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Technology Stocks : Osicom(FIBR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CMS27 who wrote (6406)	4/9/1998 9:36:00 PM
From: Optician1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10479

I do not understand how anyone can waste time reading much less responding to crawford....it's a free country so I can contribute to a plaintiff fund to hold this person accountable for his lies....he has a right to post; I have an intellectual duty to not waste my time reading his junk. Thank you all again for letting me accumulate another 10k shares under 4. My very best regards to all.

To: CMS27 who wrote (6406)	4/10/1998 12:11:00 AM
From: craig crawford	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10479

<< The source of your opinion was the tape and that was all >> No it wasn't. How do you know what was in my head? I said that was all I needed. I just didn't want to bother with researching and explaining other reasons. << I just wanted to make the point you haven't always just offered ideas opposite those of longs, which is fair for anyone to do, you have come on this board and just yelled scam. It's this that has set you apart and as a target for Osicoms legal department. >> Wrong again. It appears to me that I am not the only one being targeted by Osicom's legal department. It appears that they have gone after others who post on the internet in the past and have never said the word "scam" in the same sentence as Osicom. If I can interpret legal speak properly, it appears that they are currently going after other internet posters as well. << Yes I believe it is possible. If you look at the numbers of shares short at that time and the percentage drop, a lot of money was made on the Monday after that article. >> There were a large number of shares short because reasonable people could take one look at this company and decide for themselves that FIBR was a great short! They didn't need Barron's to tell them that, just like I didn't. << It is simply finding a company with this convertible shares situation and shorting them and then having a big negative article published >> It's not like all the shares were shorted right before the article. The short position built up over time. You can go back to the very beginning of this thread and hear talk of shorts being to blame for Osicom's stock slide. Besides, there were so many shares being shorted and so many articles with a negative spin coming out all the time, that it seems pretty reasonable that there would be plenty of shorting surrounding articles published. << Tell me why this isn't plausible >> I think that it is possible, not plausible. (There is a difference) But like I said, it's just as possible that Osicom management (or any management in a public company for that matter) could have leaked insider information to someone as well. I haven't made that claim about Osicom. Anything is possible, so what's your point? << Perhaps those financing with convertible shares would short the company in order to profit on the downside, then when the shares convert profit on the upside >> I was referring to the common (and legal) practice of shorting securities to lock in a certain price (using the convertible preferred as collateral), and then delivering the freshly converted shares after the restriction is lifted to cover. This guarantees that they get a certain price if the shares slide by the time the restriction is lifted. I have never participated in something like this but I think that's how it works. For example let's say you engage in a private placement with Osicom. You receive a certain amount of preferred shares that are convertible into common stock at a future date. Let's say Osicom is trading at 5. A couple of hype releases later the stock is trading at 10. You as a convertible holder engage in a negotiated short sale with a market maker at 10 and get the proceeds from the sale. You are guaranteed to get common shares at a future date when your preferred converts so it doesn't matter where the stock goes from there. If it goes to 5 it doesn't matter because you already locked in the sale at 10. All you have to do is cover your short by delivering the shares. At least that's how I understand it, I have never researched it thoroughly. With generous terms like this and floorless convertibles where the stock doesn't have to reach a certain price to convert, it's no wonder companies like Osicom can get people to give them a lot of money for shares. And what do you know Osicom doesn't even need private investors alone, now they do private placements for themselves and "certain shareholders". Don't even get me started on Reg S deals which are even a worse shafting to shareholders. I would be willing to bet that Osicom or top management at Osicom have more than likely engaged in multiple Reg S deals. Has anyone ever asked? << I find it odd that you didn't know this however. How did it turn out you didn't know this? This honestly sounds quite strange. >> Why is it strange? The article isn't about Osicom. The section devoted to me mostly talks about COMS. The reporter didn't let me see the article ahead of time, and we talked about many stocks. The reporter said he read some of my Osicom posts, and of course Osicom was one of the stocks brought up in our conversations. I remember we talked about YHOO but he made no mention of that in the article. FIBR was only a small portion of what we discussed. It seems pretty obvious to me that a public company like Osicom who sues a private investor about things said on the internet would be an interesting thing to put in an article, if only to demonstrate how serious some people take internet chat forums.