David Dunnison, the head of business development at 6N Silicon Inc., located in Mississauga, Canada, which is developing a process to upgrade metallurgical silicon for use in solar cells, is quoted in the article found below on Timminco Limited’s (TSX: TIM $23.30) latest promotional scheme.
Yesterday Timminco halted its stock for no reason other than to create the appearance that a comment from Michael Rogal of Photon Consulting was material. Later Timminco disclosed that it had paid Photon Consulting a fee. Mr. Dunnison questioned Mr. Rogal’s ability to make any comment on the matter. Timminco’s treatment of Mr. Rogal’s engagement is quite similar to the way Timminco uses Q-Cells AG (Public, FRA: QCE).
In the article, Mr. Dunnison is quoted as saying of Mr. Rogol that “when it comes to technology and process specifics, no offence, he probably wouldn’t be my first choice. He tells you what is going on the market. He doesn’t talk technology.”
Timminco has a duty to provide continuous information about its condition so that analysts will not mislead investors. Clearly the press has obtained significant amounts of material information that Timminco’s analysts failed to include in their reports. This information was provided by the investor protection advocate community, which the press refers to as “short sellers.”
Investors must realize that the press has many interest and that it is not under any legal obligation to protect investors. In fact, like investors, the press is affected by the analysts’ reports. And the press does not advocate declines in a local stock especially where the largest local shareholder has been labelled a “genius.” With that in mind, Mr. Dunnison’s comment, and the press’ measured willingness to include his comment, even if the comment is not given its preserved prominence, can be helpful to investors who are interested in seeing through analyst’s lack of diligence, conflicts and often damaging reports.
Click here to read the Globe and Mail article titled “Contract upgrade, report boost Timminco shares.”