NWA execs unload (7 million) shares (Keep your eye on the rats)

[Bozita]

http://www.freep.com/money/business/nwa21e_20050621.htm

NWA execs unload shares

BY JEWEL GOPWANI
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

June 21, 2005


In a sign that makes shareholders grimace and employees worry about the fate of their company, Northwest Airlines Inc.'s top brass have shed more than 7 million shares of the airline's stock in recent months.


Most of the activity came from the company's two largest shareholders, Chairman Gary Wilson and former director Alfred Checchi -- the two men who led a buyout of Northwest in 1989.


In Checchi's case, the former Northwest cochairman and director sold most of his stock during the first four months of the year.



-snip-

They're "certainly hedging their bets right now. They're cashing out their stakes," said airline consultant Darryl Jenkins.


-snip-

more...

[Zerex71]

1. Reminds me of the put options on 9/10

[babylonsister]

2. Sounds like Enron execs, and look what happened there. nt

[Oversea Visitor]

3. Bad

Big Chief running no good sign x(

[mbperrin]

4. Cashing out is not hedging!

This is why I would never invest one cent in the stock market. EVERYTHING is to sell stock to the unknowing to the detriment of those who know.

Adam Smith didn't believe stock corporations should exist, and neither do I.

Now how many billions have the taxpayers given NWA and the rest just so they can cut and run?

[sendero]

5. If I had stock in any airline..

... other than perhaps Southwest, I'd be selling too.

[section321]

9. Agreed. Its no secret the airlines are in trouble.

However, if something new is imminent and that's why they're selling, then it could be insider trading.

However, any smart investor could make this call based on publicly available data.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. How is this NOT insider trading?

:shrug:

How can any corporate executive avoid insider trading in his or her own company's stock?

[patdem]

7. I agree, like a sports figure who is banned from betting on sports I think

an executive should not be able to hold stock in his own company or hold stock in any company on which he sits on the board. Look at what happened to Rose for betting, and not even on his own team-banned from baseball for life! Why is this any different? You are encourged to cheat in order to line your own pockets, then cash out and get out-unscathed! :grr:

edit: voting on sports? I post about politics too much!

[alcibiades_mystery]

10. It is "insider trading" but not illegal insider trading

Insiders are allowed to sell their stock in the company, but they must report such sales with the SEC - that is, they must make a public declaration that they've sold the their securities. In that way, the public has the information, and can make decisions about its holdings accordingly.

[Porcupine]

13. Look at Peak Oil. All airlines are toast.

How many of us can afford to fly if they double the ticket price? How about triple it? Quadruple?

Oil prices will hit $60 per barrel today or tomorrow with no ceiling in sight. The air transport industry (until they build a fleet of Zeppelins) is toast.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. Zeppelins would be cool

They were used for international travel before the Hindenberg disaster (which was caused not by the use of hydrogen as a fuel but by a flammable coating on the skin of the balloon part), and I've seen film footage of a round the world trip by one of them, floating silently and serenely above the cities of Europe and Asia.

[1932]

20. A corp that follows all the disclosure rules in a transparent mrktplc

shouldn't have a problem. Part of that transparency should involve letting people know that you're going to sell your shares. (Unless the rules have changed, I think you can get away with disclosing your insider sale to the public by a day short of two months, or something like that.)

And, incidentally, it's important that, at least, directors of a corporation have significant shareholdings. You want their interests to be alligned with shareholders, and shareholding is a great way to do that.

There are a lot of problems with insiders holding shares (especially with regard to stock options). But I still think it's good for people inside a corporation to be shareholders as well.

[section321]

8. NWA??? Dr. Dre and Eazy E?

Straight outta compton...

Oops. wrong NWA.

[Bozita]

11. kicking for the evening crowd

[Bozita]

12. big kick for investors everywhere

[MsAnthropy]

14. NWA is the most corrupt corporation on the planet

always has been. My dad worked there for 45 years and they found a way to screw my mom out of his pension. I hate those bastards.

[slackmaster]

15. Oh, you mean _that_ NWA

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

16. see, now there's some mofo's I would invest in!

me and little ricky from tejas!

[peacebuzzard]

17. Call the SEC!!!!Inside moves. These guys are going to play hardball.

There is a history of this occurring before they negotiate contracts w/ labor groups. I believe they are bracing for a hardline approach with the flight attendant group. Their contract is up and in mediation. They want millions in labor savings, and the flight attendant group is the largest.

You want a job? 50% pay cut. Eat that.

Bastards. They will reward themselves bonuses later. it's part of the downward spiral of corporate Amerikkka

The SEC totally ignores what the airlines do. Maybe someone else knows why. :shrug:

[1932]

18. Joe Stieglitz predicted IMF bailout of Russia in late 90s would take

three months to go from the IMF bank accounts, to Russian bank accounts, to Cypriot bank accounts.

It took three days.

(The IMF bailout propped up the ruble so that rich Russians could sell their rubles at decent prices and put their dollars in overseas bank accounts. Once that was done, there was so much capital flight, the currency crashed.)

Taxpayers gave how many billions to NWA?

[southernleftylady]

19. great im a NWA flight attendant :( nt

[DemoTex]

21. Sorry Southernleftylady .. I know your fears well.

My airline is in Chapter 11 for the second time in three years. They terminated our pilots pension plan on March 31, 2003 (and the other unionized employees' pensions in 2004). The year that my pension was terminated the then-CEO of US Airways, Dave Siegel, made over $10 million. Bu$h would love to see most of the airlines go belly up. The beneficiaries would be two Texas-based airlines (American and Southwest) and some selected foreign airlines (Virgin Atlantic and BA). By the time oil hits $75/bbl, tens of thousands of airline employees will be on the street.

The PBGC (Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation), which was $7 billion in the black the day Bill Clinton left office, is now $23 billion in the red. Delta and NWAs' pension obligations will probably bust the PBGC. That is exactly what Bu$hco wants. Will Social Security be there for us? Don't count on it. Bu$hco truly wants a stake in the heart of the middle class.

I listed our downtown condo in Greenville, SC, yesterday. Today I'm putting my beloved mountain house on the market. We will buy a smaller house in Greenville for cash .. no more mortgages.

It is not a happy time. I never thought I would live to see the total collapse of the American dream. That collapse is well under way now. When the people realize it, they will be in the streets with torches and pitchforks. Those who have stolen our dreams to wage their illegal wars will be held accountable. That is what keeps me going.

[Mika]

22. Will pitchforks and torches be affordable?

Sorry to read about your situ DemoT. :(