confessions of a voyeur

I normally make a habit of researching companies to the Nth degree before making any sort of investment decision. In fact I have been burnt many times by researching too much only to find that the share price has blossomed before I act. Based on the same dollar amount, I would rather lose money than miss an opportunity to make money. The wipe-outs are certainly painful but missing out on riding the perfect wave is even more painful.

Before the mods give me a slap I will navigate towards the significance of this post to MEO.

I have only ever watched the MEO share price rise and fall over the years but not once have I been comfortable enough to take a stake in the company. The main reason for this is that I simply do not understand 'oil and gas'. Obviously exploration in this fields is an extremely risky proposition and not for the faint hearted.

Over the past few weeks I decided to try and make myself understand the oil and gas business a little better. I still have a long way to go but I am getting there.

I have also been reading the MEO thread religiously and can appreciate the intelligence, experience, humour, attitude and belief that has been conveyed. In addition to this I have also appreciated the concise and regular updates provided by both MEO and ENI.

My one reservation would be that many people on this thread rely on one or two other posters for information/advice and contrarian viewpoints are few and far between. Even though posters such as DrDaz, Iam and Ya offer some superb analysis I am sure that they would encourage a healthy debate and some alternate viewpoints.

Having said that, I feel that the level of comradery between MEO posters is admirable and I am happy to now have contributed something - even if it is only a light and fluffy contribution.

MEO does not fit my baseline investment criteria however I took a punt and purchased a relatively small parcel recently. I did this based on fundamentals and the quality of management within MEO. I would also be lying (and probably not alone) if I said that the contributions of this MEO thread didn't influence my decision.

The main game projects are becoming seemingly more and more de-risked by the minute so I am not expecting a multi bagger any time soon. I do expect to see some good gas flows and a nice SP surge next week. This I believe will be followed by a major re-rating over the coming months.

Best case scenario is that my MEO investment affords me and the family that holiday we have been waiting for....worst case would have been me wondering over the weekend if I should have invested in MEO prior to the trading halt.

Best of luck to all the smaller retail holders who are just trying to get ahead in these challenging economic times.