reply to bbrad

It's an interesting question you pose bbrad,

I can't speak for others but I thought I'd share with you and the other Gondwana shareholders who are on Hot Copper some of my back ground which might help with the answer to your question about the difference in motivation of mine and non stock holders. It's a long post so hope it is worth the read.

My philosophy on life is rather complex and different from the "norm" and has been formed by several key experiences which has evolved my outlook on life, to live every day as though it's my last. I see the glass half full rather than half empty. I have an openly positive philosophy that sees the good in people and a tolerance of the broader qualities ( or flaws in those qualities) in my fellow human beings including my own .
I have had a career in government spanning 20 years and have been involved in small business, directorships on government boards and leadership roles in community organisations in a volunteer capacity since the early 70's.
Along the way, I have been exposed to egotists, sceptics, power mungers, deceit, and fraudsters.
I have chosen to be cautious, tolerant and positive and to associate myself and family with people who have a good sense of humour, genuine friendship, sharing and caring.
One of the experiences I had when I was 14 was the loss of my 16 year old brother who drowned in a scouting activity. I lost two other very close friends through car accidents when I was at High School and in the military. Their loss influenced my out look on life and formed the basis of my open and positive philosophies. This openness makes me an easy target for those who have a less forgiving and negative nature but that's ok, it is part of the journey.
I am writing a book about my experiences in public life and another on a medical condition I had, called Ulcerative Colitis. If anyone has seen the movie "Amazing Grace", William Wilberforce had ulcerative colits which he struggled to live with during his political career in England when he was the driving force against the slave trade. I had surgery to remove my large intestine two years ago and had been a bit crook for 12 years prior to that. Despite dropping in weight to 69kg and having some rather painful and debilitating complications from the surgery, I have regained my fitness and once again become active in surf life saving, scouting and some community boards.
I have left my career in government and am trading the market full time. I also do project management and am enjoying a much less stressful life now that I am free of the negatives associated with government. I have a 14 year old son who I am trying to get interested in the stock market and a 16 year old daughter who is a great kid but causing us some drama's as she begins to want to experience life as though she was 21. I think I am learning more about tolerance through her than I expected,lol, boy oh boy, what a challenge.
I think one of the differences between the motivation of a shareholder and a non shareholder is the commitment and the consequences. The non holders have nothing to loose but as shareholders we do.
Gondwana is a spec stock no doubt about that. The company is small, running on the smell of an oily rag and they get attack after attack as though they should be performing like a company with a market cap of $100m with $50m in the bank.
I spend hundreds of hours researching company announcements, trading data and reviewing tenements and resource sector articles. Gondwana's small market cap reflects the risk, and we each have different tolerances to risk.
I had enough shares in Gondwana when it was trading at the 30 to 40c equivalent but at these current prices, it has presented me with an opportunity to take a larger position.
I have been watching and observing the exchange of wealth opportunities on the ASX since 1969 and see the shares I own in my current portfolio as all having high risk but at the same time, they allow me to buy sufficient quantities of shares to take advantage of resource discoveries that expose me to higher returns. I buy low and sell high and because I buy at historical lows, my downside exposure is reduced when averaged over the entire portfolio. As an example, I accumulated 5.5m fmsoa at .007c. Was I mad? Did my friends who invest in the share market think I was nuts? Yes. Like most fund managers , they invest in companies with blue chip status and they make their 10 to 20% annual returns with substantially larger initial investments than I do.
But my initial investments are much smaller, my returns are much higher and my research is the difference between them and my decisions, as a result of my acceptance of higher risk. I am a long term investor. Short term there will always be share price volatility based on negative or positive sentiment. At the moment, their is negative sentiment surrounding Gondwana and that has presented me with an opportunity to increase my holding.
We don't hear much from non stock holders when the share price is appreciating but there is no shortage of "told you so's" when the share price is dropping. Short term traders are the one's who are negatively impacted on by the down rampers and that's unfortunate for the short term holders as many of them invariably sell when the share price is declining. If they buy in at lower prices ( like I do) they can still record decent increases in their portfolio if they time it right( their exit and re entry).The problem though, is that many don't re enter and they are left with a bad experience and a loss of wealth along the way.
Something that I notice about non stock holders is that they are often not open about themselves and their real positions and can be very influential on the share price.
I often read that they claim their comments do not impact on the share price. This is not true. There's a lot of buyers and sellers who are posters on hot copper, in companies with small turnover, they can and do have an impact on the share price despite their claims to the contrary.
If we look at the Hot Copper chat room for a minute, there are some 80,000 registered users, and there are about 10,000 log ins every day which is quite an extraordinary number, most of whom ( 90%) don't post, but they do read other people's post ( check the statistics on the top right hand side of the page and on the number of logins and number of posts on the left hand column below "forums"). There are not many fund managers investing in small cap explorers ( if any), most of the internet trading activity ( more than 50% I would expect) would more than likely be hot copper users. It would be unusual for someone to be trading the micro ASX companies without being a regular user of Hot Copper. The mid to large sized company's are traded mostly ( in regards to volume and $) by the fund managers who would be less likely to read hot copper and make their own decisions (with other people's money).
When the posts on hot copper by non stock holders are consistently and seriously attacking a small cap company, my observations have been that the market sentiment and the share price halts its upward momentum and goes down. The ensuing debate between posters becomes hostile and it's not till the next positive announcement that the share price begins to recover. Exceptions to this of course do occur both ways. But on average, I think my observations are pretty close to what happens.
Are people who disclose a position in a stock actually holders? More than likely yes.
Are people who disclose "No position" in a stock, traders in a stock? That's the question that can never be answered because of the nature of chat rooms and HC.
It would be interesting to see a government (ASIC) audit of posters declarations and stock transactions wouldn't it.
It's not going to happen is it and therein lies the unlikely revelation as to the motivation behind the question Bbrad.
It's a lot easier to demolish a house than build one.
Some people damage things for their own amusement with scant regard for the impact it has on the owner.
My philosophy is that of a community builder.
A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
This post is in reply to Bbrad and to "stock holders".