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Technology Stocks : Orbital Engine (OE) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John M Connolly who wrote (4608)	2/15/2001 6:53:40 PM
From: q39	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4908

I really don't think cost controls or profits are the issue at this time. The major question is who is gonna purchase Siemens' share of Synerject, at what price, and when. Uncertainty is driving the price down. Communication does need to be improved, because at the AGM we were basically promised more frequent announcements and deals (particularly in the motorcycle/scooter area for which the $30 mill was raised), and I don't think we've seen anything that could be considered positive since (from OE) or that confirms that OEC is meeting its milestones. They are creating more uncertainty about execution. It does seem the least they could do to enhance shareholder value is to get someone skilled at writing innocuous press releases. But evidence mounts that the HPDI systems are unworkable in the real world and that the Orbital air-assisted LPDI is the only direct injection that works reliably and performs as claimed. I can't help but think the HPDI systems are poisoning all thinking about direct injection, and I think OMC's scapegoating direct injection and the EPA for its problems isn't helping either. I think the source for the article in the San Francisco paper (from Maverick's post 4607) had some agenda against Orbital.

To: John M Connolly who wrote (4608)	2/16/2001 1:52:08 AM
From: Dr Mike	Respond to of 4908

I read George's post, which concludes: "I trust that a re-read of the Annual Report 2000, the enthusiasm of OE's management and its engineers, will put an end to any future doubts regarding this matter and thus close this line of discussion." Too bad, George. The Thought Police don't run this board as you run the Sunshine Club, and this line of discussion will not be closed because you "trust" that it should be. I do agree with you that the OE management is committed to delivering high quality technology. Their failure to put their own money on the line by not owning more than minimal amounts of company stock makes me question their commitment to maximizing shareholder value. My conversation with Mr Aspinall as much as confirmed this view. My post 4580 on this board, which definitely should be construed as my interpretation of what Mr Aspinall said to me, stated: "I got the distinct impression that, while they would be thrilled to have OE adopted worldwide as the standard for fuel distribution, they will be perfectly happy if OE continues to bring in only enough income to make a small profit and maintain OE as a continuing enterprise." I have not seen anything yet to make me doubt this impression. The reason that I continue to hold the stock is that I believe in the technology, and I believe Mr Aspinall when he tells me that the companies who have signed agreements with OE have checked the system out and have uniformly been impressed with it. Their failure thus far to adopt it is due to marketing concerns and bureaucratic inertia on the part of the big automakers. Mr Aspinall told me that OE management wants a fair return for their technology, and is not willing to give it away. While that encourages me that perhaps management is looking out for the shareholders after all, it may be that they are asking too much initially for a commercially unproven system, and that a different marketing approach is in order, possibly a free trial for the first year to confirm that it will work in the real world. It's entirely possible that once Saab (or whoever) releases the first 10,000 OCP vehicles, the rest of the world will beat a path to our door. This clearly is OE's marketing strategy. While it hasn't worked yet, I remain optimistic.