The shareholder revolt at Aurelian Resources continues to gain momentum, with the Calgary Herald picking up the story today.
Hats off to Aurelian shareholders for showing the world how a stock discussion community can be used in a powerful and constructive manner.
Regards,
George
The shareholder revolt at Aurelian Resources is picking up an incredible amount of steam, with Peter Koven at the Financial Post covering the story today. Here is a snapshot of the story, which is a great read:
…….continue reading full story here.
Hats off to Peter and FP for covering the importance of this story and the important role of online shareholder communities. Until AGORACOM came along, online stock discussion forums were overrun by spam, profanity, bashing, hyping and flaming. Our Web 2.0 model of combining a reputation system with Wiki and IGC tools (Investor Generated Content) has eliminated 95% of the noise while maximizing constructive and informative discussion.
Hats off to Aurelian shareholders for showing the world how a stock discussion community can be used to enrich investors.
Regards,
George
On September 7th 2007, I posted a story on this blog titled “The Empowerment Of Online Investors – It’s Here For Good”. In that story, I stated the following:
“What does this mean for small-cap and micro-cap CEO’s?
Online investors have almost as much power as you do when it comes to the future
of your company. Unhappy investors are no longer relegated to the vacuum of “harsh”
e-mail and letters to express their discontent. Today, investors can rally in short order
via video, blogs and online forums to challenge you at your next AGM, oust you from
your position or even elect their own slate of directors.
In fact, not only is this possible, I’ll go as far as predict it will actually happen in the
next 12-24 months as investors make Web 2.0 a part of their daily investing lives.
I’m the biggest proponent of great small-cap and micro-companies but we all know
there are still many companies out there deserving of being the first target of an online
shareholder revolt – and I’ll be the first to applaud it.”
APPLAUDING SHAREHOLDERS OF AURELIAN RESOURCES
Well, here we are just 11 months later and the first real small-cap revolt is on courtesy of the shareholders of Aurelian Resources. Moreover, AGORACOM is the vehicle allowing shareholders to unite. A proud moment for us indeed.
I said I would be the first to applaud it, so bravo to all of you for your efforts. True to my word, I want to congratulate “The Informed, Educated Aurelian Resource Investors” group for its activism efforts.
By amalgamating all shareholders for the purpose of educating, communicating, sharing and analyzing all aspects of this potential acquisition, you have given yourself the opportunity to generate greater shareholder value through:
* Rejection of this offer
* Sweetening of the current offer
* Attracting a better offer
This ordeal is long from over, so don’t give up. Continue to push for a better deal if the majority of you truly believe the Kinross offer is insufficient ….and let AGORACOM know if there is anything further we can do to help the cause.
Best Regards,
George, Paul and the AGORACOM Team
Good afternoon to you all. The good folks at IR Web Report have posted a report titled SEC OK’s Websites and Blogs For Regulation FD. The report stems from new guidance unanimously approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission today. I am in Europe and unable to review the SEC Staff Statement in detail for several hours but I trust the analysis of Dominic Jones and his team at IR Web Report implicitly.
GREAT NEWS FOR AGORACOM, OUR CLIENTS AND THE INDUSTRY
How big and important is today’s news? I can best summarize it by referring to the opening remarks of SEC Chairman Christopher Cox where he stated:
“The use of electronic media is arguably superior to providing company information the old way.
It’s a better way to provide information to most investors since today it can be presented in
interactive format that allows each individual to click through or drill down to the level of detail
that’s appropriate to him or her.”
Chairman Cox went on to add:
“Technological advances and the reduced costs associated with the implementation of technologies over time, now allow the inclusion of more interactive and current information on company websites than was the case previously. That’s moved websites beyond being just electronic filing cabinets
for electronic documents. Today, company websites are being shaped by the market’s desire for
highly current and interactive information.”
Where have we heard all of this before! 🙂
Suffice it to say this is excellent news for AGORACOM and the entire small-cap space given the fact we strictly use the web to help clients market and communicate faster, better and more cost-efficiently than “traditional” IR has ever provided.
