The Facts About Bush and Harken

National Review Online ^ | July 10,2002 | Byron York

[Freee-dame]

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[NoLongerLurker]

A comment on the Chart of stock prices of Harken that you posted:

The June volume does not reflect the $845,000 sale by Bush, which would be about 211,000 shares. June volume is listed on your chart as 12,700. Was the sale made off the record? There have been public statements to the effect that the stock purchase from Bush was made by a wealthy Bahraini, again implying that the whole thing was a set-up.

Anyone who has followed the financial escapades of the Bush family would not be surprised by the above.

[deport]

Very astute of you...... Not a cumulative June monthly chart but a last day of the month ending chart..... So a Bahrainian did buy the stock... Is there anything wrong with that. Maybe he thought there were gonna be big discoveries in the wells they were drilling and he'd make a huge profit. If he did hold for a few months he could have double his money as the stock hit $8 a share in Aug. 91 and had daily highs of up to $16 a share.

[Toddsterpatriot]

However, the Bahraini announcement of the off shore drilling contract boosted the value of Bush's shares several fold. It was designed to put a large amount of money in Bush's hands.

I'm going to withhold judgement until I see a chart showing the stock before the Bahraini announcement and up thru Bush's sale.

That it was basically a scam is shown by two factors: a) Harken had no off shore drilling experience, and b) Harken never drilled a single well off shore in Barhain on the basis of that contract.

So, if a company has no offshore drilling experience, they never get any? Someone had to drill the first offshore well. Couldn't they hire engineers and oil men with the necessary experience?

[Toddsterpatriot]

Where did you find these closing prices?

[Carolina]

HEC Dailies June 1990

Date	Open	High	Low	Close	Volume	Adj. Close*
29-Jun-90	3.75	5.05	1.25	3.75	31,900	37.50
28-Jun-90	2.80	4.00	2.80	4.00	2,000	40.00
27-Jun-90	2.80	4.00	2.80	4.00	12,500	40.00
26-Jun-90	6.38	6.38	3.88	3.88	14,800	38.80
25-Jun-90	3.05	4.25	1.75	4.25	10,800	42.50
22-Jun-90	4.13	5.33	1.63	4.13	242,500	41.30
21-Jun-90	3.05	4.25	3.05	4.25	13,700	42.50
20-Jun-90	4.13	5.33	4.13	4.13	15,000	41.30
19-Jun-90	5.33	5.33	4.13	4.13	29,100	41.30
18-Jun-90	4.25	5.55	4.25	4.25	5,800	42.50
15-Jun-90	5.55	5.55	4.25	4.25	11,400	42.50
14-Jun-90	4.38	4.38	3.08	4.38	10,200	43.80
13-Jun-90	3.08	4.38	3.08	4.38	20,600	43.80
Source: Yahoo Finance: HEC

[deport]

Here are the week ending HEC info for the year 1990. The Bahrainina deal was announced in Jan. 1990 and President Bush sold on June 22, 1990.... Notice that the stock had some daily highs of $10 after the sale.

