Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 8212
Location: Central CA
| Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 12:36 am Post subject: Eddie's found one outlet for all that money... | |||||||
... he's buying himself a bank. Or at least ESL is buying itself a bank. Of course it just has to be one of the three most despicable predatory lending outfits around though, right? 
Lampert's ESL Reports $800 Million Stake in Citigroup
Hmmm... help engineer the sale of assets of one of your companies to another company and then get them back when you buy that company. Where have I seen that before? You know, ESL could wind up owning Sears credit division. It was the only thing turning a clear profit at the time of that sale. Let's just imagine the possibilities if the credit division winds up in Lampert's personal pocket, or at least ESL's pocket. You'll notice it isn't Sears Holding that's buying the flipping bank. Yes I know the credit division was sold to Citi before the merger but if you think that Lampert wasn't already pulling some heavy duty strings on Lacy and the BOD at the time I've got a bridge you can buy cheap.
Maybe a chunk of that decline is because of diminishing returns on Sears credit cards as the customers haul ass elsewhere on a daily basis?
Curiouser and curiouser. |
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Joined: 07 Jul 2003
Posts: 764
| Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 2:44 am Post subject: | |
| ESL owns 15.5 million shares of the 4.9 billion shares Citi has outstanding, giving it a .3 percent ownership stake. Quite a bit more stock to buy up to give it much influence. However, they do get a 54 cent dividend each quarter and a stock that possibly has a greater potential to increase share price than other banks. | |
Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 8212
Location: Central CA
| Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 3:58 am Post subject: | |
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I understand that (for a change )Cs, but my point was that Eddie used the same tactics he used in the real estate sale to enrich ESL yet again by influencing the sale of assets of one company in which he had in interest to another company in which he had an interest and now he's increasing his interest in that second company.
Whatever number of shares he's working up to his current holdings in Citigroup are damned near a billion bucks worth. That's enough to catch the attention of a dumb Okie like me. I'm guessing that part of his "dividends" derive from Sears/Kmart credit card operations which he helped to engineer the sale of to Citi. You think that's just good business since there's nothing illegal about it. I think it's unethical as hell and thought so when he did the real estate sleight of hand. When I speak or allude to something being "wrong" in my little rants on these pages, I don't necessarily refer to either the scope or the perceived legality of the act. I have a little different criteria, I guess. And as long as the professional analysts can speculate that he may be attempting to use Citi's four year droop to add at least a large portion of yet another "undervalued" company to his hedge fund's portfolio, hopefully I can be excused for doing the same. All I know is what I read in the papers. |
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Joined: 07 Jul 2003
Posts: 764
| Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 4:54 am Post subject: | |||
Love the work you do Nofs, just don't always agree with your opinions or spin. 
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Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 8212
Location: Central CA
| Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 6:00 am Post subject: | |
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Your privilege. And just as obviously, I don't always agree with yours but I DO respect it.
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