be a realist, page-3

I have to agree unfortunately. Historically, takeover activity tends to happen at the top of market cycles, when there is lots of excitement and euphoria, overbidding and smart strategy going on.

When the makret is in the doldrums, and cheap, few takeovers happen. That doesn't make a lot sense, bit it is a market reality.

A lot of the talk about the mining tax has looked at numbers and the supporters have come up with minimal impact, numerically. But those of us with a bit more experience know that numbers are only a small part of the mining story. Much more subtle effect is from sentiment, excitement, euphoria, optimism, and lack of it. What has now happened is that all the excitement has gone, announcements of new discoveries are greeted with a yawn. Its all dead in the water.

So with that very much in mind, I think we are very lucky to have a bid at all. I don't like it, but that does not change anything.