The ARS market has thrust its poisoned tentacles in another direction. After raising interest costs for issuers and wiping out the formerly "safe" cash holdings of individual investors, the Wall Street Journal reports that frozen ARS accounts have hit tech companies as well.
Specifically, the Journal lists $855.7 million worth of ARS holding on the books of these five tech companies, listed as follows:
- Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST): $357 mm
- Intuit, Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU): $328 mm
- Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM): $74.7 mm
- Earthlink, Inc. (NASDAQ: ELNK): $60 mm
- MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCS): $36 mm
These companies and others will probably need to write down the value of these securities unless the ARS market unfreezes. If there is an industry that's unscathed by this problem, I'd like to know. But for those who've invested in companies whose cash is frozen in these ARS accounts, there are many restless nights ahead.
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