Have been noticing an increasing level of impatience on this board over the last while and I felt like posting an observation.

How patient an investor is depends largely on when he got onboard. Generally speaking, the longer one has been invested in SLI the greater the patience waiting for results. Whereas more recent investors are more likely to be the ones chomping at the bit.

Allow me to shed some light on this matter. Since we closed the week at an even $2 it's real easy to demonstrate by multiples.

Murry first introduced me to SLI when it was trading at 10¢. At the time I was invested in another junior that was in buy-out negotiations. We finally got our buy-out some 6 months later and I rolled over into SLI, entry point, 50¢. Now at $2 I'm at a multiple of 4 and feel calm and patient. Had I got in at a dime I'd be semi-retired and still sitting on a heap of shares waiting for the really big one. Could have, should have would have, but that's done.

SLI marched through the $1 mark in March '10, so even those that got in just a measly 21 months ago have doubles their paper holdings. (Remember, it's just numbers on the computer screen until you hit the sell button. Both going up and down.) Not too shabby in troubled economic times. Those in for the 20+ months are probably still OK with where we are.

If one averages out the last year, SLI has bounced around the $2 mark. Those that have come on board within the last 12 months have seen little if any gain and some may see their numbers significantly in the red. I always wonder about the person who bought at $2.40 in March '10, at $2.50 in February this year and at $2.80 six weeks ago. If you're that person, PM me. I'd really like to get your take on this play. Anyway, some portfolios may look sad now. I am not a net zero believer and I hope we all come out ahead in time.

I think everyone has come to the conclusion that the Tesoro play will still take some time to completely unfold. If I had to take a wild donkey guess, I'd pick jakestocksnake's latest revision timeline and still allow a fudge factor.

So I think the foregoing pretty well explains why the earlier investors are the most patient and the latter ones wish to see results pronto.

So let's play forward looking. Say the future brings a $3 billion dollar buy-out of Tesoro. Not outside of the realm of possibilities. That could easily bring a $20 per share windfall after everything is paid and the dust settles. That would be a multiple of 10 over today's value.

So in the above scenario, those in at 10¢ will see a 200 fold return. The 50¢ buyers get 40X. The $1, 20X. And $2, 10X. The poor bastard who bought at $2.80 will only see a 7 banger.

As you can see this is not linear but more closely resembles exponential math.

So in summary, earlier in, ahead already and in line for huge returns. Later in, maybe on par now and hoping for moderately large returns. Now factor in risk and the ratio for the early ins looks even better and is truly a cause for jitters in the later investors. But take solace in the fact that the insiders that participated in the last private placement did so at $1.80 plus a warrant.

I think this explains why there is such divergent thoughts being presented on this board about the course taken by Lori and the crew. A view changes depending on where you stand.

I scribble this to raise awareness. If a posters opinion differs from yours, then consider where his entry point to SLI may have been. If you chose to post a dissenting opinion, do so with tact least we fall to the level of sand throwing so prevalent on another board.

One last thought. It has been mentioned here, why not get out now and return to SLI when it starts going up again. Some may wish to do that. But consider the above. At a higher entry point the risk / reward degrades significantly. As I have stated on these pages in the past, I believe Tesoro is and will be a gold mine. We are in the process of determining the size. To all, do your research and make your choice.

Best wishes.