Is e-proxy voting tilted to management?
I WASN’T going to write about this because I’m trying to be more positive in my posts. But my arm has been twisted by TheCorporateCounsel.net editor Broc Romanek.In a blog post yesterday, Broc writes about his negative experiences visiting the websites of two companies that are doing e-proxies — Pike Electric and Itex.
November 29, 2007 | Posted in Online Investor Relations, e-proxy | 
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Say-on-pay is yesterday’s news
IT doesn’t take a genius to figure out that U.S. boards of directors and corporate executives are in for a rough time this coming proxy season.No one can be sure how the story in the stock market is going to play out, but with a month to go to year-end it looks increasingly like most U.S. stock investors will have a bad year.
November 28, 2007 | Posted in Investor Relations News | No Comments »
SEC puts shareholder forums on agenda
THE U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to vote on rule changes next week that will make it easier for companies and shareholders to use electronic forums, blogs, and other forms of social media for their shareholder meetings.At a meeting on Wednesday November 28, the commission will “consider whether to adopt amendments to the proxy rules under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to facilitate the use of electronic shareholder forums.”
November 21, 2007 | Posted in Online Investor Relations, e-proxy | No Comments »
Are online annual reports a waste of money?
A RESPONDENT to our recent readership survey is unhappy with me because I refuse to admit that online annual reports are a waste of money.Actually, I’ve never been asked to admit this, but I’m glad they raised the issue because it gives me a chance to explain why we advise our clients to produce full HTML annual reports and proxy statements.
November 20, 2007 | Posted in Online Investor Relations | 1 Comment »
Lululemon takes the PR low road
Updated: Canada law enforcement agency moves against company, which agrees to pull “therapeutic and performance” claims from clothing tags.
November 16, 2007 | Posted in Investor Relations News | 2 Comments »
Notes on the annual report webinar
WE’VE just wrapped up our webinar with the TheCorporateCounsel.net on how to produce usable online annual reports and proxy statements for the e-proxy era.We had three of the world’s leading online annual report producers together for the event — Patrick Heick from VSA Partners in Chicago, Ryan Lejbak from Zu.com in Saskatoon, and Thomas Rosenmayr from GeBer in Vienna, Austria.
November 15, 2007 | Posted in Online Investor Relations, e-proxy | 1 Comment »
Footnote links improve financial statement usability
Always read the footnotes to financial statements. A majority of the truth of the company’s health is buried here; the numbers alone rarely tell the full story.
November 14, 2007 | Posted in Online Investor Relations | No Comments »
Short-seller tips NYT on yoga firm’s dubious duds
THE NEW YORK TIMES reports that laboratory tests on clothing sold by Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) have failed to substantiate the company’s claims that they contain a special seaweed fiber. In fact, one test found the fabric was remarkably similar to that of a plain cotton t-shirt.Canada-based Lululemon, which went public in July, makes popular (and expensive) yoga clothing that it claims includes unusual materials like bamboo, charcoal and, of course, seaweed.
November 14, 2007 | Posted in Investor Relations News | 1 Comment »
Who said the sell-side is dead?
FOR those who believe that the sell-side is a lame duck, here’s a cautionary tale best told by the chart below of E*Trade Financial Corp.’s (NASDAQ: ETFC) stock trading over the past five days.After Citigroup analyst Prashant Bhatia speculated that the company has a 15% probability of going bankrupt, the stock fell almost 60% and was the most heavily traded stock on U.S. markets.
November 13, 2007 | Posted in Investor Relations News | No Comments »
With billboards & website, activists target Steak n Shake
A U.S. hedge fund has launched a proxy battle against a small-cap fast food chain using an unconventional combination of billboard ads and a website to rattle the company’s board and get its message out to sympathizers.The Texas-based Lion Fund has posted ads on billboards around Indianapolis, Indiana, home base of The Steak n Shake Company (NYSE:SNS). The fund wants to install its chairman Sadar Biglari, 30, and his business partner and Trinity University professor Phil Cooley to the company’s board.
November 12, 2007 | Posted in Online Investor Relations | 1 Comment »