The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma has just been released. Listen here.
Once upon a time, there were three hungry mice. The mice were hungry because the harvest had been poor that year, and they hadn't stored enough grain to last the whole winter.
The first mouse shivered and turned to the second mouse, “I'm starving!” Nodding, the second mouse agreed. He cupped his front paws together, blew warm air into them then turned to the third mouse. The third mouse was peering from inside a tattered oven-glove. He leant from his bed and grumbled, “Ah really hate this farking place.”
Pulling up an empty matchbox, the first mouse curled his tail onto his lap and perched on the edge of the box. Heaving a huge sigh, he furrowed his brow. “You know, I've heard of a far away place where there's more food than we could ever eat.” The second mouse pricked his ears, “Food! Where?” From the depths of the oven-glove a voice muttered, “Anywhere's better than this farking place.”
The first mouse sprang from the matchbox, hopped over a small pile of rat poison and sat beside his friend on a metal lid that had the words: 'Mrs Bridges Thin-Cut Marmalade,' printed on top.
“As far as I can make out, it's a place called the Alternative Investment Midden. You can either lose everything trying to get there or get robbed blind when you do get there. But...” the first mouse turned and winked at his friend, “... but here's the trick Terry - if you do crack it - they say there's more food there than you ever dreamed possible. However...”
Terry-mouse waited for his friend Hashtag to reply. He twitched his whiskers then waited some more. Finally, he jumped to his feet and spun to face his companion, “However WHAT?”
Hashtag stroked his chin while sucking air in through his teeth, “AIM is risky, Terry. Incredibly risky.”
“Look, if we stay here we're stuffed.” Terry-mouse slowly rotated on the spot, arms outstretched. “So we can either stay here and starve to death or... or we can have a go at your risky... Alternative thingy! Come on, Hash', Let's go!”
Hashtag raised himself to his full height, firmed his jaw, nodded, and said, “Let's do it!” The two mice fist-bumped then, looking towards the oven-glove asked, “You coming Baxter?” Baxter's head appeared from the oven-glove, “Ah hate this farking place. Ah'm staying farking put”
One Week Later...
The two mice stood at the edge of a sea-cliff, exhausted. Hashtag pointed towards the horizon. “There! There it is!” Miles from shore, a massive mountain of black rock protruded from the sea and prodded the clouds.
“What the...? An island!” Terry-mouse shook his head, “Are you crazy? How the f...” Then a movement in the sea below caught his eye, “Bloody hell!” He boggle-eyed the water and pointed as if repeatedly ringing a door bell. There, three hundred feet below, were the ghosting silhouettes of hundreds of enormous sharks.
Hashtag forced a tight smile, “I think... I might have forgotten to mention those, Tel. They're called market makers.”
“Forgot!” Terry-mouse clutched his forehead and stamped in a tight circle, “Well your market makers have just made this gig ten times more difficult than it already was!”
Just then, a large shadow swept across the mice. They instinctively leapt into a tuft of long grass. From overhead, a huge bird touched down and paddled its feet along the cliff-top trying desperately to slow. Then, collapsing onto its belly, it skidded for several yards before finally slewing to a halt at the very lip of the cliff. The massive white bird cautiously eased itself back from the precipice and then up onto its large paddle feet. He ****ed his head to one side then peered over the edge at the ocean so very far below. “Jeez! Talk abart close shaves. Could've fallen to me deff just then!” The bird dusted himself off then began singing, “If you want my body and you think I'm sexy... deedle, daddle, deedle, da!” as he fancy footworked back to where he'd first spotted the mice. He prodded the grass tuft with its beak, “Hashtag! Hash', that you in there?”
A small pink nose appeared through the grass, “Albert?”
“Blimey! It IS you Hash'!” The bird snorted. “Would you Adam 'n' Eve it? How long 'as it been my son?” (Note to reader: the big bird speaks with a ****ney accent).
Hashtag ran towards the bird, “Albert! Albert Ross! Haven't seen you since that incident with the beaver, the stirrups and the foot-pump! How long ago was that?” Hashtag turned and waved Terry out of hiding. “Here, Tel! Come and meet big Albert Ross the albatross. He's the last Black-Brow left on the face of the planet.
Later That Night...
“That's easy done lads... gettin' to that midden island!” Albert regurgitated another sardine onto the fire and the mice busied themselves cooking the fish. “I'll just fly you there, gobble up as much scran as I can fit in, then fly you straight home!”
