Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IceShark who wrote (78673)	3/28/2000 7:29:00 AM
From: Earlie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Ice: No question that the plot is thickening. As you note, it doesn't make much sense to clean up the current convertible debt which carries a relatively modest interest rate, only to replace it with a larger but similar convertible at a higher rate. It may be that the company will attempt to flog an equity deal. The problem with this (if there is any sanity left out there at all) is that prospective buyers might be reticent to buy at such elevated prices on the back side of such a parabolic ramp even with a substantial discount-to-market price. $500.0 million moving down to $333.0 million suggests an early converter,... someone who wanted to sell into the ramp? Pure speculation at this end on this one. The one thing that we can count on is that the execs at this company know that we are entering a period of global over-supply in memory. (With PC growth slowing and the Asians pushing yield growth as well as expanding production lines, the next several quarters are not going to be nice.) This suggests to me that they have found or will find a way to close those TXN plants, irrespective of the covenants in the TXN contracts (with their former partners and respective governments). It would be insane to spend the required big bucks to renovate these relics as demand falls and prices crater. This would leave the company in much better financial shape. The money provided by TXN has already been pocketed and they would not be faced with the continuing drag these plants represent. I would love to have access to the MU-TXN contract details. There has to be some heavy duty covenants that restrict TXN's selling, otherwise they would have long since been gone. Your employee option comment makes much sense, given the arcane twists to this scene. I suspect that given the massive size of the large funds' holdings of this stock, that those funds might well be calling the tune now. What might these funds be up to? Beats me, at least at the moment. Good homework on this Ice, so stay with it. Best Earlie