Joke of the Day

September 14, 2005 - An IPO of $3.6 billion of securities by Canadian firm, Apollo Publication Corp. is drawing lots of attention - especially from the SEC. The story originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal ($$) and CNNMoney (free access) ran a synopsis of the WSJ story. The SEC is charging Apollo with falsifying its registration filing, which lists Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Alan Greenspan, James Baker, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, and others as members of its Board of Directors. The company also claims to have already issued shares of its stock to Dick Cheney, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, and Edward Kennedy. (And - Surprise! All those listed deny having any ties with the company). The chairman and CEO is listed as Xiaobo Lucy Luo. According to Internet sources, the Chinese family name, 'Luo' descends from persons of royalty during the Zhou dynasty. The chinese character for Luo means camel and the name itself means 'capturing with net.' A-ha! I'm afraid the only one that might get 'captured' here is going to be Luo.

The SEC set a hearing date on the matter for September 26. As of yet, there is no updated information on the SEC's website. I'll be checking back on that and will keep you posted.

If nothing else, this is good for a hearty laugh. The company website is incredible. Hope you take the time to check it out. You can purchase a birth certificate for $12.25 (???). An e-mail address is posted for the company. I think I'll send them a note and see if I get a reply. I'll let you know!

Apollo Publications Corp Prospectus