Methodology
We report the rock and name the promotion. If a company is paying for awareness, you should know before you act on the headline.
We avoid originating stories from a paid newswire, a paid featured-company section, or an investor-awareness network's own content, and we avoid linking to promotional material. Paid placements are evidence for us, not sources.
We try to check stories against known paid campaigns. Where we can, we match by ticker and by company name, including former names, because juniors rename often.
We only name a paid relationship when the compensation is visible in print: disclosure language such as paid advertising or compensation for coverage, or the network's own attribution at the foot of a piece. Paid pieces are often syndicated to respectable-looking outlets, so the outlet does not settle the question. The disclosure does.
If we cannot find the disclosure, we soften the language to what we can show, such as a company having appeared on a network, and we do not assert a paid deal.
Plenty of real companies buy awareness. A flag is a disclosure, not an accusation. If the drill hole is real, we cover the hole and, where we can confirm it, name the promotion.
Usually a skeptic's footnote on the story that names the context. When a paid push, an unusual price and volume move, and loud retail chatter all line up, it may get its own item.
Detection is imperfect. A name that is not flagged is not proof that no promotion is under way. Commodity Ape is information and commentary, not investment advice.