Just returned from a wonderful whitewater rafting trip in western Mass (the Zoar Gap, if anyone's interested).
What a great way to put everything back into perspective and stop thinking of the stock market, with all its highs and lows, er, turbulance, um, peaks and valleys, of, um, -- OK, OK, so I thought about Checkfree with every ice-cold torrent of water that blasted in my face --- so shoot me...<big g, of course>
Anyway -- I'm about to run off to the store to pick up a copy of Forbes -- unbelievable interest in our little, market-dominating, rule-breaking, post-office killing company all of a sudden (speaking of which, what the heck does it take, anyway, to get on that friggin' Motley Fool list)....
Anyway, it was nice to see Mr. Baga break away from his usual diligent pattern of concise (unlike myself), incredibly factual, patient postings and put out something of an editorial about the rumors.
Aside from always respecting and admiring his opinion, I couldn't agree more with the views Benny expressed. Personal aspirations of greed, avarice and instant profits aside, an acquisition at this (incredibly undervalued) juncture would be a major blow to the "consumers choice" model of doing business that CF has held to high esteem, and has the potential of killing the true upside value of this great company, in my always-humble opinion.
I sincerely hope that (if the speculation is true) the major shareholders really, really take the time to evaluate the potential of taking this company out at only $90 (or even $200, for that matter), vs. waiting even one or two years until consumers can even begin to figure out what may now be snatched out from under them (I can easily imagine a scenario where Yahoo decides NOT to renew the presentment contracts with Schwab, E-Trade, or the banks, for that matter, wanting to drive all presentment traffic ONLY to its own site.)
Or, perhaps they up the fee to third parties to $10 or $15 bucks per user, making Yahoo the only low-cost alternative in town -- unless, of course, you'd rather do all your banking with Microsoft. (I can see the advertising tag line now -- "Open your account with First Intergalactic Bank of Microsoft and get a free Toaster***"
***Flying Toaster Screensaver, that is... )
Geez -- this whole scenario is beginning to remind me of the old stories of GE buying out the patents on long-lived light bulbs, and such -- or oil companies buying out inventor's designs on more fuel-efficient cars...
Anyway, the long and short of this rambling post is this --
It would be incredibly satisfying to look back on this stock 3 or 5 years from now and be proud that because folks did their homework, had good foresight, and didn't get scared out of the stock, they earned their post-split (and split, and split, and split again) cost somewhere below a buck...(hey, it happened for many, many AOL shareholders, and they only had to wait about 7 years, and AOL weren't even no rule breaker, in my book...)
Anyway -- let's all enjoy the ride and the exposure next week, and see if the coin comes up rumor or fact...
If it be fact, I would IMPLORE CF's Board, Pete and the other bigboys in the stock to do just ONE thing...Just ONE, MEASLY thing for your friend Zuma...
When it comes to hiring those clubby, pinstriped, french-cuffed investment banker folks and having them over to Norcross to ascertain the value of this paradigm-shifting colossus:
***FOR GOD'S SAKE -- DON'T HIRE LEHMAN!!! (Please, PLEASE -- Deutschebank!!! <G> (I'd even take the CRAFTY folks over at E-Offering, just to watch Gary flip around like a Tuna caught in a fishing net, dropping Princeton Telecom on the floor like a hot Lobster)
Anyway -- we shall see.....
RK (all IMHO, of course) |