We still need to review the full interpretive release from the SEC, which is expected within the next couple of weeks but it is clear that online investor relations has made a massive leap forward today.
HIGHLIGHTS
I will have more to say later but here are some of the highlights reported by IR Web Report:
AGORACOM welcomes and applauds the SEC’s official position on the use of web technologies to communicate with investors. The entire world now lives in a Web 2.0 world of online communities, webcasts, blogs, RSS Feeds and “Investor Generated Content”.
The SEC has just proven that it is not only unafraid of Web 2.0, it is actually embracing it. For this we say, thank-you and congratulations! Investor Relations is never going to be the same.
Regards,
George
Eric Jackson spoke out via audio address this morning about his views on the Yahoo board, the deal with Carl Icahn and why many members of the Yahoo board need to be voted out at the upcoming AGM. This is a short but compelling statement that all Yahoo shareholders should listen to.
Dr. Jackson has asked for all YHOO shareholders to chime in on the Yahoo Plan B Community to have their voices hears and make their votes count.
Regards,
George
TORONTO/NAPLES, July 21, 2008 – Eric Jackson, Founder of Ironfire Capital and activist investor, is pleased to announce the launch of a Yahoo! shareholder community for the purposes of amalgamating and
communicating with all current and future pledged Yahoo! shareholders in one location at http://www.agoracom.com/ir/YHOO . This “Investor Controlled Community” will provide for high-quality discussion and exchange of ideas, while eliminating irrelevant and disruptive noise.
IMPORTANT FOR YAHOO! SHAREHOLDERS TO SHARE IDEAS
With less than 2 weeks left until the August 1st Yahoo! Annual Meeting, shareholders will be voting on the future of Yahoo! Important discussion will include choosing between the slate of investors put forth by both Yahoo! and Carl Icahn, or a hybrid. In addition, are shareholders best served by a full acquisition by Microsoft, or a sale of search only?
Commenting on the launch of this community, Eric Jackson stated “When I first created a “Plan B” for Yahoo!, I asked for fellow shareholders to offer their input and help edit our “Plan B” and, through “pledging” of shares to our group, providing us with the ability to speak directly to Yahoo! and the media with one collective voice. I never imagined we would pull together a group with 150 members and a collective 3.2mm Yahoo! shares. We’ve done that, but I believe we’re still scratching the surface of what Activism 2.0 could truly accomplish, in terms of making our voices heard.”
Jackson went on to say “I would like there to be more of a collective dialog between those within our group and those outside it. I believe the community is smarter than any one person. However, it is difficult to build a community through blog comments, while the amount of spam and noise on Yahoo! Finance message boards make them impractical to exchange ideas. Through AGORACOM, I believe we now have the platform to build a great community of concerned shareholders. This new Yahoo! HUB community will help us all be smarter and exchange ideas that can help shape the future of Yahoo! I encourage you to use it.”
The community is being hosted on AGORACOM, a second generation financial discussion community that has eliminated epidemic levels of spam, profanity and misinformation via a unique reputation system that provides highly-ranked members with the ability to enforce the community’s 6 Rules of Use by deleting offending posts and terminating offending members.
July 21, 2008
Press Release
SOURCE: AGORACOM.com and Ironfire Capital
Activist Investor Eric Jackson Recommends Mixed Yahoo!/Icahn Board in Upcoming Yahoo! Proxy Vote
TORONTO/NAPLES, July 21, 2008 – Activist investor Eric Jackson, founder of activist hedge fund Ironfire Capital, announced his recommendation that Yahoo! shareholders supporting his “Yahoo Plan B” group elect a mixed Yahoo/Icahn board at the upcoming Yahoo! Annual Meeting on August 1st.
Dr. Jackson is speaking on behalf of the “Yahoo Plan B” group, comprised of 150 members that own 3.2 million shares in Yahoo! worth over $70 million (http://www.youchoose.net/yahoo ). The “Plan B” group is the first group of shareholders assembled entirely via the Internet with the purpose of positively impacting a company’s governance and performance in a similar fashion to a large activist hedge fund.
