Allow me to offer some credible advice from a professionalMy name is Jerry Rodrigue. I am a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) with 30 years’ experience as an investment advisor and tax planner. I have considerable experience assessing the potential value of start-up technology as well as junior mining companies.
My name can be found on the CPA Ontario member directory if you search under “Rodrigue, Jerry” (the city is Hampstead, Quebec).
https://www.cpaontario.ca/public/apps/MemDirectory/MemDirectory.aspx My first 15 years were spent with Montreal Trust, RBC Dominion Securities and National Bank Financial. I have been semi-retired for many years now thanks to a few wise investment decisions I have made. I continue to offer investment advice and tax planning to high net worth individuals.
The most important thing I can tell you about myself is the following; as a professional accountant, I am obliged to ensure that any information I provide is accurate and reliable and presented in an unbiased manner. I would not, under any circumstances, jeopardize my licence and the income that I generate with it by knowingly disseminating false or misleading information.
My opinions are always offered as objectively as possible, in good faith and generally conservative in nature to adhere to the professional accounting standards I uphold.
I will also be completely transparent: -I have purchased a significant number of shares in both Focus Graphite and Graford, its 20% owned subsidiary, through PP’s as well as open market transactions.
-I originally started purchasing in 2013.
-I am not an insider
-I have not nor intend to receive any compensation whatsoever for posting on any bullboard -I am a qualified investor.
-I have recommended these stocks to many of my clients.
-In the past, I have only invested
significant funds in junior mining companies less than five times over 25 years. I am very skeptical unless my own analysis proves otherwise.
-I have done extensive due diligence work on both Focus and Grafoid including onsite visits and thorough questioning of management. This work has been ongoing from the beginning and continues to this day.
Experience has taught me that, except for rumour and hype causing short term fluctuations, the share price will only be affected in the long term by results and progress.
In other words, I am not presenting my views with the expectation of affecting the stock price of any of the graphite stocks I will comment on. My reasons for expressing my opinions on this board are simple:
1. First and foremost, I am appalled at the amount of misinformation, outright lies (positive and negative) and overall ignorance of so many of the postings on these boards. The net effect is a truly unfortunate disservice to most investors.
2. In the world of large cap investing, the retail investor is always the last to get the critical information which is made available to the big players (institutions) first. In the world of junior mining companies, the retail investor is almost completely in the dark. The only sources of information and/or onion are:
Analyst coverage, if you’re lucky. Almost all these analysts are working for firms that are making money doing corporate banking for the same company they write about and so their opinions are not necessarily objective. In fact, it is hard to believe they would write something very critical and risk the business relationship they have. I have also found that the analysis tends to be cursory and not in depth enough to give a true picture of the company’s prospects.
Newsletters. These are almost always of little or no value and can easily steer you in the wrong direction. To put things in perspective; paid professional analysts from Ivy league schools working for Goldman Sachs rarely get it right. So putting credence into a newsletter from Joe blow typing from his basement is a recipe for disaster.
News releases. This is the most accurate source of information except by the time you read about it it’s already too late.
Chat rooms/Bullboards. This can be a good way of being alerted to recent events but as I have stated the information and opinions are quite often intentionally false and there is no way to assess the credibility of anyone who posts.
So where does that leave you?
I can offer the following to investors on this board:
-Honesty, integrity and full disclosure, as mandated by my profession.
-25 years of experience.
-A long track record at identifying the winners as well as the losers in these types of stocks.
-Guidance based on reliable information and sound judgement.
-And my favorite activity; calling out the pumpers and defamers like Bywrong who have almost no credibility or scruples. Their postings are actually a source of amusement for me. Sad, yes, but I have no pity for those who wish harm on others. I will take them down at every opportunity.
The biggest mistake investors make is marrying their stocks. It takes cold, calculated and unemotional decision making to succeed. This will very often require cutting the ties with the love of your life. If you really want to make money in stocks grow a pair before it’s too late. My next post will outline my views on the companies in this sector including why I think NGC is one of the least likely companies to succeed in this space.