There is nothing useful on this web site.
Even though the internet is the source of all truth, the only truth here is that everything else is a lie.
We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
All art is quite useless.- Oscar Wilde
Now the media coverage of ABCP retail investors has become a bit of a frenzy.
It has become hard to keep up with it all. Some respected (or at least widely syndicated) columnists have have even started to write columns and offer opinions on the topic.
There has been a remarkable twist to the story. Each noteholder has a vote on the bankruptcy. By most accounts, there are some 1400 retail noteholders that 'own' only $270 million of this paper, out of $33 billion that is frozen. Each of these noteholders has a vote. Most of this bad ABCP debt is held by big players in Canada's financial community. The retail investors outnumber the big guys 15:1.
Collectively, this means creditors that are owed less than 1% of the debt could scupper the $33 billion Pan-Canadian barge. The banks will not like this. The country's largest pension fund will not like this. Certain investment dealers across the country should look for a new line of work.
The barge would sink, and the members of the committee would have to demonstrate that they know how to swim.
Diane Francis wrote a blog that later appeared as a column in the National Post. It rates amoung the best.
An estimated 1,500 individual and corporate retail investors have been left holding the bag on more than $900-million worth of junk credit they should never have been allowed to buy in the first place had Canada's regulators, laws and intermediaries done a proper job.
Terence Corcoran, the editor of the Financial Post, saw it in a different way. He claimed this Facebook group is actually 'a clever group of investors' … 'Exploiting that leverage (of the CCAA)' … 'to turn the ABCP sinkhole into a gold mine.'
With all due respect Mr. Corcoran, if your idea of a gold mine is breaking even on a 30 day deposit a year after it matures, and only after fighting like hell to accomplish that, then I will have to change my opinion on your opinions.
Most of the press coverage has been very supportive. The story is getting out there, and we are happy for it. We thank all of the journalists credited here. Here are some of the best from last 10 days.
Canadian Debt Holders Will Get `Little' Without Plan (Update3)
Crawford warns of investor losses
Dig in your heels, and eventually the big banks will make everyone whole again
Commons finance committee to vote on ABCP hearings
Canadian Group Urges Caisse to Buy Commercial Paper (Update1)
Credit union's position worries investor
Canadian Hog Farmers, Pastors May Block Debt Plan (Update2)
Small noteholder stokes revolt against ABCP deal
Investors face a Catch-22