Following up on our exclusive, breaking, 13D news insight, we now bring you the news that after sufficient sacrifice on the activist altar, Wendy’s antagonist is, for the moment, appeased.
You can’t really blame Wendy’s for being a reluctant target. At one time the firm was expecting as much as $4 billion cash offers from potential suitors. Trian and Triarc (Peltz’ hedge funds) were offering just $900 million in cash and the rest in stock, or a combination with Arby’s.
Wendy’s to Unveil Deal With Peltz [WSJ]
Nelson Is Angry [DealBreaker]
Archive for April 2008
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Bank of America
“I’m Dead Serious. From Now On, Government Issued Photo ID Required For All Applicants (Mexican Consulate Documents NOW ACCEPTED!)”
By Bess LevinYesterday, Lewis spent time at the annual meeting defending the Countrywide acquisition, and telling investors that both companies would be much more prudent with underwriting future mortgages.
BofA, So Good [NYP]
Jeff Immelt: Is anyone from the damn public relations office back yet?
Vice President: The new girl, Tina.
JI: Wait, the hot little number who’s schtoinking that editor at that financial paper?
VP: The Wall Street Journal?
JI: Right. The Streetwise Journal.
VP: The Wall Street Journal.
JI: Get her sweet buns in here. Now. Oh, and I’d like my eggs poached this morning.
VP: Right.
Credit Suisse Q1 write-downs of $5.3B drives $2.1B loss (AP)
The big write-downs just keep coming. A $5 billion write-down and a $2.1 billion loss at Credit Suisse. Surprisingly, its the banks first loss during this whole mess, so in some respects, they’re really behind the curve. Said CEO Brady Dougan: “I am confident that we will continue to serve as a safe haven for clients in uncertain and volatile markets, and to seize the opportunities that arise in times of market dislocation to create long-term value.”
Debt Collection Done From India Appeals to U.S. Agencies (NYT)
Now they’re outsourcing the debt collectors too! What a ridiculous outrage! In these economic times, we should hope that debt collection would be the one growth industry, there to provide millions, or at least hundreds of thousands of jobs to laid-off Americans. But nope. The debt collection industry — rather than feeling a duty to the American worker — has decided to shift more labor to India, apparently because it’s cheaper, while still rather effective. Profiteers, all of them.
Apple Riding a 51% Jump in Mac Sales (NYT)
The Mac is back. Ok, it’s already been back for awhile, and you’ll have to forgive the obnoxious McCain reference. But it is back big. And now Apple is right back to square one: it’s a computer company again. Sure, the iPhone is a big deal, and the iPod Touch (iPhone sans-phone) may be the future of the iPod, but for real growth, look no further than those things you find on tables at coffee shops, with stickers on ‘em. And they’re still just a sliver of the overall market.
CEO Says Microsoft Could Forgo Yahoo (WSJ)
Ballmer is trying to make Yahoo shareholders nervous, implying that Microsoft could, in the end, change its mind, particularly if Yahoo balks at the current price. Negotiating tactic much? Probably. But also probably a little truth, since, well, Microsoft could live without Yahoo. Oh and Microsoft employees are said to be growing increasingly wary. Not surprisingly. It’s like being 17, and your parents are about to have a new kid.
Thai rice hits new record, feeding food fears (Reuters)
In places where rice is a diet stable, spiking rice prices are disturbing. In the US though, it’s probably a good thing. Unless you must have your crispy duck with rice, it’s really just wasted space in your stomach. Empty calories without much to show for it. Yeah, some sticky white rice can be nice. And arguably its the sina qua non of good sushi rolls, but really. No need. So we’re sort of happy that Wal-Mart is now rationing the stuff. And since Wal-Mart=retailing, there’s basically a big public rationing going on, the likes of which have not been seen here in quite awhile.
$$$ Frankonomics [LoSC]
$$$ In Subprime Mess, a Bonanza of Billable Hours [DealBook]
$$$ Steel Dynamics Inc. (STLD) [WallStrip]
Ken Griffin has poached yet another JPMorgan senior exec. This time it’s Derek Kaufman, most recently global head of fixed income in the bank’s proprietary positioning group. Last week we felt badly for JD and his mounting personnel losses. Now we’re convinced he’s behind them. Slowly but surely, his plan for a Bear-saturated JPM is coming to fruition.
Citadel continues hiring spree for senior managers [Financial News]
Back in December, we floated the idea that any company looking to reduce headcount ought to get creative about it. Performance is very hard to quantify, and if you’ve got send thousands of people packing, why not have some fun with your firings? Our suggestions were: 1. A giant game of Assassin and 2. Some sort of survival challenge revolving around a lethal strain of syphilis. No one took the (genius) idea seriously. Until now.
UBS apparently sent out a company-wide email yesterday to recruit employees for its first inaugural Rock Band team, which will supposedly compete against other businesses. Auditions are being held today at 5 in the UBS cafeteria. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Yeah, until you realize that this whole thing is a guise for preselecting people for upcoming layoffs. At least that’s what it sounds like to us. The only question is, will team members be given the benefit of the doubt (and employment) until they lose to Uncle Jim’s Hardware? Or are people getting the axe the moment they show up for tryouts?
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