Quote 4 August: up HK.$.12; HK$1.73 (US$.2232) vol. 6.22 mm Claude,
I haven't been tracking the US pink sheet prices. However, since
the pink sheet securities represent foreign shares purchased on
the Hong Kong market by the market makers, temporary divergences,
which may occur from time to time, generally correct themselves-
if the past is any guide.
This rise, coming as it does, before the announcement of first
half 1997 earnings could reflect a more positive outlook for the
company's earnings potential for the year.
Of course, we also await Lucasfilm's supposedly imminent decision
with respect to the vaunted Star Wars prequel toy licenses.Fortune
magazine ran an article on the matter. There was little new in the
piece except the rumor that Lucas was being offered stakes in the
the bidding toy companies as well as upfront payments and enhanced
royalties. Typically, there was no mention of Playmates Toys despite
the widely reported fact that Playmates is much involved in the bidding
war. Nor was Mattel mentioned. I have come to place little credence
in the prejudicial mainstream financial press when it reports on
the toy business. The Fortune article appeared to be nothing more
than a puff piece for Galoob.
Elsewhere, I have heard that Lucas may be seeking much greater control
over the prequel toys than he currently wields over the first trilogy
toys. Indeed, there has been some buzz that, rather than giving the toy
manufacturers full creative control, Lucas may wish to use them more as
distributors of his product than anything else. In which case, the toy
licenses may not necessarily translate into the enormous windfall that
toy makers are banking on. Time and Lucas will tell. For the Fortune
article, confer:
pathfinder.com@@@ScHawcAGvOCoy6s/fortune/1997/970818/fst5.html |
