Trend Exploration Inc (TRDX)

[nsomniyak]

In theory I would say yes. Until a specific buyer is matched with a specific shell, you are betting on the jockey, not the horse.

Thinking it through - assuming Lazar does the DD on all of them, a shell is a shell is a shell. There would only seem to be a handful of variables:

1) what business the shell had been in - this would ONLY matter if there were tax loss carry-forwards (NOLs) of value to some buyers but not others. My guess is that any ticker with substantial NOLs is not a candidate for Lazar to jump in on - by definition they don't fit his "many to many" approach (lots of shells, lots of potential buyers).

2) whether there is any contest by former management to DL taking custodianship. DIEN former mgt is making a rear-guard effort in this regard, but for the most part I assume that DL only acts on shells he believes to be abandoned.

3) Share structure - this would seem to be the biggie to me. As with any other stock, the fewer a/s, o/s and float, the better.

4) Market cap - other things equal, lower would be better.

5)Q status - I include this only as there are a couple of DL shells (XNNHQ and MSHFQ)which are presumably still in Chapter 11 per the Q ticker suffix. Some have said that this makes them better plays because debt is eliminated. I have concerns that the interest portion of a convertible may be extinguished in Ch11, but I can't see how or why the conversion piece would go away. For this reason, and because it can only add another reason for delay, I have avoided these "Lazar Q" tickers except for very quick flips. There are enough other DL shells out there - the Qs are an issue I just don't need to deal with.

The game changes once Lazar matches a specific prospective buyer with a particular shell. At this point your investment becomes a bet on the new business and its management team - WAY more specific to the particular company than when in shell status. Often information is hard to come by.