Investment Pitches

Pitch Summary:
Uber is a strong buy due to its transformation into a disciplined, profit-making organization with a diversified business mix in mobility, delivery, and freight. Recent strategic developments, including partnerships in drone deliveries and AI acquisitions, position Uber for long-term growth and profitability.

BSD Analysis:
Uber's recent partnership with Flytrex for drone-based deliveries and its acquisition of Segments.ai for AI and autonomous driving capabilities highlight its strategic focus on innovation and cost reduction. The California SB 371 insurance reform is expected to improve margins by reducing one of Uber's largest cost burdens. With a strong cash position and low debt, Uber has the financial flexibility to invest in growth areas like automated deliveries and international expansion. The company's valuation, supported by a DCF analysis, suggests an upside potential, with analysts setting a price target of $107.88, representing a 16% increase from current levels. Despite potential risks from labor laws and economic slowdowns, Uber's diversified platform and strategic initiatives make it well-positioned for future growth.

Pitch Summary:
Lam Research is a quiet compounder with a critical role in the semiconductor supply chain. Its leadership in etch and deposition processes positions it to benefit from the increasing complexity of semiconductor manufacturing.

BSD Analysis:
Lam Research's technologies are vital for producing advanced semiconductors, placing it at the heart of the AI hardware revolution. Its capital-light business model and strong financials, including high ROIC and FCF margins, support its growth trajectory. Despite recent share price gains, Lam's structural positioning and secular growth drivers make it a compelling long-term investment. However, current valuation levels suggest a hold, with potential buying opportunities on price corrections.

Pitch Summary:
Airbus is a structural compounder benefiting from rising global air travel and fleet renewal cycles. Its dominant market position and strategic exposure to defense and space provide long-term growth opportunities.

BSD Analysis:
Airbus's extensive backlog and leadership in commercial aviation position it to benefit from the ongoing fleet renewal cycle and rising air travel demand. Its strategic diversification into defense and space adds stability and growth potential, particularly as European nations increase defense spending. Despite recent share price gains, Airbus's strong fundamentals and exposure to long-term megatrends make it a compelling investment. However, current valuation levels suggest a hold, with potential buying opportunities on price weakness.

Pitch Summary:
UMG is a cash-flow machine benefiting from the global growth in music streaming and social media integration. Its dominant market position and extensive catalog ensure recurring revenue and strong bargaining power with platforms.

BSD Analysis:
UMG's leadership in the music industry, with a 38% market share, positions it to capitalize on the projected 8% CAGR in global music growth. Its extensive catalog and artist roster provide a durable competitive advantage, while its strong financials, including high ROE and ROIC, support its growth trajectory. With streaming and social media driving music consumption, UMG's recurring revenue streams and strategic partnerships ensure long-term stability and growth. The company's focus on expanding its global reach and monetizing its content further enhances its investment appeal.

Pitch Summary:
SAP has transformed into a cloud-first software powerhouse with a strong moat due to its deep integration into corporate workflows. Despite its underappreciation, SAP's cloud revenue growth and expanding margins position it as a resilient growth story.

BSD Analysis:
SAP's transition to cloud-based solutions, particularly through its S/4HANA Cloud platform, has accelerated its growth and improved its revenue visibility. The company's deep integration into enterprise operations creates significant switching costs, ensuring customer retention and stable cash flows. With a strong balance sheet and expanding AI capabilities, SAP is well-positioned for long-term growth. However, its current valuation suggests it may be slightly overpriced, making it a hold until more favorable entry points arise.

Pitch Summary:
Brookfield Corporation is undervalued due to its perceived complexity, yet it is a world-class compounding machine with diversified, recurring, and inflation-protected cash flows. Its asset management arm is rapidly scaling, and its other assets benefit from structural megatrends.

BSD Analysis:
Brookfield's dual engine of high-quality asset management and long-term ownership of critical assets positions it well for the global energy transition. Its significant investments in renewable power and data centers align with major global trends. Despite its complexity, Brookfield's financial strength, with robust distributable earnings and a diversified balance sheet, makes it a compelling investment. The company's management, led by Bruce Flatt, mirrors Buffett's approach, focusing on intrinsic value and long-term growth. With a projected 25% annualized growth in distributable earnings, Brookfield offers significant upside potential.

