From Wize Guys Wizetrade Houston Press 2 2

From “Wize Guys” (Wizetrade) Houston Press 2 -2 -2006 • Do: Pay $3, 000 for software that purports to get you rich through trading in the stock market • Don't: Read the fine print in the contract, which says the software doesn't come with instructions or training. And when you do finally receive the instructions or training, you automatically forfeit the right to a refund.

Testimonial from Website • “I’m new to the market and without WIZETRADE™ I wouldn’t have a clue how to make a profitable trade. This software shows a simple solution to a complex market. I won’t trade without it. ”-Amber Archangel, California

Follow Up on Testimonials • Since Global. Tec/Dynetech spokeswoman Dori Madison couldn't answer our questions -- or put us in touch with any happy and successful Global. Tec customers -- the Press tried reaching the instructors and happy customers directly. None of the instructors returned our calls, and the closest we got to the people featured in the testimonials was a woman in Carmel, California, named Amber Archangel. In her testimonial, Archangel says, "Without Wizetrade, I wouldn't have a clue how to make a profitable trade. " • Archangel did not want to say how much money she made off Wizetrade. In fact, she didn't want to say anything at all, explaining that she wanted to check with Global. Tec before commenting. We never heard back. • These calls prompted another warning from Dynetech/Global. Tec, this time from an outside firm.

Class Action Suit • • "When you see contracts that are that one-sided and that unconscionable, for me as a consumer lawyer, that raises red flags about the transaction, " Eric Coakley says from his Denver office. Coakley is looking for class certification in a suit filed against Global. Tec on behalf of frustrated 4 X Made Easy buyers. He's talking about Global. Tec's refund and complaint policies. However, Global. Tec/Dynetech spokeswoman Dori Madison said the plaintiffs sued because "They really wanted to work for the company, is what it came down to. Because they loved the product…They really wanted to work with the company, and there just wasn't a spot for them. " Coakley says his clients, wowed by the free demonstration of the software, took it home only to find out the thing was impossible to understand without instructions. "They don't know how to use it; they haven't received the instruction, " he says. "So they can turn it on, they can see the red and green lights, and all the pretty arrows and everything, but they don't know -- they can't interpret it. " According to a 2003 4 XME "terms and conditions" purchase agreement, refund rights are forfeited at the end of a one-day training program, on the 15 th day from the date of purchase, or when the purchaser gets the "4 XME DVD Training Series" (the instructions) -- whichever comes first. In an e-mail, Madison stated that the refund policy was inaccurately described and "meets or exceeds the requirements of applicable state and federal laws. " Moreover, the agreement states that customers waive their right to trial by jury and that all disputes must be resolved by arbitration in Orange County, Florida. The arbitration must be conducted by three attorneys with more than ten years' experience each, unless one of them was previously a judge.

Firm Expertise • Do: Believe that Global. Tec's brain trust has securities expertise that makes Warren Buffett look like a drooling baboon. • Don't: Try to verify the brain trust's credentials.

George Thompson, 40

George Thompson, 40 • Global. Tec: Thompson founded Global. Tec after he "built" a trading firm in Dallas. He's also the author of Don't Play in the StreetŠUnless You Know Which Direction Your Stock is Traveling. • From the Texas State Securities Board: Commissioner Denise Voigt Crawford: Thompson "is not registered with us, he has never been registered with us, and I'm prohibited by law from confirming or denying the existence of an investigation. "

George Thompson, 40 • Dallas Better Business Bureau: In his application to the BBB, Thompson identified himself as the president and owner of All Tech Investment Group. He did not include an address, length of operation or business description.

George Thompson, 40 • • • Federal Trade Commission: Thompson began selling Wizetrade in 1999 under the name "Wave on Wall Street" through an affiliate of a Dallas-based company called 2 xtreme Performance International, which ostensibly sold nutritional products. However, the Federal Trade Commission accused the company's founder, John Polk, of running a pyramid scheme, and the company folded in 2000. By that time, Polk was already in jail for an unrelated charge of fraud connected to his real-estate infomercials. Thompson was not a defendant in that case and, according to the FTC's file, appears to have helped the commission's case against 2 xtreme. In a declaration filed with the FTC, Thompson said the company's founder had begun pre-selling the Wave on Wall Street to "distributors within the company. " Thompson said he warned Polk that the product was not ready to be sold. But Thompson appeared in an infomercial for the product, a partial transcript of which is in the FTC's files. Thompson is identified in the infomercial as "the co-founder of one of the largest day-trading firms in the U. S. " Also appearing in the infomercial is Peter Hirsch, a co-defendant in the FTC's suit against 2 xtreme.

