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Technology Stocks : Primestar/TCI Satellite (TSATA) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sydney who wrote (294)	4/10/1999 9:52:00 AM
From: Jim S	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 442

Wish I knew the full answer to your question, Ruth. There are 'A' and 'B' shares, the A being common stock. Usually, the B shares of a stock are 'preferred stock,' which can mean different things for different stocks. I don't know, but I assume (with all that implies) that the preferred shares (TSATB) are treated as convertable bonds. I'm sorry to not be more helpful, but with any luck there will be someone more knowledgable to post a better answer. Good trading, jim

To: sydney who wrote (294)	4/12/1999 11:52:00 AM
From: Germaniac	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 442

TSATA and TSATB are "valued at par", as they represent interest in the same company, TCI Satellite Entertainment, a holding company and tracking stock for PrimeStar, of which it owns/owned 37%. TSATA ~57+MM Shares / TSATB ~8+MM Shares Difference is that B shares carry 10 votes per share and are closely held by John Malone and the Magnus family whose shares Malone can also vote. This, plus somewhere between 650K and 1.5MM shares of the A stock are what gives Malone full control over TCI Satelitte Ent. (TSATA/B) The float on B shares is very low which is partly responsible for the sharp move to 15+ last week which was caused by an error in a Reuters report which confused TSATB with TUNE. Once the deal with DirecTV (GMH) goes through, hopefully by the end of the month TSAT which owns 37% of PrimeStar will have about $1 in cash and stocks. In addition to this TSAT has a significant amount of Net Operating Losses (NOL). These losses can be carried forward to offset future income. Depending on tax-rate of a company these NOLs could be worth as much as $5+/share for the right company. (e.g. Malone's Liberty Leftovers) This brings the total maximum value of TSAT shares to $6+. However, more realistic is to assume a deep discount for the NOL 'asset' and a total valuation in the $2-4 range once the deal is done and there is an interested party that will "buy" TSAT. Some speculate on a new internet related venture, with the stock hitting double digits upon annoucement. While I wouldn't mind making a quick million, I see this as a pipedream. And then there is the potenial of using the TSAT shell with its then $67MM and using this to forge ahead into a completly new arena. Also a good bet based on Malone's history. For more information I suggest you vistit the Yahoo! board on TSATA, one of the better boards they offer. Once there, pay particular attention to posts by the following: BillSmith9, Dishmover, Scan175, Satellite Dishwasher

To: sydney who wrote (294)	4/12/1999 6:36:00 PM
From: GregS	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 442

TSATB shares are may be exchanged on a 1:1 basis for TSATA shares, so they have the same value. However, TSATB shares carry 10 votes each, so that is part of the reason they command a slight premium over TSATA shares. If you chart the two stock, you will see they track each other more or less exactly, except for the recent error in the press release. TSATB shares are trading a premium now because of very heavy shorting that occurred on the day of the mistaken press release, and the ensueing short squeeze. When the squeeze is over, TSATA shares and TSATB shares will again trade evenly.