Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Questions for the CEO of Alloy Steel International?


On the off chance any of you have a question for the Hank Reardon of wear plates, leave it in the comment thread below. Mr. Kostecki has apparently indicated through an intermediary a willingness to chat with me.

18 comments:

JK said...

Where does he see the company 5 years from now? What kind of long term potential is there in AYSI, how big does he see the company becoming?

What are their plans beyond Arcoplate? New technology being worked on?

DaveinHackensack said...

I'll ask him, but I know they already have other technology in the can that they haven't had a chance to promote yet: a 3-D cladding process with which they can apply Arcoplate to the inside surfaces of chutes and pipes used in mining, processing ore, etc.

JK said...

Ahh, ok, that's right. But do all their future plans revolve around the success of Arcoplate?

I'm kind of curious just how ambitious the CEO is. How far in the future he is planning for, what he dreams of for his company. I think it's clear that in the near term Arcoplate and Alloy's future is bright, my only concern is that this is a one trick pony. I wonder how long Arcoplate will have a competitive edge, and if they are thinking past Arcoplate yet.

Not a major concern of course, but it's all I could think of because like I said the near term future is bright: they have a product they can't churn out fast enough, and that's a good problem to have.

DaveinHackensack said...

OK, I'll ask.

BTW, can you check your AOL e-mail from work?

Anonymous said...

dave-

u should strongly consider the risks of publicly posting answers to any questions that could be interpreted as violating reg FD etc

this is common sense

so im hoping youll keep your posts within the obvious limits of disclosure and not risk publicly posting anything that could get the company in trouble down the road ...

id think youd be aware of this but seeing u on ihub and here has me worried that perhaps u may unintentionally be putting the company (and obviously yourself) at risk by publishing anything that could possibly be interpreted as a disclosure violation

the company is up to their eyes in growth- booking, expansion, marketing- all at breakneck pace ...

the last thing they, or any shareholders need, is for there to be any kind of distraction, taint, or worse due to what may be only an innocuous breach of regFD ...

so please, as a fellow shareholder, and admirer of your blog, refrain from posting anything that will possibly be misinterpreted- and also, err on the side of caution ...

DaveinHackensack said...

Anon,

I understand your concern, but I don't think you have to worry about Gene violating Reg FD or any other regs. I, of course, would never ask him to do so.

Your comment makes me curious about something though: If a public company were to disclose material new information to a newspaper reporter, with the understanding that that reporter would publish a story about it, I assume that wouldn't be considered a violation of Reg FD, because the info would be disseminated publicly. What if a public company executive did the same thing with a blogger, who then published a post about it? I was planning to call my securities attorney today to follow up on something else anyway, so I'll run this by him out of curiosity.

Anonymous said...

hey dave

i dont know the answer re the reporter but my guess is that would be okay but the reporter could not trade the stock or advise someone to until the story had been published ...

there is a difference between a newspaper, and a reporter, vs an individual investor who has a blog and posts in chat rooms ...

this is common sense but not sure of letter of the law

plus- newspaper reporters are rarely trying to figure out how to make money or what a company may earn

most importantly, instead of getting stuck in semantics, thept is simple- whether gene intended to or not (and same for u for that matter), its not impossible he will would or can say something by accident

its your responsibility to use good JUDGEMENT regarding what u choose to post publicly re any info u learn- and it is a responsibility u should take very seriously, regardless of whatever your securities lawyer may tell you ...

again, this is all pretty basic stuff- there is plenty to lose, but absolutely nothing to gain, by doing anything around the company or its officers that can pose any type of risk to shareholders from potential taint, distraction or possibly even worse

again i reiterate- i am a big fan of your blog and of you, this isnt personal at all ...

im a professional investor and do this for a living

DaveinHackensack said...

I get the feeling you'd rather I didn't post anything about the company (or at least not anything positive). Nice tack expressing Reg FD concerns though.

Homer315 said...

Of course, if the CEO really did disclose material non public information (which is what would be subject to Reg FD) and Dave did not disclose it in his blog, then he would also not be able to trade the stock while in possession of the information, since that might constitute insider trading. Kinda damned if you do, damned if you don't. ;-)

DaveinHackensack said...

Albert,

I suspect Anon is trying to accumulate and would rather see as little written about the company as possible. If he knows the company, he probably knows that the chances AYSI's CEO is going to violate any regulations concerning shareholder communications are about zero.

I wouldn't mind seeing a dip in this stock myself, as it would give me a chance to acquire more shares at a lower price. But if the CEO wants to reach out, I'm not going to blow him off. It's not as if he (or other micro cap CEOs) have a lot of outlets for shareholder communications.

Reg FD makes sense to prevent anyone from having an unfair advantage. But if executives are intimidated into avoiding communicating with shareholders, that doesn't help anyone.

