Loren C. Steffy's Blog, page 43
May 31, 2012
Apache shareholders back annual board elections
Apache Corp.’s shareholders overwhelmingly supported a proposal calling for annual election of directors that the company’s management fought to keep off the agenda at last week’s annual meeting. More than 80 percent of the shares voted were cast in favor of the plan, which was proposed by the Illinois State Board of Investment and left [...]
Southwest wins Hobby fight as United pouts, threatens its own employees
United Airlines is throwing what amounts to a corporate temper fit after the Houston City Council voted to allow international flights from Hobby Airport.
May 30, 2012
Colleges find new ways to dump costs on students with banks’ help
Many colleges have become a willing marketing vehicle for the bank-sploitation of their students.
What I’m reading with my morning coffee | 5.30.12
Deals with banks stack fees on college students. Apparently, tuition fees weren’t enough, so we’ve found a new way to increase the financial burden on students while allowing banks to exploit them as well. BP battles against the perception of drift. The unraveling of TNK-BK in Russia (see my column in today’s print edition) adds [...]
May 29, 2012
Another Chesapeake shareholder turns up heat on board
A New York pension fund is encouraging other investors to withhold votes for Chesapeake Energy's directors as a protest of the company's poor performance and corporate governance.
How Exxon Mobil missed the climate debate
Exxon Mobil made a major policy shift in 2009, when it said it would support a carbon tax. But it was too little, too late.
What I’m reading with my morning coffee | 5.29.12
What can Icahn do at Chesapeake? He complained about the board the last time he owned the stock in 2010, and forcing a sale isn’t likely given Chesapeake’s muddled financial structure. In the end, Icahn’s Chesapeake stake puts governance before value. Russian tycoon unexpectedly quits as CEO of TNK-BP. New travails for the troubled joint [...]
May 25, 2012
Icahn calls for replacing almost half of Chesapeake’s board
Carl Icahn isn't looking like the benevolent investor that Chesapeake Energy's management portrayed him as last week.
KBR investors approve declassifying board elections
Shareholders of KBR overwhelmingly approved a proposal, supported by management, calling for directors to be elected annually. Many companies, of course, have embraced the idea of annual elections, because it makes directors more accountable to the investors they’re supposed to represent. In KBR’s case, though, the vote has a tinge of irony. Last year, the [...]
May 23, 2012
Facebook faces first shareholder suit over stock offering
All in all, Facebook and its bankers have treated investors poorly throughout its botched stock offering.
