one taste

Is Norilsk Really Selling Its SWC Stake?

Mark,

Thanks for your ongoing research and opinion. Don't worry about spreading rumors, as this is everywhere now...
platinum.matthey.com
tradingmarkets.com
steelguru.com
ipmi.org
billingsgazette.net
...and in my judgement is probably true.

The 25% selloff for SWC *was* breathtaking -- I had the unfortunate timing of opening a position the day before -- but was not too much more than some other mining shares, for example FCX. Norlisk will likely be able to find a cash rich mining buyer and knows it cannot resort to dumping its shares on the open market, so other than the desperate times this situation points to it may end up not having much negative effect on the share price.

Looking at this situation and the other articles at the moscow times site, it is more clear to me just how widespread and serious the credit crunch is: Gazprom is having cash flow difficulties and large metals companies are not paying their electric bills.

Btw, I liked the comment in the moscow times story that their investment in SWC hadn't worked out as they had hoped, in part due to the "environmental sensitivity" and high labor costs in the US. And part of their plan going forward is the "optimize" salaries at Norlisk. Well, God bless America and the rest of the free world, and I'll take my 25% loss, thank you.