Once upon a time I accompanied a yachtie friend for a drink at the local yacht club. Present was a middle aged man who owned a 60 footer and who sailed wherever his heart desired and whenever he so wished. Sailing was his life. One of the patrons, who stood close by remarked how fortunate he was to be in a finacial position to be able to do what he loved most as he wished and be beholden to no one. The man replied that he indeed was fortunate however he said "I am totally beholden to one thing, the compass, otherwise I would be sailing in circles, wouldn't I". Later on I thought about his reply and wondered, do I have a compass, If not am I just wondering around with no direction. And it struck me that ones own value system and ones own beliefs are ones own personal compass. Some of you may remember the ArcelorMittal debacle regarding the non new order conversion of their mining rights. Well, I luckily sold out 2 days before the announcement but what had since followed, I swore that I will never again be involved with this company. Even though the share price halved and presented an opportunity, I stayed away. Why, "moral compass I suppose". MTN would be no different.
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