Ann: Return of Capital Update, page-30

Sorry, gents. It was and is not my intention to get into a flaming contest. Sincere apologies for any offense caused.

I voted against the previous board's decision to cave to the Govt. I wanted to stay the course and have our day in court.

I voted against the previous board's decision to not liquidate the firm once the settlement was paid out and spent a fair amount of time arguing with the chairman about this issue.

I voted for the capital return (and the share buybacks) as an efficient way of returning what's left of our money.

To the extent that the share price is now above the cash backing, that's a good thing. If someone wants to leave, then they at least are not having to sell out below the cash backing, which adds insult to injury.

Clearly, anyone who has been in this stock for ANY period of time beyond the past couple of months is sitting on huge losses. Unfortunately, that is all history.

As we all know, investing in the market is about looking forward, not backward. If you don't like what you see in the windscreen, then sell or agitate for a different strategy. Focusing on the rear view mirror provides no insight as to what is coming around the bend.

As I understand it after conversations with the new management team, their plan is to act as an opportunistic lender/partner in the E&P space. Given the paucity of capital available to early stage players, a case can be made that high returns might be on offer to a sophisticated player with cash on hand and the skills to negotiate complex structures.

BYE is the only live example of this strategy. It will be interesting to see whether more emerge. If nothing else comes to the fore, then the firm should be wound down and/or it will be acquired by someone who does have a plan for the cash on hand.

As always, good luck to everyone investing their hard earned capital.