Inscription in beginning of book: “Many shall be restored that now are fallen and many Shall fall that now are in honor.” — HORACE. Ars Poetica. In the fourth edition of their investing classic, Security Analysis: Principles and Technique (pub. 1962; prev. ‘34, ‘40, ‘51), Graham & Dodd (and newly joined co-auther, Sidney Cottle) faced [...]
Archive | Governance
RSS feed for this sectionGE’s share repurchases: buy high, sell low
A shareholder submitting a proposal for shareholder vote at an annual shareholder meeting (or via proxy) faces a litany of requirements. Very kind of corporations and the SEC to allow shareholders to submit proposals, but how convenient that boards of directors and executives are insulated from most proposals in more ways than one. Continue reading [...]
Deliberately delayed proxy with Icahn’s nominees for Lions Gate?
There appears to be a delay (by design?) concerning the ‘gold proxy’ vote instruction form for Carl Icahn’s nominees for directorships at Lions Gate (LGF). Lions Gate’s annual shareholder meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday, December 14. I received the company’s white and most recently its blue proxy cards via mail over the past week or two. [...]
Overhaul: a tell-all account of rescuing GM and Chrysler
Steven Rattner’s Overhaul: An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry will not disappoint readers with its poignantly detailed narration of the harrowing events surrounding the fate of two of the Big 3 U.S. automakers.
Broadridge’s dangerous disconnect with shareholders
Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR), the former Brokerage Services division of ADP (ADP) spun off in 2007, wields inordinate power (a near absolute monopoly) in the realm of proxy services — an unsexy but crucial component of capital markets. Most disturbing is Broadridge’s heretofore ostensible disregard of shareholder concerns about its web delivery platform for virtual [...]
Symantec and the importance of shareholder meetings
This is a follow-up to my post on September 17th, at which time I had submitted a letter concerning Symantec’s imminent (9/20) virtual-only annual meeting to Symantec Chairman John Thompson and CEO Enrique Salem. Breaking from tradition, Symantec had informed shareholders that it would host a virtual-only annual meeting (via audiocast). While the situation looked [...]
Letter to Symantec: the peril of virtual annual shareowner meetings
Most shareholders of Symantec (SYMC) dating back to around since 2005 know all too well the danger of unchecked executive power. Now, in addition to the destruction of shareholder value, Symantec may be poised to impede the ability of shareholders to sufficiently, let alone wholly, enjoy and exercise their rights, based the company’s plan to [...]
Lions Gate: Board dereliction and insanity
Lions Gate (LGF) reported a surprise Q1 loss of $64.1M or $0.54/share compared to earnings of $36.3M ($0.30/share) last year — note that adjusted earnings of a net loss of $13.7M ($0.10/share) missed analyst expectations of a profit of $0.04/share. The cash flow picture is not pretty either as the business was kept cash flow [...]
How I am voting Internet Initiative Japan’s proxy
A longtime shareholding on mine, Internet Initiative Japan (IIJI) (JP: 3774), is having its Annual Shareholder Meeting this Friday in Tokyo. I urge all ADR and Ordinary shareholders to submit their votes as soon as possible, but not later than this Thursday, 10:00 AM Eastern (NY) for ADR holders, or by Thursday, 11:59 PM Japan [...]
An update on my shareholder activism with Internet Initiative Japan
About 3 ½ months have passed since I sent my first letter and shareowner proposals in late-February to the Board of Directors of Internet Initiative Japan (IIJI) (JP: 3774), a leading ISP and related services (cloud computing, systems integration, etc.) in Japan. As a longtime shareholder (since 2006), my concerns included the company’s level of [...]
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