---

HEC

Date	Open	High	Low	Close	Volume	Adj. Close*
24-Dec-90	2.45	2.45	1.25	1.25	10,000	12.50
17-Dec-90	2.45	3.75	0.18	1.38	23,800	13.70
10-Dec-90	2.93	4.13	-1.13	1.50	17,500	15.00
3-Dec-90	3.17	4.25	0.67	1.75	22,500	17.50
26-Nov-90	3.30	3.30	0.67	1.88	24,700	18.70
19-Nov-90	0.83	3.30	0.83	2.00	15,600	20.00
12-Nov-90	4.50	4.50	-0.47	2.13	24,400	21.30
5-Nov-90	1.08	3.58	1.08	2.38	7,800	23.80
29-Oct-90	1.33	5.00	1.30	2.38	12,800	23.80
22-Oct-90	3.80	5.13	0.38	2.38	12,500	23.80
15-Oct-90	3.80	3.83	2.50	2.50	11,900	25.00
8-Oct-90	4.05	5.25	1.55	2.50	13,100	25.00
1-Oct-90	3.00	4.08	1.80	2.75	5,900	27.50
24-Sep-90	2.08	10.00	0.38	3.00	6,600	30.00
17-Sep-90	2.33	4.58	1.00	3.38	6,400	33.80
10-Sep-90	5.05	6.00	3.50	3.50	12,800	35.00
4-Sep-90	5.05	5.05	1.38	3.88	25,200	38.80
27-Aug-90	7.80	10.30	1.50	3.88	91,600	38.80
20-Aug-90	8.58	9.00	-3.20	4.00	31,300	40.00
13-Aug-90	5.63	5.63	2.05	3.00	23,000	30.00
6-Aug-90	5.30	8.50	2.08	3.38	25,500	33.80
30-Jul-90	6.50	8.50	2.55	4.00	7,500	40.00
23-Jul-90	4.25	8.05	3.05	4.13	47,800	41.30
16-Jul-90	2.55	5.05	-0.75	4.25	21,100	42.50
9-Jul-90	2.33	5.88	2.30	3.63	14,200	36.30
2-Jul-90	3.63	5.05	1.13	3.63	16,900	36.30
25-Jun-90	3.05	6.38	1.25	3.75	10,800	37.50
18-Jun-90	4.25	5.55	1.63	4.13	5,800	41.30
11-Jun-90	5.55	5.55	3.05	4.25	10,300	42.50
4-Jun-90	5.55	5.55	1.88	4.38	21,600	43.80
29-May-90	5.80	6.88	4.25	4.25	13,300	42.50
21-May-90	4.50	6.88	0.83	4.63	3,700	46.30
14-May-90	4.88	8.30	3.33	4.50	11,700	45.00
7-May-90	4.88	6.08	3.58	4.88	6,900	48.80
30-Apr-90	6.05	6.08	1.33	4.88	9,200	48.80
23-Apr-90	5.55	7.13	0.83	4.63	12,200	46.30
16-Apr-90	4.25	6.75	3.08	4.25	25,500	42.50
9-Apr-90	4.50	5.80	3.08	4.38	7,300	43.80
2-Apr-90	5.80	5.80	2.00	4.63	43,600	46.30
26-Mar-90	5.00	7.25	3.55	4.75	3,900	47.50
19-Mar-90	4.75	6.08	3.55	4.88	21,300	48.80
12-Mar-90	3.80	7.38	3.58	4.88	20,800	48.80
5-Mar-90	7.63	7.63	3.83	5.13	8,300	51.30
26-Feb-90	5.50	8.83	2.63	5.38	16,100	53.80
20-Feb-90	4.88	9.30	1.80	5.50	10,500	55.00
12-Feb-90	4.75	5.83	2.38	4.88	13,000	48.80
5-Feb-90	4.75	6.08	2.38	4.88	8,600	48.80
29-Jan-90	5.80	7.00	3.33	4.63	10,200	46.30
22-Jan-90	6.05	6.05	3.33	4.63	14,500	46.30
15-Jan-90	5.83	7.13	2.25	4.88	20,300	48.80
12-Jan-90	6.08	6.08	3.58	4.88	6,900	48.80

[Toddsterpatriot]

You beat me to it. I was doing the same thing on Yahoo.

I don't see a big boost in January and even if there were, why would Bush wait until June to sell if "The Fix was in"?

[deport]

I don't see a big boost in January and even if there were, why would Bush wait until June to sell if "The Fix was in"?

This is one story of how the sale occurred.....

The broker who handled the controversial sale of President Bush's energy stock in 1990 said yesterday that he suggested the deal to Bush, but the future President hesitated because he wanted to make sure the sale was allowed.

"There isn't a person of any more integrity that I've talked to in my life. He was a straight shooter," retired broker Ralph Smith told the Daily News in a telephone interview from his Los Angeles home.

He blamed renewed questioning of Bush's Harken Energy stock trade on "Clintonites" and called Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt — both Democrats — "a couple of rats."

Smith said the trade came about because he called Bush on behalf of an "institution" that wanted to buy Harken Energy stock after other Harken directors said they did not want to sell. Bush also was a member of company's board.

At first, Smith said Bush told him "he didn't know if he could sell, and to check back."

"I checked with the [Harken] lawyers to make sure he could sell. ... They said that he could," he said. The former broker said it was "implicit" in later conversations that Bush also had sought legal advice.

Smith said he called again a couple of weeks later, and "then he said he would be interested in selling. [Bush] decided on the amount," and in June 1990 sold 212,140 shares for $835,807.

Before the deal went through, Smith said, Harken's lawyers wrote "a letter to the transfer agent ... [assuring him] there was no insider information available that wasn't available to the public. That's why he was allowed to sell."

Democrats have suggested Bush — who has decried greed and fraud that has hurt investors — may have been involved in insider trading because shortly after the sale, Harken stock fell. Bush also failed to file necessary paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for eight months.

Smith said he was interviewed about the deal by two lawyers from the SEC — the only time in his 25-year career that a trade he made resulted in such a probe.

Denies Political Link

He also rejected the whispers that some fat cat wanted to buy stock from Bush, whose father was then President, to curry favor with the White House.

"There wasn't anything political involved in any way, shape or form. ... Buyer didn't know who the seller is. Seller didn't know who the buyer is," Smith said. "I didn't divulge."

[Toddsterpatriot]

I used to deal with 144-A certificates all the time. You can't get the restriction lifted without a letter from the company's lawyer. If there was any question of inside info, they wouldn't have allowed him to sell.