50 Cent tweets, tiny stock soars

story by CNBC.com
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/video/default-ap.aspx?cp-documentid=ead385f2-3689-4dc6-9e2e-8b23ec45bfc3

Who says you can't make money on Twitter? Rapper 50 Cent just raked in millions.

The rapper had plenty to say over the weekend about a penny stock named H&H Imports (HNHI), a tiny operation out of Florida. Why? Because 50 Cent invested $750,000 in shares and warrants in the company last fall. Some of those shares can be cashed in only as the stock rises to 15 cents, 25 cents and, yes, 50 cents.

What better way to pump up the stock than to promote it to your 3.8 million Twitter followers? That's what the rapper did -- and the stock rose 240% to close at 39 cents Monday.

Today, however, shares are down nearly 12% to 34 cents.

"You can double your money right now," 50 Cent tweeted. "Just get what you can afford." He sent out a series of messages -- some of which have since been deleted -- that said things like "They are no joke get in now."

It took a day or two for reality to set in, and 50 Cent (whose real name is Curtis Jackson) began backing off of his cheerleading Monday, The New York Observer reports. He began sending more cautious messages to his followers, saying things like "I own HNHI stock thoughts on it are my opinion. Talk to a financial advisor about it."

Jackson also told his followers to do their homework, saying that "HNHI is the right investment for me it may or may not be right for u!"

The New York Post crunched the numbers and figured that, based on H&H's close at 39 cents Monday, Jackson's stake of 30 million shares gained in value by $8.7 million. The entire company's value shot up by about $50 million.

H&H is an extremely sketchy investment and even got the dreaded "going concern" notice last March as its auditor shared doubts about the company's future. The company reported less than $300,000 in revenue last quarter but lost $1.3 million, the Post reports.

There are some funny loans at the company as well, the Observer notes. H&H lent $141,000 to what it describes as "an entity in which our chairman's brother is an officer and owner."

The chief executive of H&H made two loans to the company last year totaling about $215,000.

What, exactly, does H&H do? Bloomberg says it buys and sells women's handbags. Other reports say the company sells sunglasses and distributes headphones.