You're only seeing what you want to see soj88. I have given...

You're only seeing what you want to see soj88. I have given credit where it was due- the capital raising at 17p for Trinidad, the positive results in Texas, and the successful spud in Puntland. Your problem is that I also criticise when criticism is due, and over the past few months with delays in Georgia and slow progress in Trinidad, there's been more to criticise than praise recently.

In addition, things like cash burn and the downside risk on a non commercial well don't just go away because the negative posters have stopped posting.

FWIW, I happen to think those who take a conservative, and even negative approach, are at least as valuable to a board as someone who posts positive things all the time. I know from my own experiences investing, negative posters on other boards have saved me money in the past. Not because I listened to what they said without any research, but because they highlighted things I hadn't previously considered, and so, having done more research, I came round to see their viewpoint was correct. A classic example of this was RRL last year. Having held from 6p to 24p and then back down to 16p, I sold out at 16p having read some posts from a poster on iii advising caution, and having weighed up his argument carefully, I reached the conclusion that it was actually I who was wrong, and he who was right, and so I sold without delay as soon as this became apparent- and so saved myself further cash when it dropped down to a low of 6.5p.

Conversly, not a single positive post has ever saved or made me a single penny. All the positive stuff about a company is normally readily apparent as they include all that material in company presentations and the prospectus, not to mention you'd got 10 people a day constantly posting it. In other words it's always stuff I've already known about and mentally factored in. I mean, what does it really add to the sum total of knowledge to discuss potential takeover prices once a billion barrels are hit in Puntland? The conversation has already been had many times on many different boards. Is it not at least just as valid to consider what might happen to the price on a non-commercial well, and so be able to plan your risk exposure accordingly? Is it not just as valid to consider how the company will secure funding in the future if Trinidad does not start producing serious money soon?

Finally, is someone who is trying to 'talk the share down' (which I'm not doing, but you clearly won't accept otherwise) really any worse than someone who tries to get others to buy in, thus raising the price to enable them to sell out?