<<From the quarterly, shares outstanding as of:
3 months ending 9/30/97 - 50,096 3 months ending 9/30/96 - 39,756 9 months ending 9/30/97 - 41,742
That's a lot of shares issued recently. Yes, some are for acquisitions, but I have seen nothing of this magnitude, and as I previously indicated, I believe this is BEFORE the 1.65 million shares issued/reserved for the email acquisition. Cause? I don't know, perhaps a large amount of options/warrants exercised. I really don't have any info to shed any light on this.>>
The 50,096 number includes common share equivalents. I have not looked at this in detail.
<<Why would institutional holdings not be considered part of the float? I see no reason for this. If a mutual fund picks up shares off the open market, they stay in the float. Geez, if institutional holdings weren't considered part of the float, most large, old, established companies would have small floats compared to shares outstanding.>>
Actually, how the float is calculated is something I was trying to figure out. The only way I could come up with a number close to 6.5M reported my market guide was to subtract the number held by institutions. Perhaps a number closer to 12 M is more appropriate. At any rate, my main concern was to arrive at the number of shortable shares.
<<Oh, and usually unexercised options are normally a footnote (as shares reserved for issuance), and not included in the outstanding shares total. Only when they are exercised do the become part of the balance sheet.>>
There is a footnote on the balance sheet related to the number 50M for the outstanding shares.
Peter |