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On Friday December 7th, Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK) CEO Patrick Byrne appeared on CNBC and said that the company was "having a pretty nice Christmas." But he also said that fourth quarter (Q4) GAAP net income would be between -1% and +1% of revenue due to aggressive sales promotions.

The chart at right shows how the stock has responded since that day, losing more than 25% of its value. One shudders to think what would have happened if Overstock had had a "pretty bad" Christmas.

But rather than accept responsibility for his company's inability to deliver any kind of fundamental strength to shareholders, Patrick Byrne has played the diversion card: In a rambling press release put out on Thursday morning, he complained that the company has been on the SEC's REG SHO list for 666 consecutive trading days: "Apparently, the SEC is not serious about enforcing the close out provisions of Regulation SHO or stopping 'market manipulation that is clearly violative of the federal securities laws.'"

Maybe Overstock is being manipulated by short-sellers. But instead of whining about it, Byrne should shut them up the way that good companies to: Deliver on the fundamentals. A "pretty nice Christmas" that might be break-even and sends the stock tumbling doesn't count.

Nobody likes a whiner, and Byrne's track-record of under-performance and incessant complaining gives investors little reason to be optimistic -- unless of course they're short the stock.

Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne continues diversionary tactics originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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