My experience during the GFC has toughened me some what. Back...

My experience during the GFC has toughened me some what. Back then I had a paper loss of $100K (50% of my capital - not profit!) over a few stocks but because I believed in 2 companies in particular (one was PEN but at that stage I had a relatively small holding/loss) I kept buying more. That is the time that I picked up a large amount of PEN shares under 2c. Out of a time of panic and desperation, I was able to sow the seeds of a much improved financial position down the track.

At the time of the GFC I was a newcomer to the share market. I didn't have the time nor the acumen to be a trader and still don't. So I took the view that the GFC presented a perfect opportunity to invest for the long term in a company with a bright future. I figured that like all market crashes that too would end one day and my chosen stock was sure to appreciate in value along with the general market and even outperform it, as long as it had the right fundamentals. So I spent a lot of time and effort researching for 3 companies I could invest in.

That's when I came across Hangseng and his wonderful research on PEN. So I started buying, first 200K at 4c just before the height of the GFC. Then as the market tanked so did PEN but I just kept buying more; my lowest entry was at 1.5c from memory. The whole time, Hangseng's posts and in-depth research gave me the courage to not only hang on but to keep buying. I bought with a 5 year investment horizon; so I still have another 2 years to run with PEN and I am still comfortable that it will pay off by the end of that time frame, despite this week's events. Yes this is a disappointing set back, but I am more disappointed with myself that I gave in to yesterday's panic albeit to the tune of only less than a third of my holdings.

The bottom line is you have to believe in yourself that you have invested in a company for the right reasons and keep those reasons in sight at all times no matter what is happening around you. There's been a lot of conflicting news out of Japan and even more rubbish posted on the PEN thread here on HC, that it makes it very difficult to stay focussed. I keep telling myself that all disasters eventually come to an end and the world recovers, even those whose lives are turned upside down by it; those that are in the middle of it. It's human nature to let emotion take over, especially in the digital age we live in where we are bombarded with instant information. This is a double edged sword, as the ease by which people can disseminate information, whether they be professional reporters or the common person like you and me, can lead to mixed messages at best and down right lies at worst.

The events in Japan, as tragic as they are, cannot and will not change PEN's future. Given our current technology and the larger CO2 threat the world faces, we have no choice but to continue on the path of nuclear energy. If Chernobyl did not derail us from this path, neither will this tragedy.

I will hold the rest of my PEN shares and will look to top up again in the near future. PEN will be a profitable miner of Uranium before my remaining 2 years are out.

Enough said, except a big thank you to Hangeseng for his tireless research and his kindness for sharing it with us all. He and a few others are a clear stand out from most here, for their sincerity and good intentions. I feel sorry for those that come on the PEN threads with nothing positive to contribute and who clearly get satisfaction from exerting their influence on others in a negative way. And I am not referring to TA posters for most have good intentions. I'm in favour for all arguments, positive as well as negative as long as they are supported by facts or rational thought.