OK Folks,
I sent a very long e-mail to Ken Murton copying a lot of
excerpts from this discussion thread (leaving out names to
protect the innocent). I interjected comments before each
excerpt summarizing the concern being expressed.
I am impressed with the fact Ken responded immediately and
obviously took the time to read through the whole thing.
I will copy some of his response below, but in general he clarifies
the point that the vast majority of stock is held in "nominee name",
i.e. anonymity guaranteed gy the Alberta Exchange. He does detail
his and his family holdings. Don't know if I agree with his comments
about promoting his stock...
He also makes the point he does not control market action. I replied
that, upon reflection, perhaps some of our remarks should have been
directed to Investors Digest and Phil Speller. As an ID subscriber,
I intend to do just that - and will report any response back here.
So, following is the bulk of Ken's reply:
<<The best thing we can do for our shareholders is to build this
company into a successful business and not spend our time promoting
the stock. However, we do realize that news is important and we will
do our best to report worthwhile events.
You ask how can we not tell you who is buying our shares. Clearly
the Alberta Stock Exchange and its member brokers are not prepared
to tell us who is trading in our shares. The system is designed for
anonymity. Over 80% of our 37.5 million shares are held in nominee
name which means we do not know and are not entitled to know who are
the beneficial shareholders. If you have a way of determining who
are the beneficial shareholders holding shares in nominee form and
who, other than insiders who must report their trades, is trading in
our shares please tell me.
A year ago, I personally held 1,787,119 shares of BCB. Today, I hold
2,296,803 and in addition I have given approximately 75,000 shares
as gifts to my family. I have gone through this before. The
previous company's shares were stalled at $0.33 for over three years
and I ended up selling the last of my shares at $19.00. Throughout
the early years of this previous company, we were inundated with
calls from irate shareholders. When the stock sold at $19, I never
heard from one of them. Nor should I have. We did what we were
supposed to do.
Hope this response helps you realize that we are dedicated to
building a successful company. I believe we will start to show very
positive results this fiscal year. I can make no promises about the
market's reaction.
Sincerely
Ken>> |
