share price, page-14

I decided to take my rose colored glasses off and re-evaluate my investment in TIS, after 5 years of roller coaster performance, joy and heartache.

I like to invest about 5-10% of my portfolio in bio-techs as a bit of a hedge against other markets (the last thing most people will give up on in bad economic times is their health).

What are the main points I look for in a Bio-tech (not an exhaustive list)?

1. The quality and competitive position of the product (big tick for VitroGro)

2. The size and growth rate of the market (big tick for ulcers)

3. The degree of certainty and complexity for approval (big tick for VitroGro and other medical devices)

4. The likely demands for capital from shareholders (possibly one more to come for TIS, but unlikely)

5. The likely timeframe before positive cashflow (now quite short for TIS)

6. The market cap of the stock compared with the potential profits (a HUGE tick for TIS)

7. Management that delivers on plans and timeframes (This is not a tick for TIS, but at least they do eventually deliver on their plans, although a bit late. Given the big ticks above, I can forgive this. I can also forgive the lack of information and promotion by TIS).

So, the result of my re-think is that TIS does stack up extremely well for me as an investment.

I believe we are worrying unnecessarily about the market price behaviour, and the lack of information and promotion by TIS. IMHO, TIS management will have some great announcements to make over the next few months and years.