In retrospect, if I'm running the company, here is what happens:
1) Lena Cati gets put on alert to halt this stock on the sign of any hit piece during the CNY.
2) Stock gets halted on MW hit piece at 15.50. The company issues a PR that it is diligently preparing a point-by-point response, and that trading will resume after CNY.
3) The Wednesday after everyone has returned from CNY, the company issues a PR with a point-by-point rebuttal.
4) Concurrently with the PR, the company institutes a new cash dividend policy of 80% of operating cash flow, which amounts to a quarterly 60 cents, a yield of about 15% at a price of 15.50. The company inserts the caveat that it will suspend the dividend if an accretive acquisition or expansion opportunity arises that requires funding in excess of the company's current cash levels (~$200MM).
5) The company announces the filing of a lawsuit and Citron and MW.
Why does that not make sense? I guarantee you that the stock would not be floundering around at 11.90 right now had that been the response. Of course, that's not to say that it's CCME's fault for not optimally addressing the situation in this way. But that's the way you address the situation if you want to make shorts go home.
Maybe that's not what the company wants. Maybe they aren't concerned about the shorts. OK, then to everyone that gets worked up about this stock, I would simply say: be a long-term investor and suck it up. Stop whining because shorts are making the stock price go down. If you're going to be a committed long term holder, then stop obsessing about these four letters CCME. Save yourself the anxiety of checking the price every minute and worrying about where the next hit piece is coming from. Come back in a few years and see where you are in the investment. That's a perfectly respectable approach to take. Then, you can consistently say the dividend is a pointless idea. But not otherwise.
AI
