"my entire economic existence lies on NEP being legit. it is all that i have left."--Foggysurf
I'm very sorry to hear this blowup in the Chinese small caps has so thoroughly wiped out your investments. I do feel with NEP that besides some potentially very favorable developments in the works, the fact that the company just 8 months or so ago went through an extended halt wherein all their accounting work was redone and accepted by the SEC should make NEP one of the more reliable companies in this space. The fact, too, that they were sincere in their efforts to get their company in compliance with SEC rules is a helpful reminder that not all companies in this space are total frauds.
For whatever it's worth, I've been 100% invested in this sector and hence not doing well with too many of my picks. I'm doubtful that some will ever recover. But in most cases I'm not going to sell for huge losses. If any I hold prove to be frauds then they'll no doubt blow up and tank much further. But those that aren't frauds will eventually come back up, even if it takes a year or two. In this respect I think NEP offers a hopeful example. Things had gone awry, they identified the culprits, got rid of them, hired more competent people, and turned their company around. There's no reason why other companies can't do the same. And of course there are companies in this space that aren't frauds but have nevertheless been dragged down with the bad ones. Anyway, if you have other stocks that have tanked, if you don't sell them the loss they are currently reflecting may disappear in due time.
Each pick of course is different. But it is true that one needs a considerable amount of patience to be an investor because sectors inevitable rotate in and out of favor and when that happens the stocks will languish. The Motley Fools, for instance, urge their customers not to invest their funds in any stock unless they can afford to not touch it for 3-5 years because of these inevitable swings in sentiment and the fact that, like NEP, it takes time to grow a company. And bear in mind, too, that the Motley Fools don't even invest in this space, so their advice, although applicable here as well, pertains to much larger and safer companies.
For me, at least, I find myself in a situation where I feel I just need to ride things out and not panic. Hopefully we're getting close to a bottom. I'm glad that Q1 earnings won't be too far off. But my sense is that this sector will require a lot more time than that to come around again. Still, like Burp said, whether in this space or another, we have to identify promising looking stocks and buy into them before they take off. It might be a bit premature, but NEP looks like it has the forward looking catalysts in place to warrant the expectation that the share price will rise as their plans materialize. Hopefully for yours and all our sakes this will be the case.
Take care,
Steve
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