Cramer has been bashing Westell, and I guess from his perspective that makes sense. But I think many of us here still see the possibility of a turn around.
It is not that we don't get the obvious, like the technology slow down continuing, at least through to the end of the year. Rather some of us are trying to participate in the turn around of Westell. Mr. Penny’s effort to support the company out of family funds, demonstrates this board member’s level of commitment, to see this thing through and make it work.
Are management and the remaining committed investors unrealistic about Westell’s prospects? Yes, if there is no new growth to be found.
However what is interesting in here, is that Westell is small enough for the individual investor to contribute their two cents to management.
The other interesting dynamic is that one positive new growth idea could give this company and stock new life.
To me this stock presently is for those that like the opportunity to be there at the ground floor of a turn around situation. A different kind of investor like the more hyper active Cramer, would not want to spend time on such a beat up situation. In this case Cramer is like the crowd and only sees the obvious problems, and truthfully Westell's current situation is one of treading a fine line between success and failure.
I guess it all comes down to looking at the glass half empty like Cramer or half full like myself.
People of course, should limit their amount of exposure in a risky situation like this. My level of exposure is still small.
But if Bill Knoll the head engineer at WSTL, finds that the wireless to wired broadband idea is a workable system, and that it meets the necessary requirements, in terms of logistics and cost, as it extends the reach of DSL to new markets, this could be the new near term answer growth answer. It is a rather technologically basic and unglamorous solution, which would mainly be comprised of , off the shelf products, that need to be tinkered with, but the access to new customers could create significant new growth.
In my case I felt it was time to take my mid level investment experience to the next stage, by putting myself in management’s position, and seeing if I could contribute any ideas that might lead to some near term solutions.
Even if I this wireless to wired broadband idea doesn't work out, I'll not be discouraged, because finding answers is a process, and at the very least I have opened up lines of communication,both here and with Westell.
The interesting thing about being putting yourself in the position of a proactive builder or creator, is you get closer a vision of where the future course of things might go. This puts you in a stronger position than the critics or shorts.
To me this brings the small investor closer to the next level of investing that the big boys or girls employ, as they are or mingle with decision makers.
However the small investor as an exercise can assume a decision marker role. The power that we small investor now have, is in our ability to communicate with each other through the web, as we attempt to come up with credible ideas, outside the company on a grass roots small investor level.
To the degree that the small investor succeeds, we will have managed to create valuable knowledge outside of the normal Wall St. knowledge hierarchy. Being that knowledge is power, and power leads to money, this is exciting.
Of course if after Westell’s internal revue, of the wireless to wired idea, it is then embraced by the company, then at that point the original idea will become more and more the company's, as they develop it further, and actually build technology around it.
In this case the sweet thing is though, is that small investor through the Web will already be aware of the idea, even before the company was, and thus will be ahead of the curve. This puts the small investor initially at the front of the line, of investors with important knowledge. This gives the small investor a head start for a change, rather than always being at the back of the knowledge tree line. This initial awareness will allow the small investor to follow the development of an idea, right from the beginning. If the company adopts the idea, this original heads up awareness should put the investor in a much better position to act on the idea, at what ever stage of its development of the idea they become comfortable.
Sharing ideas, and openly brainstorming on the web, was part of my original plan to help build a more solid investor base for Westell. In this present situation, until investors see a strategy for going forward, they are going to loose heart in a turn around. But if the present problems can be surmounted, then the very weakness in the stock is the exciting opportunity. If upper management doesn’t blow the doors off with in vision and creativity, that is also presents an opportunity for outside creative input.
I am trying to treat this turn around situation as a team effort, between all parties, Westell, and the small and large investors.
In closing I don't think the general wireless to wired idea was an idea one could patented, because so much of what is proprietary is already out there in various pieces.
Rather if the idea does have merit, it is more in the implementation value. Westell through its large customers should have a good shot at to implementing this system, like in Verizon's regional area. In the case of a Verizon where they are the largest wireless provider, their existing cell towers could be key for making fixed point broadband wireless jump points, to copper wired neighborhoods that are beyond DSL’s reach.
Competition could use this idea, but Westell should be in a strong position to implement this idea, in the areas of its large customer, who have existing cell towers, like a Verizon.
Also if the idea has merit and Westell jumps on it soon enough, perhaps they could secure patents on the linking parts to the system.
The more people I talk to, the more the positive feed back I get on the general idea. Once again we have to see if Bill Knoll sees this idea as do able and cost effective enough to though. |
