stock ticker: WRLD

“Americans know that they have a responsibility to live within their means and pay what they owe. But they also have a right to not get ripped off by the sudden rate hikes, unfair penalties, and hidden fees …”  President Barack Obama   (May 10, 2009)

While President Obama was referring specifically to usurious credit card practices, those are tame and civil compared to how World Acceptance does business.  Citron believes in the New America, it is only time before either legislatures, the courts, or its own debt/receivables collapse the “shady” business of World Acceptance.  This report clarifies the pivotal difference that makes World’s business model much more vulnerable than the payday lending industry. (more…)

stock ticker: BIDZ

Citron Research believes the bidding process at Bidz.com leaves a lot of unanswered questions. While Citron does find the Bidz site entertaining with a unique interface, they have much to prove before it can be anointed with the big earnings multiples associated with proven business models. This report will outline some of the obvious bidding irregularities that we have observed on the Bidz website.

This report will not be a refutation to the conference call and will not address any new issues.

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stock ticker: BIDZ

Bidz.com is an online auction provider of off price jewelry and second tier accessories. What makes their model unique is that everything is sold via auction. Yet, the auctions are not third party auctions as facilitated by Ebay, rather they are auctions that are controlled by the company. In this report, Citron will expose what we believe to be many red flags at BIDZ . Citron will make a few comparisons to previous reports written on other companies as the issues at BIDZ seem to closely mirror issues we have discussed in the past.

BIDZ most closely reminds Citron of Medifast (Nasdaq:MED), which is down 70% since Citron Research first reported on it. Medifast became a “me too” company to Nutrisystems, which at the time was the darling of the market. Yet, the company was not producing the same cash flow to the darling to which it wants to be compared. (more…)