Hi,
I stumbled onto this one too. I've also got plenty of experience buying high, selling low, so I've been trying to learn short side position trading to save my bacon <g>. Meanwhile, true confessions, I have only two longs, one is MCRE. Unfortunately, long as in long-suffering, to date.
The company's technology seems compelling to me, in the face of near-hysterical demand for richer web experiences for e-commerce. Every point in your message is accurate -- I can't figure out why the stock remains dormant. Some of the recent Metastream samples, which include 3-D rotatable objects with lightray highlights, are outstanding, and illustrate the potential synergy of their 3D technology with MCRE's other graphic products.
Metastream seems ideally positioned among Intel, Microsoft, Kodak, and Minolta. Its not totally clear what the revenue model is yet, but it is apparently a junior version of the RealNetworks strategy -- get the viewer distributed everywhere, charge on the content side. From the Microsoft site, you can glean that a license will be needed to eliminate the Metacreations logo from commercial deployment of Metastream images. Both by licenses and selling tools, there oughta be a way to make decent money with this technology. Apparently, etoys.com and autobytel.com are putting this technology into their websites.
You could consider the company's PR to be (A) a model of restraint in an era of abusive hyperbole, or (B) utterly incompetent at getting the message out. Take your pick. Its so quiet that there is rampant speculation among the Yahooligans that a buyout must be under way -- no other web-centric company is so circumspect.
MCRE's history (former management) is pocked with disappointments; new management may simply be holding to a commendable resolve to underpromise and overdeliver. On the other hand, maybe tomorrow that big announcement will hit....If you figure it out, let me know! |
