PR Hype Fails to Lift First Titan Corp (OTCBB:FTTN)
Back in March 2012, First Titan Corp (OTCBB:FTTN)’s management team, led by the company CEO, Mr. Robert Federowicz, were extremely excited about their oil project in Little Cedar Creek Field in Alabama. Naturally enough, they were eager to share their enthusiasm with the shareholders which is why, they issued a press release on March 19, 2012 saying that the then-current “estimates for the drilling site range from 400,000 to 800,000 barrels of oil a day“. You don’t need to be an expert to know that these are some truly astonishing figures.
Now, nineteen months later, they seem extremely excited about their Alabama property once again and last week they came up with another announcement, this time saying that the same exact project is “Exceeding Expectations“. So, how many barrels of oil, do you reckon, are produced at the well every day? 1 million? 1.2 million?
You’re quite wrong. The actual number quoted in FTTN‘s press release is 370 (note: that’s not three hundred and seventy thousand, it’s three hundred and seventy).
“Underwhelming” is a gross understatement, you would agree, but at least it explains the equally underwhelming quarterly revenue of just $2,915.
Having that in mind, the regular investor would probably think twice before putting his/her money in FTTN, but despite the massive discrepancies, the management team, once again led by Mr. Federowicz, seem unperturbed.
A couple of hours before the start of yesterday’s session, they published yet another press release, this time updating their shareholders on the drilling activities at another well – the one in the South Lake Charles prospect in Louisiana. According to the announcement, they are now at a depth of 12,300 feet (the target is around 15,000 ft.) below the surface and, having taken some samples a few days ago, they are optimistic that the reserves will actually exceed the estimates.
If the estimates for the Lake Charles project turn out to be as far off the mark as the ones for Little Cedar Creek, shareholders might be in for another horrific disappointment. That could explain FTTN‘s hesitant performance from the last couple of sessions.
As we mentioned in our previous articles, the ticker was heading straight up and, for a moment, it even stood above the $2 per share mark. Since then, however, it has shown some signs of hesitation and despite the optimistic announcement yesterday, six and a half hours of trading resulted in nothing more than 6.87% in losses which means that the price is currently standing at $1.22 per share.
Then again, having in mind that Quality Stocks (QS) are carrying out a promotion for FTTN, we must say that it could be the one pushing the price down. As already noted in our previous coverages, FTTN themselves decided to pay QS $100 thousand for 180 days of advertising and while the initial push did manage to raise the price by a little bit, it now seems to be effecting the stock in a negative way. Is that really surprising?
Not for the people who follow QS and their promotions closely. The chart on the right belongs to On The Move Systems Corp (OTCMKTS:OMVS) and we reckon that taking a closer look at it might not be a bad call when considering your options. Another thing worth bearing in mind is, we reckon, all the red flags around FTTN that we listed in our previous coverages. One thing is for sure – doing a lot of due diligence is an absolute must.