Stardate 20010926.0931 (On Screen): If you owe a thousand dollars to a bank and can't pay, you have a problem. If you owe a million dollars and can't pay, the bank has a problem. If you owe a
billion dollars and can't pay, the government has a problem. Or so the old saw goes.
During boom times, when there seemed to be no limit to "up", NASDAQ's rule about delisting stocks whose price dropped below $1 seemed reasonable. After all, only companies which are really losers have that happen. But now it turns out that 15% of the stocks listed on NASDAQ have a price near or outright below $1, what with the dot-com bomb and the general drop in stock prices of the last year. When one stock falls below $1, the company has a problem. When a 669 stocks fall below $1, NASDAQ has a problem -- and they're suspending their rule for delisting such companies, at least until the end of the year. It's a sign of the times, folks. (VA Linux 
gets a reprieve!) (discuss)
