Absolutely Sandman,

I don't think we'll see an RS announcement until cash generation is announced or planned to be announced very shortly thereafter. The RS will not sustain it's price without money coming in. So if they do it after a deal is struck, it should certainly pay off. If they do it before (given the brains behind the operation) it might be safe to assume a deal offer will be announced in the days that follow.

It doesn't make sense that they would use the RS until a deal is ready to go. So RS should equal positive news.