Quote from sprstpd:
Nice name calling again. You really know how to prove my point for me, don't you?
And by the way, when the viability of companies are put into question, the outcome is NEVER orderly. Maybe you wish it was, but it will never be that way. Sorry.
Lets put it this way.
Say that You intrust to me, a Prime Broker 20000 shares of your company to sell, while you keep 25,000.
I register the change in benificial ownership with the Depository Trust. Then I sell those shares to A, then I sell those shares to B, the I sell those shares to C. Then to D.
Your company now has 80,000 shares outstanding, not the 20,000 that you sold.
I have the money from the 60,000 shares which I will fail to deliver. plus the 20,000 that I give to you.
It's just free money to the prime broker, who gets ALL the money from these transactions. It is like there were no penalty for making no interest loans to bank officers. (Oh there is not any penalty for that either).
Now I don't know about you, but I only voted my stock on one occasion. Only a tiny minority of stock holders ever fill out the card. So when they say that in almost every issue put to stock holder vote there are more votes cast than shares of stock that exist that pretty much says that availing themselves of the opportunity to make a couple of bill in free money selling stock that does not exist without penalty is a pretty common practice.
Thing is that suddenly a vote comes in to put in a board of directors that are interested in running the company but only in distributing the retained earnings to themselves. You should have a controling interest, but somehow the vote goes against you 30000 to 25000.
The owner/management of a company that I worked for lost a proxy fight this way, and I only now understand what probably happened.