Karl Haas, 37 • • • From Global. Tec's Web site: "Before joining Global. Tec, Karl was a broker for three years with a series 7 and series 63 license. " From the Texas State Securities Board: Haas resigned from TD Waterhouse in 1999, after failing the Series 7 exam three times. He was with the firm for nine months. He then worked at Fidelity Brokerage Services for just over a year. He passed the Series 7 and Series 63 exams in 2000 but was registered for only part of his time at Fidelity. Previous jobs included sales and delivery for a company called Haas Distributors, assistant restaurant manager at Bristol Hotels&Resorts in Dallas, and manager of an inline skating retail store. In 1993, Haas pleaded guilty to felony possession of hashish and misdemeanor possession of marijuana. A Navarro County district court gave him deferred adjudication, and after five years' probation the case was dismissed. Global. Tec spokeswoman Dori Madison stated Haas's profile contained a typo, and that he wasn't licensed for three years. When Haas was interviewed for Global. Tec's inaugural "Global. Tec Talk" newsletter in 2003, he stated: "I was a customer service rep at Fidelity. "

Shamus O'Connor, 36 • Global. Tec: "Shamus earned his BS in business administration from the University of Massachusetts. Shamus has more than 10 years experience trading stocks, options and foreign currencies. He was a licensed financial advisor/stock broker for a major Wall Street firm for three years and formerly held series 7 and 63 licenses. " • From the Texas State Securities Board: In 1997, O'Connor resigned from the Houston branch of Josephthal, Lyon & Ross, a New York-based broker-dealer. He resigned after a customer accused him of unauthorized trading. Prior to that, O'Connor worked for 13 months at Lew Lieberbaum & Co. , a Long Island brokerage. Before that, he was a country-club bartender in Coppell, Texas; a waiter at a Dallas Pappasito's and "head bartender" at a Dallas TGI Friday's. • Between 1992 and 1996, the NASD cited Josephthal, Lyon & Ross three times for securities violations. In 2001, the NASD ordered the firm to pay $3. 3 million after finding that, in the 1990 s, brokers were paid extra to push stocks in a troubled technology company owned by the firm.

Blake Morrow, 33 • • • Global. Tec: The president of 4 X Made Easy, Morrow previously "managed six-figure trading accounts in a day trading operation and was a co-owner of a Dallas-based day trading firm. " From the Texas State Securities Board: In 1996, after five months at the Phoenix branch of the Joseph Charles & Associates brokerage, Morrow resigned with a $2, 055 debit. Prior to that, he was a bouncer at a college bar in Tempe, a salesperson at a Guess? store in Mesa and a waiter at a Phoenix Hilton. Joseph Charles & Associates filed for bankruptcy in 2000, after years of individual and regulatory complaints of fraud and illegally urging customers not to flip their shares in initial public stock offerings. From 1996 to 1998, Morrow worked at the Mesa-based Carrington Real Estate Planning. In 2004, Richard Dean Carrington pleaded guilty to theft for peddling fake life insurance policies on AIDS patients. The charge came after a five-year investigation of Carrington Real Estate Planning and Carrington Investment Services by the Arizona Corporation Commission. Carrington agreed to pay $3. 1 million in restitution. Morrow's TSSB record indicates he was an indirect owner and employee of the Dallas brokerage Centerpoint Securities. The NASD censured Centerpoint in 2003 for failing to prevent a broker from committing fraud, and for running a securities firm without required minimum net capital. Morrow was not accused of wrongdoing in the regulatory complaints against Joseph Charles or the policy scam in Arizona.

Mark Mc. Donnell, 48 • Global. Tec: Mc. Donnell is described as the first Wizetrade customer and developer of Charts With Mark, "an intensive chart analysis training tool. " Mc. Donnell is also described as "a former trader with a major brokerage firm. " • From the Texas State Securities Board: Mc. Donnell quit the Dallas branch of Fidelity Brokerage Services in 1999, after 28 months with the company. From 1990 to 1997, he was a project manager at the Dallas branch of Fluor Daniel GTI, an environmental services company. From 1987 to 1990, he was a project engineer at another Dallas firm.