Last year, Jackson used blog posts, YouTube videos, and other social media to rally support and positively effect change at Yahoo! His group created a “Plan B” for how Yahoo! should be run after finalizing it through a wiki (http://shareowneractivism.wikia.com/wiki/Yahoo ). The group also encouraged other shareholders to “withhold” their votes for key directors at the Yahoo! June 2007 Annual Meeting to protest the poor performance of the company combined with high executive compensation. At last year’s annual meeting, Yahoo! shareholders voted 33% against the re-election of 3 Yahoo! directors. Six days after the vote, former Chairman and CEO Terry Semel resigned.
Jackson will be announcing more details of his recommendations for how the “Yahoo! Plan B” group members should vote at this year’s Yahoo! meeting later today with the launch of a Yahoo! shareholder community at http://www.agoracom.com/ir/YHOO . Fellow shareholders can express their perspectives on how best to vote in the upcoming proxy contest at this HUB.
“While I have personally supported Carl Icahn’s efforts since he announced he was running his slate to counter the Yahoo! board’s poor oversight of the company over the last 4 years, it’s become clear over the last two weeks that many shareholders are reluctant to support the entire list of Icahn nominees. Many were concerned about a lack of an articulated operational plan for how to best run Yahoo! assuming no deal with Microsoft occurs imminently. There were also concerns about continuity with replacing the entire board. We also do not want to see Yahoo!’s poison pill-like severance package triggered by the election of 5 or more of Icahn’s nominees. As such, we are recommending that our group members vote for a mixed board with 5 re-elected Yahoo directors and 4 new directors from Icahn’s slate. This will maximize the change so desperately needed to Yahoo!’s board without the drawbacks mentioned above.
“We believe Microsoft needs Yahoo! to reinvigorate its Online Services Division and protect its Desktop software business from future threats, as their quarterly results from last week demonstrate. There is a perfect fit here for Microsoft. We are confident this new hybrid Yahoo! board can effectively conclude a deal with them as representatives of the shareholders.
“This recommendation should in no way be interpreted as satisfaction with the current Yahoo! board. Yahoo! has been in decline for 4 years now, while this board has sat back and watched – only showing great involvement when taking time to approve extravagant pay packages or furiously writing tit-for-tat letters in the past 2 months. They sat back for 5 weeks and did not engage with Microsoft after the February 1st buyout offer at a 62% premium; a move that seems very unwise in retrospect.
VOTING RECOMMENDATIONS – YAHOO NOMINEES
Dr. Jackson is recommending the re-election of the following current Yahoo board members:
– Vyomesh Joshi
– Robert Kotick
– Maggie Wilderotter
– Gary Wilson
– Jerry Yang
Jackson is recommending that members mark their Yahoo proxies with an “X” next to the option “Withhold authority to vote for any individual nominee(s) below” and then write in the numbers: 1, 2, 3, and 5. Those numbers correspond with voting against Messrs. Roy Bostock, Ronald Burke, Eric Hippeau, and Arthur Kern.
“We hold these 4 directors most responsible for the breakdown in talks with Microsoft and past lavish executive compensation” stated Jackson. “It’s time for some new blood.”
VOTING RECOMMENDATIONS – ICAHN NOMINEES
Dr. Jackson is recommending the election of the following Icahn nominees:
– Adam Dell
– John Chapple
– Lucian Bebchuk
– Edward Meyer
Dr. Jackson concluded by stating “Yahoo’s board has skilfully turned this proxy contest into a debate about Carl Icahn’s ability to run the company, which we believe is a smoke-screen to distract shareholder attention from their abysmal track record overseeing this company. A leopard doesn’t change his spots. Therefore, we feel strongly that new perspectives need to be introduced to this board to ensure future accountability to Yahoo! shareholders. We urge our “Yahoo Plan B” supporters to vote for this mixed board to accomplish that goal.”
If you are a market leader in your space, the following will illustrate why you shouldn’t get too cozy or complacent.
