Brain, Wallet and Gut in alignmentThe tone from the room…
I was there on Monday.
It was local and I was really interested to meet some of these people in the flesh.
Regarding SSS, my Brain was convinced long ago by research and my wallet followed my brain. In spite of the May 25th beating I took. I never sold. In fact I bought more over the last number of months.
My Gut, though, was still not fully satisfied.
I had no reason for this other than my ‘old school’ feeling that I would like to look a person in the eye before I make my judgement call.
Well, I am glad I did. It was a small room with an austere set-up in the Petroleum Club. Just ice water and lined up chairs. Not a big expense… that made me happy. I was in the room for less than a minute when the CFO came over and introduced himself and extended a hand. Smart young guy, not arrogant… but clearly competent and confident. I listened intently as Dr. Moore laid out the status of things, addressed the placebo issue, gave indications of places where heightened interest existed by interested parties, spoke candidly about the value he believes the regimen has and gave me the sense that he was genuinely excited that there is a new board in place and a lean machine that is laser focused on Biotech and making the most of the treatment regimen for patients, and for shareholders. Dr. Moore is not a stuffy white shirt with a script cleared by a lawyer. He spoke openly and didn’t blind us with sunshine statements. This is not a sure thing but clearly they recognize the financial state of the books and don’t believe that it is a ‘dead’ thing either.
A happy surprise for me was meething Dr.Davidoff. He is a powerful guy in the industry and has the track record to show for it. Most importantly though, he too is another really personable gentleman. Friendly and open. Clearly engaged. Not brushing me off as ‘just another shareholder’. We chatted, he listened and exuded a quiet confidence. Again, he is not pushing this a sure thing but he clearly believes that it is worth continuing to try and get this treatement tested and available for partners to consider and for patients to benefit from. To come this far and just quit would be crazy given the interest that is being shown by potential partners and agencies like the US Department of Defense. Not to mention the fact that they still believe that the secondary analysis showed the poisitive Phase 2B results were masked behind the OT vs NO-OT issue that they have uncovered.
Anyway, I walked out of the room with a settled ‘Gut’ that had been unsettled since mid-May.
It may not be scientific, but for me… the settled gut is my barometer.
Perhaps it was all in my head, but I swear it was a lot sunnier in downtown Calgary as I left the meeting than it was before I walked in.
Seems the market thinks so as well.
HnG