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Technology Stocks : Corel Corp. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: White Shoes who wrote (3622)	11/12/1997 9:45:00 AM
From: Picanoc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9798

Unfortunately, too much of this thread is directed towards issues which are really spurious, such as the suit against Corel. Getting anything meaningful from a corporation like Corel, even in the event of a win, is very unlikely. Make-work project for American lawyers, nothing more. My take on this company is now quite pessimistic, but not because of the insider selling - that is just a symptom. 1. Institutional ownership - very few funds appear to hold this stock. My evidence is anecdotal at best, but the disappearance of Corel from all of the fund statements I read, combined with the block selling over the past three months, convinces me. Most brokers have long since abandoned it. For this company to reninvent itself, it will need capital, and for a myriad of reasons, just doesn't have the credibility required. 2. Employee stock options - as an Ottawa resident, I know past and present Corel employees, particularly on the engineering side. In this region, Corel has the reputation of being a technology sweat shop. But employee options made the overall compensation attractive enough - as long as the stock went up. However, those packages haven't been worth anything for a while. Even after last January's? redenomination, they are worthless. Many employees have been hanging around, hoping for their mountain of options at C$9 to be worth something again. They won't wait forever, and I would guess many have given up already. The crisis comes when Corel faces an exodus of talent precisely when it is trying to 'turn on a dime' (to use one of Mike's lines) and the talent base is gone - in this respect the Java vs. NC choice doesn't matter. My reason for following this stock is I still wonder if Corel can turn the situation around and start turning assets into earnings again - and if so, when? Nothing I see right now tells me to put my money down and take my chances. Ian

To: White Shoes who wrote (3622)	11/12/1997 10:28:00 AM
From: Vanni Resta	Respond to of 9798

White Shoes: OK man. No problem. You did once say before, though, that you were not joining the suit because you were afraid you would be countersued. I was just making the point that that is not a good reason. Indeed it would be a despicable reason. Everyone should always be willing to take personal risk to make the world a better place. Call me an idealist, but we are the people who improve this world, and we are proud of it. Yes we get flamed savagely for challenging others' ideas, and the lynch mob wants to string us up now and then. But it is all for a good cause, so we do not mind. Another bad reason not to join the suit is: "I didn't lose enough money." All that matters is that you bought stock in Corel at the right time. I am not exactly sure what the period is (we will learn more soon), but I think basically it boils down to the summer months when Corel and Cowpland were publicly making positive comments, while the accounts inside the company were privately eroding. Nobody is going to make any money out of the suit except maybe the lawyers. We already know that. But that does not matter. When someone does something wrong, they have to be taken to task. The negative publicity for Corel and Cowpland would be one benefit. (They probably have insurance so they are unlikely to lose anything personally.) But if the suit teaches others not to behave badly in the future, well that would be the main benefit. As I have said before, in the fight between right and wrong, money is not an issue. Do what you want, join or not. We all makes our choices and lives with 'em. Happy Investing! Vanni