No, Howard, I don't think your intent is malicious. I just think you are refering anger in a direction that is not positive, even though it makes you feel better. I can understand that, because I went through the same.
I have no idea how much you invested in DGIV, but I would not be surprised if I lost more than you, or more than just about anyone else in this stock, with the obvious exception of Mr. D and some other wealthy investors. But my loss, proportionate to my net worth was, I'm sure, much more than Mr. D's. Of course he, like you, has not sold, and so you have not realized a loss. In my case I did realize my loss, big time, last September. I managed to take some tax loss, but that is small comfort given the time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears that so many of us gave to research the technology, do DD on the company, on its suppliers, on its contracts, ad nauseam. It was like having two full time jobs at the time, and I was also up at 1AM those days, some times to do more DD and other times to do my day job. Sure, we had fun as well, how can you not have fun when you think you have discovered a ground-floor opportunity that can make a lot of money?
What you, me, and few others did not do is to insert into the equation the possibility that the PRs that we were reading were just true enough to pass the scrutiny or amateurs like us, but were not to be fulfilled for whatever reason -- and I don't even want to guess the reason. All I know is that we believed the PRs, checked them to the best of our limited knowledge and ability, and assumed that DGIV would meet their own projected SEC filing dates, the contracts that were to be signed, the network that was being built, and on and on. What can I say? What can any of us say? We learned a lesson. I guess analyst10, mcginnis, and others were right, but between their acrid style and our own blindness we did not see it.
But as far as I know, naivete and belief is not against the law, it is just stupid. That is what bothers me about the incrimination that I see on this and other threads. It's enough that individual investors like yourself and others with no connections to these companies have to provide the most intimate, private information to the government. It's another thing when we as investors, instead of focusing on the lessons that we all learned, begin to focus on each other's motives, without the slightest evidence that any of us were anything other than stupid.
I think part of the problem is that we have a natural tendency, myself included, to get lazy and depend on others instead of ourselves for information. You say that at one time you attacked Janice on the MTEI thread, but later you found she was 100% right. Well, maybe so, but to think that she was 100% right is just as dangerous as to think she was 100% wrong. I don't think anyone is 100% right. None of us have all of the facts, we just make educated guesses and invest. We need our own rules, and follow them to the best of our ability.
I went through what you are going through with my losses. It kept me up many nights. It made me sick. But I got through it, and realized that I had to look at myself in the mirror, no one else. That is what freed me to get up and try again, and made back all of my losses and more, something I never thought I could ever do. Hell, I might lose it all again for all I know (especially the way the market has been acting lately), but at least I will know to look again into that mirror.
So if you need to highlight what others said, or others did, or others bought or sold, go ahead, I can understand that. But in the end, I think you will find the same thing I did.
Man, I'm just a rocket guy, not a therapist ... where is Charliss when we need a pro?
Well, I really did not want to start posting on this thread again. Since you are long, if I were you I would not want me to post here either, since I might start saying things that sound like bashing.
P.S. My comment on that Brazilian guy was not well stated or directed. I was trying to make the point that the government has been infringing on individual rights for many years now, and eventually we might get to the situation that private innocent citizens are treated the same way criminals are treated, or even worse. Sorry for the bad analogy. |
