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Strategies & Market Trends : Range Bound & Undervalued Quality Stocks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jane4IceCream who wrote (1919)	4/26/2000 10:51:00 PM
From: Esway	Respond to of 5499

Interesting article on the near term effect of the recent market declines: cbs.marketwatch.com <<It's enough to make a Federal Reserve chairman smile.>>

To: Jane4IceCream who wrote (1919)	4/26/2000 11:27:00 PM
From: BWAC	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5499

Yeah an 8% yield also on JCP. Amazing how the market isn't paying any attention to these type things anymore. The entire company is valued at only 3.7 Billion right now. Who knows what the Eckerd tracking stock will be valued at. 2 Billion maybe? And this little news article today: JC Penney Eases Way for Severance Payments After a Buyout Washington, April 26 (Bloomberg) -- J.C. Penney Co. made it easier for top executives to claim severance payments if an outside suitor acquires the department store chain. Under a severance plan dated Feb. 8, senior officers would be entitled to lump-sum payments if they quit after J.C. Penney is purchased. The new plan is an alternative to a severance program adopted last July that provides severance benefits only to those who are fired after an acquisition. The company described the alternative plan in an annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. J.C. Penney hasn't announced any negotiations with suitors, and there haven't been any rumors that the company will be bought, said Jeffrey Edelman, a retail analyst at PaineWebber Inc. However, continued weakness in the company's shares have made the chain vulnerable to a takeover. ``The stock price is so low that it's conceivable the sum of (J.C. Penney's) parts are worth more than the whole thing is selling for today,'' Edelman said. J.C. Penney shares, down 1/16 today at 14 5/16, have fallen 68 percent during the past 52 weeks. The Standard & Poor's composite index for retail stores, which includes J.C. Penney, has increased 4.54 percent during the same period. The company has taken several recent steps that could help boost its shares. The most recent move came Feb. 24, when Penney said it would shut about 45 unprofitable department stores and 289 Eckerd drugstores as part of a plan to slash costs. The alternative severance plan also referred to the company's stock. In explaining the need for a substitute, J.C. Penney's board said senior management may be asked to set aside its own welfare for that of shareholders. Best Efforts ``The company recognizes that the course of action which it decides upon and which you will be responsible to implement may be contrary to your personal interests and needs,'' the agreement said. The new plan is designed to ensure that officers put forth their best efforts ``to obtain the most beneficial outcome for the company's stockholders.'' Rita Flynn, a J.C. Penney spokeswoman, said the February terms are available only to senior management. In contrast, the severance program the company adopted last July is for all profit- sharing management and bonus-eligible employees. The July 1999 program calls for severance that equals 6 to 24 months compensation -- depending on length of service -- as well as lump sum payments under incentive compensation plans. In contrast, those who qualify for the February plan could opt to receive payments that are three times their annual salary and bonuses. This type of severance plan is known as a ``single-trigger'' parachute because the only condition for receiving payments is a change of control, according to Carol Bowie, editor at Executive Compensation Advisory Services in Alexandria, Virginia. In a study of 1999 proxies filed by 1,049 companies, Bowie's firm found that about 227 had a single-trigger provision for at least one top executive. ``Golden parachutes today are certainly another part of the package that most companies do have,'' Bowie said. ``Anybody is vulnerable to being a takeover target.'' Apr/26/2000 16:35