Nature's Sunshine by Malcolm Berko on Creators.com

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Stolen Wallet Leads to a Huge Headache Dear Mr. Berko: My wallet was stolen a year ago, and most folks have no idea what a job it has been to get my life back in order. The credit agencies have me listed as a bum, even though I pay all my real bills, and I still get calls from vendors …Read more. Kick That Broker to the Curb Dear Mr. Berko: We are 74 and 76. We've used the same broker since early 2002, and our account, which was worth $765,000 back then, is barely worth $705,000 today. Our mutual funds haven't done well, and we've lost money in various unit trusts. Our …Read more. Would the Real Malcolm Berko Please Stand up? Dear Mr. Berko: What stock exchange firm do you work for? Is it true that you accumulate a big holding of a stock for all of your clients and then write good things about that stock in your newspaper column so that millions of investors will read …Read more. Natural Gas Firm Looking Like a ‘Buy' Dear Mr. Berko: A long-time friend of mine (name omitted) who says he knows you well has had some good successes in the market during the past six years buying oil and gas limited partnerships, high-yielding convertibles and preferreds. He just …Read more.

Nature's Sunshine

Dear Mr. Berko: Many members of our 17-member investment club have been using several products sold by Nature's Sunshine, and the results are remarkable. Within a week, most of us who bought their various products experienced very positive results. So we would like to buy the stock for our club account, and nine of us would like to buy the stock for our personal accounts. But we can't find any broker who knows the stock, and we can't find any research information from Standard & Poor's. We even wrote the company for an annual report and they have not responded. You are our last hope. Could you research this company for all of us and tell us what to do? — S.S., Oklahoma City

Dear S.S.: It's always nice to be someone's "last hope" ... "Well, whoop-de do! I've been around the block before with blockheads just like you." Great song, good lyrics. Nature's Sunshine (NATR — $9.05) peddled $344 million worth of minerals, extracts, chewables, liquid herbs, regular herbs, oils, toothpaste, skin lotions, capsules, tablets, powders, gels, homeopathic products, vitamins (A through Z) and nutritional drinks. This Provo, Utah company that began business in 1972 also sells brain health products, weight-loss products, stress management products and products for energy, digestive cleansing, and stuff for your urinary, glandular, respiratory and immune systems. I would not be the least bit surprised if the NATR research team designed an emulsion for alopecia or a pill to increase one's IQ, a potion to increase one's height, enlarge certain body parts, and a vitamin drop to improve one's hearing. However, you must know that none of NATR's products has FDA approval.

I'm sorry, but I can't tell you much about this company except that it hasn't made a centime in the last four years.

NATR's cost of revenue is about 56 percent of sales, administrative and selling expenses total about 42 percent of sales. So after taxes of about 2.6 percent of revenues, NATR lost about $1.6 million last year. There are no mutual funds I know that own any of NATR's 66 million shares, which have a book value of about 85 cents. NATR has no long-term debt but has current liabilities of $77 million and other liabilities of $33 million.

I really can't give you a knowledgeable opinion on NATR. I made several calls but could not locate an analyst or brokerage that covers the company.

I'm glad that you, your family and club members received some benefit from NATR products. However, I did ask a pharmacist friend (who works for a large drug chain) about the quality of NATR's products. He told me that NATR products are no better or worse than most other pills, tablets, oils, concoctions, emoluments and unguents sold by other companies. And he also suggested that the large positive response to NATR's products is probably a result of the positive expectations of one or two group members influencing the expectations of other members of the group. It's not normal for vitamins and herbs to produce sudden and positive results in a short period of time.

Now, according to someone not intimately familiar with NATR, it's believed the company could earn a dime a share this year. That's not a guarantee but a "guesstimate" by a knowledgeable vendor who sells powders, chemicals, compounds, solutions and raw materials to the company. He said he bought 1,200 shares at $5.75 last July and cautioned me that the stock only trades about 4,000 shares a day. NATR doesn't float my boat but doesn't sink it either. So if you decide to take a gamble, I wish you all good fortune and continued good health.

Please address your financial questions to Malcolm Berko, P.O. Box 8303, Largo, FL 33775 or e-mail him at mjberko@yahoo.com. To find out more about Malcolm Berko and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.