The charades and shenanigans by insiders at Sirius Satellite is fun to watch, especially if you are NOT a shareholder.
Back in January we wrote about Howard Stern’s massive stock grant and and his surprise filing to sell all 34 million of his shares (he has not sold any yet; maybe he should have, the stock has gone from $6.50 to $5.11 today, a decline of 21%)
This filing embarrassed his longtime mentor and current Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin. Karmazin felt like he needed to make a “statement buy” on the open market to support the stock. He purchased 1 million shares at a price of $6.2085 per share.
That was the last purchase by a Sirius insider. In the same time period, insiders have sold 42.4 million shares.
A quick look at the actions of CFO David J. Frezar tell the story.
What was he saying?
Feb 28: Frezar rejected speculation that Stern’s impact on subscriber additions would be over by the end of the first quarter. “As time goes on, people will continue to come to programming, whether it’s Stern, the NFL or [other content],” he added. Sirius shares fell 2.3% to close at $5.11.
What was he doing?
28-Feb-06 9,273 SIRI Sale at $5.22 per share (Proceeds of $48,405)
Two weeks later,
14-Mar-06 264,593 SIRI Sale at $4.4503 per share. (Proceeds of $1,177,518)
The 52-week low for the stock is 4.36. Since when do insiders, especially CFO’s, sell at or near the bottom?
When they are handed 364,310 shares at ZERO cost in the previous twelve months, that’s when. Why would he care if the stock is in the low four’s or the high seven’s? He didn’t pay anything for his stock, it is all gravy.
When insiders behave like pigs, investor’s should look for the exits.
What makes the blogosphere such a valuable resource are the subject matter experts who share their insight and experience with one and all. Professor Gary S. Becker, Graduate School of Business at The University of Chicago, takes a sober, balanced look at The Economics of the Iraq War on the fantastic Becker-Posner blog,
I believe the war should be assessed a bad failure if Iraq degenerates into civil war that leads before very long to another brutal dictatorial regime. On the other hand, if Iraq stabilizes reasonably soon, has a decent government, and starts to progress economically, the war would have been a success. I say this not only because the war got rid of a cruel and dangerous dictator who inflicted immense harm on his own people, and who would have used highly destructive weapons on others if he ever obtained them. In addition, a stable and progressive Iraq is likely to have beneficial effects on Syria, Saudi Arabia, and other bad regimes in the Middle East that will directly benefit the whole free world, possibly including creating a background for a peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
It could be a decade or more before the ultimate verdict about the war is available.The future looks precarious at present, but it is too early to throw in the towel and conclude that the war was a costly failure.
While we are on the topic of Iraq and subject matter experts, check out this heartfelt assessment from Iraqi blogger Mohammed on the excellent blog Iraq The Model,
Life stopped and time stopped when Saddam ruled Iraq, actually that totalitarian regime was moving backwards and dragging us with it and nothing could stop the deterioration that began the moment Saddam came to power. We had to accept the change and live with all that would come along with it whether good or bad.
The democracy we’re practicing today in Iraq is the exact opposite of what we had for decades and until three years ago. This democracy carries the essence of life, the differences, the dynamics and yes, the failures but also the seed of a better future.
Read the whole article.
Our friend Dean Esmay was recently written up in the Detroit News,
Blogger brings progress to light
To Dean Esmay, 39, the war in Iraq is more than suicide bombers and sectarian strife. It’s about schools being built, small businesses being hatched, Iraqis forming friendships with Americans. To help people see what he sees, the Westland computer tech worker has been writing about the war more and more on his popular blog, deanesmay.com.
“If you only see gloom and doom, the average person thinks it’s a mess,” he said.
Esmay searches the Internet, including Web sites in Iraq and Afghanistan, for stories about good things that the United States is doing in the Middle East. For example, he said, Iraq has held three elections with huge turnouts. “We can’t afford to let Iraq go down the tube,” he said. “If we do, what will come out will be worse than before.”
Esmay’s stepfather was a true-blue soldier who volunteered for two tours of duty in Vietnam, but his son was hardly a chip off the old block. In his mid-20s, Esmay’s views began to change as he read history tomes and met people who had served in the armed forces. “I’m not saying war is a good thing but it’s sometimes a necessary thing and a just thing,” he said. “There’s such a thing as a righteous cause and this is one of them.”
The issue is also personal because his stepdad, who’s now in the private sector, is in Iraq training its citizens to be better soldiers. His Web site, which is visited by 15,000 people a day, began a year before the war and deals with other issues, including science, philosophy and even “American Idol.”
The war isn’t his favorite topic but, after the September 11 terrorist attacks, he feels duty-bound to report on it. “Someone should speak about the other side,” he said.
(HT: INDC Journal)
Dean was our guest on Pundit Review Radio two weeks ago, you can listen to that interview here.
The fact is that the MSM is fully invested in our defeat in Iraq. Always have been.
They work against the US at every turn, on issues big and small. They are pouring gasoline on the insurgency in Iraq and the domestic insurgency here at home.
This is also available as a downloadable Podcast at iTunes and Podcast Alley.
On the 3rd anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, we welcomed back independent citizen journalist Michael Yon.
As most of you know by now, Michael is a former Green Beret who embedded himself on the front lines with the troops for most of 2005. His reporting from the front has been compared to the great Ernie Pyle.
We focused this discussion on a recent LA Times article, mentioned last week by President Bush, that gave away how we are dealing with the threat of improvised explosive devices. Thanks to the LA Times, the terrorists now have the information they need to combat our new technology designed to keep our troops safe.
It’s one thing to not support the war, it is another entirely to give the enemy the means to more easily kill our soldiers.
The interview is also available as a Podcast at iTunes and Podcast Alley.
The buzz around Gregg’s new book, Conservative Comebacks to Liberal Lies is building. He has launched a book blog with the help of The Language Artist, aka LaShawn Barber, and the early reviews by conservative thought leaders who have seen an advance copy of the book are nothing short of glowing,
“Gregg Jackson’s book performs a public service and provides a valuable resource helping to clear away the fog of misinformation, emotion and deliberate distortion surrounding many contemporary issues.”
Michael Medved, nationally syndicated radio host and author of Right Turns
“Gregg Jackson provides every conservative with the ammunition they need to defeat virtually every liberal argument every time.”
Grover Norquist-President of Americans for Tax Reform
“With insight and a passionate determination, Gregg has become the newest voice for the conservative movement. His book is a revelation!”
Michael Carminucci, author of Gold-Plated Retirement
Check it out for yourself by clicking the book icon on the right hand side of the page, or you can pre-order a copy at Amazon.
Congratulations to Gregg, who worked tremendously hard on this book. I think it is going to be a huge success.
The Week magazine has nominated their bloggers of the year. As a reader, I feel fortunate that these blogger are out there, analyzing and disecting the news and issues they are so passionate about. They are tremendously valuable resource for the interested among us.
Here is the list,
Ed Morrisey
Michelle Malkin
John Aravosis at Americablog
Brendan Loy
Arianna Huffington
Arianna’s spat with George Clooney can’t be helping her chances.
Captain Ed says, “It’s wonderful to have been nominated with all of these bloggers, but especially so with Michelle, one of the nicest people and best media bloggers in the ‘sphere.” A sentiment shared by many Ed. And congratulations to you, you are also deserving of such recognition.