In the mail today I received a newletter from North American Certified Trading which listed a few pages of certified coins for sale. Most were in the $1000 range, and all were either NGC or PCGS. In tiny print at the end of the brochure was an "Important Notice". After stating that the rare coin market is thinly capitalized and volatile, and past performance does not guarantee future results, it stated "North American Certified Trading, its employees, and their clients may, from time to time, have positions in the coins mentioned." Does anyone know exactly what this means? I assume that anyone who is selling coins for profit is "taking a position" with respect to that coin, but I don't understand how clients of the company can have positons in the coins offered? Do clients buy coins in bulk to drive up prices, and then sell through this company? Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.
When a company provides advise regarding a particular investment it must disclose whether or not it holds a position in that investment. For instance, if a stock broker advised you that it would be prudent to purchase a quantity of a particular stock, he must by law disclose to you that he owns shares if that is the case. In this case the company is stating, in small print of course, that they own the coins they are advising you would be wise investments.
Thanks. I guess that is the way to tell a true "investment" company from a company that sells coins at retail, such as Heritage, etc. I don't think I have seen similar language on a retail company's literature.