Pitch Summary:
Oneok is a diversified midstream company with a balanced portfolio across NGLs, natural gas, and crude oil. Its strength lies in efficient scale and capital-intensive infrastructure that deter competition. The company has a long history of outperformance and offers a stable dividend yield.

BSD Analysis:
Oneok's business model is based on long-term, fixed-fee contracts that provide predictable cash flows and limit exposure to commodity price fluctuations. The company's largest business segment, natural gas liquids, is geographically limited to the U.S. midcontinent, but partnerships and export-oriented projects aim to expand its market reach. Despite its debt-heavy balance sheet, Oneok's capital-intensive operations and scale economies provide a competitive moat. The company's ability to maintain a high profit margin in its refined products and crude oil segment further strengthens its position. The dividend yield of about 6% compensates investors while waiting for potential share price appreciation.

Pitch Summary:
We also initiated a position in Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG), a best-in-class insurance broker consolidating the mid-market space. The company recently completed its largest acquisition to date, which is expected to drive earnings growth of more than 20% next year.

BSD Analysis:
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is currently the "M&A machine" of the insurance brokerage world, aggressively vacuuming up smaller rivals to fuel a high-octane growth engine. While others wait for the economy to signal a direction, Gallagher is feasting on a "hard" insurance market, where rising premiums translate directly into fatter commissions and double-digit organic growth. They’ve perfected the art of the roll-up, integrating over 40 acquisitions in the last year alone without breaking their high-margin stride or their fortress-like balance sheet. With a massive global footprint and a specialized focus on niche risks that others are too scared to touch, the firm is a non-discretionary tax on global corporate survival. For investors, it’s a masterclass in compounding: a recession-resistant utility that grows like a tech disruptor while paying you to wait via a rock-solid dividend.

Pitch Summary:
Within our core equity offering during the quarter, we made several additions to the portfolio. We added to our position in Crane (CR), an industrial technology company that is seeing strong growth from its aerospace division. Boeing is increasing its near-term production schedule, and a massive backlog of demand for both Boeing and Airbus aircraft remains. Crane stands to benefit from this long-term secular trend.

BSD Analysis:
Crane Company is entering 2026 as a pure-play aerospace and industrial leader, with its Aerospace & Electronics aftermarket projected to see a 5.2% CAGR through the next decade. The 2026 market size for its aerospace aftermarket is estimated at $447 million, driven by the high maintenance requirements of an aging global aircraft fleet and the demand for advanced electronic controls. Management is focusing on high-margin replacement parts and safety-regulated compliance to drive operational leverage. While cost management and competition remain persistent challenges, Crane’s entrenched position in the military and commercial aerospace supply chains provides a robust backlog. The company’s strategic pivot to a leaner, higher-growth industrial structure makes it a resilient pick for investors looking to capture the steady recovery in global aviation and industrial automation.

Pitch Summary:
@LaTranquillum presents Tecnotree Oyj ($TEM1V.HE) as a Finnish BSS/OSS software vendor serving telecom operators, with a mix increasingly tilted toward licenses and ARR but still burdened by several risks. The red flags include heavy customer concentration (top two customers ~47% of revenue), aging receivables with elevated provisioning versus industry norms, and volatile working capital due to lumpy project-based revenues. Despite these issues, Tecnotree has recently pivoted toward SaaS, cut headcount by 14%, reduced capex to 11% of sales, and delivered €16.6m of free cash flow in 2024 alongside an H1’25 record order book of €105.7m. Frontier market exposure (e.g., Argentina and Nigeria) has been cut by about 70% and the backlog is increasingly denominated in USD and EUR, which should gradually de-risk FX and collections. At around 2.7–2.8x EV/EBITDA and 0.47x book value, the stock trades at a steep discount to larger BSS peers like Amdocs and Netcracker that command double-digit multiples. With a long-tenured CEO owning ~14% and improving metrics in cash flow, backlog, and margins, the author sees valuation as undemanding if execution continues and backlog converts into more recurring, higher-quality revenue.

