Tom Winnifrith - An open letter to ADVFN

Mr Winnifrith, as many of you will know, is one of the writers of the website www.shareprophets.advfn.com and although I've never met the man in person, I've often felt  through reading his work that there is something strange and unpleasant about the way in which he conducts his online presence. 


In fact, I've begun to seriously question whether he could be contradicting one of the statements on the ShareProphets' "About" page, in regards to being "Keen to maintain high standards" and as ShareProphets is a subsidiary of ADVFN I would have expected them to have either at least disciplined or enforced some form of punishment again Mr Winnifrith, in the knowledge that his work is directly associated with the operations of ADVFN.


Now, I'm not going to directly dispute the comments that Mr Winnifrith makes regarding certain companies being potentially fraudulent (it's something that happens to such an extent that for me to openly rebuttal every comment would require more time than I'm prepared to award such a task) however I will directly remark upon the fact that he ignores article eleven in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights when writing about the companies and board of directors of said companies:

"Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence."


In referring to companies like Quindell plc as "Quenron" (presumably a take on the American energy commodities and services company "Enron",  that was found in 2001 to have sustained a positive financial position via institutionalised accounting fraud), Mr Winnifrith is intentionally placing both unnecessary negative connotations on Quindell while implying a strong implication of fraud.


Furthermore, revised libel laws have meant that ADVFN are responsible for any content on their site, with ShareProphets being a subsidiary:

In the event of a law suit it would be the defendant (ADVFN and or ShareProphets) who would have to prove that the categorically stated remarks regarding the companies that ShareProphets comment on are correct. Also the owners of websites who allow unmoderated individuals to conduct their actions, will be considered under the law to be co-conspirators and also to be fully liable.

In additon to this, the new laws outlined on the 19th October to protect against internet abuse also have the potential to have an impact on ShareProphets if a law suit were to be pursued:


It is an offence to send another person a letter or electronic communication that contains an indecent or grossly offensive message, a threat or information which is false and known or believed by the sender to be false with more serious cases potentially going to the crown court under the new proposals, where the maximum sentence would be extended. 

Sadly, only a small proportion of his comments are implicit references to company fraud, with an explicit reference to him referring to the company Quindell as a fraud being available below. This is a Tweet from the account he uses often to promote ShareProphets in reference to Quindell plc:

FinchSells‏@FinchSells

@TomWinnifrith In your YouTube vid, you said '4 to 5 times earnings' is about right for Quindell. So a good value buy?!

•  Reply 
•  Retweet 
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3:43 PM - 13 Oct 2014

Tweet text

Reply to @FinchSells @TomWinnifrith 

1. Tom Winnifrith ‏@TomWinnifrith  Oct 13

   @FinchSells but the earnings are massively FAKE. Read 101 articles since then. This is a 100% fraud. #QPP going to 0p @tomwinnifrith

Extra to Mr Winnifrith's open and continued accessions of fraud, never before have I witnessed an individual write such toxic personally directed material at others. Presuamably this is in an attempt to undermine the supposed quality of the companies that they represent or own shares in. 


This cannot be represented better in my opinion than via his "Quindell Bulletin Board/Twitter moron prize competition", which seems like a direct attempt to provoke shareholders and further illustrates an apparent desire to undermine those who hold opinions contrary to his own.


Furthermore, his Twitter account which he uses to promote ShareProphets shows an equal amount of bitterness, with the very recent Tweets being good examples of this:

Tom Winnifrith ‏@TomWinnifrith  Oct 15

@MrContrarian yes as I admit fully in the bearcast. I do not hide my errors. so what point are you making motherfucker? @tomwinnifrith

Tom Winnifrith ‏@TomWinnifrith  Oct 15

#QPP Morons & #QPPSAG - again you are not tweeting me re share price of the fraud Quindell, anything wrong chaps? @tomwinnifrith

Tom Winnifrith ‏@TomWinnifrith  Oct 13

#QPP Morons #QPPSAG 8.30 AM ANOTHER Red Flag bombshell on Quindell for you. Blatant fraud to be revealed @tomwinnifrith

I have and will continue to ignore the comments from many of my contemporary investors that Mr Winnifrith should be judged on his past performance as a fund manager, because I feel that people should not be heavily judged on their past actions. Nevertheless, I implore individuals such as Mr Clem Chambers to re-consider whether Mr Winnifrith is contributing positively to the ethos of ADVFN and further to this to re-think if he is behaving in a way that would suggest that he is "Keen to maintain high standards" within his writings on the ADVFN subsidiary that is ShareProphets.

All the best,

The Masked AIM Trader