RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Insider sellingFirst, I have had my own concerns amount the maturity of the company's corporate governance. In particular, I had been concerned about the appropriateness of recent issuances of stock options when well 4 news was seemingly imminent (which now seems like a bit of a moot point now). Because this is a very small company with a lot of economic opportunity/value riding on its decisions, I continue to have some degree of concerns about it's ability to avoid unfortunate missteps.
However, neither the recent resignation of Dr. Schiller, nor his regular small sales of stock over time, cause me concern. Dr. Schiller received his bachelor degree from the University of Missouri in 1956. Assuming that he was about 20 years old at the time, he would now (65 years later) be at least 85 years old. I don't mean to imply anything negative about those elder than me (I wish I had that degree of experience to draw upon), but I don't see many people continuing on corporate boards into their 80s. I have actually thought it quite unusual that Dr. Schiller was still continuing as a board member of DME at this point - especially after Robert really took over management and the company really re-focused on helium in Arizona. Whether the resignation was precipitated by him or others on the board, his departure itself really dosn't concern me. Of course, for stockholders like us who are pleading for more information at the same time that completion of well 4 has take far more time and seemingly proven far more difficult than the company anticipated and previously communicated (raising many more questions about the plan/expectations for the rest of th eyear), the timing of this reasonably feeds into potential concern that there are negatives that we don't know about yet. Those concerns might be validated, but personally I believe/speculate that there are other issues driving Dr. Schillers resignation and regular stock sales.
Nevertheless, investing in an early stage TVX company like this one comes with inherent risks that we should all recognize. It's still really a baby. There is no "corporate compliance" department, no in-house lawyers, and the company is probably biased against spending money with an outside law firm to discuss every little thing they do and don't do (though I certainly hope the company has competent legal counsel that can advise effectively and efficiently enough to keep the company on the straight and narrow).
Everyone here (including me) sees the ability for this stock to soon be many times higher than where it is right now. I'm sure you, like me sometimes, wonder why the stock price isn't there already ("Do the math everyone!"). Well, what we are experiencing now is the "why". Drilling is an imperfect science/art subject to various risks (both geological and human in nature). Even when the drilling goes perfectly, there is no guarantee that you find what you think should be there. Business execution in the real world almost always takes longer and costs more than initially budgeted, but especially for small ones like this with finite human and financial resources. Transparency/information from young companies (that usually would not even be public companies at this stage) can be irregular and seemingly inconsistent. Market inferences are drawn from $16,0000 stock sales and the resignation of a director in his 80s. In the face of all of these risks, a stock that next year could be $50/share (assuming such risks are removed/overcome) is rightfully valued at only $5/share by the market today.
To realize those potential gains, one must (1) be sufficiently correct in one's positive assessement of the company's future performance, (2) be willing to put one's capital at risk based on that assessment, and (3) have the patience to see that correct assessment be confirmed. I have decided to put my capital at risk and have the patience, and certainly hope my positive assessment of the company (which admittedly is dependent on facts and future developments that no one here or at DME knows today) proves correct.
I know there is a lot of trepidation right now. For those who are selling (and for every buyer there is a seller), perhaps selling right now will look like the smart move six months from now. Personally, I just don't believe that will be the case (even if things might not be going quite as planned earlier this year).
Good luck to us all - hopefully we'll have some overdue (but good) news regarding well 4 soon!