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Strategies & Market Trends : Mr. Pink's Picks: selected event-driven value investments -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mr. Pink who wrote (16924)	8/14/2002 5:23:04 PM
From: Mongo2116	Respond to of 18998

Nice job ohh resplendently robed one....ALL HAIL!

To: Mr. Pink who wrote (16924)	8/14/2002 5:23:59 PM
From: SiouxPal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18998

Oh Lord he ain't tossin' us no cookies lately! :•) Give me your current opinion on EP please. (a pigeon in paradise waitin' for a crumb)

To: Mr. Pink who wrote (16924)	8/14/2002 6:12:38 PM
From: ayn rand	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18998

Thanks for CNCE cookie money. Where would you recommend covering this short? or are you leaving me alone on this decision?

To: Mr. Pink who wrote (16924)	8/14/2002 8:51:51 PM
From: Wolff	Respond to of 18998

Conseco Considering Bankruptcy By MARK JEWELL 08/14/2002 19:28:01 EST INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Conseco Inc. said Wednesday a bankruptcy filing could be near as it disclosed that federal regulators were investigating the troubled insurance and finance company's accounting. Conseco, which on Friday announced it was putting off bond interest payments and radically restructuring its debt and operations, also said it would seek bankruptcy protection if it could not agree with creditors on the restructuring. Conseco said the accounting inquiry "relates to events in and before the spring of 2000, including the company's accounting for its interest-only securities and servicing rights." In June 2000, company founder and chief executive Stephen Hilbert and his chief financial officer was forced to resign after piling up $8.2 billion in debt through an aggressive acquisition strategy in the late 1990s. Conseco, based in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel, eventually restated financial results for most of its 1999 fiscal year by nearly 40 percent. Last week, a federal judge approved a $120 million settlement in a two-year-old shareholder lawsuit. Wednesday's disclosures came in a quarterly SEC filing made the same day the company was to make its long-delayed release of second quarter earnings. Those earnings had not been released by Wednesday evening. However, Conseco said it had met an SEC-imposed deadline to file a statement affirming the accuracy of its earnings. "We cannot predict whether any restructuring will be effected out of court or through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, nor can we predict how long any restructuring of our debt will be required to implement," the company said in its 10-K filing with the SEC. Absent a deal with creditors, "we will be forced to petition for relief under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code." Trading of Conseco shares was suspended Friday as it announced it was stopping interest payments on bonds during a 30-day grace period and had retained advisers to help in the restructuring. A total $45 million had been due this month. In Conseco's May 1 first-quarter earnings release, chief executive Gary Wendt said the company had enough cash to make short-term debt repayments. Conseco has been quiet since Friday as to why it was unable to make the debt payments on time, saying it would provide an explanation Wednesday. In a statement accompanying Conseco's first-quarter earnings release on May 1, Wendt said, "the 2002 liquidity issues are behind us ... The 2002 shortfall is covered, and we are confident about liquidity in 2003." The New York Stock Exchange, where shares last closed at 34 cents on Thursday, moved to delist Conseco's stock Monday. However, trading of company shares resumed later that day as a "pink sheet" over-the-counter listing commonly used for stocks suspended from the Big Board. Conseco shares closed at 6 cents on Wednesday, down a penny. Conseco shares traded as high as $58 in early 1998, and hit a 52-week high of $9.98 on Aug. 15, 2001. Colin Devine, an industry analyst with Salomon Smith Barney, said prior to Wednesday's earnings release that he regarded the announcement as "largely irrelevant at this point." Analysts and institutional investors say a dismantling of the company is inevitable, likely through a Chapter 11 filing in the near term or a "prepackaged" bankruptcy in which creditors negotiate terms before a filing is made. Wendt, the former head of General Electric's finance division, has cut debt by about $2.4 billion over two years, in part through sales of assets outside Conseco's core businesses in insurance and finance. Much of the debt is the legacy of acquisitions made under Hilbert's leadership that soured, notably a $6 billion deal for Green Tree Financial Corp. That unit, specializing in high-risk consumer loans for manufactured housing, became a burden as credit terms eased and loan default rates rose. In its meetings with financial and legal advisers to discuss restructuring and debt issues, Conseco is seeking new repayment terms for loans made to former directors and officers under Hilbert's leadership to enable them to buy Conseco shares. Conseco last month warned that unless banks extend the loans, two bank payments totaling $500 million may not be paid on time. Conseco employed about 14,000 at the end of last year, though it has shed assets since then. The 23-year-old company employs about 3,300 in Carmel, with major offices in Philadelphia; Chicago; Rockford, Ill.; St. Paul, Minn.; Rapid City, S.D.; and Tempe, Ariz. ___ On the Net: conseco.com

To: Mr. Pink who wrote (16924)	8/15/2002 12:20:53 AM
From: Cube	Respond to of 18998

It is interesting great one. Mr. Ellis' comments about short sellers and this Mr_Pink_esq fellow sound eerily familiar to that plague ridden CEO of Conseco a few months ago. Now Wolff has been kind enough to post this article on Conseco: Message 17878640 My what a difference a few months makes. Who would ever have considered stale Doritos a brain food? Or an empty bowl of bean dip a crystal ball?? Cube

To: Mr. Pink who wrote (16924)	8/16/2002 12:35:54 PM
From: not2cr8iv	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18998

What happened to the subject of this thread? First it was shortened, now it's gone. What gives?