BSD Analysis:
Tecnotree operates in the telecom BSS/OSS niche, where switching costs and integration complexity can create sticky customer relationships but also concentration risk when a few large operators dominate the base. The company’s historic focus on emerging and frontier markets introduced FX controls and collection risk, which shows up in elevated receivables and provisioning; management’s shift toward USD/EUR contracts and Tier-1 clients is an attempt to structurally improve the quality of cash flows. The jump in order book and margin profile, along with net cash on the balance sheet and reduced capex intensity, suggests the business is transitioning from investment-heavy to more cash-generative. At the same time, high receivables, working-capital volatility, and reliance on project-based revenues mean reported EBIT and FCF could remain choppy, and any delay or dispute with key customers would have an outsized impact. Valuation multiples at ~2.7–2.8x EV/EBITDA and below 0.5x book value imply the market is heavily discounting these risks and may be skeptical about the durability of the recent free-cash-flow “inflection.” The investment case hinges on whether Tecnotree can continue improving collections, reduce frontier exposure further, and steadily mix-shift toward higher-quality, recurring SaaS revenues while maintaining its position in the competitive enterprise software landscape serving telecoms.

Actual Post Content:
Tecnotree Oyj is a 🇫🇮 BSS software firm. Let’s start with red flags : i) customer concentration that could make even $META jealous. ii) receivables so old they remember when Nokia was still cool. iii) financial provisions with a recurring guest spot in every earnings $TEM1V.HE 🧵 2/ If you read Gartner Magic Quadrants, Tecnotree is a Visionary for AI in CSP business operations. Translation: they make the software that helps telecom operators bill you for your TikTok addiction and, sometimes, make sure you actually pay (eventually). 3/ It's a digital BSS/OSS vendor with an increasingly license/ARR-tilted mix. Think of it as a keeper of telecom billing, customer mgmt, and the stuff between. The industry leaders are Amdocs and Netcracker, who charge EBITDA multiples typically north of 10x. Tecnotree? Just 2.8x 4/ Let’s audit those red flags. First, customer concentration: the top two customers (likely MTN Group, America Movil) account for 47% of revenue. Second, receivables: Nearly half are overdue, with 19% more than a year old. Provisions run at 9.6%; the industry norm is 2-3%. 5/ Third, working capital volatility: the project-based revenue model throws up cash flow swings that would put a fintech start-up to shame. Sure, the quarterly FCF chart finally points north, but it took years of cash burn for the “inflection” to show up (€16.6m FCF in 2024). 6/ Furthermore, until recently, a big slice of sales came from countries where FX controls are less a macroeconomic quirk and more a recurring plot device (Argentina and Nigeria). Management made a pivot to SaaS, cut headcount by 14%, and chase Tier 1 clients with AI patents. 7/ Their cost restructuring delivered €7m in savings (153% above target, which makes you wonder what the initial plan looked like), while capex has shrunk to 11% of sales. Still, even with +FCF, working capital volatility certainly casts a long shadow (and a longer audit trail) 8/ In 2024, ARR rose 8%, but the bulk of sales still relied on lumpy project sale. One big deal and you’re cheering, one delay and it’s bean-counting time. 43% of revenue tagged as “recurring yet subject to currency swings, client delays, and the occasional geopolitical surprise 9/ So, Tecnotree today trades at a steep discount to peers @ 2.7x EV/EBITDA & 0.47x BV. The upside is that, should it keeps the positive FCF streak alive and client mix shift away from CCYs you can’t exchange in Helsinki, fair value can shoot up from here. Can it actually happen? 10/ It has cut frontier market exposure by 70% in a year, and begun shifting to USD&EUR-based sale (backlog €27.1m, 3× y/y). CEO has been at the helm for 13yrs, owns 14%, which should align interests. Plus, 2.8x multiple is not a natural resting point for any growing SaaS play 11/ H1'25: net cash €13.8m; EV: €72m; EBIT last 4 quarters: €5m, €10.9m, €4.5m, €5.1m (sum €25.5m) Net sales €34m (+2.7%) EBIT margin 28% (+520 bps) FCF +€2.1m (inflection is real albeit delicate) Order book €105.7m (record; +45.5% y/y) Guides single-digit sales growth 12/ For a business transitioning to a Tier 1 SaaS provider with a credible AI/API recognition, valuation looks undemanding, especially IF backlog converts, collections keep improving, and IF it lands license-led revenue conversion in EU & US. Tecnotree $TEM1V.HE Do your DD!"

