Dick, Don, Zeev, or anyone, since Merrill handled the sale of the additional shares, can you confirm that this means they essentially agreed to pay the selling shareholders (or VECO) for the stock at $52/share (obviously less their fees).
I'm curious because watching on a level II screen, right when the price hit the wires, the bid/ask went to 52, then drifted down to open around a 1/4 point lower. Since the price did not subsequently go up, doesn't this mean that Merrill is now sitting on a pile full of VECO? I would have thought that they would price it a little below market, figuring they could sell on the way up.
Further, I have been watching closely, and Merrill has been sitting all alone at the top bid, Wed and Thurs buying a sh*t pot full at 51, and again today until shortly after the open when they moved away, then held it it 50. I believe that the couple of trades below 50 today were even while Merrill was at the top bid at 50.
To me this all means that merrill is accumulating in a big way (I believe they just reiterated their rating), earnings are Tuesday night, book/bill for 4Q was 1.2, and we are probably headed for greener pastures (maybe a slight detour if the Naz keeps tanking).
Thoughts?
Jay |
