INTRO Here's my semi-annual exercise to see if I remember why I own the stocks I own, and so I can check back and see if their stories have changed. I post in case it helps others too.

AMSC

AMSC (market cap is $0.201B was $0.239B)

AMSC (formerly AMerican SuperConductor) manufactures superconducting cables, motors, voltage regulators, and designs various electrical utility infrastructure components like wind turbines. Ideally, superconducting cables can do for electricity what fiber optics did for telecommunications. Their technology has been proven and implemented by a variety of customers. Improving the electrical utility infrastructure is a growing market globally.

Here’s the ‘unfortunately’ part. The electrical utility industry is conservative making it less likely to embrace new technologies. Several years after proving the technology would be a time for increased adoption, but there’s little evidence that is occuring. AMSC’s technology remains popular enough that a customer stole it to become a competitor; unfortunately, the somewhat successful lawsuit only returned about a tenth or less of one year’s damages. Graphene and other technologies have been advancing, easing the operating conditions, potentially dropping the price, and effectively competing against a twenty-plus year old technology.

Pardon me as I kick myself. I intended to sell at least a portion when the stock was above $10. (Hey, business as a real estate broker, my fallback since my portfolio fell back, has kept me busy.) Now, with aging technology and new trade wars I have less enthusiasm for AMSC’s future. I’ll hold, waiting for an end to the trade wars or for some surprising orders. A lot can happen in one tweet.

DISCLOSURE LTBH since 2003 but the first shares were sold years ago, fortuitously in hindsight because I actually made a profit.

(I've also collected links to the other discussion boards and my other stocks over on my blog http://trimbathcreative.wordpress.com/2019/06/30/semi-annual-exercise-Mid-2019/)