Posted on 07/15/2007 8:39:49 PM PDT by Flavius
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators have undertaken an informal investigation in the anonymous online postings of John Mackey, the chief executive of Whole Foods Market Inc., some of which denigrated a smaller rival grocery chain and that raise novel questions for securities watchdogs.
Mackey's postings over seven years on Internet financial forums, cloaked under the name "rahodeb," at times attacked Wild Oats Markets Inc., calling its stock overpriced and predicting it would fall into bankruptcy and then be sold after its shares dipped below $5. Whole Foods announced in February that it would buy Wild Oats for around $565 million, or $18.50 a share.
(Excerpt) Read more at biz.yahoo.com ...
Dog food, meet Enron.
The SEC almost always opens an inquiry when something in the news seems to strike a nerve with the investing public. It’s basically a publicity stunt to make us and Congress think the agency actually has things under control.
It was a dumbass thing for Mackey to do, but nothing will come of this.
Hammer on the nail. If it really means something we’ll never hear about it. If it’s fluff it’s Paris Hilton.
save
Hear hear. Any “investigations” of HP and Apple scheming, for example, quickly completely faded away. Pitt was on record the first night this broke saying he doesn’t think anything illegal happened.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.