SupaSage

Is InterOil Selling Investors Hope?

Actions speak louder than words to me. I'm sure Wayne Andrews was making a pretty good living at Raymond James as an analyst. Now, I don't know if he joined IOC directly from RJ or if he was unemployed at the time he joined IOC, but it's really not that relevant. For him to forgo his career as an equity analyst to become the investor relations person for IOC tells me that he truly believes that the company has significant upside. I'm sure his compensation package probably includes some stock options, which would make his stint at IOC more lucrative than if he stayed at Raymond James. But "hyping" the stock wouldn't help him if the company didn't really have any resources. If you think about it, the guy took the job at IOC for the big payday when they company's stock re-rates to reflect its current asset potential. I'm sure he wants the stock to go up, but I would think he's in it for the longer term. Bottom line is that I don't think there's any fraud going on at IOC. At the worst, maybe there's a bit of excessive optimism. And by the way... there are at least two analysts currently covering the stock with Buy and Strong Buy ratings so Wayne Andrews isn't alone in thinking IOC has potential. I'm long the stock. Given the facts, I'll make my bet on Wayne Andrews and the other two analysts that cover the stock.