Reply #29: That's right. In particular, it's the "empty creditor" syndrome.

[KamaAina]

I read elsewhere that the reason for bankruptcy was a large amount of debt, not reduced revenue.

These days, with all that "structured debt" (i.e., derivatives) out there, it is quite possible to wind up in a situation where the company whose paper you hold is worth more to you dead than alive. This makes you an "empty creditor" -- one who is not exactly likely to work real hard for a restructuring deal to stave off a liquidation that would make you $$$$$.

And Six Flags was cited as perhaps the prime example of this. That may even be why they jacked up the prices -- just to service all that debt. Kind of like when Macy's closed a store in downtown New Haven that was basically breaking even. It wasn't actually losing money, you see, but it just wasn't generating enough cash to service the parent company's debt. So, down it went, taking an entire mall and pretty much the city's entire downtown with it, not to recover for another fifteen years. :eyes: