TURN TURN TURN...EVERYONE!
We should all turn from the madness that misplaced reality brings. Antares is not as good nor as bad as we think. John is not as good nor as bad as we think.
In fact, both Antares and John are the same now as they were before BRE-X. With that fateful episode, the rules, the status quo in Canadian investing we all enjoyed, changed. Bre-X transformed not only Canadian mining, but other industries, including securities, insurance and banking. It transformed venture capital, as well as bank lending. It transformed the spec market, as well as traditional investment.
All, if not in kind, certainly in degree. Instead of lines we find curves. Instead of straight edges we have jagged ones. Errors are magnified and differences are heightened. In fact, what we were once prepared to accept or be comfortable with, we now reject or are made uncomfortable by.
There is no answer at the moment, except, of course, what time always brings and that we seldom know of and certainly can't control. We should all be grateful for the times that John was right on in his criticism, notwithstanding what has occurred over the last year.
We should all be grateful to Antares who, for one shining period before Bre-X, showed that the small investor could be smarter than Bay Street. In fact, more than a few of us bought back their high priced paper ($3.35) at prices well below $1.
Could John have been less caustic? Yes!
Could Antares have been more proactively communicative with investors? Yes!
Antares burst the bubble by going on last year's Western trip.
On the other hand, John and everyone who saw that they were not "descendants from Mount Olympus" should have sold their shares then. The tip off for John and others was such a trite event. It happened when Dennis Gray said that Antares would not incur the expense of an "800" number.
What the Grays save you in the mine, they lose you in rough markets such as what we've had since the collapse of Bre-X. There is no right or wrong here, but there is a much fabric to allow for slack. I think we are getting OUR money's worth with how Dennis and Antares has run the company, though it is difficult to see through the Bre-X mist.
However, Dennis, since it is OUR money, why don't you loosen up your grip on the wallet for once and give the forum and your other faithful investors an "800" number? It might seem silly, but the gesture may very well speak far more than you might think on first thought.
Call Bell Canada on Monday and DO IT! The ball will then be in John's court!
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