URL: https://x.com/latranquillum/status/1976584823897747681

Pitch Summary:
PAR Technology Corporation (PAR) has been a stock in the portfolio since inception. Recently, however, the stock fell 44% from $71 to $40 after lowering guidance from 20% to mid-teens ARR growth for FY25 due to delayed POS rollouts and macro weakness. CEO Savneet Singh paused installations to focus on large RFPs, including one from McDonald’s potentially worth $100 million ARR—nearly a third of PAR’s current base. The fund argues the short-term pain is worthwhile given the transformative upside of winning a Tier-1 quick-service client. While near-term profitability is muted, long-term economics remain strong. Private equity interest (Thoma Bravo acquired competitor Olo) adds optionality.

BSD Analysis:
PAR is building one of the strongest unified restaurant-tech platforms, combining cloud POS, loyalty, order management, and payments into a single ecosystem that chains actually want to standardize on. Growth is strong, margins are improving, and ARR keeps climbing as customers shift deeper into subscription modules. The market still sees a hardware-heavy legacy vendor — completely outdated. PAR is becoming the Salesforce of restaurants, with long-term contract stickiness and massive upsell potential. Execution is sharper than it’s been in years, and competitive displacement is accelerating. Yes, the stock is volatile — but the TAM is enormous. A legitimate SaaS transformation that investors continue to underprice.

Pitch Summary:
Synopsys (SNPS) is the leading vendor of electronic design automation (EDA) software tools used for integrated circuit design, and the #2 licensor of chip design IP. EDA tools are mission critical for anyone who wants to design chips – from Nvidia and Analog Devices to Apple and Alibaba. The EDA market is a stable oligopoly between Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems, with Siemens a distant third place. We have followed Synopsys for several years but never found the valuation compelling enough for the earnings growth on offer. However, an opportunity arose following FQ3 2025 results when the stock collapsed -36% on IP segment weakness tied to temporary U.S. export restrictions and Intel delays. We think the disruption is temporal, not structural. The market overreacted to a mid-teens earnings headwind with a 36% share price drop, creating a chance to buy a defensive, AI-resilient software business with a wide margin of safety.

BSD Analysis:
Synopsys is the backbone of semiconductor design — a mission-critical toll collector in the AI semiconductor boom. Chip complexity is exploding, which only deepens reliance on SNPS’ tools and IP blocks. Recurring revenue keeps rising, margins are pristine, and the company has near-zero competitive threat. EDA is a duopoly, but Synopsys increasingly feels like the senior partner. Every AI chip starts here. That’s why the stock rarely dips — and why dips never last. A flawless long-term compounding story.

Pitch Summary:
Alphabet (GOOGL) is another stock that we felt had been undeservedly beaten down by a bearish narrative that largely ignored the fundamentals of the business. We began accumulating GOOGL in June and continued adding to our position in Q3 as we waited for the market narrative to flip on its head. Alphabet needs no introduction, so we will jump straight into why we thought the AI disruption and terminal value fears were overblown. The notion that Google has lost the ability to innovate is a common refrain that we have heard over the past several years – essentially since the November 2022 ChatGPT moment – and one that we subscribed to ourselves at one stage. The genesis of this complaint is easy to understand: degraded Search experience, slow product innovation, and failed launches. But once it got going, Google has shipped market-leading products including the Gemini 2.5 family, Veo3, AI Mode, and Nano Banana, pushing the Gemini app to #1 in the App Store. Google is fighting the Innovator’s Dilemma by disrupting itself through AI Overviews and AI Mode, transforming Search into a multi-turn conversation with greater ad monetization potential. Google’s TPU v7 provides a significant cost advantage over Nvidia GPUs, giving it unmatched AI compute economics. Ultimately, Google is in the enviable position of having state-of-the-art AI capabilities, best-in-class hardware, and strong cash flow to fund massive AI investment.

BSD Analysis:
Alphabet remains the sleeper heavyweight of AI, combining Search dominance, YouTube scale, and Google Cloud’s accelerating margins. Gemini is still uneven, but Google’s model-training, inference, and TPU capabilities are far stronger than the market credits. Advertising remains a cash machine, funding long-dated bets with unmatched efficiency. Cloud profitability is finally arriving, and that’s a major re-rating catalyst. Critics focus on “AI disruption,” but Alphabet is one of the few companies with enough data and infra to lead that disruption. Valuation is still far below mega-cap peers. A misunderstood AI giant with enormous embedded leverage.

