EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
In the current case of BioAmber, empirical data must reign supreme. All types and manners of positions being argued otherwise, whether hypothetical, metaphorical, theoretical, or historical, fail in comparison to empirical.
The historical argument being made is: "Other distressed companies have had their shares cancelled in the past, therefore BioAmber will have their shares cancelled."
The theoretical argument being made is: "There are certain US Bankruptcy laws that assign no priority to equity interest, and because the purchase price was not sufficient to cover everyone, therefore shares will be cancelled."
The metaphorical argument being made is: "Equity claims are actually equity interest, and since there is no recovery for equity claims, therefore equity interest is zero and shares will be cancelled."
The hypothetical argument being made is: "An insolvent company that has debt with no remaining assets is just a shell, therefore the company is worthless and shares will be cancelled."
All of these arguments march forward in the absence of empirical data, and in fact, requires it; empirical evidence (information which verifies the truth and corresponds with reality), must be omitted since when it is presented, at once shatters the position and renders it false.
The great irony is that arguments devoid of empirical evidence often contain the greatest certainty, while those supported by evidence err on the side of caution with a "wait-and-see" point of view.
The reason certainty is injected in arguments is almost always to bolster a weak position in the attempt to provide a viable substitute for empirical data, for which no substitute exists. That is worth restating -- when an argument is being made that is not supported by empirical evidence, something must be provided to compensate, and the closest approximation to actual evidence is the attempt to persuade others with absolute certainty. One must be ever vigilant for signs of absolute certainty in the absence of absolute truth, i.e. empirical evidence.
Certainty is the antithesis of seeing the current situation clearly.
To date, one way or the other, not one single document in this specific proceeding (empirical evidence) has been presented which definitively, without qualification or interpretation, details the fate of BioAmber's shares.
