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Portalis - fall out from Monahans

Hello Michael Cottingham and Mike Farmer and list members, 
	I greatly feer that what we are seeing with Portalis is a direct result
of the Monahans brouhaha. The inessant "pumping up" of the supposed
rarity of that fall AND the "controversy" of ownership, combined with a
preliminary "auction" of fractions of grams at hysterical prices - none
of this goes unnoticed by the "general public" and anyone who thinks
farmers and other rural folk are less inteligent AND SOPHISTICATED than
formally educated urban dewellers just hasn't spent ANY time on a farm.
When the dealers went to Portalis the locals "saw 'em cummin." It really
did not matter one iota that it now looks like Portalis really is a very
very interesting and beautiful fall - people were paying DOUBLE DIGITS
PER GRAM from the very get go. 
	For the entire existance of this newsletter, or "list" or whatever you
want to call it, there have been repeated complaints by MANY collectors
that dealers were "driving up the prices." Well, here is an example that
demonstrates such an attitude is not nessessarily acurate. 
	Take Michael Farmer for one instance - drove round trip THREE TIMES
into HELLISH weather (several thousands of miles, motel expenses, lost
work and education, ETC.) THEN he has to pay double diget prices for
material right out of the field (or go without - those are the choices)
THEN, to sell any, he must take a 30% LOSS in weight to the saw blade
right off the bat......etc. Now for just what price do you think Michael
Farmer can AFFORD to sell the sliced material? (remember, paid OUT OF
POCKET double digit prices, LOST 1/3rd to the saw {had to pay the
sawyer, as well} lost 2 weeks of work & school time, put thousands of
miles on his car, payed for motel/hotel rooms, payed for food on the
road, ETC} Anyone who thinks he will MAKE money selling the material for
$15/g is nuts! 
	I consider the dealers who went to Portalis VERY fortunate the fall
turned out to be unique - otherwise, they would have been STUCK with
some VERY expensive relative of El Hammami! 
	As a dealer, I did not get in on this - so I am looking at it AS A
COLLECTOR - here's this new material - aparently unique AND attractive
to the eye - but its going to cost me AT LEAST $30 to $45 a gram! And it
could well go over $50/g! I know of at least one dealer who was buying
at TWICE the "field price" (which, when you consider travel costs as
well as time loss - he probably AT LEAST broke even on that "deal!) 
	So, the primary factor influencing retail costs today, if one considers
the fallout from ALH84001 to have passed, is now going to be "field
cost." I wrote an article on "meteorite market trends" for "the current"
Voyage! but lag time (the time between the writing and submitting of the
article and the time it reaches the readership)  has made this the
LATEST dynamic influencing prices.
	My favorite is still the nitwit that sent me an email stating he had a
"metoerite with fossiles in it" and he was accepting offers and, "no
offer under $50,000 will be considered." - oh, and if I happened to know
Professor so-'n-so I needn't respond.
	Just when I felt the lower prices comming out of the Sahara were
bringing prices back down closer to a "reasonable" level, we get this 
Monahans dog and pony show followed by the hard nosed rural folk of
Portalis COMBINED with provocative material - NOT lookin' good for the
prices, folks.
	Best wishes, Michael

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