Activist Shareholders

Carl Icahn Drinks Trump's Milkshake in AC

Richard Wilner, writing in the New York Post, has the skinny on the opening verbal warfare in the battle of Carl Icahn vs Donald Trump.  They are fighting over The Donald’s bankrupt casino assets, including the Taj Mahal. Trump on Icahn: “(He) runs companies so badly that I think it’d be really bad for the…

Godspeed Roy Disney, Entertainment Mogul and Activist Shareholder

We lost Roy Disney today, Walt’s nephew, a force within the Disney Corporation for decades and an activist shareholder who fought the good fight through his Shamrock Holdings vehicle. I’ll crosspost some of what Nikki Finke has up and then I’ll send you over to Deadline Hollywood for the rest. Godspeed, Roy.  And thank you….

Hot Links: Zhu Zhu Pets!

Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… Gold at a new high overnight, silver screaming, etc.  (WSJ) Hedge Fund biggies like John Paulson and David Tepper snatching up Citigroup shares.  (DealBook) Howard Lindzon on which companies are thriving in the New NASDAQ.  (HowardLindzon) 10 Things Your Local News Won’t Tell You.  (SmartMoney) Ritholtz and Kedrosky: Charting the…

Hot Links: Playtime is Over

Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… Gold breaks $1000 this morning!  World stocks rally overnight!  (no one has a job).  (Bloomberg) A Kraft-Cadbury merger could be a bonanza for lawyers and bankers working on the deal.  (DealBook) Christopher Hitchens on the current state of the War on Terror.  (Slate) Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Dick Fuld. …

Hot Links: Nat Gas, Mark Mobius & the NY Yankees

Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… Greenback’d posted the July mega-list of activist investor situations.  Awesome.  (Greenback’d) Piker gamblers hurting the casino business.  (WSJ) Taobao.com is a monster of e-commerce in China.  (NYT) Community newspapers doing ok, small is beautiful.  (AP via YahooFinance) The 3 stages of a bear market illustrated.  (InvestmentPostcards) My boy Todd Sullivan…

This Just In: Ackman Gets Smoked by Target's Board

From Reuters: 14:47 TARGET CORPORATION SHAREHOLDERS ELECT COMPANY’S DIRECTOR NOMINEES Supposedly the margin was over 70% voting for the Target (TGT) board, against Ackman and Pershing Square.  We’ll see if the rest of my prediction comes true. Better luck next time, Bill. Read Also: Why Ackman Can’t Back Down   No Market Recap Tonight…Thanks for reading…

Update: Ackman/ Target

William Ackman, the man behind Pershing Square‘s activist battle with Target (TGT), appeared on CNBC this morning and did a reasonably good job at explaining his reasons for his challenge to the company.  He did make some compelling arguments regarding the lackluster backgrounds of some of the existing board members and management’s own non-history of…

Hot Links: Charlie, AOL, J Crew, MLB, Schumer & Biden

Hot Links for Weekend Reading Let’s start off with The Daily Beast’s Charlie Gasparino‘s take on the BofA/ Ken Lewis/ John Thain showdown.  Thain went off on his former boss but Charlie stayed neutral: “Watching these guys go at it is kind of like watching old World War II footage of battles between Germans and…

Ken Lewis: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYxkvAwIjzQ] With Ken Lewis just voted out as Chairman by Bank of America shareholders, how long will he stick around as CEO? With apologies to the late Joe Strummer, here’s Kenny doing his rendition of The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” ____________________________________________ Voters, you gotta let me know Should I stay or…