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To: Josef Svejk who wrote (3781)	3/14/1999 12:29:00 AM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Respond to of 4295

Just edited my post... it's a DRAW!!! What a ripoff. Lewis clearly won the fight! - Jeff

To: Josef Svejk who wrote (3781)	3/15/1999 11:11:00 PM
From: EL KABONG!!!	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4295

* NEWS * And this ain't no OTC-BB company either... March 9, 1999 Heard on the Net IndyMac Threatens to Fight Its Message-Board Critics By AARON ELSTEIN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE EDITION IndyMac Mortgage Holdings isn't about to let chatter on the Internet stymie its attempts to dig out of a financial hole and regain the confidence of investors. The real-estate investment company has been attacked on Internet message boards since last October when it was beset by financial miseries and saw its shares plummet more than 60% in just three days. The Pasadena, Calif., company is beginning to regain the trust of bank lenders and Wall Street analysts, but its Internet critics won't let up, and its stock continues to struggle. Now, IndyMac says it is fighting back. Latching on to a growing trend among companies criticized on Internet message boards, IndyMac is threatening to sue its detractors. It contends many are short sellers hoping to profit by depressing its stock, or are disgruntled former workers out to get revenge for being laid off. The company inserted two messages in recent weeks on a bulletin board on the Yahoo! Finance site (quote.yahoo.com), warning "financially interested authors," who have posted "untrue" messages, may face lawsuits. "IndyMac will use all the legal means at its disposal, including the use of subpoenas if appropriate, to identify the anonymous authors of such messages," read the warning. An IndyMac spokeswoman refused to say whether the company has filed suit. Why is IndyMac bothered by negative Web postings? It contends that the chatter has helped keep its stock in the doldrums, even as it makes strides to recover from its financial troubles. "Volume [of negative postings] really ballooned, and we wanted to point out there is disinformation out there," says Pamela Marsh, IndyMac's director of investor relations. Among other things, message-board postings say that additional layoffs may be imminent and that the company is having trouble generating new business. Ms. Marsh says the company wouldn't rule out layoffs as economic conditions warrant but doesn't expect "significant" layoffs in the future. She wouldn't comment on its financial outlook. The attacks come amid layoffs and increased short selling. Short sellers -- who profit when a company's shares fall -- held about 2.8% of the IndyMac's 74.6 million common shares in January, up from 1.5% at the height of the company's financial problems last October. Meanwhile, IndyMac has fired one-fifth of its work force. But there is no evidence that short sellers or ex-employees are behind the negative chatter. All of the postings were made anonymously, and Yahoo refuses to identify users who wish to keep their names private unless the Web site company is presented with a court order. The power of a court order is exactly what IndyMac will be counting on if it follows through with its threat to go after its detractors. Lawyers say message-board operators often agree to turn over the identity of anonymous posters when faced with a subpoena. Just last week, Itex, an online-trading company, said that it has made progress in tracking down its message-board detractors. It amended a suit it filed last year against 100 "John Does" to name four specific people whom it alleges posted inaccurate and defamatory statements about the firm on Yahoo. One of the four used to work for the company. Yahoo refuses to comment on whether it has been contacted by IndyMac. Ms. Marsh declines to comment specifically on the company's plans for legal action, though she says it will continue to monitor the flow of postings. IndyMac became the target of cybercritics after global financial upheaval last year, especially in October, punched a hole in the market for risky mortgage bonds, which it had used as collateral to borrow money from big banks. Real-estate investment trusts, such as IndyMac, make money from managing and owning a portfolio of property and mortgages. Many bundle mortgages together and create bonds that they sell to investors or use as collateral to borrow money from commercial lenders. As the value of mortgage bonds plunged, IndyMac's lenders began demanding more collateral, said Craig Peckham, an analyst at Bear Stearns & Co. The financial squeeze forced the company to unload $1.7 billion in assets, write down $66 million worth of mortgage-backed securities and lay off 328 employees last year. Concerned about the company's prospects, investors bolted for the door. In just three days last October, the company's stock fell from 19 5/16 to a 52-week low of 7 3/8 on Oct. 7. The stock, which closed at 10 5/16 on Monday, trades at only five times earnings, and just below book value per share, the value at which its assets are carried on its balance sheet. IndyMac's problems also were exacerbated by a decline in business. The company reported that loan production dropped 44% in the fourth quarter of 1998 from the third. The company posted a $73.7 million loss for the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of $29 million a year earlier. IndyMac appears to be making headway from the depths of its problems, however. The company said in January that it has secured $700 million of "committed financing" from Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. and BankAmerica Corp. On Feb. 9, it named a new chief executive, Michael W. Perry. "They have ample cash to continue operations," said Sutro & Co. analyst Arthur Bender, who upgraded his investment rating on the company's stock to "buy" from "hold" in January. Write to Aaron Elstein at: aaron.elstein@news.wsj.com Copyright © 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. KJC