To: Robert Cohen who wrote (2218 ) 2/17/1998 8:22:00 PM From: J. M. Burr Respond to
FYI: I checked early this morning and noting the original action thought the stock just might be a major winner. As it turned out, it was THE major loser for the day. IMHO these things happen so rarely that it provides a perfect indication that MM, buyers and sellers are dealing with one effed-up company. In the great scheme of things, what happened was the bursting of a pimple on the market's corpus; however, it should have longlasting consequences because practically no one came out ahead today -- least of all VLNC. As my messages will attest, I sold out at 7 because I thought the company was loathe to provide stockholders the information they needed to make intelligent decisions. I bought back in at 4.25 because the marketing manager in me said that if the product succeeded it would revolutionize the industry. I am not a technician, but I do know how to sell a company (and cut my eye teeth on one of the great run-ups of the 1950s in Mead Johnson), and how to keep stockholders happy. Thus, I can understand the anger because I too should have known that something was not quite right, and I too could have dumped for a very very nice profit this AM. In my case, I have fun with Techstocks and my plays keep the juices flowing. Others, I'm sure, were counting on that move that signals a winner and comes along so rarely. For that I am truly sorry. That being said, I am sure that VLNC lost a lot of important friends today because nobody, least of all those who tout a stock, likes to be made a fool of. I would suggest, and I think history bears me out on this, that from now on VLNC will have to make a real effort to keep its stockholders informed -- and not on a quarterly basis; should it not do so I predict that its management is asking for real trouble ahead. Anyone want to bet that Lev has his phone of the hook right now? Tumbleweed.
