gentlemen I think you are all missing a few very important...

gentlemen I think you are all missing a few very important facts.

Firstly: Looksmart had 2.8 million shares on the ASX register when it consolidated.
Currently AOT is showing 2.1m shares.
But the latest Looksmart report declares there are only 1.68 million shares on the ASX register as of the 7th of August 2006. (refer to details below).

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http://www.shareholder.com/looksmart/EdgarDetail.cfm?CompanyID=LOOK&CIK=1077866&FID=1193125-06-167750&SID=06-00
the exchange by Chess Depositary Interest (CDI) holders of CDIs for shares of common stock at a ratio of 1:1, and resale of such shares in the Nasdaq National Market (as of August 7, 2006, the CDIs registered for trading on the Australian Stock Exchange were exchangeable into an aggregate of approximately 1.68 million shares of common stock).
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The reason that this has happened is because shares has been purchased on the ASX and sold on the Nasdaq.
Now, a suspicious person might think that the best way to bring a price down (also know as naked shorting) would be to buy 1.12 million shares on the asx (2.8m original minus 1.67m current shares) and sell them into you other account on the nasdaq at a discount.
Keep in mind we're talking around $4 million worth.
The net result is you still retain the shares, but you have been able to use the weight of the $4 million into getting others to sell.

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Secondly: As evidenced in recent posts by LC, instituation holdings have increased dramaticly in Looksmart, now at an all time high of 52.3%

http://holdings.nasdaq.com/asp/Institutional.asp?strFilter=T&sHead=&coname=LookSmart%2C+Ltd%2E&logopath=http%3A%2F%2Fcontent%2Enasdaq%2Ecom%2Flogos%2FLOOK%2EGIF&market=NASDAQ%2DGM&PageName=Holdings+Summary&selected=LOOK&symbol=LOOK&symbol=NVGN&symbol=OVER&symbol=AOL&symbol=YHOO&symbol=ASKJ&symbol=FWHT&symbol=&symbol=&symbol=&SortBy=shares_change&Descending=D

PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIAIATES are not a small company, and these guys know their stuff.
Why would they increase their position by 204% if Looksmart are a dog ?
It lends weight to "the first point" that the ASX stock was being used to weigh down the stock on the Nasdaq.
Take the time to read about this company below.

http://www.pacificlife.com/Life+Insurance/Portfolio+Managers/T.+Rowe+Price/

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Thirdly: Looksmart have been on the ASX since 2000, and have never missed their registration fees.
So one of two things has happened.

(a) They forgot.
(b) They only have 1.6 million shares on the ASX register and they are going to delist and make an offer for the shares to the current ASX holders as a cost saving measure.

Which is more logical (a) OR (b) ?

Now, one might ask "well if they are going to delist why didn't they tell the shareholders first" ?

A logical reason may be that due to poor liquidity on the ASX they may have felt that many small holders would have sold the stock down to avoid paper work, and not get a fair price.
Why would Looksmart persist with the ASX register when there are only 1.6 million shares available ?

We will have to wait in see if which option is correct, but I think LC makes a valid point.

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So, In summary we have the following points:

(1) The share register on the ASX has shrunk to 1.6 million shares. some may even suggest that based on the previous heavy consolidation, it was always in looksmarts plans to delist.

(2) instituational holdings have increased to all time highs even though the share price is at all time lows, this suggests that the share price is being worked.
If some one has a better explaination I'd like to hear it.

(3) Looksmart has either made a mistake in forgetting to renew it's listing fees (approx $10,000.00. fee) when they have $43 million U.S. in their bank account.
Or they are deliberately delisting to save on costs of sending out annual reports etc.


I'm only holding a small amount of stock, but I will not be accepting the Looksmart offer for my shares (if option (b) turns out to be correct).
The institutional buying and the last quarterly report, is enough evidence for me to see that the chart doesn't match the reality and longer. (my entry price is $3.30).
Looksmart is trading approx $15 million below asset value, so I expect some upside on this alone.

Time well tell if the Texan is right, but let me tell you one thing............The Texan is rarely wrong ;-)