Gannp, you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. I think it was...

Gannp, you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. I think it was worth the risk, hence why I invested too. The future is communications, and satellites will undoubtedly have a big part to play. Many reports I read testified to the exponential growth in the need for bandwidth and hardware to deliver it. I read nothing to suggest that Newsat should not be a player in that market. For a risk taker it was worth the punt.

By the turn of this year I still believed it would deliver and added to my holding, why? The technical breach was so drawn out I believed there must be goodwill to restructure debt and see the project through. Newsat went on record as saying new investors were waiting in the wings.

Many reasons for the downfall, many we will not fully know.

I think the downturn in the O&G and resources played a part through reducing underlying earnings of the business - earnings that possibly supported covenants.

I think the company assassination job by Rudd and press cohorts didn't help. Even if there was an element of truth. If they had the company interests at heart the perpetrators (Mr Ballintine etc.) could have been dealt with behind closed doors through investor pressure.

I think jitters about global stability played a part. Risk off and all that baloney - the COFACE consortium and EXIM dealing with their own mandates and issues.

Contrary to what many posters on here think I was never an unconditional Mr Ballintine supporter. I just saw alternative reasons for why some situations are what they are. Personally, I always thought he looked a little 'shifty' though that should play no part in an investment decision so never discussed it. I'm fairly certain it takes a degree of 'salesmanship' or 'shiftiness' to get the wheels rolling. What did it for me (too late) was reading about how Mr Ballintine dealt with his share holding. If it gets to a Class Action I hope and expect that part will be explored fully.

At the end of the day, I remain satisfied the investment was the right decision based on what was known. Reward (substantial) cannot be forthcoming without risk.

When collapses of this nature occur one of the greatest travesties for a retail investor is to lose confidence in the market. One must remember that a fortune can be made as easily as a fortune lost. The worst thing to do is bury one's head in the sand and steer clear of capital markets (not suggesting you would).

Get back on the horse and we never know we may strike lucky and recover losses quicker than expected.