RE: The problem is the huge short position honestly, i think the short position is the least of their problems now. where do you want to begin? imho, the short position will not change until we see a conclusion to this fiasco. when this actually happens is anyone's guess. they can do things the easy way or the hard way...
whether it was entirely due to wall st's smear campaign and/or mgmt's own doing, the co has a serious credibility issue going forward. what's next, a "playbook" style clearance sale on BB10 handsets with the promise that they'll be supported over the long run? uh, yeah...seen that movie before.
the co can't afford another quarter or two (maybe three at most) like the last one. the longer this drags on, the quicker the cash component of overall breakup value simply vanishes; the co is now in cash preservation mode and is focused on playing defense and not making more mistake (rather than going on the offensive); this being said, what will these 4500 layoffs cost the company? probably a lot more than most realize. how much unsold z30 inventory will pile up over the coming months? the answer to this better be a lot less than what was just reported
if the co really was "in play" the shares would not be trading like this. end of discussion.
while Cdns may be patriotic to a point, they will not stand for a govt pension funded buyout (ie. bailout) either in part or whole of BB especially if it is done at a significant premium to the current price and investment turns out to be a total dud at the end of the day. if the harper govt flip flops and somehow gets involved in the matter, it will be the kiss of death for the conservatives (as we've already thrown enough money away on the auto co's and so forth)
shareholders will not fade into the woodwork if a firesale, lowball offer by PE is accepted, the co is carved up into little pieces and later flipped back into the market for multiples of what they paid. expect class action lawsuits for years, maybe decades if this is indeed what those close to the matter are secretly planning behind the scenes
sales of highend smartphones in Cda have fallen off a cliff ever since the new 2 yr plans were introduced. I bet even sales of the new iPhones in Cda will lag behind other regions globally. will know more in due time.
lastly, i doubt we've heard the last of the complaints regarding last friday's very brief trading halt and improper dissemination of news. given that we are only days away from the actual earnings release date, something surely must have gone awry last week. best case for the bulls is that the decks were cleared, so to speak, last friday and that there will be no further surprises come the 27th. if this turns out NOT to be the case, it will be the final nail in the coffin. to those that think this was all an engineered market flush prior to a positive earnings surprise (to mess up the shorts), good luck with that. what little credibility the co has left would be reduced to zero if they plan on pulling off a stunt like this.