Alright, let me tell everyone my opinion. Take it for what its worth LOL
I think Norris wanted to do one more big deal before he hung up his spurs but he ran afoul of two things.
1. the offshore deal had a partner who got aquired/merged.
2. the offshore rig operator got acquired/merged.
In this light, he got derailed by one thing: the present prvelance of mergers. He wanted to do a big deal. He could have done the onshore Mississippi deal, but thats not all that out of the ordinary. So he aimed his cannon trajectory high and he ran afoul of matters bigger than all of us.
So, what do I think he should do? Well, here's my thought... he should do 1 of two things. I favor the first.
1. he should do the onshore deals as fast as he can.
2. he should sell the offshore thing because with two business entities that have been subsumed by other companies, he has found himself sitting forever in the waiting room. He has to move forward and in that the avenues for the off-shore thing are blocked, he should be practical and do the deals that are not going to be stymied by the dissolving of the relationships he had been counting on.
As to him being dishonst, I just wish people would stop throwing such hard words around. The fact is that folks have lost money so they act like a mindless lynch mob. But Norris isn't a crook. He's just an old guy who tried to reclaim some of the magic he'd been a part of as a younger man. And its not that the world has changed. In his younger days, had he tried to shoot for the moon, he'd have been likely to run aground on these reefs then too because, in all generations, companies with whom you are aiming at some hihg-return deal can merge or go belly up before the deal can get done. It's not something new. You make a plan and lay it out. Its a good plan and all, but the picture could have shifted in 1985 to where a business relationship he'd have been counting on dissolved, just as happened to him in 2006/2007.
I get weary of all this shrill meanness. After all, this is a pinkie. He didn't dilute to a billion shares. He never engaged in pinkie financing or pump-n-dump tactics of any kind. All these accusations of insiders doing us wrong, selling to high heaven, are sheer immaturity on the part of the accusers. Look, just point out one single SEC form (I'd have to go look up the form number but you all know they have to be filed) that would have had to have been filed were he selling out. There are none. He's not dumping. He's not running a boiler room scam. He's not profiteering on the backs of you and I. He aimed at doing the big deal one more time before he died, and the relationships he was counting on dissolved out from under him. Its as simple as that.
And, I figure that there is value here. Not short term, mind you, but there is value. So, if you don't like what has happened, bail and put your remaining funds elsewhere, but quit cussing this old man. At least he had the nads to try something hard and highly ambitous at his age. I hope I still have his moxy when I get there. And anyway, I doubt he will want this downer to be a total downer, so I expect him to do some on shore deals pretty soon. And you know, if he is an honorable man like I think he is, he may sell the off-shore stuff, declare a special dividend a,d leave the company to a younger generation. Stranger things have happened.
Imperial Whazoo
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