When I first learned that Nortel Networks (NT) has sought bankruptcy protection yesterday morning via @MarketWatch on Twitter (you can follow me on Twitter), I wasn’t really surprised (OK, a little bit). Wasn’t it just a month ago when reports came out that the company was seeking legal advices for a possible filing?

Though NT later denied such an activity, I suspect the speculation never went away. After all, the company has been in a terrible shape since the dot com and telecom collapse early this decade. Though the company has tried desperately almost everything to make a comeback, it has never returned to what it was 9 years ago and the stock kept trading lower and lower amid management scandals and slumping sales.