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Technology Stocks : CDRD (CD Radio) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John McPherson who wrote (770)	2/5/1999 11:22:00 PM
From: Dale Baker	Respond to of 904

Trickery is too strong a word; they arranged discount convertible financing, then persuaded the holders to roll it over into new financing instead of cashing out with new common stock and diluting CDRD too badly. But either the debt has to be paid or the stock diluted eventually. They just postponed the inevitable. When I was shorting CDRD back in 1997 (very profitable in the end - before it took off again) I heard several anecdotes of brokers cold calling retirees to buy CDRD. Since this was a wing and a prayer investment (or a satellite and a gizmo to be more precise) I think LEH did expect them to at least meet their schedule. Could be LOR's fault, though, and the delays in the chip sets from LU. BTW, LOR is financing the satellites which they are building and launching for CDRD; if CDRD falls behind financially LOR can just repossess the hardware and sell it to someone else. Keep an eye on that if you are long. If my portfolio had a few more zeroes I would pick up some CDRD just on spec. But I will just watch instead. Good luck.

To: John McPherson who wrote (770)	2/6/1999
From: Mark Marcellus	Respond to of 904

<<In any case, who really expected this company to put their business case into practice on time anyway?>> Well, lots of people on the Yahoo board <g>. If you believe what you read, the company also expected to do it. They kept repeating their mantra about needing 965 million to see them through until launch. Of course that was a "forward looking statement", so maybe it doesn't count. I do wonder if CDRD management was aware of these problems when they were closing the Apollo deal and, if they were, whether they shared the information with Apollo. I also wonder about those trials they were doing in September while the Bass deal was being done. That didn't exactly create an environment which encouraged rigorous testing. I can imagine the conversation: "Excuse me Mr. Margolese, I know you're busy raising that $100 Million, but we think we've found some problems . . .". I still think this whole thing has an odor to it, but I'm clearly in the minority. Maybe I'm just too old and cynical. FWIW, Mark

To: John McPherson who wrote (770)	2/6/1999 12:52:00 PM
From: M. Frank Greiffenstein	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 904

I'm with you John.... I've been waiting for a chance to get back into CDRD, and I found it Friday. It is a great story: The first major change in radio's business model since radio's invention. TV Cable subscription did wonders for the entertainment world. What financial trickery are people talking about? CDRD has a lot of cash and devoted institutional ivnestors. Just one example, please... A comparison to LOR? LOR is in the rocket business, CDRD is in the satellite entertainment business. I see no reason why CDRD performance should track LOR (Aside: Chairman of LOR may have been selling our secrets to the Red Chinese, another reason for LOR to be held with contempt). Widows and orphans? A phony, straw man argument. We all know this is an untested concept and very risky. I see no evidence that CDRD ever touted this as a safe investment. Anway, we may end up losing money on CDRD, but that will be determined in the marketplace. Any thoughts on why delays in shipments of Lucent parts to CDRD? Is LU overwhelemd with orders, or is CDRD weclhing on payments? The press releases have been vague. DocStone