Pitch Summary:
ASML is a Dutch company that develops, assembles and sells photolithography (“litho” or “lithography”) machines that are used to print integrated circuit designs onto silicon wafers during the semiconductor fabrication process. ASML is the sole supplier of Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines that are used by the likes of TSMC and Intel to fabricate the most advanced chips for AI, smartphones and computing. It also has an effective monopoly over Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) machines which are the primary litho workhorses within a fab. There is plenty of material in the public domain explaining why ASML is a one-of-a-kind business, so we won’t belabour the point here. Instead, we want to focus on why the opportunity to buy this business at a steep discount existed in the first place considering the AI investment boom taking place, and where our views diverged from the market. Since attaining an all-time high of €1,002 in mid-2024, ASML subsequently experienced a -45% drawdown at the Liberation Day trough and has otherwise trodden water in the ~€700 range. A disastrous Q2 2025 earnings call where CEO Christophe Fouquet volunteered that ASML “cannot confirm” growth in 2026 despite no one asking him about 2026 further amped up the bearish narrative to eleven. The main arguments for not owning the only monopoly in the semiconductor industry during an AI infrastructure frenzy can be summarised as follows: 1. 2025 orders and 2026 sales of DUV will be weak because of China demand normalisation. 2. 2025 orders and 2026 sales of EUV will be weak because the 2nm Gate-All-Around transistor architecture transition means no additional EUV layers compared to 3nm – that is, we have reached “peak lithography.” 3. ASML will be selling to a monopsony (TSMC) given the struggles at other key customers Intel and Samsung. 4. China will develop homegrown DUV and EUV tools and ASML will lose the China market. In our opinion, the bear theses largely miss the forest for the trees... Ultimately, our decision to establish a position in ASML at the time we did came down to risk/reward and duration. We saw limited downside risk at a sub-25x one-year forward P/E ratio, and significant upside once the market looked beyond the H2 2025 orders and 2026 sales uncertainty.

BSD Analysis:
ASML remains the single most important company in AI and semiconductor manufacturing. EUV and High-NA EUV are irreplaceable — literally no one else can supply them. Backlog visibility is multi-year, margins are world-class, and geopolitical pressure only raises ASML’s strategic importance. As chips get more complex, reliance on ASML only grows. The market still underestimates how monopoly-like this business is. ASML is the tollbooth to advanced computing. A secular winner with zero real competition.

Pitch Summary:
Pantera led the $500mm PIPE into Helius Medical Technologies, now renamed Solana Company, formalizing a shared commitment with the Solana Foundation to accelerate the ecosystem’s growth. The company seeks to accumulate Solana tokens, grow book value per share, and support decentralized applications across payments and DePIN infrastructure. Pantera believes Solana represents blockchain’s ‘dial-up to broadband’ moment, offering scalability and cost advantages over Ethereum.

BSD Analysis:
Solana is still trying to claw its way into commercial relevance with a neuromodulation technology that has scientific promise but painfully slow adoption. Reimbursement progress remains uneven, and early revenue doesn’t yet justify the burn rate. Still, the underlying clinical logic is credible, and any meaningful traction could flip sentiment fast. The balance sheet is thin, making execution an existential issue. This is a binary story in a niche med-tech category with real clinical need. The stock trades like it’s already dead — which creates optionality if even modest momentum materializes. High-risk, high-volatility, long-shot upside.

Pitch Summary:
Siemens Healthineers is a global leader in medical technology, specializing in imaging, radiation therapy, and diagnostics. Management is executing a turnaround in the diagnostics business, creating margin opportunity. The firm benefits from a favorable product cycle and secular growth in healthcare demand. Despite transitory headwinds, valuation remains attractive for a high-quality business with durable growth potential.

BSD Analysis:
Siemens Healthineers is one of the strongest global med-tech franchises, with leadership in imaging, diagnostics, and oncology via Varian. Supply-chain normalization and cost actions are lifting margins back toward pre-pandemic levels. The backlog is huge, and demand for imaging systems remains structurally strong. Healthineers has more diversification and scale than most peers, yet trades at a discount due to past volatility. The strategy is intact and execution is improving. Investors looking for stability plus innovation should be paying attention. A European med-tech giant with underrated earnings power.

