Comments on: Nortel to Hold Off on M&A

By: Observer

Observer — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:04:48 +0000

I've posted several times since last summer on this blog that Nortel or anyone else would be unable to do anything because of the roiled credit markets. This is old news people. Nortel management like most other companies is behind the curve when predicting the enormity of this crisis. And its going to get much worse before it gets better.

On the bright side, Nortel is actually in a good situation because of the breadth and depth of its businesses. In a slowing economy, breadth is what is necessary to survive a downturn.

By: Observer

Observer — Fri, 09 May 2008 05:04:48 +0000

On the bright side, Nortel is actually in a good situation because of the breadth and depth of its businesses. In a slowing economy, breadth is what is necessary to survive a downturn.

By: ex-nt

ex-nt — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:38:12 +0000

OK, if its 1.4, it's still too high to go shopping.

By: The Psychiatrist

The Psychiatrist — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:30:34 +0000

Nortel's debt to equity is more like 1.4 and not 1.6 as you suggest.

Yahoo finance is a little behind the curve.

By: ex-nt

ex-nt — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:45:55 +0000

What is Mike going to use to buy companies: Nortel stock, buttons, 6 sigma T shirts??! Nortel, with its debt load and low stock price, is not a buyer, its a seller. Nortel has a debt to equity ratio of 1.6, meaning it has $1.60 of debt for every dollar of equity. Cisco has debt to equity of 0.2! Nobody is lending Nortel a dime in today's market to go out and buy anybody. My translation of Mike's “financing is a challenge” is “no one will give us any money”.