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Climbing The Financial Wall of Worry

Yahoo’s Scott Thompson Open to Lawsuit from Stonehill College $YHOO

Y from the Yahoo logo

Y from the Yahoo logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By now everyone must have read something about the Yahoo (Nasdaq:YHOO) controversy as to whether Scott Thompson embellished his academic credentials and if Yahoo inadvertently became the victim of an intellectual fraud.  Daniel Loeb, CEO of Third Point, is suggesting he will start a lawsuit at high-noon EDT today if the board does not terminates Scott Thompson and the former head hunter who stick handled the executive search and is reputedly being accused of a very similar set of circumstances. Much fire and brimstone. Third Point which was already at the ramparts cannot believe their good luck in finding such cause. They have been able to manufacture righteousness and much serious chin scratching over the issue.

The investment world is preparing for a gladiatorial confrontation pitting doofusses as described by Carol Bartz admittedly in a highly emotional encounter which some suggest was a moment of clarity against a rough tough hedge fund with two quivering guinea pigs in the middle. but that will not be the main event. The truly aggrieved party is Stonehill College which is billed as a Roman Catholic College.

Academic institutions have nothing but their reputations. Claiming to have earned a designation when it ain’t so is an assault on the brand. If anyone can claim successful completion of rigorous academic standards and then found to be wanting what of the alumni who did meet the standards? What of the current students struggling with the course load and paying their dues? What of future students who want to aspire? They have been robbed irregardless of Yahoo’s response or Third Points counter moves.

I can see perhaps encourage a college to pursue civil remedies against someone who inadvertently postures with credentials which were not rightly earned. I can see some alumni who may want to protect their credentials start civil actions , take the judicial winnings and set up scholarships for deserving students.

So those of you with falsified resumes and manufactured academic credentials you should be tracked like animals and made to pay. In this case Yahoo if they cannot shake off culpability are probably good for a say $25 million dollar settlement or some such traffic ticket.

George Gutowski writes from a caveat emptor perspective.

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May 7, 2012 Posted by | Black Swans, Caveat Emptor Perspective, Class Action, Investments, Shareholder Activist, Volatility, Wall of Worry | , , , , | Leave a Comment

NYSE Euronext Board of Directors Gets Bitch Slapped $NYX #governanace

NYSE Euronext Logo

NYSE Euronext Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) watched one of their members of the Board go down in flames.  Ricardo Salgado tendered his resignation because he did not receive a majority of votes. As per by-laws he had to walk the plank and tender his resignation. Now as per common sense did he or the NYSE Euronext not have a sense of where his support stood. Maybe not because he essentially went kamikaze and went down in flames.

Apparently there is some concern about his ability to commit time to NYSE Euronext activities. Apparently he did not attend too many board meetings so the investors had to ask why should we vote for him. Good question. The nominations process which is controlled by the board and management could not see their way through the arithmetic of failure and put up his nomination anyway. OK so he must be a smart guy and you know what NYSE Euronext executives are not a bunch of dummies. So why was he nominated, why did he accept the nomination and why was he defeated. Read the press release for a few clues.

In thanking him NYSE-Euronext remarked on his twenty years of contribution. so like he is connected and can make stuff happen just like the godfather. The next sentence is crucial. and I quote “ However, we completely understand the business priorities and his leadership role in the Portuguese financial community which requires his full attention, and we wish him continued success.”

Leadership in Portugal which is a financial basket case is an interesting perspective. The whole euro-crisis has more back room maneuvering than front page headlines. Portugal of course is in need of help and Ricardo Salgado is working on it. Institutional shareholders who have the numbers in a proxy battle gave him the thumbs down. Now this is a time where I wish I worked mornings at the Fed Reserve and afternoons at the CIA. (Probably best job combo in whole world) and we could find out the true rationale for agreeing to stand re-election and the institutions finding it too distasteful and voting no.

So here is my take on it. NYSE Euronext made a long term decision and said lets keep this guy. He has been good for/to us in the past and we expect more of the same in the future. Proxy shareholders who think about the board look at his current overwhelming involvement in Euro zone financial problems and throw him over board. Short term decision A+. Medium to long term F-.

Is the NYSE Euronext so sensitive to one board member? Well no and that’s good. But it’s the mix that eventually counts. Short term thinking with board selections is not good. So the big gumba shareholders filling in the proxy cards and directors votes. Ya blew it.

To those of you blaming Euro games it will not matter.

George Gutowski writes from a caveat emptor perspective.