Terry shook his head, “But we need enough food to last the whole winter.” Albert unfolded his three metre wingspan, “Hey, you talkin' to Albert Ross here!” He raised his wings aloft like a championship winning boxer, and a large cod fell from under a wingpit. The cod lay on the ground eyeing Albert with a fixed stare, then, with its final dying gasp, it growled, “Ass...hole!” Albert kicked the fish onto the fire, “Right, first light tomorrow, we're off.” Then he coughed up three squid tentacles and a plastic straw, “Tuck in lads! I've still got a trawler load in here.”
The huge AIM Casino was located at the very top of AIM Island. The visiting guests lived lavish lifestyles: drinking, eating and gambling to excess - but only for as long as they could pay. Excess food, drink and losers were thrown down the mountain, where seabirds, giant crabs then finally market maker sharks helped themselves. And, on the following morning, it was on the slopes of this island where Albert and the two mice loaded up with as much food as they could carry.
Several hours later, back in the wall cavity at home, Baxter's nose appeared from his oven-glove, “Noo ah'm farkin' delirious.” He twitched his whiskers, “Ah kin even smell grub in ma dreams!” He rubbed one eye then puzzled up at the mountain of food which was piled from floor to ceiling. Now he rubbed both eyes, then, tripping over the snoozing Terry's tail, he stumbled towards a large piece of gently steaming Stilton lodged at the bottom of the enormous pile. He nibbled at the cheese then quickly dashed to a drooping ****tail sausage, then upward to an over-ripe banana, zipped left to a half-gnawed chicken drumstick, right to a curly slice of ham, but all the time climbing higher, probing, sniffing, tasting, zigzagging, searching until, finally, he reached the top and straightened up on a wilting pain au chocolat. Slowly, he turned and glowered down at the two fat-bellied mice far below. “You two really take the biscuit! Awe this...” Baxter made an expansive gesture with his paws, “...awe THIS, and no' even one solitary choclit farkin' HOBNOB!”
Many thanks for your efforts S2020 - and the latest broker update.
Greater Strategic Value Than Mobileye! (Cenkos have been reading my notes).
E.T.
Good effort. I understand how time consuming pulling stuff like this together can be, so thank you.
If I could make a suggestion, it might be a good idea (over the coming weeks and months) to keep your note up-to-date. When the rise in share price does eventually begin, it would be very handy to have something to beat visiting trolls over the head with (a rising share price tends to act like fertiliser on the things). Dropping your note into the bulletin board would be like carpet bombing the pests, and also allow potential investors an easy over-view of the company.
Many thanks,
Sandy.
theCFB,
I bow to your superior knowledge... but the rant did do me the world of good.
If Seeing Machines fired out an RNS for every customer engaging with our technology we'd already be halfway to 2020's £3 target.
This is the most frustrating aspect of our management – they just don't understand what The Market needs to hear. Come on guys! You don't have to name names, all you have to do is issue an RNSs giving a heads-up on each new customer with a basic outline of what's going on. Typical instance: Gridtraq (thank you John). What's wrong with an RNS for this? Why are investors being left to discover this information for themselves (as usual)? This should be an RNS, and how many other instances are there similar to Gridtraq?
These small pieces of news are what builds confidence and momentum – and that's exactly what's lacking here.
I'm guessing that with all that's going on in the DMS world, a strategic flow of news could have Seeing Machines' share price going bonkers... instead of just its shareholders!
Ahhhhhh, that's better.
(Part 1)
The subject of autonomous cars regularly pops up on this board – often perceived as a threat by newcomers to Seeing Machines' technology. But, people, please remember, journalists have to fill pages with 'stuff'. So poorly researched headlines like: 'Self-Driving Cars Around Corner' makes maximum impact for minimum effort.
However, to test how close we are to a world full of autonomous cars, take a drive into your nearest town. On your journey, see if you can spot anything that might confuse a computer on wheels? What about that roundabout where it's every driver for themselves? What about that double parked vehicle; that junction with a clear view only one way; that faulty road sign; new tar; a carpet of snow; a sheet of ice; mud; streaming water! Where did all the road markings go?
My guess is that faced with 'serious' weather an autonomous car will refuse to go anywhere. The annoying aspect of this is that in your 'old' car, despite these conditions, you'd have driven to work anyway.
However, I need to back up a bit. That roundabout I mentioned earlier (and have mentioned in previous posts), it's in our nearest town which, at certain times of day, is an interesting test for myself, never mind a self-driving car. The traffic can be hellish and you really have to 'go-for-the-gap' when it appears. So here's the question: how long will your autonomous car take to decide it's safe to proceed? And does it also 'understand' that when it finally does pluck up the courage to make its move, it better get a shoogle on?
