cash position, page-4

I don't think you should beat yourself up too much over your decision to enter. There were many positive signs at that stage:

1. Much positive research around Mente.
2. A wealth of positive testimonial from informal in-home trials.
3. Distribution agreements in place around the world.
4. A clinical trial in progress, which had reported astonishingly strong interim results.
5. Plans to use the clinical trial results in an application to the FDA.
6. Plenty of cash on hand to finish the trial and lodge the FDA submission.

I felt that was more than enough to justify an investment.

But items 3 to 6 have all evaporated. Most shockingly was the degree to which the clinical trial results evaporated from "some subjects performing in the normal range" hype to a set of barely significant changes for a small set of target tests. That destroyed the prospects of getting FDA clearance. That in turn destroyed the chances of getting any kind of subsidies for the product as a therapeutic device. As a consequence the company's marketing strategy was left in tatters, requiring a complete strategic rethink.

Add in the bolts out of the blue – employee legal action and fake academic qualifications – that have left the device's and company's reputations in tatters, and the investment picture today is completely different. In my view, this stock is not to be touched with a barge-pole.

I sold at a 50% loss last year when the company's update mentioned a "long, expensive but well-tested road" ahead. That statement had "hopeless" written all over it!

Good luck to you if you choose to stay in, but I think that this stock comprehensively fails the "should I stick with it" test.