The topic of corporate governance excites few, far fewer than it should, and of course much fewer than say a big (but ultimately boring) story like Facebook’s (FB) pending IPO; though even Facebook and also Google (GOOG) have some newsworthy corporate governance issues. Corporate governance is only hot when there is an Aubrey McClendon type [...]
Archive | Governance
RSS feed for this sectionGE’s undervaluation and poor corporate governance
General Electric’s (GE) annual shareowner meeting is tomorrow (Weds.) in Detroit. I urge those that haven’t voted to do so as soon as possible today to ensure votes are counted. To help make readers better informed and to generate discussion, I prepared two write-ups surrounding GE’s annual meeting: (1) a review of each item for [...]
Proxy statements underrated, a critical review of GE
I have heard from fellow value investor Jacob Wolinsky (of ValueWalk) that Paul Sonkin, manager of the Hummingbird Value hedge fund, believes proxy statements are the most underrated of statements; Wolinsky perhaps inspired by that says rather than refer to the 3 key financial statements it really should be “4.” I couldn’t agree more. As [...]
No Stock Market as Undervalued and as Misunderstood as Japan
Japanese stocks have done very well in 2012 and of course the weakening yen has increasingly more to do with the rally; deservedly so for the people of Japan. Otherwise, and unless Japanese stocks continue to do well, they could become neglected once again. Not necessarily a bad thing for value investors, and regardless of [...]
In response to lobbyist nonsense on compensation disclosure
I submitted the letter that follows below to the SEC on February 6th, largely in response to the January 19th letter 23 co-signers amongst business lobby groups sent to the SEC in regards to the Dodd-Frank provision about disclosure of median worker compensation and the ratio of median worker to CEO compensation. The SEC has [...]
Reuters publishes Nader’s entreaty to Cisco, blocks comment
Great to see Ralph Nader write something on the very important matter of dividends and stock buybacks, see, “It’s time for Cisco to cough up shareholder cash.” (Hyperlink visible in full article view) And great to see it published by a mainstream outlet like Reuters. Billions of dollars, if not tens of billions, at companies [...]
GE, Gibson Dunn vs. SEC & Me Take II
Serendipitously on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I was able to relay great news for shareowners of General Electric (GE) and all publicly-traded companies. The SEC ruled the prior week that GE cannot omit my critical proposal (hyperlink appears in full article view; see page 2 of PDF) requesting its board reexamine dividend policy. GE has [...]
When the proxy system works: SEC allows critical dividend proposal at GE
As I pen this article on this day of remembering/honoring Martin Luther King Jr., an icon of activism, I am elated to share great news for General Electric (GE) and all public equity shareholders alike: the Securities and Exchange Commission has informally ruled that GE cannot omit my proposal from its 2012 Annual Meeting and proxy statement. [...]
Is GE’s dividend really a top priority?
Please see Seeking Alpha (“GE Dividend Still Taking Back Seat to Buybacks“) for my latest installment in the saga of General Electric’s (GE) reluctance to share the wealth with its shareholders. *Click “Read Full Story” below for hyperlink to Seeking Alpha.*
The high price of GE’s stock repurchases
Beware the stock buyback story. While Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) investors and the media were mostly pleasantly surprised by the company’s (i.e. Buffett’s) announcement yesterday saying it may buy back its stock under certain conditions, the situation is quite different at General Electric (GE). The most recent buybacks at GE have cost approximately $30/share, which [...]
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