To: The Philosopher who wrote (11459 ) 3/18/1999 5:10:00 PM From: Wally Read Replies (3) | Respond to
Chris: re: your response to James - Nobody puts you in the role of basher - extreme critic perhaps, but not basher. A basher is a person with mindless or intentional mischief as his or her sole mission.Point 1: You're right, it would be nice to see the financial info even though FNTN is not obliged to release it, but- like it or not-they are not required to release the information. Perhaps they're withholding it for nefarious reasons, or perhaps they may not wish to make work for themselves or their accountants, or reveal more than need be revealed at this point. Frankly, where people don't need to be in my business, I don't let them in.Point 2: You're correct. They're way behind schedule. There have been rumblings suggesting that they will be reporting by the end of the 1st Q of this year but no formal PR.Point 3: Yes & No. The company seems to under-value the importance of sharing information through public channels. It's my primary point of contention with management. In weak defense, the PR problem may be exacerbated by an under-hired front office. As for info gathered via non-official channels, I don't fault FNTN for sharing information with individual investors - rather, I applaud them for their general openness and responsiveness to my inquiries. Still, much of the information that I have gathered privately should have been publicly available before or shortly after my private inquiries.Point 4: A partial yet major disagreement here. They haven't consistently announced and then missed major targets. They have missed some major target DATES. My argument with this point is more than semantics. There's a big difference between missing targets and missing target dates.Point 5: What individuals who are not representatives of FNTN report cannot be held against, or in favor of FNTN. The number of people on the thread having frequent contact with management is very small and nobody can attest to the accuracy of their "translations." When I visited Ardsley, my report contained only direct quotes from Michael Sheppard and Maura Marx. I went to the extent of sending them a copy before I printed the information so that both quotes and perceptions were correct. Such fastidiousness is not always present. Back to my point - We're not FNTN so we should weigh ALL outside perceptions and inexact translations for what they're worth.Point 6: Again, you're correct about the "quiet period." Certain things can still be shared during this period. However, I have experienced first-hand MS's concern over saying or doing anything that might be construed as less than kosher. A "quiet period" is also be known as the "Sensitive period." Considering the current mental state of the SEC, no company (in their right mind) seeking reporting and eventual listing will do anything to put themselves at risk. Any unexplained jump in the price of a stock is now suspicious in the eyes of the SEC. It may be over-kill, but hey!Point 7: There is no point 7 - Thanks. I'm exhausted already
