Logic and the investing brain I actually have a nice little logic exercise to prove that the "pumpers" are desperate and fearful, and don't innately believe the potential for SLI is there anymore, after the damaging results to date.....let me explain....
Firstly, the mindset of a weak investing mind is always to hope for a recovery in share price and/or recoup what consitutes a paper loss/previous gains lost before selling out of the investment. We know this is a fallacious, but common, approach - for the simple reason that if alternatives are out there that present a better probability of a higher return going forward, you shouldn't care what your losses are currently (taxes just enhance this perspective) - you should just sell and move on to the investment with a higher prospect of return.
Now, when a company that truly has the "goods", whether through potential, current operations/results - when there is a price decline, you will often hear - darn, I bought too early, I wish I would have bought at the current prices. Makes sense, doesn't it? The potential is viewed to really be there, and the investment return is maximized by getting in at the best value. Well, the weak investing brain will view it differently - time to average down or "I have lost this much, might as well sit and wait" or "it will recover, mark my words." It might seem like semantics, but it is a profound difference to "I wish I bought at these prices to begin with" - because, someone who says that truly believes the potential is there, and all else equal, had they come across the investment oportunity today, would purchase. I am willing to bet big imaginary dollars - as it is my own opinion - that most, if not all, of the highly arduous supporters would never buy the stock today if they had not been previously invested and have not experienced terrible losses.
Now, the mental state of an individual can be severly impaired when you witness $1 million in your account, and now see $100k - think about that for a middle class individual, who might have seen $200k turn into that $1 million. How can someone in such a situation be trusted? Or be relied upon as a voice of reason? Or make the necessary investment decisions going forward to mitigate risk and maximize return? I would suggest none. Do you really think the Bow2Us, jws, Jon_does would ever touch this stock if they came accross it today for the first time? Never - yet they hold and average down to minimize the "loss recovery window" if the stock goes up. And I never hear ANY of them say, I wish I waited to buy today at these prices. The upside is huge in their minds because they have to recover what they gain and lost, or just outright lost - the upside being huge is not present in their minds based on the current price and potential - not truly.
Pervading this whole issue is the biggest, in my opinion, investing travesty of all - CONFIRMATION BIAS - it is so rappant on this stock to be unbelievable. To the point where rather than just biasedly seeking out information to support the investment thesis, there is distortion and manipulation of facts to fit the investment thesis. As an outsider on this stock, this situation is a case study - and a great addition to a junior investing book: CHAPTER 1: WHAT NOT TO DO, and CHAPTER 2: WHEN TO ACCEPT REALITY, and CHAPTER 3: INTERACTING WITH THE STUPID.