This also highlights the problem of infrastructure. Obviously, the roads on which these self-drivers will operate have to be suitable. They have to be planned or modified then laid out so that these vehicles have time to safely stop and - more to the point – time to safely go. So we need junctions and roundabouts with clear line-of-sight; clear road markings and first class signage. This, in turn, flags up another problem. We're not all going to wake up one morning and every car on the road is self-driving. So it follows that we'll have a mix of manually driven and autonomous vehicles on the road (after the junctions, road markings and signs have been sorted out). But now back to my roundabout scenario...
Our self-driving car has reached the front of the queue and is contemplating the Roundabout from Hell. But is it safe to proceed? What? It's like Wacky Races out there! So our autonomous car is going nowhere – at least until rush hour's over. So now we have every driver in the queue behind giving you a cheery wave and a smile as they eventually squeeze past your autonomous road block.
(Part 2)
Likewise, that double parked delivery vehicle. How does your car work out it's parked and not just the last in a queue of traffic? It's easy enough to drive around it, but that would mean moving onto the wrong side of the road. But even though it's safe to do so, our self-driver will randomly be seeing oncoming traffic. So I'm guessing that because it's programmed to always be safe - it will stay exactly where it is and wait for the parked vehicle to move off. So, same as with our roundabout, if you're lucky enough to be in the queue behind it... Happy Days!
Now, imagine you're out on the open road. Good news! Tractor up ahead! Hopefully your computer on wheels has been taught to overtake. Firstly, it will need the ability to look past the tractor (on its own, an interesting problem). Then, of course, it already knows about time, distance, speed, rate of acceleration and - possibly - how it needs to fit all of this into the rapidly closing gap between itself and the oncoming articulated truck whose side of the road it's now occupying. However, if it's not up for overtaking and opts to stay safe, it can... stay safe. This gives you, its passenger, time to have a look behind at the massive tail-back caused by someone who's having difficulty with a John Deere!
Another consideration for our autonomous vehicle, as mentioned earlier, is that many parts of our planet are regularly subject to 'interesting' weather. At such times road signs, road markings and verges are prone to disappear. So how will your autonomous car 'see' them? The thing is, if it can't see what it needs to see – it can't be where it needs to be. Checkmate!
All this will possibly make the thought of owning an autonomous vehicle fairly unpalatable to a certain percentage of the population (but not those copy-and-past journalists). And remember, day to day driving is a function of constantly changing variables; problems which (most) human brains are far superior at resolving than any amount of computing power. So what we REALLY might need is some sort of driver monitoring aid: something that keeps us on the straight-and-narrow when one of those constantly changing variables turns out to be our constantly changing eyelids - varying between open and closed.
And lastly, we need to remember there are many drivers out there who actually enjoy driving. There are also many marques of car whose manufacturers pride themselves on the handling characteristics of their vehicles. And if you're not sure of the size of this market, pop into your nearest W.H. Smith and scan the number of motoring magazines on offer (not to mention TV shows). How many of the individuals buying into this market will be keen to own a car with no steering wheel?
So, when journalists announce: Self-Driving Cars Around the Corner, perhaps they're all just agreeing on the fine cut of The Emperor's New Clothes.
Maps,
I wrote (yes, a letter) to Paul McGlone on the 5th of July. Basically, I was asking questions very similar to the thoughts you expressed earlier.
Two months down the line... I'm still waiting for a reply.
Aladdin McGlone kept his gold coins in a shed. Well, to be more precise, he kept his gold coins in a row of sheds. As he paced along the line of buildings, each shed he passed was bigger than the last. Aladdin McGlone smiled. He had tapped into a market at exactly the right time with exactly the right product, and those early years of struggle had turned to this. He beamed another huge smile, pulled up a chair and sat admiring his riches.
One shed was so full of coins the door had burst open and the contents had flowed onto the floor like a sparkling river. Aladdin sighed, then pondered for a moment, "Jeez! If autos hadn't slowed... I'd have more than one broken bloody door!"
Aladdin stood abruptly, spun his chair around, then sat facing an enormous warehouse. This was where the company's gold was stored. Aladdin folded his arms and relaxed back into his seat.
Just then, Saint Nick DiFiore appeared from a door on the side of the warehouse. He struggled to close the door, then, giving up, he strode towards Aladdin until he stood beside him.
