a message to investors

I am fascinated although not entirely surprised to see people denouncing SBL management. Hell, Bill's even a criminal according to some, a criminal they say! Believe it or not, he can't control the fact that the market as a whole has been in steady decline over the past month or so. Is it any great surprise the price has dropped away? Absolutely not. The reality is folks he hasn't actually done anything wrong regarding the first gold pour. April 28th he announced the first gold pour and plant commissioning would be occurring in the coming WEEKS, which in my books means anywhere up to 8 weeks, so before the end of June. Any longer than that and it's months and one may have the right to feel mislead.

In all honesty I'm not sure whether half the people who post here should even be in the stock market in the first place. So many posters are emotionally attached with day to day fluctuations and incessantly worried about the declining share price. This contradicts one of the fundamental principles of investment, which is that the investor shouldn't be concerned with day to day prices. Those that moan and groan about day to day prices shouldn't consider themselves investors, but merely speculators. Unfortunately it's human nature for people to be upset when you're losing money which is precisely what separates those who make a buck from those who don't, the winners from the losers. An intelligent investor buys into to a well researched stock when the majority are fearful and then sells when people become overly bullish and greedy.

Now I know a lot of people are down a significant amount on paper, myself included, but PLEASE try and remember one thing 'The stock market is a transfer of wealth from the impatient to the patient' and if you're not a patient person, you won't be rewarded and you're better off putting your hard earned elsewhere. It is especially important during times like this where the markets are highly volatile that you remain calm. No point selling unless you need the money. Now might be a good time to look back and think why you bought into SBL in the first place. Before investing, you should've taken into account the risks associated with a stock like this, including possible delays, political problems, volatility in overseas markets etc. and if you weren't willing to bear the inherent risk, why did you become a shareholder in the first place?

Finally, for everyone that hasn't read Benjamin Graham's 'The Intelligent Investor' I would suggest it may be prudent to do so. It'll probably be the best book on investing you'll ever read.

All the best