First, the facts. It bills itself as a media company that ultimately will stream content through its Web site, which now in its infancy understandably still offers little. The Internet may be the closest thing in our lifetime to Amsterdam's tulip craze. Three years later, bulb futures prices were multiplying as much as nearly 30 times in weeks. Guess what happened next.
Trouble is, if stock prices keep pushing skyward, they can end up beyond any reasonable multiple.
Moreover, you can't blame a company for trying to raise cash if investors are willing to hand it over in spades. But the trouble with a new paradigm is that no one knows how it'll play out. Remember that many Asian corporate debts remain collateralized by stock holdings. Market recovery around the region has eased pressure on companies with such debt, allowing them to attend again to their productive businesses. A new round of stockmarket plunges could send a tentative recovery into a tailspin.