I guess this post is an attempt to do the latter.
Anyone can give stock advice. You don't need a special license to do so. And in the course of searching for industry information, I ran across a blog post entitled Top High Tech Stocks to Own for 2016. Since it was published at the domain topstocksforum.com, you know that this is - by definition - the top stock advice. And if you doubt this, check the qualifications listed at the top of the post itself:
The fact that the author is the blog administrator is terribly impressive to me; you certainly don't want someone with low IT privileges providing stock advice. And as for the weather, you clearly want someone in a sunny area. (Take that, Alex Scoble.) And obviously a stable mood helps.
So "admin" dispensed advice on a number of stocks, including Document Security Systems Inc.
Document Security Systems, Inc. (DSS), incorporated on May 30, 1984, develops, markets, secure technologies. The Company specializes in fraud and counterfeit protection for all forms of printed documents and digital information. The Company holds numerous patents for optical deterrent technologies that provide protection of printed information from unauthorized scanning and copying. The Company operates three production facilities, a security and commercial printing facility, a packaging facility and a plastic cards facility, where the Company produces secure and non-secure documents for its customers. The Company licenses its anti-counterfeiting technologies to printers and brand-owners. In addition, the Company has a digital division which provides cloud computing services for its customers, including disaster recovery, back-up and data security services. The Company operates in four segments: DSS Printing Group, DSS Plastics Group, DSS Packaging Group and DSS Digital Group.
And those divisions compete against a number of well-known companies.
The Company competes with Standard Register Company, De La Rue Plc, Sharp, Xerox Canon, Ricoh, Hewlett Packard, Eastman Kodak, NoCopi Technologies, Graphic Security Systems Corporation, RR Donnelley, Canadian printer Quebecor World, Bristol ID, AbNote, LaserCard Corporation and L-1 Identity Solutions, Rock-Tenn Company, Caraustar Industries, Inc., Graphic Packaging Holding Company and Mead Westvaco.
Now I've heard of a lot of these companies, and I've had business dealings with a few of them - De La Rue, Hewlett Packard, and L-1 Identity Solutions.
Um, well...actually, I haven't dealt with L-1 Identity Solutions a lot over the past few years. In fact, I haven't dealt with L-1 at all in the last few years. That's because L-1 Identity Solutions was acquired by Safran (my employer's parent company) in 2011, and ceased to exist under that name.
A little fact that seemed to escape the notice of "admin" and his/her May 31, 2015 description of Document Security Systems.
"Xerox Canon" doesn't exist either, but I figure that's just a misplaced comma.
But perhaps I'm being hypersensitive, since L-1 more or less became MorphoTrust, that competes in the same industry. And after all, the company still operates in four divisions, called...oh, wait a minute:
OK, perhaps I'm being a little ridiculous. After all, the top stock folks certainly got the basic facts right, such as the fact that the company has been around since May...um, well...
Document Security Systems Inc. was formed June 16, 1984.
So it's no secret that I'm not impressed with the business acumen of these folks, which obviously doesn't equal the expertise of companies such as Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch, three highly respected firms that...oh, wait a minute, Calpers sued all three a few years ago and said they didn't know what they were talking about.
It's easy to see why - Fitch didn't use an admin, Standard & Poor's issued its ratings on a day with poor weather, and Moody's was...moody.
