Why I Chose AlumiFuel Power Corporation
NOTICE: This is not investment advice. Do not take this as a suggestion to buy or sell any particular security. Should you buy any security, please make sure to do your own independent research on it first.
I first became interested in learning about investing in December 2010. I wondered how the prices of currencies fluctuate and how profit can be made by trading currencies at opportune times. But since I did not have enough money to make a profit trading currencies, I botched that idea.
Then I became interested in how businesses work, and how stocks, bonds and other related financial instruments work. I opened an account with ShareBuilder in February 2011, and bought my first stock from Green Energy Live (GELV); I sold it soon after because I suspected something was not quite right. That's when I learned about the sketchiness and scamming that is usually attributed to the over-the-counter stock market.
With the little capital I had ($1,710), I looked for other businesses to put money into; at this point it was speculation; the odds of making money looking for a business in the penny stock market are not very high for the simple fact that there are so many abandoned, insignificant and fake companies on the over-the-counter market and very few legitimate ones, much less many legitimate ones that have an actual product that is in high-demand.
Eventually I found AlumiFuel Power Corporation, but before AlumiFuel I found Casey Container Corporation (CSEY), headed by Chairman Terry Neild, former CEO of Jolt Beverage Corporation. Casey Container is planning to manufacture plastic bottles that biodegrade within two years, apparently much faster than any other biodegradable plastic on the market today. Casey Container's stock was selling around sixteen cents per share, so I bought some shares; when I realized how slow the process of business was, I sold my shares at twenty cents per share.
I soon found another company that was similar to Casey Container in that it seemed very legitimate, in May 2010, and that company was AlumiFuel Power Corporation. I bought shares in two lots; the first lot one day in May, and the second lot in June. On June 30th, I called CEO David Cade and we had a very engaging conversation. He explained to me the basics of the alternative energy industry and his previous experience as CEO of a lithium battery company, a career in the Department of Defense and a position at COMSAT. At the end of our half-hour conversation I suddenly knew volumes about the alternative energy industry- hydrogen in particular- that I did not know before, such as the dangers presented by K-Cylinders which are used to transport lift gas to balloon launch sites, and current-generation fuels for UUVs. I also learned about AlumiFuel's target markets- at least one of which they have now penetrated, which is the United States military.
Although at first it seemed sketchy and some spelling errors on their website made me suspicious, as well as some contradicting information I had read while researching them on the internet, in recent weeks my suspicion was assuaged completely when AlumiFuel got a contract with the United States Air Force Special Operations Command, and a listing on several government websites to prove it. This is what really made me see AlumiFuel as different than all of the other companies I have looked up that possess desirable prospects for growth within my small amount of capital.
It cannot be denied that my decision to buy shares of AlumiFuel was a reckless one, and had I been borrowing money from someone else to do it, it would have been irresponsible. At that time, it was not an investment, it was speculation.
From May to June, I was also reading Warren Buffett's biography- The Snowball: Warren Buffett And The Business of Life, and I learned about Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett's mentor, and how he differentiates between price and value. A quote from Graham: "Price is what you pay, value is what you get." With that principle in mind, I looked at the price of AlumiFuel shares at a penny apiece, and at the time didn't know whether I was buying a hidden gem or a cubic zirconium ring. On October 6th AlumiFuel and other independent sources announced that they had gotten a contract with the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and the price of the shares which had settled around the one-tenth-of-a-cent mark shot up over five-hundred percent in a few days, and has held at its current levels.
Given that the technology that AlumiFuel is marketing to the Air Force is custom-made for them, I think that AlumiFuel has a bright future as a defense contractor. They have also been approached by foreign military customers and NATO as well, and in Germany, their international subsidiary symbol 9AP that they have been using to raise capital is trading at 1.07 Euros as of this moment, over $1.30. I believe that the price of AFPW, AlumiFuel, is undervalued, and that the price of 9AP, their international subsidiary, may be overvalued, and that eventually, they will both reach equilibrium and settle down. But what I know is that AlumiFuel is no longer a speculation, it is an investment.
I've been holding my shares since May and June of this year, and will continue holding them until next year or beyond. I have felt many emotions while calculating all of the possible scenarios that may happen with the company. AlumiFuel could go for broke, it could one day get a huge influx of reputable customers and become a powerhouse overnight, but most likely it will end up where it will end up at a slow and steady pace. I have read defamatory statements about the company, as well as optimistic ones, and have had to exercise restraint in the impulsiveness I initially felt as if I would bolt away from the company like a sinking ship if it turned out to be a fake. But thankfully, I did not have to do that. My way is to analyze all points of view- the good, the bad and the worse, and make my decision, and that's how I like it.
I'm proud to be a shareholder in AlumiFuel Power Corporation, and would am hard-pressed to find a company of equal integrity at such a low price. The prospects for growth are enormous, and recent events are promising, but being neither optimistic nor pessimistic, I don't know when it will happen, or in what form, but I know that somehow this company will succeed. When I put money into it, my mindset was: "Why not speculate?", as if I had nothing to lose, I was not expecting gain. Now, my mindset is: "Why let go?", because I am making the conscious choice to hold onto my shares now that I know that this operation is genuine. The lessons I have learned over these past few months are ones that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
