Mike,
As I reread my earlier post I do agree with you that the tone is a bit different than I had intended. It isn't easy to watch so many folks jumping to such unfounded conclusions, especially given the fact that I made certain to disclose every bit of possibly prejudicial information.
You might have noticed that I wrote a post awhile back suggesting that we not assume the drop in INTF's stock is the result of an overly ambitious report on your part, and especially that it is not the result of pumping and dumping until proven otherwise. I suggested that a post mortem of sorts be done so everyone understands what is and isn't at the core of the fundamentals that didn't meet expectations and what the long-term implications might be not just for the company but for the way we look at companies and stocks here in the folder.
I did and it was much appreciated. I absolutely agree that some sort of follow-up need be done, but I would prefer that it be done independently for obvious reasons. Of course, any questions asked of me would be answered to the best of my ability. The balance sheet is rather difficult to interpret by any standards and I'm still struggling with it.
...when estimates are missed and promises not kept, I'd prefer to see comments other than, "It's not our fault." I'd prefer to see comments along the line of, "It was a real disappointment. The recent series of events leaves us no less optimistic about the long-term prospects for the company but does cause us to be more cautious about the short-term expectations in the future."
I did not intend to imply that I am not disappointed by the results. To say that we are disappointed is a tremendous understatement! Honestly, I thought that would be an easy assumption for everyone to make. My intent was to refute the idea that we had artificially inflated the estimates and resulting price target for our own gain. (Actually, we lowered them.) You are correct in that my optimism for the company's long term prospects is undeterred. Interface was never intended as a short term play. That I believe this to be a temporary setback is reflected in the fact that I still own all of my shares and, in fact, added on the way down. Patience will be rewarded, IMHO.
I'm sure you can appreciate that I'm disturbed that you would mention the notion of Gorilla Gaming about a company that, according to your own report, states there is no proprietary architecture...That you mention the stock now in that context, frankly, blows my mind. Please tell me what I'm missing.
I was speaking to my perception of the investment strategy followed by the members of this thread. We purport to be long term investors and our horizon is measured in years, not weeks or months. Royalty games are long term investments, though we should be more quick to sell. My use of "The Gorilla Game" was, in this case, an umbrella term covering the concepts and strategies contained in RFM and the supplementary texts. There was no intent to imply that INTF is in a gorilla game. I apologize for the misunderstanding.
Mike, I'd like to take this opportunity to say keep up the great work on the thread without contributing to thread bloat. I find your posts to be among the most interesting and valuable.
John |
