Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on March 11, 2012 at 6:33

Doesn't look good to me.

Permalink Reply by Gregg Williams on March 11, 2012 at 6:39

Hard to base on just this information, insiders sell for various reasons; taxes and diversification are 2 examples. This also doesn't state whether it was a planned sale.

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on March 11, 2012 at 7:03

Neither Sherrick or any other "insider" knows whether the LSBD will ultimately be successful because that is unknowable until sufficient wells have been drilled to prove it, one way or the other.  The much more salient fact is that SWN has no liquids in its production mix.  It is 100% natural gas.  Anyone who thinks that the price of natural gas will remain depressed for some years to come has good reason to consider selling SWN stock now.  The share price is likely to decline further over the next seven months at least. 

Permalink Reply by DavidR on March 11, 2012 at 6:55

For insider selling at SWN to be triggered by LSBD would be a blatant case of the tail wagging the dog.  It is a huge investment, but not nearly so influential as what's going on with NG right now.  Most of the sales happened at prices much higher than today's.

  I think these are just people trying to protect their retirement accounts from NG prices.

  If they announced tomorrow they were pulling out of LSBD, the stock wouldn't likely drop as much as it has since most of these sales occurred.

Permalink Reply by obed w odom on March 11, 2012 at 7:10

I agree, David, but I still hold out hope that the LSBD may eventually be the asset that saved SWN.

Permalink Reply by Ed on March 11, 2012 at 7:04

Actually if you look back 5 years there has been less selling the last 12 months than the 4 years before that.

Permalink Reply by North LA on March 11, 2012 at 8:55

Each year of the 4 years or for the 4 years total?

Permalink Reply by Ed on March 11, 2012 at 13:05

729,000 shares sold last 12 months.  5.5 million shares(Total) sold for the 4 year period before last year. So they averaged over 1.35m/year for 4 years, then only 729,000 last year. 6.3m grand total.

Permalink Reply by Bradley McWilliams on March 11, 2012 at 15:16

I can't say much about any of this, because I just don't know. But I can say that I have seen several examples that demonstrate to me that SWN is very serious about their ethical reputation.  That of course is no proof, but I do have trust in their corporate actions, and I don't believe that they would orchastrate such a huge smoke and mirrors operation.

Permalink Reply by Steve on March 12, 2012 at 4:38

Wow. Don't you think that this is an overtly Enron-esque response to something that may be as simple as someone managing assets wisely? What ever happened to the idea of diversification of one's portfolio? I can think of a myriad of reasons to shift assets...

And we are talking about a company that demands a higher ethical standard from its employees. It happens from the top down, folks.

What we do not see is the raw number of employees who buy as much stock as legally allowed every time they get a paycheck. That number, based on this same (il)logic, would make you call your broker before you took another breath.

I am looking forward to seeing what SWN does in the future. They have certainly put together a great looking string of projects to evaluate not only in the Brown Dense, but in the DJ Basin and New Brunswick and ...

Permalink Reply by North LA on March 12, 2012 at 6:36

I hope you're right. I think the next few wells will let us know.

Permalink Reply by Bradley McWilliams on March 12, 2012 at 6:57

Here here! Well said Steve. Again, I can say that SWN indeed walks the walk along with the talk. I know we can all be fooled at times, but I would not feel we need to worry much about this "scandal".