RE: How they steal your money Who knows whether Bates is the author of this or not. When it's all said and done, it's more probable that Bates is just not that sharp of a person as he has demonstrated in running this company to the ground.
May take on the Rights Plan is that it's Marret that is trying to pull a fast one on the little guy. As an owner of a company one assumes not only the assets but also the liabilities. I understand it if CMK was a limited partnership or et al whereby the owners (shareholders) are held liable (i.e. Marret's loan). But that is not the case here. And yet, the Right's plan in essence is precisely that. They're 'giving' the shareholders the Rights to purchase more to "save the company", but instead that money goes to pay off the bondholders, and they also will gain more control of the company. If I'm not mistaken, even if all the shareholders exercised, the percentage of ownership will still remain the same.
To me, unless one sees a huge upside to the SP, essentially by exercising you'll be paying off Cline's debt. That's just not good investing and I presume most retail shareholders will not exercise either. In this regard, I agree with you Mr. Bond. In the end, I suspect that institutions, big investors who have the resources to maintain or increase their position will end up owning Cline. That, in part explains the trading range of the SP.