not again...lol

As many others did, I met with Mark Smyth when he was in Melbourne recently…

I provided a summary of my meeting to the CVI threads, in which I suggested it was more about measuring the man than seeing how well he could answer 50 questions thrown at him in five minutes!

lol

As I suggested, I came away from that meeting feeling more than happy with the nature of who was effectively in charge of guiding our investments through a rather significant value transition. In forming this view, all else (especially some of the scare mongering from others of late), became somewhat inconsequential.

One needs to trust instinct at times.

Anyway, at that meeting Smyth asked if I would be interested in helping out with some of their presentation material at some point down the track…given some of the work he had been advised I produced for Cudeco (such as the annual report). Whilst a little unsure if this was what I really wanted to do, (given my current commitments), I suggested I would put together a few ideas, using the content of previously released updates…just to get a feel for the water.

Well…it appears CVI are more than happy…and as of today, I have been officially asked to provide limited presentation services on an ongoing basis.

Whilst only representing a minor involvement with the company, with extremely limited focus, none the less it would seem likely that as a result, I may from time to time be in possession of yet to be released information, (ie, because I am compiling/presenting it), as such I feel that continuing to post on the CVI thread may well at times place me in an untenable position.

It is with regret therefore that I find myself, yet again, faced with the prospect of a self imposed banning from posting on one of my favourite speculative stocks…especially at this particular time in CVI’s life.

As posting is very much a social outlet for me, I will continue to post on other stocks.

lol…2 down, 1,780 to go?

I have to say however, I expect my involvement with CVI will be far less intense than that at Cudeco…well at least I think it will be…as such I could arguably still post and simply excuse myself whilst in possession of sensitive information, which in all intents and purposes is likely to be a relatively rare event…but in all honesty, I am simply not sure about such an approach.

Perhaps I can reassess after a period?

In my view, in such a situation one must do more than simply act with integrity…it is important that one must also be seen to be doing so. I am sure however there will be those who see such honest disclosure as a reason to engage in gutter behaviour…sad for them.

I recognise this is a self inflicted abstinence…but given my views on insider activity, I feel it is the only appropriate stance to maintain an absolutely clear line.

Equally, I will exclude myself from trading CVI during periods I am in possession of sensitive information that has not yet been released…as all company consultants must…this goes without saying. In fact it is likely I will now consolidate all account positions (long/medium/short), into a single longer-term, “core position” as soon as I can.

People may not realise it, but this is where I actually tend to lose out on such deals…

I make my living from the markets, be it trading the swings on some of my investments, or just plain flat out intra-day trading of technical/sentiment plays…I cannot effectively do this whilst I am in any way privy to un-released information from a company, no matter how minor my role might be with said information.

In my experience, the net result of taking on such roles is that I actually lose money, due to the fact I am effectively locked out of engaging in the activities (trading), in stocks I typically understand the most.

Life is not always about making the most money though.

Cheers!