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BrookeCE, thanks for having the courage to put your thoughts on the line, and argue a logical case.

Like you, the bulk of my portfolio is in long-term (fairly dull!) investments, and graphite is an interest, rather than a dominant concern. I accept that the percentage changes in the price of AXE from week to week, and even day to day, make for greater trading opportunities than is the case for my preferred graphite stock, SYR.

Also, if AXE were still facing the same market opportunities, and the competition, that confronted the company a year or so ago, then I would agree with the results of your analysis, and regard AXE as a "cracking buy".

The problem is that those assumptions are no longer valid. There is now a rival in the marketplace with vastly larger ore reserves, which can be easily mined and processed, so that the price of graphite is likely to drop substantially from current levels.

Can AXE make a dollar in that environment? Will a bank fund the development, after carrying out basic cost comparisons? Could anybody else make money from the Campoona deposit, which could justify a buyout?

Nobody can definitively respond to these important questions today, but to assume that the answer to any of them will be "Yes" is something of an act of faith at this stage.

So I can only say "Good luck" with your trading, and suggest that you keep your stops tight.

Cheers, Prime1