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Gold/Mining/Energy : Big Dog's Boom Boom Room -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ed Ajootian who wrote (26944)	11/7/2003 9:48:57 AM
From: DELT1970	Respond to of 206315

A recommendation for HAL by Friedman, Billings, Ramsey: Cash Settlement Agreement Reached, A Key Obstacle Overcome—Reiterating Outperform. Summary and Recommendation: We would be buyers of HAL this morning. We see $3 to $5 upside for the stock once the market fully discounts the asbestos settlement, which should close in 2Q04. HAL should trade up. • A key obstacle has been removed and the asbestos settlement is very likely to close in 2Q04. Our sum-of-the-parts valuation indicates that HAL is worth $24 to $29 post-settlement, depending on the amount of insurance recoverable. Agreement on cash settlement. • HAL and the asbestos claimants have agreed to limit the cash portion of the negotiated settlement to $2.775 billion, the amount of the original estimate. Claimants have agreed to a downward adjustment of the payout matrix if necessary. This is a win for HAL. Approval vote delayed until December. • HAL will circulate a supplemental disclosure statement within the next two weeks. A vote by claimants to approve the proposal should occur 30-45 days thereafter. Prepackaged bankruptcy likely by December 31. • Following approval (which requires a 75% vote), HAL will file the prepackaged bankruptcy of its DII and Harbison-Walker subsidiaries. The filing will be reviewed by federal judges and we expect final approval in 2Q04. Accelerated due diligence. • HAL said that the bankruptcy filings were contingent upon the submission of satisfactory due diligence, which it has not received to date. We believe that claimants have the ability and incentive to provide this information in a timely manner. See fbrcorp.com more information concerning our relationship with HAL.