Pitch Summary:
Intertek is the number three global testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) company behind SGS and Bureau Veritas. The firm operates an asset-light model with high margins, retention, and cash generation. The TIC industry benefits from stronger pricing, sustainability regulations, and supply chain scrutiny. Despite strong fundamentals, Intertek trades near decade-low multiples amid tariff concerns, which we view as overstated.

BSD Analysis:
Intertek remains a global force in testing, inspection, and certification, with stable demand across consumer goods, industrials, energy, and supply-chain compliance. The business is asset-light, cash-rich, and globally diversified — a textbook defensive services platform. Pricing power is surprisingly strong given the regulatory and quality-control mandates in its markets. Growth isn’t explosive, but margins are durable and visibility is excellent. The market consistently undervalues the resilience of TIC providers. Intertek may be boring, but it’s a survivor. A defensive compounding engine.

Pitch Summary:
FEMSA is a diversified Latin American conglomerate with leading market share positions in retail and beverages. Its retail operations are anchored by OXXO, Mexico’s largest and most dominant convenience store chain, while its Beverage segment includes a significant stake in Coca-Cola FEMSA. FEMSA is divesting non-core assets and redeploying proceeds into buybacks and dividends, enhancing shareholder value. Despite strong fundamentals, the stock trades at a discount to intrinsic value due to Mexican equity volatility. We initiated a position given management’s improved capital allocation and favorable long-term outlook.

BSD Analysis:
FEMSA’s strategic reset sharpened the focus on OXXO — one of the most powerful retail formats in Latin America. The convenience engine delivers consistent growth, strong margins, and massive cash generation. Divestitures and simplification removed major distractions. The Coca-Cola FEMSA stake provides additional stability and upside. Investors still underappreciate how dominant OXXO is as a distribution and payments platform. FEMSA is a rare EM retailer with scale, visibility, and discipline. A long-run regional champion.

Pitch Summary:
Dassault Systèmes is a French software company at the forefront of virtual twin technology, enabling customers to simulate the behavior of real-world products and systems in a digital environment. By allowing ideas to be tested, refined, and optimized virtually, Dassault’s solutions help accelerate innovation, reduce costs, and drive superior product outcomes. The company operates in oligopolistic niches, maintaining a strong competitive position through high switching costs and sustained R&D investment. Despite solid fundamentals, cyclical downturns have led the share price to decline nearly 40% from its peak, providing an opportunity to purchase shares in what we view as one of Europe’s highest-quality software franchises at an attractive valuation.

BSD Analysis:
Dassault owns some of the most mission-critical engineering and design tools on the planet — CATIA, SolidWorks, and 3DEXPERIENCE are embedded deep inside aerospace, automotive, and manufacturing workflows. Its transition to subscription is working, driving recurring revenue and margin uplift. Innovation cadence remains strong, and the company continues to push simulation and digital twin adoption across industries. Dassault is rarely cheap because its customer lock-in is extraordinary. Investors underestimate how early the industrial digital-twin cycle still is. A premier European software franchise with decades of runway.

Pitch Summary:
Bunzl is a distributor of not-for-resale goods to the foodservice, grocery, cleaning and hygiene, and safety sectors. The company is the leading player in the space, enjoying significant scale advantages in both procurement and logistics over smaller peers. Bunzl’s end markets are characterized by low growth but are highly defensive, and the company has historically augmented organic growth with a value-accretive M&A program. Market concern around a recent stumble in execution in North America has caused shares to trade near valuation levels not seen for 15 years. However, management is moving quickly to rectify issues while nothing has structurally changed in the industry. In time, we expect Bunzl to return to its historical cadence of stable growth, driving both earnings growth and a multiple re-rating.

BSD Analysis:
Bunzl is a distribution machine — boring on the surface but ruthlessly disciplined underneath. Its global scale, product breadth, and obsession with pricing power let it outperform in both inflationary and deflationary periods. Bolt-on acquisitions add steady capability and geographic reach without ever overpaying. Cash conversion is excellent and the business model is built for resilience. Investors consistently underrate Bunzl because it lacks flash. But in staples-adjacent distribution, reliability is alpha. Bunzl is a long-duration compounding engine disguised as a dull operator.