Have a guess!, page-38

I'm sorry to learn how your losses have affected you, Braintot, but I don't think you're being entirely fair in blaming me for my role in convincing you SGH was going to thrive. I was certainly vehemently opposed to a number of posters who were shorting SGH shares at around the time I became seriously invested, saying whatever came into their head to try to damage the share price. And I made many positive posts about SGH before I turned 'anti'. I always tried to concentrate on the fundamentals but what I didn't factor into the equation was the degree of incompetence and deception that eventually became evident. The decision made by SGH's bankers to sell their debt at 30 cents on the dollar (to me) to hedge funds and investment banks is testament to the fact that at a time when the directors were still filling the shareholders with stories of expected turnaround in UK ops and assuring them business at home was largely unaffected, the real picture was very different. I'm pretty sure I'd sold out by then. When SWC (I believe he'd been around in one or other form of identity for some time) pitched up on the scene - the SP was around 30c I think -, I took to ending many of my posts with the words: "10c soon", which then became "5c soon" and at eventually "1c soon". That was of course in old money, with a cent now being replaced to a dollar. You haven't commented about me convincing you to go short.

I can't fully recall what the share price was at the various stages now but given that the bulk of my holding was acquired at prices between about 30c and 90c when the SP was was very sensitive to market releases/levels of short interest etc - and that I sold out in two tranches at 30c (the bulk) and then at 24c - had you followed what I did (which I reported on the forum, even telling people which companies I was putting the proceeds into: UK: JOG and UK: SQZ - which would have got you your losses back and then some on top had you been following what I said and did) you wouldn't have done nearly as badly as you apparently have. I am trying to be objective - no-one can accuse me of not calling the likely end game correctly, well before it played out - from before the time I sold my second tranche of shares.

When the facts changed, so did my attitude to SGH and I adjusted my thinking and actions accordingly. I don't believe I ever 'ramped' the shares in the sense you imply - many find my posts boring because I always try to explain my thinking and this results in them being long. My posts on SGH were no different. I remain proud of what I achieved in a career in the accounting profession that was demanding and taught me a lot. I have posted on discussion forums these past 10 years mainly to help keep myself mentally sharp, to add where I can to the general pool of knowledge, to help others understand accounting issues better and to learn from others whose opinions (if they make sense) are different to mine. I had more or less decided to give up posting altogether as I'm 67 now and should occupy my time in more productive ways. Posts like yours encourage me to do so sooner than I otherwise might. I don't get every investment right - far from it, because markets and people don't always behave logically and sometimes things don't go as planned. I have always tried to record why I see things as I do and I am sorry that, by following my thoughts and logic, you felt it was wise to increase your holding in SGH eight-fold. You should have asked me at the time if I thought this was wise - I'm reasonably certain my answer would have been 'no'.

SWC IS clueless - literally hundreds of his posts confirm this. He recommended without qualification that people should buy SGH shares from 30c all the way down, when it was clear to anyone with any experience and intelligence the battle was lost. He claimed expertise he didn't have and he rubbished the views of posters who had recognised the error of their ways and were genuinely trying to help others see why they should seriously consider recovering what they could before the shares lost even more value.

I hope things will soon improve for you, Braintot and that you've at least learned not to listen to clowns like me. On a personal level, I have never once in my life blamed anyone except myself for any decision I have made as an adult - not even Andrew Grech.

GL