[mike]

"It looks like it is still going to be business as usual this year regarding Olympus" 
 
  I doubt that very much .... selling off stock ...... at cut prices ...... but who's going to spend out on a doomed system ?

Olympus won't want to be spending good money after bad ...... they are in damage limitation mode!!

Business as usual as in that they will still deliver the lenses etc. that already are in the pipeline, like the 150-400, etc.

That's basically what my source told me.

As to spending good money after bad, best read up on the Japanese way of working and what they have to do and cannot do. They cannot stop the process from one day to next, which is why they have to sell to a company like JIP. It is a bit different to, e.g, US companies.

Regards, Wim

First off, in today's business world it's not unusual for a company to "spin off" part of their business. A lot of companies that were once viewed as computer companies sold off their computer division and you can still buy them. Second, I worked for a company that a equity firms became the biggest shareholder. Everyone thought it was doom and gloom. They are now a Nadaq100 and S&P500 company.