Fender stock buyers will gently weep
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Fender’s initial public offering documents read like the 12-bar blues. The iconic maker of guitars favored by the likes of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix is aiming for a rich valuation. But the company has questionable global expansion plans, is loaded with debt, depends on a big shaky customer and generates only pick-thin margins. There’s just too much to make investors fret.
Comcast deal extends content’s precarious reign
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Content’s reign in TV Land is secure for now but maybe not for long. As media moguls gather for their annual Sun Valley confab, U.S. cable operator Comcast struck a deal to sell its minority stake in A&E Television Networks to its partners for $3 billion. That implies a healthy valuation of over $19 billion, all the more impressive given the fight elsewhere that represents the industry’s future.
Review: Financial whodunit clues into bankers
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
To fictionalize the Wall Street events of 2008 satisfyingly requires more than just borrowing from them. The real-life narrative was so spectacular and has been retold so often that engaging even a casual follower of financial news takes more than a little extra imagination. Go figure then that a fact-based chronicler of the times would be the one to accomplish the feat.
Murdoch all but erases discount he inflicted
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Rupert Murdoch has all but erased the discount he inflicted on his media conglomerate. When scandal struck News Corp last year, a Breakingviews calculator found the company trading around 30 percent below the sum of its parts. The possibility of splitting the company in two, confirmed on Tuesday, may complete an improbable run to close the gap.
Sandberg does neither herself nor women any favors
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
It was an important milestone for Facebook’s timeline on Monday. The newly public $69 billion company made Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg the first female director. But joining a rubber-stamp board that Facebook’s chief executive treats haughtily won’t much enhance Sandberg’s already sterling reputation. Leading women executives like Sandberg would be better off pushing for representation where they can make a real difference.
Blaming London for bank botches is too convenient
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Say what you will about JPMorgan’s stupid trades, the bank has at least owned up to its failings. That’s more than can be said for some U.S. authorities, who are exploiting the fiasco to point fingers at their UK counterparts. This convenient distraction is really an effort to grab international power. The best hope is it revives dragging global efforts to coordinate the rules.
Private equity may owe Obama a debt of gratitude
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Private equity firms say they find their best opportunities in the worst of times. This year’s U.S. presidential race gives them a chance to translate that idea to reputational management. Mitt Romney has weakly rebutted the president’s attacks on his Bain Capital tenure. Those who see the good side of leveraged buyouts are gradually speaking up. But the buyout barons themselves need to seize the moment.
Facebook winning Keynesian beauty contest
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Give Facebook the tiara. The social network may be worth more than $100 billion on its debut. As a result, the art of valuing Facebook has officially entered what economist John Maynard Keynes called the “beauty contest” realm. In justifying such a lofty number, Facebook’s supporters are resorting to increasingly wacky rationalizations, from the old chestnut monetization of eyeballs to comparing the company to credit scorers. But Facebook’s value, like beauty, is merely in the eyes of the beholder.
Boardroom botches call for checklist fix
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
If checklists can save lives, surely they can help shareholders. The scandals at Yahoo, Green Mountain Coffee, Chesapeake Energy and other U.S. companies suggest boards of directors could do with some simple reminders to prevent them from making stupid mistakes. Breakingviews has drawn up a starter set.
Sirius XM could yet reclaim the soul it sold
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Sirius XM sold its soul and could pay a hefty price to retrieve it. When the U.S. satellite radio service stared down bankruptcy in 2009, it beat a rescue path to John Malone’s door at Liberty Media. For a financial lifeline, Sirius pledged a 40 percent stake and power over most big decisions to the wily cable magnate. But now he has come to collect.
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