SEC adds free news feeds to EDGAR
IN A move that portends dramatic changes in how disclosures are disseminated online, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has added news feeds for every issuer and reporting person who files with the commission’s EDGAR database. The development is potentially bad news for news release distributors such as Business Wire, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, [...]
Talking about transparency
I WAS interviewed for 45 minutes last Friday by well-known communications consultant Shel Holz for a book he is co-authoring on the topic of “practical transparency.” Shel is one of the thought leaders on the topic of communications and technology. He has written and spoken about it extensively over the years, in various books, reports, [...]
Did e-proxy figure in Apple's surprise say-on-pay loss?
APPLE Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been a market darling over the past 18 months, so some observers are surprised that a majority of the firm’s shareholders have voted against the board for a say in the firm’s executive pay practices. The voting results were not released by the company, but it was reported at yesterday’s [...]
Earnings releases — the Warren Buffett way
WHILE his competitors lavish huge fees on his PR wire service, frugal billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is being thrifty by keeping its earnings releases short and referring investors to complete disclosures on the company’s website. Ironically, management at Business Wire, acquired by Buffett in March 2006, has argued vehemently against other companies following its [...]
Firms blame Broadridge, SEC for e-proxy snafus
REPRESENTATIVES of three US companies that have used the e-Proxy default electronic delivery process in recent months have laid blame for low retail investor turnout on Broadridge Financial Solutions and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The companies say the notices that Broadridge is sending to investors urging them to go online to view their [...]
SEC releases Financial Explorer for XBRL
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission is hoping to boost private sector development of XBRL tools for investors with the launch of a new graphic-rich interactive data viewer. The Financial Explorer application will be released under an open-source license to enable developers to create tools for investors to read and analyze company financial reports tagged [...]
Investors' new insight on mergers — employee bloggers
THE spotty success rate of mergers and acquisitions in creating shareholder value has long dogged investors who must try to decide whether a proposed acquisition by a company they own makes sense. But with the advent of employee bloggers on the open Internet, especially those who work for leading technology companies, investors may be getting [...]
Yahoo!'s latest inspiration: snail mail
I THOUGHT I wouldn’t have to write about the Microsoft-Yahoo! takeover saga again after likening the investor relations communications around it to watching two drunks wobbling and slurring their way through a back alley rumble. But I can’t resist. A couple of hours ago, the great Web pioneer and innovator that is Yahoo! fired off [...]
Takeover bid sites, old-economy style
WITH tech titans Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) poised for a brawl, it might be useful for the two to see examples of companies that are right now using the Web to effectively present their bid propaganda. Ironically, the examples I have to share, whipped up after a quick Google News search [...]
Watching two tech drunks rumble
OUR research has long found that big technology companies are among the weakest when it comes to online investor relations communications — and we’re now seeing that manifest itself in the Yahoo!-Microsoft dust up. I’ve already highlighted how neither company is making effective use of its website to keep shareholders informed, and I’ve complained aloud [...]
Open letter to jerry yang (and Yahoo! IR)
Dear jerry, I’m trying hard to stay informed about your thinking around Microsoft’s offer to buy Yahoo, but your Investor Relations department is not making it easy for shareholders to get your views on this issue. For example, this morning you issued a short news release, which I found on Yahoo’s IR website, saying the [...]
Microsoft, Yahoo! IR teams drop ball amid bid
IF YOU’RE a Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) or Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) shareholder, you’ve probably heard the news — thanks in no part to the companies’ investor relations departments. Yes, on February 1, 2008 Microsoft proposed to acquire Yahoo! for $31 per share, apparently comprised of half cash and half Microsoft shares, or something like that. [...]
IR Web Report's E-Proxy Coverage
This page consolidates all of IR Web Report’s articles about the SEC’s e-proxy process and default electronic annual reporting generally.