"What d'ya think Nick?” Aladdin smiled up at his key man.
St. Nick heaved a huge sigh, “I think you need a bigger warehouse!”
ISB
Perhaps we should all be thankful the AIM is illogical and regularly makes little sense. It's those very failings which give we 'ordinary' investors a chance.
Because the members of this board have dissected this business to the nth degree, the combined research offered here often highlights our understanding of Seeing Machines to be well ahead of the professionals. As a case in point, 2020's broker's note compiled by Mr Bunce. The only positive I take from the man's value assessment of our company is a thankfulness that he did not join the medical profession.
As a pointer to the value of a well researched bulletin board, I am also invested in mining company (BMN) which was on it's knees a while back. Long story short - they went through a very similar scenario to that which Seeing Machines has just endured. The turn-around was incredible. Once again, the market could not see what was coming - but the brilliant team doing the research on that board could; many of whom bought a great many shares when things appeared to be at their worst. Sound familiar?
Now here we are: our fund raise out of the way; a new broom in the shape of PM; and a share price responding. I need not go through the incredible list of positives relating to this company but, boy-oh-boy, talk about aligning stars!
So I remain incredibly bullish, and am delighted the AIM - and Mr Bunce - are both bonkers.
Best to all,
Sandy.
New to Seeing Machines? Well then...
What if, a very long time ago, an investor with a wad of cash was walking along a street. As he's passing an old shed, there's a muffled explosion. The investor spins to face the wooden building and witnesses it collapse in a heap.
As the dust begins to clear, a lone figure staggers from the building's ruins, dusting himself off with his cap. It's an old Chinese gentleman. He coughs, begins laughing, then says (in Mandarin), !Hey dude, I think I've just invented gunpowder!"
Well, now everyone on the street is laughing at the old fool. But not our investor. You see, his mind begins to race as he instantly grasps the potential of what the old man has just invented. Instead of blowing up perfectly good sheds, here's something with much greater possibilities. Here's something which could make arrows, cold steel and cauldrons of boiling oil redundant overnight. This could be huge! But surely an investment at such an early stage would need to develop a market - and that would take time!
Luckily, our investor already knows a man who has been trying to blow something he calls a cannonball out of something he calls a cannon for years, and now here's a thing called Gunpowder!
You see, our investor had the ability to grasp the significance of that shed disintegrating. Here before him was a new, disruptive technology - a black powder - and a chance to Get In early. Which brings me...
Back to today. Here you are having a look at Seeing Machines. As a potential investor, getting into something at the right time isn't easy. However, if you care to carry out even minimal research, you'll quickly discover that the technology Seeing Machines has been developing over many years has already been adopted by a number of prime vehicle manufactures - BUT - (and here's the trick) it's barely been noticed by the wider investing world.
So, has Seeing Machines arrived at its Gunpowder Moment? Who knows? I'd like to think so. But nothing in this game comes with a guarantee. However, there are times when a business comes along that eventually begins to give off all the right signals. So do yourself a favour: a bit of research. Start by having a look at the up-and-coming Euro Ncap requirements if cars are to gain a five-star safety rating. And while you're Googling, have a look at what the EU are about to mandate regarding Driver Monitoring Systems. That would make a start.
Oh, and before I go, guess which company is the clear leader in the field of Driver Monitoring? Here's a clue: I bought even more of it just after their muffled explosion.
Good fortune to all,
Sandy
Eventually - I cracked!
Our visitor yesterday mentioned ISO 26262. So I had a look, but... meh! Looks like an industry standard.
However, I came across a website (see link below) where a young lady is videoed promoting her company, Onespin. She expounds the virtues of ISO26262 and the merits of the Standard in aiding safety and reliability. She does this while driving a Tesla.
The young woman then goes on to explain how vehicle electronics are safety critical, and if anything went wrong with her car she could be injured - or much worse! Fortunately - for the world - we have ISO26262 to keep us all safe.
Now watch her drive her Tesla...
https://youtu.be/h4kX2AjodgM
P.S. You might have to cut and paste the link
Seeing2020,
Love it. This 'thing' might just be coming together at long last.
My earlier post was a wee bit flippant, but here's the thing...
This morning we're told that we now have 'entry level solutions targeting Euro Ncap goals.'
How odd is that? As far as I'm aware, Euro Ncap have not released the spec of the DMS which will be required. But yet here we are being told we have now sold (I'm assuming from today's RNS) a DMS solution (entry level system) which targets Euro Ncap goals.
