RECOMMENDATION

Today, we are issuing a SELL recommendation for Holtz Communication + Technology (HCT). We recommend that any stock in this company or companies it represents should be sold directly as materially negative total return is anticipated.

A Chronicle of the Media-PR Flamenco

First, let me tell you up front, it just didn't work out. Okay? No hard feelings. I knew what I was getting in to and did it anyway. Whatever brief affair I had with Howard Kurtz is apparently over.

This is a story of total infatuation. It's a reiteration of what I have relearned a thousand times, "the flame that burns brightest; burns out quickest." And I always end up feeling burnt.

From the beginning: about three days ago, Tuesday, July 18, 2006 11:05 AM to be exact, a total stranger walked into my life and was to change it forever.

Howard Kurtz is the media reporter for The Washington Post and writes a regular column called Media Notes. He's the host of the weekly CNN program Reliable Sources. Marcy says that I am having a celebrity-induced hallucination but I think he's drop-dead gorgeous.

I am sitting at my desk and I get an email that says simply, "Hi, Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post here. Can we talk? Is there a number at which I can reach you? Thanks."

Of course, my heart skips about six beats. Nothing more sexy than a successful man who wants to know all about you. My knees shake. My palms get sweaty. Howard Kurtz! I imagine us on some deserted Polynesian island, a gaggle of kids, living on seafood bisque, wild rise and coconut. Life is carefree, filled with sun, sand, love and laughter.