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John Thomas Financial Inc. is a brokerage house straight out of the movie Boiler
Room, with brokers fueled by vending machines stocked with nothing but energy
drinks and music from Rocky films blaring from speakers. Its founder, Anastasios
Tommy Belesis, even had a role in the sequel to Wall Street.
Junior brokers cold-call prospects for up to 14 hours a day, working from a
memorized script that they rehearse by screaming pitches across the room to each
other before the opening bell, a former employee of the firm told BuzzFeed.
BuzzFeed obtained both that script, used by brokers of every level at the 200employee firm, as well as another script known internally as the Golden
Pitchbook, which is given only to a privileged few senior brokers at the firm.
Considered a performance reward for top brokers, the Golden Pitchbook is
handed down from their mentors at the firm who have also received the elusive
tome, the source said.
Its secret, privileged information, said the source. Some people at the firm dont
even know about it.
The books origins date to the 1980s at Bear Stearns, and it has gone through
various iterations on its journey into the hands of the lucky JTF broker who, after
impressing superiors, is walked down the street to a Kinkos, where senior brokers
supervise the books copying and hand-off.
Its a reward for senior brokers to give to junior brokers on their team as an
investment in them, the source said. Once they had it, they used it all the time.
The book offers a rare behind-the-scenes look into the world of high-pressure, hardscrabble Wall Street stock jockeying, featuring detailed scenarios and responses
used to pitch stocks to prospective clients.
The aggressive pitch tactics in the book and supporting JTF documents, such as
what one scenario described by the source as Dont Pitch The Bitch, have caught
the attention of the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority.
In March, the SEC charged Belisis with fraud for a hedge fund scheme in which he
steered bloated fees to JTF. A month later, Finra filed a formal complaint against
JTF regarding the firms actions in Februrary 2012, when it allegedly pushed shares
of America West Resources, Inc. (AWSR) common stock on investors, thus inflating
the price. Brokers at the firm also allegedly failed to execute sale orders for clients
in a timely manner but sold the majority of its proprietary shares for a more than $1
million profit.
The firms alleged failure to execute at least 14 client sell orders lost investors
thousands, and America West is now in bankruptcy. In an even more outrageous
twist, the Finra complaint accuses Belesis of intimidating employees with threats of
maligning their broker records and, in one case, running over an employee with his
car.
Against that backdrop, here are some of the techniques outlined in the Golden
Pitchbook used by JTF brokers. The firms attorney, Robert Bursky, in February told
Bloomberg it did not use high-pressure tactics. He said at the time it doesnt use
scripts. Bursky did not respond to BuzzFeeds requests for comment.
Giovanni Ribisi in a scene from the 2000 film, Boiler Room. Courtesy New Line Cinema
(Prospect) if you want to call me back so you can ask your wife if you can buy the
stock, I will call my wife and see if I can sell you the stock, come on! You make
business decisions daily without your wife.
Lets face it, if you go home and tell your wife that you want to invest with a broker
whom you dont know very well, chances are you will be hit with a frying pan and
spending the night on the couch. However, once she sees my brochure from the
firm and a dossier that I send you in the FedEx package with a buy confirmation,
what do you think she is going to say? Besides, it is a lot easier to beg for
forgiveness than to ask for permission right?
Should I send it to your home where your wife will throw it out or to the office
where you will put it by your merchant banker book that you never read either?
Now Buzzing
I have never in my life met anyone who wasnt interested in making serious money.
(Firm) is making more serious money for people than anyone out there. It is not that
you are not interested, something else is bothering you. I am a problem solver.
Perhaps if you tell me what your actual concern is, I could help.
MOT
ED
PRO
MOT
ED
JTF brokers want prospects to know that they are in this thing for the long haul, but
they are definitely NOT gay.
Lets face it, your first step is the hardest. I am not looking for a one night stand.
You married your girlfriend right? Let me ask you a question, you met your wife, but
you did not jump into bed with her on the first night did you? Of course not!! Maybe
you held her hand or maybe even kiss. Well look, I am not looking to jump into bed
with you or even get a kiss, I simply want you to hold my hand with 100 shares and
[in] 3-6 months you are gonna (sic) want to get into bed with me quite frankly. I am
not that guy [laugh]. So do the 100 shares not because its good for me, but
because it is good for you.
More importantly, when I have timed it with a near term event I have made a
tremendous amount of money the event here is a possible takeover. We are not
buying this stock for earnings; we are buying it for a takeover, which I feel is
eminent.
MOT
ED
I want to say sincerely: I have many clients with net worths ranging between
$500K to $50 millionIf I could just show you what lies ahead in the future and the
types of deals I get involved with, I know you would be very impressed.
My firm has turned the average investor into millionaires and the millionaires into
multi-millionaires. Not on one trade, but on a series of 3-4 transactions over a 1-2
year time frame.
Are you familiar with George Soros? This is the guy you want on your side.Lets
not let him make ALL the money!
Vin Diesel stars in New Line Cinemas drama Boiler Room. David Lee/New Line. images.newscred.com
No disrespect, but you telling me you are not liquid is an insult to both you and me!
A guy with (amount) in the market has a couple hundred in the bank to back it up.
There is always an excuse not to buy stock, but there is never an excuse not to
make money!
Guys like you dont ever let your bank accounts fall below 6 figures. Its not that
you cant do it, its that you wont do it. I am going to buy you (shares) of (stock) at
(price), money is due in one week but make me a promise. When I am not just right
but exactly right, next time out we work in size and you send me 3 of your golfing
buddiesOK?
(Prospect) if I offered you a Rolls Royce in min[t] condition today for $10,000 could
you come up with the money? OF COURSE YOU COULD!! Lets be candid, if you
like my idea today, you could come up with ten times that amount.
By the time you get information or research reports, you are buying the stock 5
points higher. The way to make money in this business is to buy in to fundamentally
sound companies that are timed with near term events or catalysts. With this
approach I have made a fortune for a select group of individuals.
Ok (prospect) Fine! I have no problem with that, but let me ask you something first,
correct me if I am wrong. What youre telling me is that if I send you the information
you want about the company and it mentions the merits I described, that you will
open an account? (NO) Then obviously (prospect) the request for information is not
your real concern.
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Self Closes
1. Self 1: Stop Loss/ Downside Protection Close
When I make an investment for a client, I have a very
stock is moving in the right direction or the wrong direction, agreed? Now, if any
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