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April 27, 2012 Posted by | Black Swans, Caveat Emptor Perspective, Class Action, Due Diligence, Earnings Forecasts & Guidance, Investments, Shareholder Activist, Stocks, Take Over Targets, Value Investing, Volatility, Wall of Worry | , | Comments Off

Goldman Sachs Spawns a New Form of Literature and Then The Sex Site $GS

goldman sachs

goldman sachs (Photo credit: alyceobvious)

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) much maligned and beloved in the same breath has spawned a new form of literature. The letter of resignation complete with reasons seems to resonate in the financial press. While some may be trying to remove a giant squid they accidentally found on their face others a comfortably blinded by their own hubris and narcissistic viewpoint that they really were not comfortable with the culture. In some cases employees had been uncomfortable for more than five years as they cashed large incentive checks, bonuses, stock options and other forms of financial incentives.

So maybe the new hot trending search term will be “Goldman resignation letter”

Corporate culture experts may see this as a fissure in the Goldman Sachs culture. Imagine leaving the firm not to start your own even more diabolic hedge fund. but leaving just because well you know there were too many pirate like things going on. Like that should be a surprise.

George Gutowski writes from a caveat emptor perspective.

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April 3, 2012 Posted by | Black Swans, Caveat Emptor Perspective, Shareholder Activist, Value Investing, Volatility, Wall of Worry | | Comments Off

Research in Motion stealth take over. It clever, very clever.$RIMM $RY

Image representing Research In Motion as depic...

Image via CrunchBase

Research in Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM) announced the supposed rearrangement of chairs on the Titanic. The two senior guys  Balsillie and Lazaridis announced that they will be stepping down tomorrow. They will still be on the board and they will still continue to hold huge personal investments in Research in Motion.

The key critical chess move is the appointment of former Toronto Stock Exchange chief Barbara Stymiest will become chairman of the board of directors. Ms. Stymiest has been a director since 2007. Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) had previously hired Ms. Stymiest to a new role of chief operating officer during a management overhaul in 2004 after a slump in the U.S. eroded profit at the bank. She was responsible for “strategic development,” with all corporate areas reporting to her, including finance and risk management.

Fortune magazine named her one of the 50 most powerful women in global business three times from 2006 to 2008, and she was named one of the “25 Most Powerful Women in Banking” in 2008 by American Banker.

Forget about the iPhone consumer battles. Research in Motion is all about security. Many countries want to access Blackberry networks internal systems so they can spy on supposed internal enemies. American and Russian security types have spoken very well of Blackberry security strength.

This strength in security is important to financial institutions and credit card operators. So with Ms Stymiest sitting at the top who is the very best to maximize shareholder wealth including Lazaridis and Balsille.

Hedge fund activists who want a strategy to compete with iPhone and other smart phones do not know what they are asking for.

George Gutowski writes from a caveat emptor perspective.

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January 22, 2012 Posted by | Black Swans, Caveat Emptor Perspective, Disclosure, Due Diligence, Investments, M & A, Shareholder Activist, Stocks, Take Over Targets, Wall of Worry | , , , | Comments Off

John Hodgman joins the 1%. This important defection may turn the tide against left wing. $SPX #OWS

John Hodgman - Caricature

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

John Hodgman a correspondent for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” has officially declared that he stands with the 1%. This important defection is sure to turn the tide in favour of the 1%. The tipping point is here. No longer will the 1% have to put up with misunderstanding. John Hodgman will report straight and accurate, just the way the 1% want to see it. When you have important people from www.comedycentral.com and www.thedailyshow.com making public statements in favour of the 1% you know it’s over for the left-wing.

John Hodgman is well-known for his work in defending the PC against Apple’s Mac. John Hodgman is all about traditional values. John we are looking forward to strong and inciteful commentary.

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November 2, 2011 Posted by | Disclosure, Investments, politics, Shareholder Activist, Stocks, Value Investing | , , | Comments Off

#NIRI warns membership #occupytheboardroom #OWS $XLF $GS $MS $WFC $C $BAC $JPM

The most recent newsletter for NIRI (National Investor Relations Institute) is sounding the alarm about a web site www.occupytheboardroom.org . They have a point it seems to be a tool to harass senior officers and board members of major financial institutions.

More unfocused street fighting which will not resolve anything. I am beginning to think this is all about anarchy and not changing for the better.

Disclosure: George Gutowski writes from a caveat emptor perspective. I hold no positions in stocks mentioned in this post. I have no plans to initiate new positions within the next 72 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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October 25, 2011 Posted by | Investments, Investor Relations, politics, Shareholder Activist, Stocks | , | 1 Comment

$RIMM unreliable network thwarts takeover #blackberry #iPhone #carlicahn #jaguarfinancial

Image representing Research In Motion as depic...

Image via CrunchBase

Research in Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM) continued service problems have hit the third day. Customers are clearly upset and the brand has less value. At the same time Carl Icahn and maybe Jaguar Financial are attempting to secure proxy power to straighten out management and supposedly create more wealth.

