Trex Chilled

Looks like Plaintiffs didn’t fare too well in the Trex securities class action. Reading the opinion, it seemed as if Judge Glen E. Conrad (W.D. Va.) (who was appointed a U.S. Magistrate Judge in 1976 at age 27, and elevated to Article III status in 2003) rejected their complaint on nearly every point imaginable, as he concluded “that the facts and circumstances alleged in this case are not such as to support a departure from the general rule that puffing and forward looking statements do not constitute misstatements or omissions of material facts for purposes of the PSLRA.”

He continued, “as for plaintiffs' claims which arguably implicate statements of present fact, the court concludes that, when read in context with other statements and information made available to the investing public, no reasonable investor could have been misled. To hold otherwise, would create unreasonable reporting requirements that would discourage and chill meaningful communication by corporate officers.”

You can read In re Trex, issued October 6, 2006 at 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73503 or here.

Nugget: “Even assuming that the accused statements and/or omissions could be viewed as false or misleading, the court concludes that the facts and circumstances alleged by plaintiffs do not give rise to a viable inference of scienter.”