So the manufacturer who has bought our DMS is satisfied that what they have bought will comply with Euro Ncap.
It may also be of interest to any new or potential investors that Seeing Machines were one of the industry advisers to Euro Ncap (the only one with immense working data from systems which have been 'on the road' for years).
Me thinks Seeing Machines have just let us into a secret; have a peek! The Seeing Machines cave is covered in gold... gold I tell you! GOLD!
Jeez, I see Euro Ncap have laid it out to car manufacturers - plain and simple; if you want a 5 Star safety rating for your car - it better come fitted with a Driver Monitoring System.
Jeez, I see the European Union are telling all vehicle manufacturers that they will very soon need to fit a Driver Monitoring System as standard - or they won't be in business for much longer.
Jeez, I see the European Union don't only mean passenger cars must have a Driver Monitoring System fitted - it's everything with wheels and an engine (or electric motor).
Jeez, I see that wee Australian company Seeing Machines now has another piece of kit to offer manufacturers: an Entry Level Solution (they've made it so it's easier for manufactures to comply with the impending E.U. Regulations).
Jeez, how did Seeing Machines know what the E. U. standard would be? Ah, of course, it was Seeing Machines who told them what works and what don't!
Jeez! Where can I buy into a company who's the leader in the Driver Monitoring field? Must be worth a fortune (one day... one day...)
P.S. If we do now offer a lower, entry level spec of Fovio - might have been a nice idea to RNS it!
P.S. (again – just for the Hell of it) Jeez!
Mr BB,
An excellent method of displaying management's confidence in the future of the company would be to issue themselves Options to Buy. These options would be at a much elevated figure from that of today.
How about an option to buy at (insert figure here) from twelve months from the date of the announcement RNS? (which, ideally, would be be tomorrow morning).
My figure is 40p - but that's only to stir it (but 40p will make me very, awfully, ridiculously, handsomely, stinkily, Jaguar F Type (one for each foot) wealthy.
Good fortune,
Sandy.
P.S. It's the 5.0 litre matching pair of F-Types I'm having - none of your silly little girly 3.0 litre stuff; one to drive and one to look at and polish... and stroke... and sigh... and then stroke it some more.
BUT-– waow! Look at that new Aston Martin Vanquish... I need a bigger garage!... one day... one day...
Congratulations Pdub
This morning, in an effort to find the answer to a question, I was searching for a past video interview with Ken Kroeger - but failed to find it. However, one of the many Proactive Investor videos I did stumble across (see link below) dated back to 28th November 2014, and it may go some way to explaining why, after all these years, our share price is still at these levels.
In the last question posed by the interviewer, Mr Kroeger is asked, "What will it take to trigger a movement in the share price?"
Mr. Kroeger's response is telling. He replies, without missing a beat, "You'll have to ask the investors that because that's out of our control."
So with Mr. Kroeger's response in mind, as our share price drifted from 14p down to sub 3p, who was best placed to counter that collapse, Mr. Kroeger or you and me?
Now, bear with me as I direct you towards AIM Rules regarding Disclosure of Price Sensitive Information, one of which states companies should comment on any change in Expectation of Performance.
Now think about Super Cruise being expanded into more Cadillac models. What about General Motors' intention to then roll Super Cruise out across their whole vehicle range? Could that extra business affect our Expectation of Performance? Also, given the combined effects of the impending EU regulations and the looming Euro Ncap requirements, would there not be a high probability that any of the other manufacturers we've already signed up may well do the same as GM? All of the above have the potential to make a significant change in our Expectation of Performance, and any such change is something which should be communicated to The Market in a timely manner. But what did we get? Secondhand news via the internet.
Mr. Kroeger's statement made way back in 2014 is testament to his lack of understanding as to how the AIM game is played. Given our potential, there are CEOs out there who could have our share price orbiting the moon (Mike McAuliffe?) Just look at us: the names we've already signed up; the legislation heading our way; our world leading technology; and we have a share price similar to a one-shot junior oily who's just drilled a dry hole!
However (now, calm down dear), all that is now in the past. So that next RNS, Mr Paul McGlone, could it please arrive tooled up with everything it needs to start dragging us back up that price curve? And could it also be penned by a best-selling thriller writer whose brief is to tell our story with a bit more gusto and reveal the true potential of this company? And please do not - DO NOT - allow the office bloody junior (or anyone else who had 'a go' at penning our previous news releases) anywhere near the RNS stationery cupboard ever again!
Good fortune to all,
(a bit grumpy today) Sandy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kAZyW5FUJA