Nordic American Tankers Ltd (NAT)

[conix]

Just listened to the Conference Call. I agree that the first few minutes sounded pretty good.

But I was actually shocked how the CEO spoke to the stock analysts. They were asking very good, detailed questions and his answer was demeaning to everyone. He basically said these "details" would be of no interest to most of the audience. He would be happy to answer the uncomfortable questions one on one.

If he thought that move made listeners feel like he was a straight shooter--that was not my impression.

There was someone who asked a direct question about him using the old "Total Return" story over the years by asking if he thought it was a wise move to sell a lot of his family's shares in the teens despite the TOTAL RETURN history.

His answer was that they had to pay taxes! Really? Selling stock near the 52 week high GENERATES a tax bill. Sure they had a tax problem---after they sold.

Everyone knows that they sold at a great price and have proudly announced they have bought back a mere fraction of what they sold at huge discounts totheir original sale price.

Another shareholder challenged the CEO on the wisdom of buying three more ships when everyone in the industry was seeing a downturn. And that shareholder accurately said that part of the dividend cut was because of the need to pay for those ships. (The CEO stated that they paid 30% up front and owe another $116 million. Where is that money going to come from? Another dividend cut? More shares being sold--more dilution?)

It was obvious to me that his answers did not go over well with the stock analysts. No wonder the price is down. I cannot imagine ANYONE listening to the call saying "everything looks good and I need to average down and buy more." At the best, you may have had some listeners say they will not sell down here.

But, judging by the price, the selling continues.

All in all, the NAT CEO sounded like he was living in the past and just kept on repeating "Total Return".