THE Punter did not take up his entitlement to new shares in Lincoln Minerals (ASX code LML) recently, because the five cents offer was no better than the market price, so he could see no immediate profit.
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It seems most investors took a similar mercenary view of this would-be graphite miner on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.
When the offer closed on June 6, the underwriters were left holding 78 per cent of the new shares.
Fortunately for Lincoln, the offer was fully underwritten, so it will get the $3.35 million it wants.
Lincoln has not been one of the Punter's best punts.
When there was a flurry of excitement over graphite on the peninsula, he was sucked into paying what now looks like the whopping price of 15c a share.
Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Nevertheless, he is now toying with the idea of buying more shares - if they drift lower when the interest generated by the rights issue fades.
First, it now has the cash to push ahead with work on the Kookaburra Gully graphite find.
The company reckons it has the potential to begin mining within two years.
Secondly, the company has attracted the attention of a private Hong Kong company, Ever Chance International Industrial Ltd.
In March, Ever Chance bought 20 million LML shares (nearly 10pc of the company) at an average of about 8c a share.
Last month Ever Chance director Xiezhi Tan bought five million more shares on his own account, at around 5c each.
The Punter knows nothing about Ever Chance, a private company established in Hong Kong in September last year, but is prepared to bet that the company and its director have not spent more than $1.8 million acquiring LML shares on a mere whim.
Meanwhile, the Punter's order for shares in innovative battery company Redflow (RFX) was filled last week when the shares dipped below 15c.
That purchase has left him with very little money in the bank.
To rebuild his cash balance, he has reluctantly dumped his shares in Australian Mines (AUZ).
The political turmoil in the Middle East may prove to be good for the gold price, but the Punter still has other gold prospects.
The Punter has no financial qualifications and no links to the financial services industry. He owns shares in a number of companies featured in this column.
