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Non-Tech : Philip Morris - A Stock For Wealth Or Poverty (MO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ian@SI who wrote (4102)	7/5/1999 8:33:00 PM
From: md1derful	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6439

Ian, I'm assuming when you say "my mo is history" are you suggesting that, once the payments are completely securitized, then the lawyers will be free to litigate big tob completely out of business, since they will already have their money ( they would otherwise need big tob to be in business to continue to pay the punishment) What the bonds due is pretty much let the trial lawyers unleashed to completely shut down the industry then. This is a totally fascinating point you raise and I'm wondering if the street has picked up on that...one way to gauge, I guess would be to see what the bonds sell for...it still seems to me that the trial lawyers need a functioning tob industry or else, those who are stupid enough to buy these things as you rightly suggest, are really going to get burned if big tob is forced by the trial atts to go out of business....VERY INTERESTING!!! Thanks for the thought.

To: Ian@SI who wrote (4102)	7/6/1999 5:01:00 AM
From: Duker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6439

The lawyers and some of the states are securitising the payment stream from Tobacco. It gives them the money now; and it protects them in case they have second thoughts about letting tobacco survive long enough to make the payments. Tough to implode one of your own securitizations, however. It makes the investors in the offering a bit upset. Not unlike (aside from the goofy emotional aspects of it) doing a revenue bond for a toll road and then eradicating the tolls a couple of years later. You end up hurting all the widows and orphans who bought the bonds as a source of income ... whether they bought them outright or indirectly through a bond fund, whose managers would surely be too tempted by the yield not to own Tobacco Bonds ... whatever it takes to juice the performance! Interesting point though. Big subject ... too early to explore all the different aspects ... --Duker