RE:PerplexedHi FLG,
They should rename the company Perplex Inc. Nothing they do makes any sense which makes it impossible to anticipate their next steps. You can make yourself crazy trying to understand the semblance of a master strategy.
If you were cleverly trying to take the company private you would do everything you could to depress the share price. Cutting and then suspending the dividend would be at the top of the playbook. My instincts tell me that isn't the case here because the Voting Trust doesn't have the intestinal fortitude or the financial acumen to pull this off. They are all pretenders and don't have a dime of their own money in the business.
My best guess is they panicked when they saw the Q3 results and projections for the balance of the year. They then did a smell test on the 2020 budget and slammed the brakes on the dividend.
I believe they don't want to go to the banks with cap in hand because they could not produce a credible plan any banker would accept without demanding punitive terms and conditions. They don't want to be beholden to anyone with a brain or a spine.
I remain confident (as confident as you can be with the Keystone Kops) that they will restore the dividend to the minimum threshold to retain control or sell out to Fairfax.
The suspension of the dividend has flushed out some investors who were in it for the dividend, but the payoff will come when this finally plays out.
It's a bit perverse, but suspending the dividend was good for long-term investors. It means the end of the lunacy has begun. MW