Strange way to sell security systems

I just got a call on my cellphone from the number 207-925-1732. I answered the phone, which is something I almost never do. I was feeling dangerous.

A computerized voice tells me: "If you put a sign in your yard, we will give you a $795 security system for free..."

Plus two free keychain remotes.

All I need to do is agree to the $29.95/month monitoring fee.

I meant to "press 1" to learn more, but I accidentally hung up.

Oh well, no free security system for me!

Washington Post loses all credibility: Fake TV for thwarting thieves?

The Washington Post ran a nice little article about the benefits of burglar alarms, safes and other products to thwart the bad guys. They even quoted our friend Kirk MacDowell from GE Security.

And then they had to go and promote the silly "Fake TV" that my colleague Jason Knott mocked on CEPro.com

One inexpensive way to dupe burglars into thinking someone's home when they're not is the Fake TV. The device flashes intermittently, simulating the light output of a television. It retails for about $31.

I'm surprised the Post didn't recommend the bedside shotgun rack, too.

Brink's Home Security shares tumble on first day of spinoff

Shares of Brink's Home Security Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CFL) fell Monday, its first day of solo trading on after spinning off from Brink's Co.

Shares of Brink's Home Security fell $2.28, roughly 10.5%, to $19.47. The high for the day was $22.29.

It's former parent company, however, fared well. Brink's Co. (NYSE: BCO) gained 60 cents, or 2.2%, to close at $27.34 in regular trading Monday.

Brinks Home Security's competitor Protection One (NASDAQ: PONE) fell 3.27% yesterday to end the day at $7.11.

By the way...Want to know what the "CFL" stands for? "Customers for Life." Sweet.

What's New in Security Stocks?

Today Brink's Home Security Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CFL) announced its separation from The Brink's Company (NYSE: BCO). Brink's Home Security had been an operating unit of The Brink's Company for over 25 years. Trading in CFL began this morning on the New York Stock Exchange.

Market cap now is about $1 billion.

The ticker reflects the Company's internal mission statement: Creating Customers for Life. Puhleeze!

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Amityville, NY-based Napco Security Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NSSC) issued a statement from chairman and CEO Richard Soloway, who starts out by noting that it is not "normal policy" for Napco to provide future guidance or to respond to market activity.

Napco stock has fallen from $4.42 in August to about $2 lately, a trend that "belies the basic strengths of the Company and its extremely positive future prospects," Soloway says.

Net sales for the first fiscal quarter of 2009 increased approximately 25% to $17.4 million, up from $13.9 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2008, due primarily to six weeks of revenues added from a recent acquisition "as well as an increase in our existing business," Soloway states.

Finally, he suggests that NSSC is a good buy: "We strongly believe that the prospects for long-term growth have never been better. In our estimation, investors should carefully investigate NAPCO’s future prospects …."

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The Board of Directors of Honeywell (NYSE: HON) has declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share on the company's outstanding common stock. The dividend is payable on December 10, 2008 to shareowners of record at the close of business on November 20, 2008.

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Former Tyco (NYSE: TYC) CEO and lavish spender/swindler Dennis Kozlowski cannot sell his Florida and Massachusetts homes and other property without first asking Tyco for permission, a court has ruled.

Kozlowski is in jail for financing a lavish lifestyle by looting millions of dollars from the industrial conglomerate.

If he can manage to pocket some of his orange suits upon his release from prison, perhaps he could pawn them on ebay for a few bucks.