There could soon be fewer places to grab an app or order a stack of pancakes: Dine Equity, the company behind Applebee’s and IHOP, will close up to 160 locations of the chain restaurants this year in an attempt to trim costs and boost sales. [More]
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Dick’s Sporting Goods Predicts More Trouble In Industry, Will Focus On House Brands
By 3.8.17
Unlike a number of its competitors who are shuttering stores or shutting down entirely, sales are up slightly at Dick’s Sporting Goods. That may not be enough to please Wall Street, so the retailer has a plan to boost profits: Sell more of its house-brand products. [More]
Did Yahoo Wait Too Long To Disclose Massive 2014 Data Breach? SEC Investigating
By 1.23.17
Yahoo, the online company that hosted your email in 2001, was the victim of two huge account breaches in 2013 and 2014, but didn’t tell customers or investors until last year. Now the Securities and Exchange Commission is one of the government entities investigating the breach, to find out whether Yahoo kept the info from its investors for too long. [More]
Pfizer To Pay $486M To Settle Lawsuit Over Celebrex, Bextra
By 8.2.16
Pharma giant Pfizer has agreed to pay $486 million to close the books on a decade-long class-action securities lawsuit related to two of the company’s pain relievers, Celebrex and Bextra. [More]
Under Armour: Sports Authority Closures Will Hurt Sales Of Sneakers, Clothes
By 6.1.16
When one business fails, its failure spins out and also affects clients and customers. The failure of a national mega-retailer, Sports Authority, doesn’t just affect its competitors in the coming months as they have to compete with liquidation sales. The company’s bankruptcy also affects its suppliers, including big companies like Under Armour. [More]
Starboard Once Again Throwing Around Its Weight, Starts Fight To Oust Yahoo Board
By 3.24.16
Activist investors at Starboard Value are once again looking to shake things up at a major company. After essentially forcing the now-contested Staples-Office Depot merger, questioning the number of breadsticks handed out at Olive Garden and ousting the entire Darden Restaurant Inc. board, the investor group has launched a fight to remove the entire board of Yahoo. [More]
Chipotle Sued For Not Disclosing Food Quality Control Problems To Stockholders
By 1.8.16
Customers don’t trust fast-casual Mexican-ish restaurant Chipotle very much right now, after a series of foodborne illness outbreaks in different parts of the country. The outbreaks of e. Coli, Salmonella, and norovirus were unrelated to each other, but demonstrated problems with the chain’s food-handling procedures. Now an investor has filed a lawsuit on behalf of shareholders who bought stock in the company in the last year, claiming that the company should have known about the problems with its food handling processes, and disclosed them. [More]
Fiat Chrysler Spins Off Ferrari Division, Drops Hostile Bid To Merge With General Motors
By 12.4.15
With all the mergers – or would-be mergers – floating around out there, Fiat Chrysler is going in the opposite direction: spinning off its Ferrari division and dropping talks of a hostile takeover of rival General Motors. [More]
Class-Action Lawsuit Accuses Fiat Chrysler Of Hiding Safety Issues To Increase Stock Value
By 9.14.15
Fiat Chrysler once again finds itself in the legal doghouse after some of its investors filed a class-action suit, claiming the automaker deceived them by withholding information related to the safety and computer problems in millions of vehicles in order to inflate the price of company stock. [More]
Scammer Accused Of Swindling Investors Out Of $24K For Fake Clint Eastwood Cowboy Documentary
By 8.6.15
When you think of Clint Eastwood, he of the flinty-eyed gaze and chiseled jawline, you probably think about the Wild West, the wide open prairie and the cowboys who range there. Which is exactly what one scammer was counting on when he allegedly swindled $24,000 out of investors in Montana for a cowboy flick that he said would be narrated by Eastwood himself. [More]
Investors Sue American Express After Loss Of Costco Agreement
By 7.31.15
Five months after American Express and Costco announced they would go their separate ways and end their exclusive relationship – essentially allowing members of the warehouse club to use other cards – shareholders for the credit card company have filed a lawsuit claiming it blindsided investors with the loss of the contract. [More]
Another Wasteful Expense At Olive Garden: Excessive Carpet Shampooing
By 6.23.15
The table-waiting, breadstick-hoarding board of directors over at Darden, parent company of Olive Garden, has some more extremely practical advice for its restaurants on the ground: they need to shampoo their carpets less. This is an example of an actual cost-saving measure proposed by the company’s CEO. [More]
SEC Alleges Ex-NFL Player Ran $31M Ponzi Scheme
By 4.7.15
In football, a cornerback is tasked with defending against pass offenses. It appears one former NFL player wasn’t doing much defending on behalf of investors off the field. Instead, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges former New York Giants player Will Allen used his big league connections to assist in the operation of a $31 million Ponzi scheme based on making loans to cash-strapped pro athletes. [More]
Target Owes Minnesota-Based Businesses $3.8M Over Failed Canadian Stores
By 2.13.15
Target Corporation isn’t the only company losing money by closing its Canadian division. The retailer owes nearly $3.8 million to more than 60 businesses in Minnesota. [More]
Is Consolidation On The Horizon For Budget Airlines?
By 1.20.15
In recent years, the airline industry has undergone a rather stark transformation through a series of mega-mergers between legacy carriers. Still, one group has been left relatively untouched: budget carriers. But the Chairman of the Board for Frontier Airlines sees a future with fewer bottom-dollar airline brands. [More]
Mortgage Scandal Of The Day: Forced-Placed Insurance
By 11.11.10
In a dark cranny of the mortgage-servicing world a “force-placed insurance” scandal is brewing. When a homeowner’s insurance lapses, the servicer steps in and buys them a new one, at a price several factors higher than their original. And the company they buy it from is essentially themselves with a different name. Now investors are finding out about the incestuous self-dealing and kickbacks and they’re pissed. [More]
SEC Wants Disclosures For Asset Backed Securities Written In Python
By 4.20.10
“Waterfall” provisions of asset backed securities are the rules that explain the flow of funds in the transaction, and they are are very hard to read. Blogger/professor Jayanth Varma calls them “horrendously complicated,” leading trustees to make mistakes or pull stunts that investors never expected. To remedy this, the SEC is proposing that the provisions be written in a programming language, filed on EDGAR, and made available as downloadable Python source code. [More]
Are Corporate Boards Ruining American Businesses? This Book Says Yes
By 1.15.10
The new book Money for Nothing looks at corporate boards: how they’re frequently hand-picked and ruled by the CEOs they’re supposed to keep in check, how they’re sidelined by various conflicts of interest and lack of accountability, and how the worst ones have massively screwed shareholders. [More]
