Posted on 09/08/2010 12:01:56 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Every so often, rumors pop up that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is going to buy The New York Times Co., in which he already owns nearly a 7% stake.
And then those rumors quickly get stamped down by Slim, but not before making some waves in the stock market.
It just happened again today, and Times Co. shares rose as much as 8% as a result, according to Bloomberg:
"Almost 6,400 calls to buy the stock changed hands, 35 times the four-week average and five times the number of puts to sell...
...The publisher’s stock rose 26 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $8.02 at 12:54 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading after hitting $8.38 for the biggest intraday gain since June 10."
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
This fellow is hardly stupid. The rumor will take a year to burn out....
If Carlos Slim buys the NY Times, he will cut at least 50% of their staff within 2 years in order to recoup his investment. It will be fun to watch. Go Carlos!
Enron stock has a few days like this on its way to zero...
US Treasuries pay from 0-3%, you can get a 30 year fixed mortgage for 3.5%, and Slim is enjoying a 14% yield on his loan to the NY Times...
Go Uncle Charlie!
Also, the higher the sale price, the more staff he’ll need to cut to make his money back.
Either that or he'll make some changes.
Mexican Billionaire?
I guess he wants a highly visible propaganda organ, to keep that convenient safety valve known as the United States open, thereby defusing a Mexican revolution, and thus extending the life of unfettered royalty enjoyed by he and his friends.
Would he punch up such a rumor himself just to drive up the price before unloading his stake?
I know that there are definite prohibitions for broadcast media organizations, but I think - could be wrong - that there are prohibitions on other media concerns as well.
From a low of about $3.50/share back in mid February of 2009, NYT had bounced back to $14.67 in January 2010. This was on the hope that “the worst was over” with newspaper advertising.
Now over the past month it is back down to $7-8/share on the realization that the long-term prospect of ink-on-paper - hand delivered no less - information/advertising distribution is not good.
And the realization that advertisers can reach more people, faster, with better information and at a fraction of the cost with that interweb thingy.
This is stupid. Carlos Slim doesn’t have to buy The New York Times. He owns their debt. All he has to do is twiddle his thumbs and whistle while the Times slides slowly into bankruptcy. At which point, since he’s the largest creditor, it falls into his lap.
If the New York Times belongs to Carlos Slim, many of us are interested in where his political sympathies lie.
Is he another George Soros? Is he another Ted Turner ? Another Rupert Murdoch ? Inquiring minds want to know.
ping
“NYT runs tv ads here in N. Texas trying to get us to buy that rag...”
#####
I’m fond of returning the postage-paid subscription solicitations postcards I receive, taped to a heavy brick.
soaring aint what it used to be.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.