I just came back from one of my walks where I had a chance to think about what went on today. Trying to make sense out of nonsense is very taxing to the brain but I think there are several things going on. First we must remember who Rosey is really working for. It isn’t the hedge funds or the debtors. It is JPM. WGM has a very important ongoing business relationship with JPM. JPM wants everything they stole and they want legal protection to keep it. The whole GSA and the POR’s are a way to protect JPM and the fact that it helps the hedge funds is a byproduct necessary to screw over and get rid of the pesky equity and their potential future suits. By going down this road, WGM and their spokesman Rosen have painted themselves into a bit of a corner. With the growing evidence that there is more and more money available through the monitizing of the NOL’s, it is obvious to everyone including the judge that equity should be at the table. The fact that Rosen once again refused to put an amount what the preferreds could receive shows he is still unwilling to concede they receive even a penny. To concede anything to equity throws his entire plan out the window. The GSA precludes the debtors from suing JPM but not equity. If equity is allowed to live and control the new company, they have a base to go after JPM. At all costs, WGM can’t allow that. So the charade continues.
I also think Rosen is waiting to see what comes out of the depositions of the hedge funds. I am sure he suspects they were bad actors but he is probably hoping they were clever enough to cover up or at least obfuscate their actions. He is hoping that if there is no clear evidence of wrong doing, that JMW won’t impose the FJR and there won’t be enough funds to flow to equity. He certainly isn’t throwing in the towel until he has to. So, what we got today in his DS revisions was about what we could expect.
I think we must be getting close to the time when either one of our activist shareholders (with the EC’s blessing) or the EC calls for a full valuation hearing. If the judge were to allow this latest POS POR to be voted on when we have no idea of what recovery for equity would be, it would truly make a mockery of the entire bankruptcy procedure. This case has long cried out for a fair evaluation. What is WMI worth? I want to see someone request this hearing before we waste time soliciting votes. That seems the only way to end Rosen's game of hide and seek. A good timetable would be to make that request immediately after the depositions. That would probably delay things another month but if equity is shown to be in the money, then real negotiations could begin. Still hoping for a September 2011 settlement.