Dec 20th is the last real trading day of the year 2008 I think! By then UMC will have delivered yet more exceptional news I think. Eventually value will out - as always. Meanwhile there is probably going to be more blood in the streets before that. The great danger for UMC is a predatory takeover bid well below its true value which must be well north of $3.00 given a delivery deal which will come in due course. How many would jump the ship at say $2.00/2.50 - quite a few given the stock market panic. I can think of one ex director who might lead such a flight! THX 's holding remains an issue IMO. So we need to steel ourselves - Cape Range is currently trading at HALF its cash assets to give everyone an idea of how out of kilter the markets have now become. The heavy hitters like Buffet are starting to gobble up huge undervalued assets in the USA but minnows like UMC will probably not get on the radar for a while as the likely movers are China and/or India. The China sovereign funds are sitting on their cash as they have been burned in the USA this year - but the Japanese are moving as they are more experienced in this financial whirlpool. Meanwhile between now an the end of the year UMC will deliver upgraded JORC on Railway and almost unquestionably come up with some exciting new discoveries. The unknown is the delivery issue - but pay attention! The company says it has been approached by a third party already - the joker in the pack. So my view is that by the end of the year the UMC will have changed again quite dramatically for the better. What the market does in between now and the year end will depend on Wall Street unfortunately - and sadly the $1 billion a year Australian super fund industry seems to be managed by retired bankers who would not know a gift horse if it was put on their plate! And for those who are losing faith I might add that one of my Chinese contacts has just joined a bid in australia for a distressed mining situation so the smart money is mostly watching and some acting when the opportunity is too good to miss (don't ask as not allowed to say any more). So stay cool - it is going to be a big dipper ride. Anyone with spare cash should buy some more UMC at these levels.
UMC Price at posting:
$1.15 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held