Echoing points from William, Lisa, and K.Martin. ( and thanking Sean and Steve for alerting us to this). The common wisdom is true. People sell for many reasons from simple diversification to a new home purchase. Sometimes you need liquidity or a little extra peace of mind. ( You think WE have been through the wringer owning this stock? Imagine how someone with Bramson's stake has felt.) As Lisa said, he sold less than 3% of his shares. But as K said, selling near a 52 week low is not the greatest sign, and strongly suggests that there is nothing ( 4 contracts, takeover etc. ) on the immediate horizon.
Personally, my guess would be that seeing the runup a year ago on the rumor of a KM deal, Bramson was like us in that he thought there would be an even greater explosion upon the news of an actual deal ( Maxtor). So he rolled the dice a little in October. Didn't work out......he was disappointed by the lack of follow up contracts and surprised by the shift to MR.Perhaps dismayed a little by the DST difficulties, and certainly dismayed by the stock performance. Needed some cash so he lightened up some. Not the end of the world...the real potential still remains ....but there is almost surely no bonanza to be had. in Ampex anytime real soon. They are taking calculated risks, and not even Bramson himself knows whether they will work out or not.It remains early in the game.
Still long myself. The potential upside still remains dramatic in my eyes. The long term downside seems limited to me. But I am expecting some more pain from this issue in the next 6 months or so. More porcupine quills to pluck out. Hell, I just hope I don't start liking it.
In my opinion there will be actual good news from this company .......someday. Believe me, if KM hits with MR to a marked degree, and if '98 brings a good Mitsubishi litigation result coupled to HDTV hopes, and if DST takes off again etc. etc. - a couple more years will bring us a price that will be well worth the wait. If. ....Someday. Good luck and wise choices to all. |
