Regardless of what we collectively think about Jim Cramer, his "too much litigation" premise is not inaccurate. While the actual number of instances of litigation for IDCC may not be exceptionally large, the share price impact of the Ericy, Samsung, Nokia, and Lucent legal haranging is enormous. We thought we were out of the woods after 10 years with Ericy. Nope. Back into the dungeon and crippled share price with Samsung and Nokia. This stock is constantly trying to make headway with two hands tied behind its back and a ball and chain attached to one leg.
All one has to do is look at the tone of this board the last several months to see how the litigation is impacting a lot of us here. The animosity has reached a fevered pitch because of the seemingly endless litigation. Yes, we think it will end by May 31st. Some of us thought it would surely end by the end of 2004 for various reasons, others thought it would be over before the end of March because we couldn't imagine Nokia risking the financial exposure. Wrong again. It is clear that IDCC is a high risk investment. That may be part of what Cramer is saying. He may also be saying that the "opportunity cost" of owning IDCC is simply too great. There are other places for investors to put their money without having to wade through years of court battles in order to hopefully effect an increase in share price. Many other companies can just go about "the business of business" without having to wait years for courts to free the logjam impacting revenues. I don't think any one on this board can deny that IDCC's future is directly linked to the current arbitration. Any investor who is willing to lay their money on the line based on a positive court outcome is assuming a higher level of risk.
I've spent five years following this stock and this board on virtually a daily basis and little has changed in terms of the market place's willingness to concede that IDCC must be paid for their technology. Getting the major players to pay up continues to be an unbelievable struggle. The major players will ultimately determine our future. Others on this board have waited far longer than I have. While we may not like Cramer's response, it would be unfair to dismiss out of hand.
Doug
AI