If you are a start-up, a (hard-working) laggard, or a small-cap CEO playing catch up to the big fish, the following should inspire you to keep pushing on both the sweat and ingenuity fronts.
I knew that Apple had made some incredible strides on MSFT over this decade but I was blown away by the shrinkage in the market-cap multiple between the two. From 58:1 to 1.5:1 – now that is what I call closing ground on the enemy.
Any guesses as to when Apple catches and runs MSFT right over?
If you need more evidence for the fact that you need a CEO / IR Blog, then look no further than the company whose products you might be using to read this very blog post – Dell.
According to IR Web Report, Dell launched DellShares about 9 months ago for the purposes of educating investors about the company. In fact, the tag line on the front page reads ” information and insight for the investor community”.
TELL YOUR LAWYERS TO RELAX AND ENTER THE 21ST CENTURY
This should also serve to quell the concerns of trigger happy lawyers that are quick to shoot down new communications tools such as blogs, rather than learning to work with them.
Remember – forums, blogs, podcasts, etc. are nothing more than new mediums for communicating with shareholders and potential shareholders. As long as you stick to the rules of full disclosure, they should not be feared any more than fax machines, e-mail and websites when they were first introduced.
If Dell and their multi-million IR budget feels that Web 2.0 tools are valuable IR tools for reaching retail investors, what do you think you should be doing? Calling AGORACOM hopefully 🙂
Regards,
George
IR Web Report posted a story titled “SEC seeks to ‘blow up’ forms-based system”, the 75-year old system in which pubco’s, brokers, funds, etc. file disclosures via specific forms. That’s right, you may soon be saying good-bye to 8K’s, 10K’s, 15 2C-11’s and other such forms. According to an SEC press release on the matter, a team has been put together to re-think reporting from scratch, free of any attachment to current forms. To this end, SEC Chairman Chris Cox stated as follows:
“To encourage a fundamental rethinking, the project won’t proceed from the premises of the current reporting system. It will start from scratch, from the ground up, freed from any conventions”
TIME LINE
As far as a time line goes, the press release stated the following:
“The first phase of the study will be completed by the end of 2008, when a follow-on advisory committee will be appointed to consider the questions in more detailed fashion through a public and consultative process.”
That is fast. In my opinion, that is too fast for anybody to tear up an existing system of any kind and develop a new one based on out of the box thinking. Nonetheless, if they can pull it off, all the power to them…though implementation is an entirely different matter.
NEW DISCLOSURE SYSTEM WILL BE BASED ON NEW TECHNOLOGIES
What I really like about the 21st Century Disclosure Initiative is the fact that it will be incorporating new technologies for the purpose of providing investors with both an easier and simpler system:
“On the 75th anniversary of the SEC, with so much new technology available to improve the quality of information for investors as well as the way investors acquire it, we’re initiating a broad, introspective look at our business model,” said Chairman Cox. … “We’ll be examining how to improve the way disclosure works, including tapping the full potential of today’s technology…That could mean fewer confusing forms, and more useful information at investors’ fingertips in a form they can really use.”
According to IR Web Report, the eventual new system will probably be based on “eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), which breaks down traditional document-based disclosures into individually tagged data elements that can be read and recompiled by software according to an investor’s preferred way of viewing the information.”
If you don’t get that, don’t worry. We’re going to provide XBRL info in a separate post. In the meantime, here is a powerful but layman’s description from Edgar-Online:
XBRL automates financial analysis, which is an historic accomplishment. Computers can intelligently “read” an XBRL report to select specific data, pull it into documents and spreadsheets, analyze it, exchange it with other computers, and present it in a variety of formats. This can all take place in real time, allowing users to instantly compare hundreds of companies, industry sectors, topics, and issues, with automatic updates.
Exciting stuff for good emerging companies – and scary for small-cap / micro-cap companies that are nothing more than empty pump-n-dump schemes that hide behind convoluted filings.
We’ll be sure to keep you up to date on this initiative.
Regards,
George