Phil Goldstein Showing His Age
What are the kids listening to these days?
Long-time readers of this blog will know of our deep affection for Phil Goldstein, the Brooklyn-bred grandfather and activist investor who has a way with words, especially when people tell him he can't do things, like the time he called Massachusetts’ top securities regulator a “pompous ass.” Well, the SEC may be gearing up to try to tell him what he can’t do again, in this case talk in certain ways about certain stocks to certain other activists, but we have to admit that the Bulldog Investors chief’s latest bon mot isn’t his best.
In a sign of the SEC’s new focus on the issue, the agency in March sent a letter to activist fund Bulldog Investors LLC about its campaign for board seats at Stewart Information Services Corp., a provider of title insurance. The SEC asked whether Bulldog had any “agreements or understandings” with Foundation Asset Management LP, another fund that had run its own proxy fight at the company….
“If you go to a Grateful Dead concert, you’re going to find a lot of Grateful Dead fans,” he said. “They’re not a group. They just like the same music.”
Grandpa Phil may want to sit down with his grandkids one of these days to update his references, as no one has gone to a Grateful Dead concert in 20 years, and after the Fourth of July weekend this year, no one will ever again until the surviving members of the Grateful Dead need money again. Maybe go with the Goo Goo Dolls? The people at Belmont Park certainly think they’re relevant enough to keep 90,000 people in their seats after American Pharoah finishes sixth tomorrow.
SEC Probes Activist Funds Over Whether They Secretly Acted in Concert [WSJ]