Y'all: Jubimer again. I believe Hal is going to repost his excellent post, as well.
Subj: Myth Masters
Date: Sat, 8 Mar 1997 13:11:13 EST
From: Jubimer
Message-ID: <19970308181100.NAA25034@ladder01.news.aol.com>
It is certainly does get frustrating and tiring to have to deal with same issues over and over again, Hal. Let's take them one at a time:
MYTH # 1
No Sales Growth: Wrong wrong wrong. It will take some effort, but a simple reading of the 1994 and 1995 Chairman's annual letter will give you what you need:
I have an old product line that I have discontinued to focus all my R and D and marketing and sales effort on my 19MM product line which include DST. So sales are flat because I am simply letting the old products run their downward course. However 19mm products in 1995 were about 15 million up from 7 million in 1994 and were over 30 million in 1996. Additionally I just introduced DST 812 in the 3rd quarter and unit sales are beginning to ramp up. Also note some of my new customers are ATT, MCIC, and Sprint. The telcos are a very sweet group to sell to: 1. they could really use my product to optimize their phone networks systems, which because of fraud and predictability of usage due to all of us internet users who log on for hours at a time. 2. They have the money. 3. They are use to spending big dollars on capital equipment. 4. They have the money.
Also some of my longstanding customers are ramping up to use my DST and DCT products for DVD production, Video servers, Film Transfer, Digital TV etc etc. The client list is Time-Warner, Fox, Sony etc.
MYTH # 2
This one is particularly irritating because you have two groups mouthing it who hold mutually exclusive positions:
2a. Ampex does not do enough to promote the company and get news out and pump up the value of their stock. In my view Ampex does it right, preserving our shareholder money from being sucked up by securities lawsuits due to misinformation issues. If you want hype, I suggest you invest in the next company that Centennial Techs chairman starts once he gets out of jail. I am sure you will get all the action you need. Or Future Healthcare's former CFO might be eligible for parole now for a more timely investment.
2b. Ampex is hyping the stock for insiders to dump their shares on poor unsuspecting investors. First of all, get a clue on securities law. Before you post a message about how insiders filed a registration statement and are dumping their stock, spend some time at the SEC website. Learn about rule 144 and 6 month short term profits law and the windows when insiders can buy or sell.
Also, use your head and think and listen before you post nonsense. Bramson bought 400,000 in October at 6.875. He did not sell at 9 or 10 two months later. I believe his target is much higher, say 50 or 60 in 2-3 years. Second, it would be illegal. You are talking about paying treble damages versus profits made and probably jail time. There is far easier ways to that kind of dough legally. The point is Bramson put up his dough and bought stock. He could have done what some others do. Grant himself options every year and pull out millions that way.
Also, Ampex looks to be an investment banker's dream in the next 1-5 years with potential financings, IPOs or spin offs, merger or acquisitions possibilities. So, I'm sure Hambrecht, Montgomery, Robbie Stephens, Merrill would only be too happy to flip hot IPO's these guys way.
MYTH # 3
This is the one that is the most insidious. The stock is going down so my long term view must be wrong. I should forget all my analysis and knowledge about the company and my view of the digital world and the trends in mass data storage and the handling of video content are all wrong because the stock has come down from 10 to 6.5. The daily stock price is the ultimate arbiter of what reality will be 12 months from now.
Using the same logic, I guess Intel will be out of business soon because their stock has retreated from 165 to 140ish area, IBM same story, WDC is down from 74 ....Watch out below because the 30 day or 60 day price trend determines where the stock will be in June 98. |
