"They have restored those buildings magnificently," says former state Sen. Julian L. Lapides, president of Baltimore Heritage. "I think they deserve tremendous praise from every Baltimorean."
Agora also has earned its share of criticism, for what some have called overzealous promoting. A 1999 pitch, in which the company offered to sell press passes (for $298) to travelers who wanted to enjoy the free perks supposedly offered to international travel writers, earned Agora a dart from the Columbia Journalism Review.
"A truly tacky travesty of what real journalists, with real press passes, are all about," the CJR editors wrote.
And in 2003, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Agora, claiming it defrauded readers by charging $1,000 for false insider information about a Maryland-based company that supplies nuclear power plants with enriched uranium.
Although Agora itself was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, one if its arms, Pirate Investor (now known as Stansberry & Associates), and one of its editors, Frank Porter Stansberry, were ordered in August 2007 to pay $1.5 million in restitution and civil penalties. The decision is currently on appeal.
Such blips, however, have done little to slow Agora down. If anything, the current economic downturn, which Agora has been warning has been on the way for years, is only increasing the company's credibility and influence.
"They have very consistently railed for a long time about deficit spending," says Mark Hulbert, editor of the Hulbert Financial Digest. "They have earned their bona-fides there."
chris.kaltenbach@baltsun.com
