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Gold/Mining/Energy : coastal caribbean (cco@) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Henry Volquardsen who wrote (1109)	11/10/1999 11:12:00 AM
From: still learning	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4686

Agree completely - CCO will never be the hero here. What we need is a finding of takings by the state, then we could begin discovery and any memos, estimates, emails, phone conv. by state employees could become a smoking gun. Of course litigating would become a huge burden for CCO, which does not have that much money. Don't be surprised if we see add'l offerings, convertible bonds or other dilution before this is over. Ed's point about tobacco trials will become important, as the state will likely fear discovery and begin settlement talks in earnest once a taking decision is rendered. Until that time, FL is no worse off delaying an add'l year or two, given how much skin they already have inthe game. IOW, it's like an escaped death row inmate -- nothing more to lose. Might as well hold out as long as possible. What are they going to do, give you two death sentences? Of course abuse of power is murky at best and every step makes the state's actions clearer, expecially after the shot fired across their bow by the judge in this opinion. But technically there is a reasonable case that they are simply pursuing all legal avenues to enforce their position, and they haven't crossed over that line until told not to take another step. We'll see. A jury would not exactly be favorable to CCO, but a legal scholar, would have no choice. Then it all comes down to either a judges estimate of damages or his strict instructions toa jury on how to calculate them. Either way it's a crap shoot for both sides. I expect a 2-4 yr time frame for closure. Let's get the taking argument out of the way, and then we'll see some progress. From a stock standpoint, don't expect the mkt to take CCO seriously until a true enforceable judgement is in the vooks. That means no major jumps in price until it's too late. Woyuld I buy more now? Not really since I own several thousand shares and don't feel comfortable making this a big bet in my portfolio. OTOH, it's still attractive to newcomers at this price. I expected the initial ruling to push it up much more than it has, and with that in mind it's still at a "discount" to its value given the current legal position. CCO has the advantage based on the last ruling, subject to overturn or another twist at any time, but for that alone it's prob. worth 2+ right now.

To: Henry Volquardsen who wrote (1109)	11/10/1999 11:35:00 AM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4686

Henry,...I think your point is well taken. Phil Ware asked that I not launch any sort of publicity campaign and not write to Jeb Bush (Governor of Florida) so for now, I am holding off. For a while, I was thinking that national press coverage would help to boost the stock price. I'm sure it would. The political forces that could be unleashed might actually hamper any final resolution as you suggest. Unfortunately, as Engler found in Michigan, even a modest settlement with the "forces of evil"<G> (Miller Oil Co. getting $90 Million) produced a strong charge of sellout from the environmentalists. Our question is: How to maximize our financial benefit from the good fortune of investing in an oil prospect that appears to be panning out in a big way? The irony of all this is that it should be considered a boon and benefit to the people of Florida. Personally, I'd love to find oil in my backyard. The real price to Floridians is that probably less than 1/10th of 1% of the population would ever even see any evidence of oil drilling and even that group would only see some small structure way off in the distance. In the meantime, major oil production could produce signifigant revenue for the people of Florida.That revenue could pay for a lot of other environmental projects, health care, education etc. I believe the people of Alaska are reaping many financial benefits from oil. The impact in Florida would not be as great because of the large population in Florida, but the realistic negative impact has been blown way out of proportion. My only concern is about how well Phil Ware is equipped to handle any negotiations. I don't even know if He has considered my suggested compromise "deal" to have the State of Florida "buy" an indefinite delay in drilling. (I've sent my suggestions to him, but He has never acknowledged that he has reviewed it.) I hope his dealing with others is better than his dealing with me, but I seriously doubt it. I hope that the Lykes people are involved in the negotiations and that Phil has a lot of outside help. I also hope that they are not going to try to "steal" the Company from the rest of us long suffering shareholders.