hsv,I am not so sure price will drop when retail investors get...

hsv,

I am not so sure price will drop when retail investors get their shares. Retail holders of WES tend to be fairly loyal long term investors. Sure some will be cashing out for a profit on the new issue, but if the perception is the price was going to fall on issue there has been nothing stopping them cashing out now for over $16

I think the price is being largely determined by the instos, who already have their newly issued stock. It would appear from the recent strength in the share price that the instos have re-rated WES because the debt bogie has been removed.

I think you just need to decide wether WES management will turnaround Coles and K-mart. If your answer is yes then its probably a good investment given many of their businesses are well placed in relation to the GF Crisis. If your answer is no then its a definite sell ASAP (or yesterday would have been better).