Replies to post #21059 on InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[Gben1938]

Loop..
Sorry, I had already responded to Learning before reading your post. Your logic, as usual, seems to make more sense than my simplistic thinking. BTW, regarding insider selling, that's the ONLY thing my broker wants to talk about when we discuss IDCC. Huge negative for him. Meanwhile, I keep accumulating.
Gary

[wireless_wazoo]

Loop, remember the period of 1998 - 3/00 when buyers of stock made money EVERY single time they "bought the dip"; well short seller have been making money EVERY single time they short sell into a rally. Someday they will get burnt badly just as the "buy the dip" buyers got burnt between 3/00 - 2002.

Howard knows they can't go into the ASM without a major positive development on NOK/Samsung/ERICY and 3G. The short sellers will only help the stock reach greater heights when we get good news on the 3G front.

[snowydread]

" The first of course is the size of the unscheduled blocks sold by our COB, COO and other officers when the company was stating "days" for the Nok/Samsung ratification process of the Ericy rate. I am still shocked over these sales with the information being provided to the street and the shareholders at that time. The sales fall short of the reasonable man theory regardless of the spin one wishes to place upon them. If you throw all matters aside, "why" is still present regarding the sales"

In looking at the pattern of insider sales over the last couple of years, it looks to me like insiders may have sold at times when IDCC is approaching various key junctures.....before NEC, last fall as one might presume negotiations with Ericsson were about to get serious. In eachof those instances board sentiment seemed to reflect a feeling that selling meant nothing good would be forthcoming anytime soon, but the share price soon went higher with more or less positive resuts.
Perhaps the recent selling came before NOK had a chance to apply pressure in the form of a short term blow to the finances of those responsible for ensuring delivery of the cash/ in advance of serious 3G dealings, etc.
One thing is for sure, we benefit from a happy, well fed management team doing battle with the merciless giants of wireless.

[Learning2vest]

Loop, slow Saturday and got some time to read the boards. Gonna share somebody else's "rational man" ideas in ref to your comments copied below(with my bold and added comments in parens);

"This recent short increase report is the second most puzzling event of 2003. The first of course is the size of the unscheduled blocks sold by our COB, COO and other officers when the company was stating "days" for the Nok/Samsung ratification process of the Ericy rate. I am still shocked over these sales with the information being provided to the street and the shareholders at that time. (In Loop's personal opinion) The sales fall short of the reasonable man theory regardless of the spin one wishes to place upon them. If you throw all matters aside, "why" is still present regarding the sales."

Maybe I don't pass the "reasonable man" test even when I'm cold sober, but if I do, then here's what I thought(and then moved on) regarding those recent insider sales.... Human nature... Think about the possibility that the top brass at InterDigital have been fighting for their dignity, honor, and some cash to celebrate with, for almost as long as some of us have been frustrated shareholders.

OK, got that picture? Well, maybe everything they have been fighting and working for just fell into place. Ericsson capitulated, the rest is a solid lock, and they KNOW THAT! It's "high fives" time in the KOP executive conference rooms, i.e., remember those "The sun is shining brightly and the skies are blue over KOP" comments from our usually understated CEO on March 17? Well, IMHO human nature goes a long way towards providing an explanation that it was time to get a "taste of what is coming". Those guys have plenty of shares to sell, and a lot more coming(we bitch about THAT when we are not over chewing the sales of any of them, LOL!). Cash out a few thousand shares while the window is open and celebrate the moment makes a lot of "rational man" sense IMHO.

Little digression here. I am a retired saleman. Remember getting my first big sale back when the family was still eating our meals off a piece of varnished plywood that I screwed some legs on. Sitting in "hand me down" chairs that did not match anything. The way sales commissions worked back then was that the salemen got paid when the equipment got installed. That was a good 7 months after I got that first order, but Momma got a brand new $5,000 plus hand carved mahogany dining room set a week after I got the order. The money to pay for it was coming, and I wanted to spend some NOW!

[redhot]

LOOP-"Further, any dual mode phones are not covered under the existing licenses"...they are not? Any GSM/TDMA mode is covered by existing 2G royalty deals regardless if a 3G mode is also being used. DoI misunderstand? redhot

[Gamco]

loophole73 - Gben1938 - wireless_wazoo – snowydread - Learning2vest –

Loop, your comment caught the attention of several. You stated, "I am still shocked over these sales with the information being provided to the street and the shareholders at that time. The sales fall short of the reasonable man theory regardless of the spin one wishes to place upon them. If you throw all matters aside, "why" is still present regarding the sales."

I have been a bank Trust Officer for over 29 years. Several years ago (on Raging Bull) I posted about Estate Planning techniques that do result in the sales of investments to implement the plan. To maximize the potential effectiveness of these Estate Planning techniques, they must be put in place before any significant price appreciation occurs.

Don’t just consider the company officer that has sold. Take into consideration all of the selling corporate officer’s family members or a selected class of beneficiaries that are intended to reap the benefits of the Estate or Gift Plan at the expense of the Taxing Authorities. This IDCC forum is not the best place to discuss the benefits of a “Family Limited Partnership” (as just one example) with the gifting of partnership units to these beneficiaries. The “after tax” effect of this kind of wise financial planning easily surpasses the “reasonable man theory”. Is this why these sales took place? Well, I do not have the slightest idea, but I do know that now would be the time to execute these types of strategies rather that after the share price of IDCC is in triple digits.

Timing is everything. This applies to when to do your financial planning just as much as deciding when to buy or sell. The benefits of minimizing the tax considerations (Capital Gains Tax, Estate Tax, Gift Tax) simply by creating additional taxpayers (Trusts) and spreading the tax burden to others (children, grandchildren, etc,) are too substantial to ignore. The end results justify the sales of the investments involved.

There is a wealth of information on the internet regarding related subject matters. Some members may wish to follow up by doing research concerning the following:
Family Limited Partnerships, Life Insurance Trusts, Charitable Remainder Trusts, Charitable Lead Trusts (to name some of the more common methods).