CALDEIRÃO DE BOLSA

... o unico tipo de investidor que pode ir a falencia "in his life time" e o que investe com dinheiro emprestado.

Se calhar, inconscientemente, ele estava a pensar tb na GE...

Um abraço,
Eagle Eye

Interesante esta reflexão sobre alguns "buybacks"

Christopher Atayan
"GE: Illustrates The Folly Of Share Buy Back Strategies "
10/2/2008 7:00 AM EDT

"Several years ago on the old Street Insight we had some spirited discussions about share buybacks. My particular point of view was,while not doctrinaire, I was generally against the practice. This is primarily because the companies that employed share buybacks were doing it to keep their shares up rather than employing sound economic principles or buying stock on the dirt cheap.Moreover,leveraged share buy backs are potential even worse as they create the potential of a corporate margin call of sorts when things get tough financially.Yesterdays GE Berkshire Hathaway transaction illustrates this in a vivid fashion. As Doug Kass so eloquently pointed out yesterday they were buying stock in at 35 and selling it at 22. A huge waste of capital in my view,in addition they have historically bought in at very high multiples. That strategy of the course of many years has unnecssarily put the company at risk as it disapated precious capital.

Unfortunately this has been going on for years at GE. I know from first hand experience that the ratings agencies have seriously been on their case for at least seven years,to reduce their debt and have threatened to withdraw the AAA rating on several occasions. This posture was even prior to the current financial imbroglio. Unfortunately Immelt and company are very thick headed on these matters and got tremendously bad advice along the way.However at the end of the day the CEO of the largest industrial company in the world should have some clue as to what he is doing financially.If you listen to the conference calls and interviews with Immelt it is clear he doesn't.

I don't fault Berkshire for taking advantage of the situation. It was like taking candy from a baby.Immelt mentioned how much he consults with Buffett. I am not saying it doesn't make sense to do a deal with Berkshire but if your GE do you really need his stamp of approval? Buffett is the ultimate Wolf in sheeps clothing and I say that with the highest degree of respect. Which is why I call him the Mozart of Marketing. Not only has gotten the best of GE and Goldman but he has the entire US Congress looking to him for guidance as to how to best bail him out. He is possibly the greatest salesman of all time and combined with his sheer investment brilliance there is no question why he is the wealthiest individual on earth.

On the other hand,GE needs to reduce the size of GE Capital in a radical way and this new funding will enable them to do it on an orderly basis. So they had some underlying logic in dealing with Buffett even if the transaction was flawed. If I was running GE I would get GE Capital out of everything that wasn't directly related to my core industrial businesses. So power plant loans,jet engines and locomotives etc are fine but the rest of the Tom Dick and Harry's that they finance need to go someplace else.

To be balanced in my view, I continue to believe Immelt has done a decent job of moving the underlying industrial businesses in the right direction. Tom Au at one point said it would take 30 years to reverse the negative corporate culture that the prior regime wrought. My thoughts on the issue are more like 20 years. 10 to identify and fix the problems and another 10 to implement the changes. In the meantime Berkshire will earn huge dividends while the company goes through its synthesis. "

(in www.realmoney.com)

Conglomerate will raise $12B through stock sale, gives Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway option of investing $6B in firm.

Last Updated: October 1, 2008: 2:44 PM ET

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Electric said Wednesday it intended to raise $12 billion through a common stock offering, in addition to plans to allow billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to buy up to $6 billion in stock.

GE (GE, Fortune 500) shares, which were halted ahead of the news, moved off their lows but were still down over 2% in afternoon trading.

GE CEO Jeff Immelt said the transaction would enhance the firm's flexibility and allow it to "play offense in the market, should conditions allow."

The GE chief also hinted that the company faced little impact from the ongoing credit crunch, saying it continued to meet its short-term financing needs.

Besides the $12 billion common stock sale, which is scheduled to be priced ahead of Thursday's market open, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500) will acquire $3 billion in preferred stock. Buffett's firm will collect a 10% dividend on those shares.

At the same time, Berkshire Hathaway would receive warrants to buy $3 billion of common stock at $22.25 per share for up to five years. GE's stock traded at about $24.85 in late day trading Wednesday.

Buffett, whose firm recently invested $5 billion in the Wall Street icon Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500), called GE "the symbol" of American business with strong global brands and business divisions.

"I am confident GE will continue to be successful in the years to come," Buffett said in a statement.

Buffett's investment comes at what has been a tough time for GE. Less than a week ago, the firm - which produces everything from aircraft engines to refrigerators, in addition to entertainment programming via its NBC television network - lowered its earnings guidance for both the third quarter and the full year.

In April, the industrial conglomerate, widely viewed as a proxy for the U.S. economy, missed forecasts when it reported its first-quarter earnings. Shortly thereafter, a number of analysts began calling for a breakup of the company.

That's not to mention the company's stock price. So far this year, GE shares have lost nearly a third of their value.

Constellation, Goldman Sachs e agora GE... Nao sou o unico suspenso em pleno voo...
Eagle Eye