Hi vretts,Like you and Socrates I lost heaps. I also made some...

Hi vretts,

Like you and Socrates I lost heaps. I also made some by buying at 55c the day they went into deep freeze. Boy am I glad they didn't sell out at the 80 odd cent mark

So I am also angry, disappointed and have ridden the bumpy rollercoaster.

I don't think the payout will be as big as some may think. I would expect a maximum in the order of $40 million.

My reasoning is this, and I suspect the courts of thers may reason likewise. Yes the Directors did make a mistake/lie (a matter of opinion) in some of their announcements, but how material were they. If they had made the same mistakes/lies (opinion again) in a better economic climate no-one would have cared. The problem was some banks did not want to extend credit at a later date.

There is some question as to whether it was a mistake, deliberate lie or normal reporting practice and they were truely reporting the situation based on their belief that the credit was going to be extended based on verbal assurances they had supposedly received. Because of this doubt I think there may be a (non-precedent setting) settlement out of court, which will be nice for claimants but not too harmful for the company. Enough to hurt a bit though. By the way if I claim losses from the drop in share value, do I have to offset my gains on the way up again?

I am angry at the former directors for:
Buying Avebury for >$1 billion (OZL sold it for $100million)
Giving a dividend worth $400 million
All this whilst they were in debt to the tune of $1.2 billion
Not playing hard ball with the banks (and blinking first)
Seemingly getting away scot free from these dumb decisions.

So to me the loss of value in my shares is not about their disclosures, but their stupid "snouts in the trough" arrogant attitude displayed, and their lack of due diligence and risk aversion.

Again my thoughts and opinions only.

Again I respect your opinions, and acknowledgs and share the hurt, but I don't think any payout will be as great as you may think.

Regards