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MUCH of the recent anger over bank bonuses has been focused on Goldman Sachs, which, according to results just published, accumulated a further $5.4 billion for its staff in the most recent quarter. Yet the one thing that can be said about Goldman is that if its employees are making hay partly on the back of an implicit public guarantee, so are shareholders. In the same quarter the bank generated an annualised return on equity of 21%. Not so for some of America’s other banks. There, the owners (and in theory the controllers) of the firms seem to have been...

Airtime: Fri. May 15 2009 | 오후 3 00 ET The US government is waging a war on Capitalism at the moment in the way that it is dealing with the financial crisis, Charles Ortel, MD of Newport Value Partners said. His examples of this include the pressuring of BofA CEO Lewis to lie ahead of the Merrill Lynch deal. Click the following link to see the vieo:http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1124816599&play=1

Fortis halts investor meeting on shoe attack Adam Sage in Paris Shoes, coins and documents were thrown at executives of Fortis, the Belgian-Dutch financial group, today as angry shareholders sought to prevent the sale of its banking business to BNP Paribas, the French group. As hundreds of investors swarmed around the stage chanting "resign" at directors, the meeting was halted and board members retreated under the protection of 50 security guards. Discussions resumed 20 minutes later in an atmosphere reminiscent of football stadiums with investors booing and whistling Jozef De Mey, the chairman of Fortis Holding. Opponents of the sale...

GE's annual shareholder meeting will be held tomorrow (Weds) in Orlando. Caller on Glenn Beck show urges folks to sign letter to Jeffrey Immelt. Go to: http://GE.SignOurLetter.com to add your name to the letter (which I've reproduced below). Jeffery Immelt Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer General Electric Company 3135 Easton Turnpike Fairfield, CT 06828 Dear Mr. Immelt, We surround you. I’m writing you to express my deep concern that under your leadership, GE’s business practices are undermining the principles of our free society. I’m outraged that GE sold infrastructure equipment to Iran – a country that is a...

WASHINGTON, April 20 -- The U.S. House of Representatives Friday approved a bill that would give stockholders a right to cast non-binding votes on the pay of top company executives. The "say on pay" bill, which passed 269-134, would also let shareholders vote on any executive "golden parachute" compensation negotiated as part of a purchase or sale of a company. After the vote, presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., promised to introduce what an aide described as an "identical" bill in the Senate. The bill would give "shareholders the power to debate and fight back against exorbitant executive compensation," Obama...

While this new world of corporate governance/ lobbyists/ privatization of the commons etc; seems difficult to understand (disguised as it is with buzz words – and meaningless jibberish), it’s really not as complex as one might think. After you learn how to ignore the superficial banalities, and get to the meat (if there is any) of the message being given. Most times you’ll hear just fluff and nutter talk – sounds important but isn’t. While we naturally focus upon local issues and concerns such as community development, roads, tons of garbage, forest access, tourism, sportsmen’s rights, lack of snow, no...

Most political analysts would agree: The single most politically significant measure on the Special Election Ballot is Proposition 75, dubbed “Paycheck Protection” by its proponents. Proposition 77, the Redistricting Reform measure, is also a major reform. But without a change in the campaign funding paradigm (especially at the state legislative level), fair districts will not necessarily be competitive districts--Republicans are significantly outspent by the majority party. No, it is the major loss of political resources by public employee unions that would rock the foundations of the status-quo in Sacramento. Most political insiders, let alone members of the public, are unaware...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent both his allies and his enemies into a frenzy Tuesday, a day after he vowed to support a union-backed effort that could take corporate money out of California politics. "If that's the governor's position, we respectfully disagree," said Sara Lee of the California Chamber of Commerce, which has spent more than $1.4 million to support the package of Schwarzenegger-backed initiatives on the Nov. 8 ballot. "We predict this will be his next broken promise," said Charles Idelson of the California Nurses Association, a leader in the fight against the governor's initiative efforts. The dispute swirls around...

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has claimed credit for all kinds of improvements in corporate behavior -- better ethics, fewer "conflicts of interest" -- that are said to benefit shareholders. He's now getting a spirited rebuttal to those claims regarding his biggest target -- insurance giant AIG and its former CEO Hank Greenberg. It comes in the form of a white paper from Mr. Greenberg's legal team examining the charges of bad accounting at AIG on the ex-CEO's watch. We've seen a copy of the paper, which is now in the hands of regulators, and it makes a compelling...

Mirant Shares (MIRKQ) took off in morning trading on the eve of a hearing on the Shareholder Committee's proposal to have a meeting to determine the longevity of the Board of Directors and CEO. Volume is over 5 million shares traded with a price high of .49 this morning.

Bob Dole Slams Kerry By Andrew L. Jaffee, August 23, 2004 Home   Search   Forum   Terms Nothing has really changed for Democratic hopeful John Kerry, except that real war veterans, like Bob Dole, are questioning the “superficial wounds” and resulting “medals” he received during four (4) months service in Vietnam. Kerry is still flailing, trying to cover up a career punctuated by extreme left-wing politics and flip-flopping by talking to voters about his military service. He squandered his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention by trying to convince Americans that his tour of duty in Vietnam will make him a great commander...

Ken Lay of Enron Indicted and Arrested By Andrew L. Jaffee, July 8, 2004 Home   Search   Forum   Terms Enron’s ex-Chairman of the Board has been indicted and arrested on charges connected with his former company’s implosion in 2001. Corporate executives at Enron engaged in all sorts of financial manipulations to pump up the company’s stock price. They created complex “partnerships” to hide company debt from shareholders. In 1998, Enron’s share price was at about $20. By 2000, it hit $90. By 2001, the company’s stock was worthless. Enron’s collapse wiped out billions in shareholder value and employee pensions. Democratic Presidential hopeful John...

No democracy please, we're shareholders   Apr 29th 2004 From The Economist print edition   Another proxy season, another gazillion wasted votes AMERICA is the world's most prominent democracy, and its most successful exponent of shareholder capitalism. But when it comes to shareholder democracy America has barely moved beyond the corporate equivalent of the rotten borough. American firms look democratic. During these past few weeks of the annual “proxy season”, shareholders have been electing board members and voting on resolutions listed on a firm's proxy statement. But given how little difference such votes can make, they might as well not...

Mirant Equity Committee by Micheal Sammons – Attorney Previously on Mirant Shareholders Committee Click here for link to Yahoo message. For those who asked, I was also booted off the committee - around December 1st. Like Matt Wilson, I was vocal about the need to explore all options other than dilution. My problem was with the Brown Rudnick law firm and Tejas Securities [SHC (Shareholders Committee) co-chair]. Even before our selection I had argued with Tejas about what they believed to be "inevitable dilution." And this was before a committee was even formed (the informal committee days). While I cannot...

THE NEW CLASS STRUGGLE Forget Marx: Now shareholders, including workers' pension funds, are at war with managerial talent, say ROGER MARTIN and MINHEA MOLDOVEANU By ROGER MARTIN AND MINHEA MOLDOVEANU Monday, July 28, 2003 - Page A9 For much of the 20th century, labour and capital fought vigorously for control of the industrialized economy -- in some countries, control of government and society as well. Now a fresh conflict has erupted. While business won a resounding victory over the trade unions last century, it may not be as easy for shareholders to stop the knowledge-worker-led revolution in business. The rising...