBO was purchased in the over-the-counter market for $182 million. One year later, in 2015, that same share was purchased for $183,000. And the price declined further over the next 4 years: $4,440 (in 2016), $7 (in 2017), $2 (in 2018), and 1¢ (in 2019).

INVESTOR TAKE-AWAYS.    Microcap investing for the uninitiated, or unsophisticated, investor is like a “black hole” – i.e., a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape from it.  DON’T GET SUCKED (OR SUCKERED) IN.

[For further details on Turbo Global Partners, click on … SEC Complaint dtd 5/14/20.]