Vic Alboni does not know how to fix this problem. The service outage is a nuts and bolts operating issue. The question becomes why is the network so unstable. Selling this or rebranding that will not solve this mess. As the problem goes on for the third day it clearly is serious and not just one lose connection somewhere.

If as and when James Balsillie and Michael Lazaridis fix the problem they will be able to spin the issue in their favour, arguing that the Vic Alboni’s and Carl Icahn’s would not know what to do and therefore should not be listened to.

Disclosure : George Gutowski writes from a caveat emptor perspective. Readers should always have a caveat lector perspective. I hold not any positions in stocks mentioned in this post. I hath no plans to initiate new positions within the next 72 hours.

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October 12, 2011 Posted by | Disclosure, Earnings Forecasts & Guidance, Investments, Investor Relations, Reg FD, Shareholder Activist, Shareholder Litigation | , , , , , , | 1 Comment

#anonymous new investor analytic but like so unregulated $SPX #SEC #corpgov #whistleblower

Disclosure (film)

Image via Wikipedia

The market hates uncertainty. Right, we all know that. Investing 101 and Behavioural Finance will pound that message into your head very early in the game.

We place a premium on accurate and timely disclosure. Investors need to know. No one is to have an advantage. So goes the theory. We all know there are rogues and evil doers. So FDR created the SEC to enforce. The SEC has been slightly un-impressive lately. Actually they have been out to lunch for a long time.

In comes anonymous which now declares it will target those it feels are financial wrong doers. This usually means after some kind of investigation they will out you publicly. They may even follow-up with a denial of service attack immediately there after. The uncertainty will be enormous.

Seeing as no one has really knowingly talked to a member of anonymous it’s very hard to understand the standards that will be used. Right now with the SEC and lots of securities lawyers we think we know current legal standards.

The problem manifests in the accusation. Just screaming J’accuse may be enough to destroy shareholder wealth. Pension plans representing many coddled public servants will lose substantial amounts of money. Taxpayers will have to cough up and I mean cough up the difference.

The trick will be in acquiring the initial lead. Where and how will anonymous get their tips? What documents will be provided to support the claim? Even anonymous will want to check it out and not be a stooge. Speaking of which, does anonymous have the intellectual capital to discern what is truly wrong. This may be where it breaks down. They will eventually make a mistake. Who will be responsible? How much money do we have to lose this time?

Disclosure: George Gutowski writes from a caveat emptor perspective. I hold no positions in stocks mentioned in this post. I have no plans to initiate new positions within the next 72 hours.

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October 5, 2011 Posted by | Disclosure, Earnings Forecasts & Guidance, Insider Trading, Investments, Investor Relations, politics, Reg FD, Shareholder Activist, Shareholder Litigation, Stocks | , | 1 Comment

#Anonymous declares was on #NYSE. Also will identify lies, cheats and thieves $NYX

New York Stock Exchange

Image via Wikipedia

Anonymous vows to wipe the NYSE (NYSE:NYX) out of the internet. At the same time, another anonymous group is investigating companies that lie, cheat and steal presumably from shareholders but other people too. OK so after we nuke the NYSE why look for rogue corporations. You got them. You got a lot of other stuff but you got the rogues. You see after you nuke something the blast radius is really big.

You have to support the group dealing with the lies, cheats and thieves. The SEC could use the help.

This just in Obama has approved additional funding for cyber security. Several IMF teams are being assembled. Oh Oh.

Stock market tip: check out anything that offers cyber security. Americans have the right to bear arms. We need the digital version right now.

Disclosure: George Gutowski writes from a caveat emptor perspective. I am not a member of anonymous. I do not hold any positions in stocks mentioned in this post. I have no plans to initiate new positions within the next 72 hours.

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October 5, 2011 Posted by | Disclosure, Investments, politics, Reg FD, Shareholder Activist, Stocks | , , | 3 Comments

Will Carl Icahn screw up $RIMM take over offers #carlicahn #blackberry #iPhone

The market is rife with take over rumours. Will Research in Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM) be taken over by someone? Now we have Carl Icahn curled up in the corner waiting and watching. Can he talk out of both sides of his mouth a the same time. First message RIMM needs to pick it up. Yadda yadda. Next message to those considering a take over. What are you kidding? Do you know what this is all worth? You have to pay more. Carl Icahn will throw a monkey wrench into the works. San he be sued for preventing shareholder wealth from being maximized.

Disclosure: George Gutowski writes from a caveat emptor perspective. I hold no positions in stocks mentioned in this post. I have no plans to initiate new positions within the next 72 hours.

October 4, 2011 Posted by | Class Action, Disclosure, Insider Trading, Investments, Shareholder Activist, Stocks | , , , | 2 Comments

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