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    New Shares to Hit the Market

    By Mark Evans | May 11, 2008

    The Ottawa Citizen ran an interesting story a couple of days ago looking at what might happen to Nortel shares when 33 million new shares hit the market next month.

    These shares, which represent 8% of the total outstanding, are part of the settlement of class-action lawsuits. Since a deal was made two years ago, their value has dropped to $1.1-billion from $2.5-billion.

    According to the Citizen, Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski has spent $1.7 million over the past year buying stock at prices ranging from $8.30 to $16.

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    Viewing 9 Comments

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      You shareholders gave more away to your lawyers than you did to yourself. I guess you got the worst of the deal. All for what ? Moving money around for a few years on some balance sheet and sacrificing the share price. The reason Nortel is undervalued relative to competitors is because of perception and not reality. Now I bet those that get their settlements will sell just at the wrong time while I will start buying. Thanks in advance for the cheap shares. Its only a matter of time before Nortel recovers based on performance of the last year in operating margin alone.
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      I didn't buy my shares at $80 like some did. I didn't at $40 like others did. I thought I was smarter than anyone else when I bought them, just like you think of yourself now. That was at 8 dollars, 7.88 to be exact. Now a few years and a 10 to 1 split later, you are buying. There is a sucker bought every minute.
      And by the way, when i filed the paperwork for Nortel II everybody was telling me the same BS about "lawyers will take it all and you'll get $10". I even believed it myself, but i did it anyway, to hedge the bet. Now I got about 10K and all my buddies who were telling me this got 0. I think I did OK on that one.
      What is the future of Nortel? I do not know. I do know however that this company is very broken. Yes, after all these years, it hasn't yet turned the corner and became a better company than it was in 2001. Shares are cheap, that's true. But there is a very good reason for that. Can it double from here? Sure! Hey, you can make money trading anything! But who is on the other side of your trade? You think they don't know something you do? You think everybody is emotional about this? Think again. It's been awhile. People mostly lost interest in this saga by now. Look at how many comments this blog gets for example (no offense to anyone).
      It's your money. Invest into something that adds value and goes into the right direction long term, don't gamble on takeover BS or turnaround miracles. You can get lucky here and there but overall it's playing against the house who has a huge advantage.
      Unless you have some inside information (and trading on that would be illegal) I would recommend to stay away from NT. I understand that it is pointless to give this advice. Because a) it's obvious anyways and b) you're not going to listen to it anyways.
      But at least I might be able to disprove the "lawyers take everything and you are left with $20" BS. Yes, they take a chunk, but by no means everything.
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      Published: Wednesday, May 07, 2008

      Nortel Networks' depressed share prices could face even more pressure in the coming weeks.

      The reason is that 33 million company shares will be distributed by the end of June to investors who lost money in the 1999-2003 accounting scandals. The shares represent about eight per cent of the company stock and follow a distribution of 28 million shares in the first four months of 2008 that helped drive down prices by 44 per cent.
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      can you read that carefully, please?
      info
      1. 28 million shares distributed in the first four months of 2008 that helped drive down prices by 44 per cent.
      2. 33 million company shares will be distributed by the end of June 2008
      comment
      now we know why NT collapsed in 2008!
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      Mike did put your shares to good use. Why did I believe that guys fireside chats and other spin. This has been one very bad investment, but it is good for Mike. The rest of us can just go to he1l.
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      i did not even bother sending in an application. figured it would cost more and cause more headaches. valuation sucks anyways. Z, donate my shares to a good cause.
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      too bad for you. i too thought it would be pennies, but just in case i decided to send in the papers anyways, to hedge the bet.
      i turned out to be wrong, it seems. i got 499 shares already and may get a check for 4K or so as well, from what other folks have reported.
      i've shorted the 499 shares against the box right away, trying to front run the other folks dumping theirs eventually, when they get around to depositing them, etc. so far that idea looks like it was a good one.
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      i've got a share certificate in the mail
      came in canada post envelope straight from NT in Canada.
      in the envelope there was a one page letter saying that i'm supposed to receive another mailing that will explain why i got the number of shares i got, where the cash settlement portion is and how to correct my misspelled name.
      my question is, if share certificate is for 499 shares, does it mean that i'm rich now or are those old pre-split shares worth 1/10th of current shares trading at 8+ bucks? am i getting 4K or $400?
      i guess i have to wait for more mail, then wait to correct my name there, then by the time everybody else is done selling and stock is trading at $1 i might have a chance to deposit and sell this thing?!
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      Didn't Mike Z get a raise recently?

      Raises have actually been pretty scarce over the last 10 years, but I recall plenty of ordinary folks instead rolling their savings into Nortel's Stock Purchase Plan back in '99-'2000, anticipating triple digit share prices.

      There is a bit of a difference in wagering your raise as opposed to your retirement, no? Heck, If I got even 500k I'd disappear from the map.
     
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