Hi, Steve and All. It seems to me that more may be going on here than the slide into oblivion that most seem to think is occurring, with which I happen to disagree.
First, I have a question. We know that Strathcona must have told Antares enough on the technical side to get them to buy in. I am not aware as to whether or not Strathcona has finished its audit. Does anyone know if Strathcona has indeed finished and gone home? Knowing the complexity of SPE's holdings, I don't see that it is possible to do much in the two(?) weeks Strathcona appears to have had before Antares committed. I find it more likely that their work is continuing. If so, then it could only be because SPE and Antares are considering much closer links, such as a merger or buyout, or because progress is being made on completing the due diligence for Standard Bank.
If the possibility of closer ties with Antares were true, then a full audit of SPE's books by a new accountant would be required, so that both sides could adequately value SPE. Of course, it could also be that the new accounting audit is being required by Standard Bank as part of the remaining due diligence work. Why does it make sense to believe that SPE's books are cooked, when there are at least two good reasons for such a re-audit anyway?
In either case, a cease trade order may be seen by management as a necessary evil at this time and may not, in fact, be ultimately damaging to us - despite our current discomfort.
Furthermore, John repeatedly stated from January into, what, April?, that we should be patient and that he could not talk about what was going on. Why should he be responding on this thread when nobody has paid attention to what he has said already? It is very easy to make strong remarks about someone's character on a thread like this. Given the many things that John and crew are having to address right now, I am not at all surprised that our thread has become low- to no- priority for John these days.
Please be assured that I am *not* happy with John's absence from this thread, nor with the cease trade order, nor with the repricing of the options, nor with the performance of the share price, nor with the pricing of the Antares buy-in, nor with..., etc., etc. Unfortunately, in an illiquid and now nonliquid market, there is damn-all I can do about it.
So I am by necessity being patient and remaining in the stock. It is my belief that the repricing of options indicates that management expects the stock to rise. New directors have been named, including a man who is expert at mine operations. Antares has publicly stated that they are buying in because they believe the stock will go up, and go up substantially. SPE passed at least a first-cut technical audit. Money is now in-hand to advance the financing for Mizek, for production in 1999. Continuing review of the financial and technical aspects of SPE indicates that financing for Mizek is in progress at the least and a closer connection with Antares is something to consider.
I could be all wet, but SPE appears finally to be making real progress. Perhaps the stock will collapse when it begins trading or go to zero without ever trading again. However, I do *not* believe that. I think upcoming news is likely to be attractive to all of us, and we may all like how the stock responds.
I suggest that the best thing for us to do for the next few weeks is to take a vacation, relax, and let SPE management see what they can work out for us all. I also suggest that we give John a break here. We are actually only making it tougher for John to come back onto the thread.
I have found this thread valuable and fun until recently. I hope it will return to being valuable and fun sometime soon. Meanwhile, I'm going to spend some time in the sun and enjoy the summer. I hope my speculations on current events with SPE help others on the thread to relax, too.
Cheers!
Steve Baker |
