dcrowe23 -- Your vivid statement reminded me of a scary incident...

dcrowe23 -- Your vivid statement reminded me of a scary incident a few months ago that nicely parallels the current "bear" market and idea that an acquiring company might "swoop in" and "clean this bunch of dribblers up before they pooped and got off the pot".

See:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2012/05/23/mb-bear-outhouse-survivor-shurvell-alexander.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2012/05/22/mb-bear-attack-winnipeg-sioux-lookout.html

Humour aside, a takeover typically involves enough of a premium that most of us would get our buy in value back and then some. Remember that acquires can't just sneak in. At 5% they must declare, and there isn't enough stock for sale to buy up a majority holding.