Anonymous said...

this is silly and you couldnt be further from the truth- i am an extremely large owner of the stock- and would bet that i likely own multiples more than you

your post also shows naivete in implying that i guess you think im shorting the stock ?

meaning, i dont think you can actually short the stock dave, even if one wanted to ...

all these various opinions from your posters etc are pure conjecture and eprsonal opinions- they have nothing to do w reality

reality is simple- if there is good news etc, it will be communicated via an 8k, a press release or through a 10q/k or even a pre-re;ease of eps potentially ...

i repeat, there is little need to take risk if there is nothing to gain

in my opinion, publicly posting comments on a blog or chatroom relating to a private conversation you have w an officer or board member of a public company is not wise, for myriad reasons- im surprised you cant seem to grasp this for yourself- or more importantly, by doing this there is at least some risk of a bad outcome and zero chance of a good outcome, no ?

any info will be communicated in due course, as it always has been ---

anyhow, i remain a fan of your blog and read it almost daily when not traveling (and not just the stock content), but am thoroughly confused as to why you cant seem tog rasp what im saying- not to mention disappointed you took a childish approach at insinuating im short the stock (which i dont even think can happen logistically, and certainly not in size)

beyond not being able to, wouldnt you ask yourself why id short a stock that is 4-5x real-time runrate eps w disruptive technology, v high incremental margins and accelerating triple digit top line growth ??

i really did expect more from you

DaveinHackensack said...

"i am an extremely large owner of the stock- and would bet that i likely own multiples more than you"

It's amazing how many self-professed whales one finds investing in nano-cap stocks.

"your post also shows naivete in implying that i guess you think im shorting the stock ?"

And your post shows a lack of reading comprehension. I wrote,

"I suspect Anon is trying to accumulate..."

Accumulate = buy, not short.

"in my opinion, publicly posting comments on a blog or chatroom relating to a private conversation you have w an officer or board member of a public company is not wise..."

I don't post notes about a conversation with any corporate executive on this blog without that person's knowledge and consent. If I do speak with AYSI's CEO and he doesn't want me to blog about our conversation, I won't.

If you actually read this blog, you'll notice that I've talked to the same executives multiple times, in some cases. If they didn't approve of how described our conversations here, why do you think they would keep talking to me?

Anonymous said...

sorry

i didnt read that second post of yours- rather focused where u seemingly implied i wouldnt want u to post anything good abt the co because i was short

u can be skeptical about my ownership but again, thats pointless and serves no purpose- and of course isnt relevant to me

lastly, u r again focusing on semantics here (ie my ownership, my motives, whether i read your blog etc)

pls just focus on the core pt of what i said initially- not enough time or energy for this back and forth for either of us i suppose- and that is there is little pt in serving as a liason/mouthpiece for a publicly traded company, reporting on what officers or directors tell you in private --

for the last time, surely you must realize the greater point here, this really is common sense and for the life of me i cant figure out why you want to argue instead of simply weighing the merits of what ive said and perhaps just exercising caution and being responsible ...

ok- this has been a lot of posts and of course youll make your own decision but id personally feel much better if you didnt put any shareholders at risk in a name i own, nor do anything that oculd indirectly taint the co or cause a distraction for a manager whose time is already stretched incredibly thin ...

good luck

DaveinHackensack said...

For heaven's sake Anon, why would I want to hurt AYSI or its shareholders, considering that I happen to be one myself? As for the point of blogging about this sort of thing, I like the amateur journalism angle of it, reporting on companies that no professional writer would ever cover. Exchanges like the one we've had here do make me question whether it's worth the hassle sometimes.

JK said...

Dave,

No, unfortunately I can't.

Anon - Shut up. People call these companies all the time. That is the point of them hiring an IR service, etc. If you are on IHUB then you should be far more concerned with the number of blatant fraud stock scams being pumped on that website. Instead of "Anon", why don't you post under your IHUB handle, BTW? Your writing style looks familiar but my eyes could be deceiving me.

DaveinHackensack said...

FWIW,

I picked up a small number of shares yesterday at $2.27, but I won't be placing any more trades in this stock until I have posted the recap of my Q&A with the company on this blog.

Anonymous said...

dave

i appreciate your vigilance and what youre trying to achieve here ...

im sorry youve misunderstood the tenor and ultimately, the point, of my communication with you ...

i applaud you for not trying to buy until you disseminate information you receive- but im really a lot more worried about the company's exposure here, not yours ...

im worried about the risk, albeit possibly a small one, of the company/mgmt being censured, or having any of its time taken around answering a formal or informal inquiry that could possibly result- not to mention the potential for associated taint w the stock ...

so im clear, please just exercise common sense here when you make you posts- stuff such as #s or a big new customer win or anything that could be considered ''material'' cant be relayed by you or its a violation- cut and dried, really not much grey area (and certainly not worth putting the company or any of its shareholders at risk for) ...

the fact that you are 'disseminating' the info matters little- as the company's responsibility for relaying material info is via an 8-k or a press release breaks on the newswire, not a blog or a chatboard that may or may not be read by the wider investment community ...

so again, i appreciate your intent and remain a strong fan of your blog and think youre very bright and also ethical, i just believe in this case it would be prudent to err on the side of caution (in no way am i discouraging you from calling, or posting for that matter, just pleading with you to exercise common sense in what you do post)

thanks for your time and keep up the good work ...

DaveinHackensack said...

The list of questions ended up being fairly long. Gene wrote back to say that he and Alan planned to try to answer all the questions by midweek next week. In light of that time frame, I am going to revise my previous comment about not placing any trades until I post their response. I am going to place additional limit buy orders today but I won't modify them if they don't fill until after I have posted AYSI's responses to the questions. The salient point remains that I won't be buying or selling AYSI based on answers received from the company before posting them here.

Anon, point taken. Based on the questions asked (I deleted the one that explicitly asked about EPS estimates), I doubt any of the answers will be material in the sense of Reg FD, but if I suspect that they are, I will suggest to AYSI management that they issue an 8-k.