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Last week was another tumultuous one – we made it, barely.
But the ups and downs the market's experiencing almost pale in comparison to what's been happening to one online retailer who's been feeling the heat.
I'm talking about Overstock.com Inc. (Nasdaq: OSTK).
The stock took off last October and has since been on its own roller-coaster ride.
Shares spiraled downward 25.2%Â the second week of March. As of January, the stock's down almost 50%. It tried to bounce and failed, tried again, and failed, tried again, and is failing.
The news on Overstock.com isn't good.
Between rapidly declining revenue, down nearly $25 million before taxes, and their low sales relative to competitors like Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), Overstock.com could be headed into a brick wall.
That's just the on-the-surface news. There's something darker going on behind the curtain.
Here's what's happening with the retailer that boasts the "best deals online."
Overstock's Controversial ICO
Overstock.com is circulating a cryptocurrency private placement offering. That means it's out drumming up investor interest in an initial coin offering (ICO).
That's how some cryptocurrencies initially come to market. Investors, usually accredited investors or insiders, are offered coins for cash, and then the public gets a chance to jump on the bandwagon. The initial investors want the public to buy the coins at higher and higher prices, lifting all boats for all coin investors – especially the insiders.
It only takes 10 minutes a week to double your way to $1 million: This strategy doesn't require any special training – yet it could potentially put $1 million in your bank account faster and easier than you ever dreamed…
That's not crazy; it's just not mainstream and not what public companies do, though some have tried it lately.
But there's another twist that makes the prospect of a publicly traded online retailing company floating an ICO crazy…
About the Author
Shah Gilani boasts a financial pedigree unlike any other. He ran his first hedge fund in 1982 from his seat on the floor of the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. When options on the Standard & Poor's 100 began trading on March 11, 1983, Shah worked in "the pit" as a market maker.
The work he did laid the foundation for what would later become the VIX - to this day one of the most widely used indicators worldwide. After leaving Chicago to run the futures and options division of the British banking giant Lloyd's TSB, Shah moved up to Roosevelt & Cross Inc., an old-line New York boutique firm. There he originated and ran a packaged fixed-income trading desk, and established that company's "listed" and OTC trading desks.
Shah founded a second hedge fund in 1999, which he ran until 2003.
Shah's vast network of contacts includes the biggest players on Wall Street and in international finance. These contacts give him the real story - when others only get what the investment banks want them to see.
Today, as editor of Hyperdrive Portfolio, Shah presents his legion of subscribers with massive profit opportunities that result from paradigm shifts in the way we work, play, and live.
Shah is a frequent guest on CNBC, Forbes, and MarketWatch, and you can catch him every week on Fox Business's Varney & Co.