Monday, February 23, 2009

Closing bell: GCI shares sink to new low, $3.66

The company's stock just closed at $3.66, down 1%, as stock markets overall plunged in the final hour of trading. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 250.89 points, or 3.4%, to 7114.78. The widely watched S&P-500 index dived 26.72 points, or 3.5%, closing at 743.33.

11 comments:

  1. Going into tomorrows meeting the BoD will have to face the fact that Stocks purchased for $1.8 billion dollars are worth only $103.2 million at the cose of business today.

    Is this Gracia and Craig's doing? If not directly, than certainly indirectly. They had to have given approval for it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stock prices drop when large chunks get sold off by hedge funds, mutual funds, private investors who own enough that, for example, aa 50-cent drop in share price means a lot of money lost.

    This market is going to keep tanking until someone has faith in it.

    Gannett's meeting on Tuesday is going to be a watershed. I can hear the gurgling now. God help them and us.

    ReplyDelete
  3. OK, Mr. Reporter - give us some sort of analysis on this news. It's easy to report a number widely available; give us some interpretation or something.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Re: 6:11

    That you think that every reporter should not only report facts, but should also give his personal opinion on those facts reflects on why people no longer trust the news media. When every fact also comes with an opinion, people wonder whether facts or opinions are more important to the reporter.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I wonder how many shares of GCI I can purchase with the meltdown value of my Gannett prez ring? NOT!

    ReplyDelete
  6. In all fairness, the DOW tanked today, too. It's flirting with 7000 tonight.
    In a market watch type analysis of hard hit newspaper industry, Gannett was not one of the corporations seen as threatened. In fact, it wasn't mentioned except for the Detroit weekend delivery plan and that was only in passing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This isn't just about economy. This is a reflection of years of waste, mistreatment of good employees and over protection of bad ones, and lack of real, genuine leadership (not phony, contrived b.s. that Gannett loves to condone). Those who are talented and in the know have understood for decades that Gannett isn't the place to work. So, for years, Gannett hasn't drawn enough consistently high caliber employees. Mediocrity was ok in good times...not so much now.

    Also, I believe in karma. And December's layoffs created a lot of negative energy. Too many quality people were lost. They threw out the baby with the bath water and created logistical problems all over the place. But they also left some bad feelings hanging...some serious injustices. They threw loyal family members out into the worst economic times in decades. That has a cost.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Everyone should not forget that, not only did we lose good people in December, we lost good people throughout the entire year.

    ReplyDelete
  9. 6:11 pm: Good point. In this case, however, interest is especially high. I could have said what I hope is evidence by now: The lower the stock price, the more political cover the board has to cut the dividend.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 6:32

    No one could have summed it up better. These are very trying times and we are now being led by a team of idiots that are seemingly moving the company into a very bad area. Hopefully the shareholders will oust our clown court and put some responsible people in their spots. If not .... we can only hope that Rupert will buy us out when our stock hits a buck!

    ReplyDelete
  11. If you live with 50 miles of this meeting, show up with a sign outside that says "I'll take $36M for -94% performance too!"

    ReplyDelete

Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.