To: Dan Duchardt who wrote (782 ) 8/25/2000 4:55:48 PM From: Sir Francis Drake Read Replies (3) | Respond to Dan & LPS5, while I totally understand where you are coming from, reversing trades is not going to be easy - many sticky issues. But I certainly disagree with the poster who suggested that all trades in QLGC today also ought to be reversed. QLGC was not the object of the hoax. The way QLGC behaved was simply a reaction by traders to a major "event" (fraudulent as transpired) in the sector. But that is par for the course. Nobody told longs in QLGC to sell - if they sold, then it is their own fault - since the "news" DID NOT DEAL WITH THEIR STOCK. They were trying to be "smart" and sell figuring there were some implications for the sector - but that required a LEAP of reasoning - since nobody said that any trouble at EMLX had anything to do with trouble at QLGC (when there were questions about earnings earlier this year at EMLX, QLGC did NOT have similar problems with their business - so why should it have been different this time). Fact is, those longs that sold QLGC, sold it speculating on a sector effect - and that speculation was WRONG, therefore they deserved to lose their money (if they didn't buy back). Being wrong in the market, if you were wrong based on wrong reasoning is par for the course, and there should be no protection against that (QLGC)- in the case of EMLX, they sustained losses as a result of fraud - two different situations. And furthermore, unlike the situation with EMLX, the trading halt etc., the investors (longs) in QLGC had a chance to reverse their error of judgement , and go long again. That's the market. And traders who happened to spot an opportunity, should not be denied their profits. I happen to follow QLGC, and trade it almost daily. bearing in mind that QLGC was also hammered earlier in the year based on EMLX concerns, which transpired to be a buying opportunity . So, I made a judgement call. Longs who sold based on wrong speculation also made a judgement call - they did not base it on fraudulent "facts" like the poor EMLX longs. Why should such QLGC traders not get to keep their legitimate gains, based on correct judgement calls, not on fraudulent "facts"? And if you decide to take those gains away, then the damage is not simply loss of profits in the QLGC trades. It represents opportunity cost - because I was using capital and time that I would otherwise have used on a different stock - if you trade for a living, you have just been denied the use of your capital and time. So, how am I going to be compensated for that?
