Dear All,
I am writing to you this morning because of an increased volume of inquiries questioning my selling shares while the price is decreasing (and in the face of strong short selling).
Apparently, the sky is falling….
To all the chicken littles out there: pop a chill pill, pull up a chair, and listen. (Just so I am clear: I know there are those of you with legitimate concerns, and have been huge supporters of the Company, and to some degree get it and just need comfort. I don’t consider you Chicken Littles. The Chicken Littles I am talking about are those that react without thinking and without asking questions, who play into the shorts and who probably, when you think about it, should reconsider investing in any company)
Before you react you have to ask yourself two basic questions in such situations because those with other agendas would like you to believe that such selling is a signal the stock has peaked/no good news is coming out (after all what insider would sell if good news was coming?....ah maybe an insider that has warrants/options expiring and has no choice ???? lol…).
The two basic questions are, in my humble opinion, the following:
1) Why is the selling taking place and what is the effect on the holdings of the person selling?
2) How much is being sold relative to the overall volume?
With respect to the first question, I have been very clear that I have been selling predominately to exercise options/warrants and pay huge taxes on doing that. So basically, I sell shares to be able to exercise expiring warrants/options and pay taxes. To put this in perspective I (and when I say “I” I am referring to anyone that the regulators deem are associated with me in such a way that requires reporting) have sold just over 3MM shares and added over 8MM shares since January 1st 2021 for a net gain of over 5MM shares. You do the math. I could have sold 3MM shares and pocketed the money, but no, instead I increased my total shares owned. So, I am not selling to “get out of Dodge” as some shorts would have you believe. I am selling and exercising options and warrants, and as a result I am adding to the company’s cash on hand. The net result is that, since January 1st I have increased the number of shares I own in the company by 8.12%. +8.12% !!!...and Mellon has increased their shares owned by 1.27%. I humbly submit that every company should have a CEO so inclined.
With respect to the second question, I have not been dumping. I have been trickling it out in a very specific way so as not to damage the market. I have also been selling most of the year so I have been selling at higher prices and at lower prices…. before, during and after news…I have done it in such a way that no one can infer anything from the decision to sell. Let’s put this into a better perspective:
During the period I last announced my intention to sell (August 31st I think) I sold ~7% of the total volume during that time...that’s 7,000 shares in a volume of 100,000…do you seriously think that is putting pressure on the stock? That does not include NASDAQ volume...if I include NASDAQ volume, the percent I sold is probably under 5%...Pleeeease…give a guy a break!
During the previous period when I announced my intention to sell (July 7th I think) I sold~ 5% of the total volume during that time...that’s 5,000 shares on a volume of 100,000… and again doesn’t include NASDAQ …if I include NASDAQ volume, the percent I sold is probably under 4% ….
If you consider the period when I first announced my intention to sell (January 14th I think) I sold~ 1.5% of the total volume during that time...that’s less than 1,500 shares on a volume of 100,000… and again doesn’t include NASDAQ …if I include NASDAQ volume, the percent I sold is probably under 1% ….
…need I continue…???
So, I respectfully submit that the sky is not falling because I am selling …unless of course you consider the manipulation of these facts by those who take pain staking measures to paint a bad picture of what we are doing and try and create a selling environment by counting on the fact that most investors don’t have the time to put it together…and there, my friend, is the hidden value for those that do REAL homework…what is really happening?
…and that takes me to another point: “what we are doing”. So, what have we done exactly? What have we done in the most recent months? Well, our job is to increase the value of the Company and, in my opinion, we have done a damn good job at doing just that. In the first 6 months of 2021, we posted revenues of ~14MM which is just short of the $18MM we posted for the full year 2020 (which was in and of itself an extraordinary increase from the ~$5MM in revenues from the year before) …not shabby eh? …and backlog of signed contracts is also very strong; $32 MM at last report. If that wasn’t enough, on top of that, since June 30th we announced over $28MM of contracts …$28MM !!!...which is over 150% of last year’s revenues, and twice of what we posted as our 6-month revenues this year! All announced since June 30th! Does anyone doubt that we have a much better company today than what we had at June 30th????
So, if you want to scream and shout and buy into short selling tactics…be my guest…you can’t fix stupid…I can innovate and bring great products to market with multi-billion-dollar companies, but I can’t fix stupid.
To those that ask me how I am going to “fix” the falling stock price the answer is I don’t “fix” stock prices. My answer is to simply say that we will press release out of it, meaning: if we continue to perform as we have, and rack up success after success as we have, the stock takes care of itself. We are in it for the super bowl. Our strategy is to build a dynasty and we are doing that well, and those that get it will appreciate all we are doing, and hopefully reap the benefits.
In closing I would like to repost something I had posted previously on the same topic as the essence of it still stands, enjoy:
With respect to my selling shares, I cannot comment of what is happening with the stock price/short activity etc., but I do appreciate your concerns.
You suggest that I should sell only in an uptrend. Playing the devil’s advocate, I can see you or someone else asking me, if I did as you proposed, why sell in an uptrend and put a damper on the increasing share price…?
There is really no “good” time for someone like me to sell shares as the assumption usually is that when an insider such as me sells then it must be close to the top… I want to prove that assumption wrong when I sell shares at Pyro. If you look back, I have been selling shares at low stock prices as well as at high…as such one cannot infer future stock price based on my selling habits.
I also do not believe that I am putting pressure on the stock. I am also not selling large blocks all at once, but I am trickling it out slowly slowly. If and when I sell it is done respectfully and with a healthy view to market volumes. I hope you realize that if I sold the same volumes that I did recently, and assuming 220 trading days a year, it would take me over 8 years to sell everything I have.
You also suggest that I do a cross trade with a broker…this would be the kiss of death. Despite what everyone preaches the fact of the matter would is that as soon as a firm got wind that I wanted to do a cross the share price would be hammered (to set up the situation where they could purchase the block cheaper) …this type of activity is almost a given.
Last but not least, I am adding to my position. Net effect: I own more shares now than I did last December 31st (cannot recall the exact number). I am selling primarily to exercise warrants which were/are expiring…plus enough to pay taxes thereon. What would you have me do? Pay millions and millions of dollars on top of everything I have invested, and I am doing? If I did that you should run for the hills as that would not be financially prudent…and if that is how I ran my personal finances what would you say about how I ran the company’s finances?
Bottom line: I would do anything for this Company. We have proven ourselves time and time again. I have a vision and I follow it and it has created the Company we have today. I have not done it alone as we have assembled at PyroGenesis an extraordinary team without which I would be a no one. Together we have created a monster of a Company that is nailing it week after week.
Hope that Helps,
Peter