To: Scott Pedigo who wrote (5078 ) 2/2/1999 6:35:00 AM From: B. A. Marlow Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 17679
Thoughtful comments, Scott P. Now, let me help you make money... I'm not gonna mince words. I've read your posts and know why your investments tend to disappoint you. You are averse to "overpriced" stocks. Somehow, your scientific orientation is at war with your social observation. You're in good company; it's a problem for many smart people. Permit me to look to you to supply an illustration. On July 14, 1998, in Post #2993, you lamented: "I just can't bring myself to buy a company like Microsoft which I fear, irrationally or otherwise, is overpriced and will crash as soon as it is subjected to the curse of being in my portfolio." Had you not been in your own way, you might have bought MSFT at its closing price of $116.50 per share on July 14th which, I might add, was a very *bad day* to have bought almost any stock. MSFT reached its cyclical peak of $117.9375 only three trading sessions later and did not again close at that level or higher until November 23rd. So, what we have is the "value" investor's nightmare: an "overpriced" stock and incredibly bad timing. But guess what? It works out! Today (February 1, 1999), your investment in what was then only the world's second most highly valued company (and is now, by far, number one) would be worth...$172.9375. This represents, after a mere 6-1/2 months, a gain of $56.4375 per share, or 48.44%. Now let's be honest. How many other stocks that you bought last year did better? Okay, now how do we "fix" the problem? Simple. We rewrite the equation. Investing is not about "value stocks," or "buying cheap." It's about *what makes money*. As a nuclear engineer, you'll appreciate what Isaac Newton once said about investing: "A stock at rest tends to stay at rest. A stock in motion tends to stay in motion." And thus, we have the secret to investing for profit: Buy stocks with...Inertia! Now, let's talk about "too close to hyping the stock." I think my posts speak for themselves. If you review them, you won't find hype in anything I've said here. When I don't know what I'm talking about, I'm silent. When I take strong positions, I support them. I've known Ampex for over 40 years. I've owned and operated its equipment, sold it and fixed it; I've rooted for Ampex, watched the company stumble and observed the world around me. I invested only recently (but before the recent news), when I saw evidence of...Inertia. Some of your recent posts indicate you saw it, too. I can promise you there isn't a single shareholder who wouldn't want this stock to go to $40. Not one. Most would probably settle for $15. Many for $7. And you only need $5. So, the question is, what are we entitled to and how is it going to happen? As I've said before on these boards, only one thing will cause AXC's price to climb: buyers. The company can't create buyers; it can only execute on its business plan. (And it still has a lot to learn about execution.) But *we* can create buyers. What we need to do is tell buyers a story and let Ampex know what buyers want to hear. Every day, buyers are *asking* for a story. Let's give them what they want. You know what the story is; after all, you've made great contributions to it on this board. And that's the context in which I suggested we create the "roadshow." It's about the upside. On AMZN and AXC. AMZN is a story, too, Scott. Like AXC, it's the story of "Conventional Wisdom vs. the "Big Picture." We know what Conventional Wisdom is all about. But what's "outside the box?" Ask yourself these questions: Is AMZN a book and record store? Is AXC (now) a vendor of Internet broadcasting services? In the Big Picture, AMZN is not selling books or CDs. It's selling *real estate*. And in the Big Picture, AXC is not selling Internet broadcasting services. It's selling *traffic*. I'm not saying that either firm has convinced you that these are the businesses they're in, but this will be their mission. In the meantime, they have started to convince others. And that's what creates...an "overpriced" stock! BAM