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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Stocks that should be investigated by SEC -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Richard Weins who wrote (93)	10/3/1997 1:51:00 PM
From: opalapril	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 167

Corel's CEO should be at the top of the SEC's list. Check out this from the Ottawa paper: >>Cowpland sells $20.5M in Corel stock Sales came a month before big losses announced Andrew McIntosh The Ottawa Citizen; With files from The Montreal Gazette. Corel Corp. chief executive Michael Cowpland sold $20.5 million worth of stock in his Ottawa software company in August, a month before the shares plunged when Corel said it would lose $32 million U.S. in its third quarter. Mr. Cowpland sold 2,431,200 shares in 10 trades between Aug. 11 and Aug. 14 at prices ranging from $8.20 to $8.80 each, according to insider trading reports he recently filed with the Quebec Securities Commission. The sale represented 26 per cent of Mr. Cowpland's stake in the company. On Sept. 10, Corel announced it expected to lose $32 million for its third quarter ended Aug. 30 -- the worst loss in Corel's 12-year history -- because of slower-than-expected sales of its word processing and graphics software. Corel stock fell almost 20 per cent in the two subsequent trading days. On Sept. 24, Corel confirmed the loss for its third quarter -- and shocked markets again by saying it expected to lose another $15 million to $20 million U.S. in its fourth quarter, a period ending Nov. 30, and only break even in 1998. That additional news caused Corel stock to sink another 18 per cent and came after Mr. Cowpland had promised sales would "surge" in the fourth quarter. Corel's shares closed at $5.50 yesterday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Mr. Cowpland told the Citizen yesterday he did not profit from insider information when he sold his stock, saying he sold his shares before the third-quarter losses became apparent to his senior executives. "I would have sold all my shares if I had had any doubt about the future of the company," Mr. Cowpland said. "Everything was on track at that point." He said he had to sell the shares to repay bank debts incurred over the past four years to pay income taxes and other debts. The bank loans were secured by the Corel shares and deadline for payment came due, he said. "We accumulated a lot of tax and it tends to catch up with you. I had a backlog of borrowings. I would have preferred to sell my shares when the price was higher, of course, but the payment became due," Mr. Cowpland said. He acknowledged the timing of his stock sales will give some people cause for concern in hindsight, but he added: "People will have to look at the facts. It was a cash-flow situation." Mr. Cowpland said he hasn't sold any more Corel stock since then. Mr. Cowpland said Corel continues to be his main focus, he still has a big stake in the company and he is confident its shares will hit $25 once again. "If I had cash, I'd be buying more Corel stock right now because it's so undervalued." The August stock sales left Mr. Cowpland with 5,450,558 Corel shares and options on 1.2 million more shares, giving him about 10 per cent of Corel. He owned 17 per cent of the company one year ago. The Corel chief made his stock sales through his personal holding company, M.C.J.C. Holdings Inc., and on the open market, the trading report states. What Corel announced on Sept. 10 was that despite receiving and shipping orders for $96 million U.S. worth of product in its third quarter, it would report only $54 million of that sum. The $42-million difference represented merchandise in stores or with distributors that was unsold. Corel decided to exclude the revenue from its sales.