To: paul feldman who wrote (33304 ) 12/21/1998 10:49:00 PM From: Gator II Respond to
Yea, I'm involved in both SESI and PKD and not enjoying it at the moment. FWIW, I believe both company's fundamentals are more sound than most in the patch and PKD is experiencing tax-loss selling big time. Because SESI will convert at .975 shares of PKD for each share of SESI, it is falling in direct sympathy to PKD irrespective of any other considerations. I, also, doubt if anything good is going to happen to either company's shares until mid-Feb when both company's shareholders will either approve or kill the merger. Also, seriously doubt a "white knight" will appear on the scene (in no small part due to PKD's poison pill), but if one did, SESI would likely benefit the most. Should the merger fail, I also believe it would bounce first and highest, too. If I were taking a new position, it would be with SESI. One more thing, until the last minute of the trading YEAR, I believe you can sell PKD and simultaneously buy SESI at about a 10% to 15% discount (currently) without violating the 30 day wash rule. The benefit being that you could establish a tax loss for 1998 and never miss a beat assuming the merger is completed. Obviously, before I were to do this, I would check with a tax authority to be sure such a simultaneous sale and purchase would be kosher. Assuming it is and that hardly anyone still in PKD has a gain this year, a whole lot of this may take place all the way until Dec 31st. In fact, this may very well be the primary reason PKD is being pounded so hard (or so it seems) relative to other drillers. Paul (anyone), what is your take on the situation? Regardless, I do plan to stay the course through the merger as I believe both company's are fundamentally sound and grossly oversold.
