I've paid some dues on CHK, so I guess I can have my two cents worth.
There were two comments in the August 4 Reuter press releases that suggests something may be underway.
1) "Amoco declined to comment, saying that it never commented on market speculation." Amoco did not deny the news which, if they were not interested, I think the proper response would have been "NO", if for no other reason to advoid any adverse effect on their own stock price.
2) "The two top executives built this company up from scratch and are not going to sell out at this price." All this says is they want more than $8/shr. Considering most of the big whigs were buying back in February (McClendon and Ward each BOT 50,000 shrs at $21.50, Whittemore BOT 50,000 shrs at $19.63 ), I'd say $21.50 is more in line with the price they have in mind.
I could be wrong, but the tea leaves suggests something is up; i.e., these comments plus that 800,000 share block trade at 7 13/16 on 7/31/97. This stock "bears" watching. I'm hoping someone will come along with some real information. Until then, Keep the Faith!
Oh yes, I expect Amoco would do some estimates on reserves before they make an offer, and this could take some time. Much depends on when Amoco became interested. It could have been back in February when officers were buying, but who knows? |
