Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) reported impressive numbers yesterday -- and by impressive numbers, I mean another loss years after projections of profitability -- and its shares shot up more than 30%.

Gary Weiss reported on the less optimistic part of the press release that the company issued, but I'd like to take a second to point out something to investors. Even if the company's fundamentals are improving, this is still one of the creepiest public companies on the planet and it's wasting shareholder money on its creepy stalking campaigns.

If you go to DeepCapture.com -- CEO Patrick Byrne's website for trashing critics including Gary Weiss, Jim Cramer, Eliot Spitzer, and a couple of message board posters you've probably never heard of -- in the upper right hand corner of the site, you'll see a little ad: "Click here to shop Overstock.com. 5% of your purchase will go to support this effort." That link brings you to http://www.overstock.com/?TID=deepcapture where, presumably, any order you make will be tagged by the company to funnel 5% of the sale to the "effort."

What exactly is the money being used for? Former white-collar criminal and Overstock-critic Sam E. Antar received an email from former journalist Mark Mitchell: "I am writing a story about short-selllers (sic) and their relationships with independent researchers and the media. I would like to give you the opportunity to respond to various allegations regarding your work." He goes on to say that the article will be published on DeepCapture.com.

So here's the question I have: Why is Overstock.com's board of directors allowing Patrick Byrne to funnel money from the company's sales to a pet project aimed at pseudo-investigative pieces on short-sellers and their relationships with independent researches and the media?

If Patrick Byrne wants to use his own money to wage his self-proclaimed jihad, that's his business. But he should leave corporate assets out of it.

Shop at Overstock, support cyberstalking! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If Henry Blodget was trying redeem himself with his new book, he failed miserably. In fact, the book reinforces the idea that he is a slime-ball. But recently Herb Greenberg sat down with two ex-cons who have gone a long way toward redeeming themselves: former Zzzz Best Carpet conman Barry Minkow and former Crazy Eddie CFO Sam E. Antar. I have also spoken with these men and, in speaking with them, one thing becomes clear: These two are living proof that people really can change. When you look at the work they've done since they set off on the road to redemption, I would argue they have more than made up for the damage they've done.

They also offer valuable advice for investors. From Greenberg's piece, Mr. Antar says: "Watch how management handles bad quarters, earnings disappointments, criticism, skepticism and cynicism. Do they start by saying, 'We take full responsibility and make no excuses' -- only to follow by carefully worded innuendos, excuses and deflection? Do they question the integrity of those who ask questions?"

To learn more about these two amazing people, visit Barry Minkow's website and Sam E. Antar's site, a must for understanding white-collar crime.

Former fraudsters fightin' fraud originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Mar 2007 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Every day, or at least whenever I find a really awesome web page in my trek across the Internet, I will post it here. Today, I'm featuring White Collar Fraud, the official web page of Sam E. Antar, who was the CFO Of Crazy Eddie, a chain of electronic stores that was one of the most flagrant accounting frauds of the 1980s.

According to the website: "I believe that former criminals like me must do more than just express regret for our crimes and pay whatever punishment society imposes upon us. I believe that it is our obligation and responsibility to educate society, so that society can avoid future perils caused by new generations of criminals. I also believe that any person's true test of character comes from overcoming past misdeeds and wrongdoing and trying to do something positive out of it without any personal gain or recognition."

It's a really fascinating website to browse if you're interested in corporate history and crime as much as I am. You can read about the techniques they used in the Crazy Eddie fraud, the psychology of fraud, and other frauds/SEC news.

This is a really amazing website.

Website of the Day: WhiteCollarFraud.com originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.