Friday, January 2, 2009

Reprieve!... McClatchy avoids looming delisting threat thanks to MNI going above $1 a share Friday

McClatchy bought itself more time from the looming threat of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, thanks to its strong performance Friday.

Via email, Alan Mutter says McClatchy would be booted off the Big Board if its shares fall below $1 for 30 days in a row. MNI closed Friday at $1.09 per share. Which means MNI can breathe easier for a few more weeks.
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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Damn :/

Anonymous said...

Our own Guru told us what to expect with the MNI stock price in December, and was right on the money, as usual. I am going to look for one of those counting calendars for my desktop. The next time MNI drops below a dollar, I will start counting the days.

I don’t really know how many days they were below $1 last time. Does anyone know how close MNI came to being delisted?

Anonymous said...

It is sad times when a stock price of $1.09 is good news. Kind of makes you wonder about the bad news half of the joke.

Anonymous said...

Anon: 7:58
One possibility for the bad half of the joke in Howie Weaver-speak is:
$1.09 is “F**king” bad news for my severance package.

Anonymous said...

On Dec. 22nd MNI traded at $1.04 and was under a dollar until Jan. 2. Friday.
I believe it has to trade under $1.05

Anonymous said...

1.05 was the old criteria for a halt in trading to protect the stock from a free fall to zero on a given day.

That rule has been changed, but it should be noted that no actual time clock is started or set in stone once a price drops below the dollar mark. Nor does trading over the one dollar mark reset a time clock for trading above it for a day or two.

The delisting process is a lengthy one and takes other factors into account, such as a viable plan to support the stock at acceptable levels. There were at my last check over 150 stocks that have dipped below 1.00 in the past year and only 20 had been de-listed. This is mostly due to the fact that the NYSE derives approximately 10% of their revenues from listing fees.

It is very doubtful that MNI could ever come up with a justification to remain listed, however in a leftist political climate, stranger things have happened. Also against them is the fact that the major brokerages have dropped coverage of the newspaper stocks. Combine that with 2 billion in debt with falling revenues and there really isn't a case to make.

Look at what they do with the others to find out MNI's fate. With only 5 million in cash, I doubt they can afford to support the stock artificially any longer.

Anonymous said...

Anon. 2:35 said:
“….no actual time clock is started or set in stone once a price drops below the dollar mark.”

So, Alan Mutter was just speaking in general about stocks being delisted when they fall under a certain value for a certain amount of time.
I get that now. I am staying with our own inside information. So far our information has been incredibly correct, and I can understand it. Thanks for that.

Anonymous said...

Mr Mutter is technically correct in that 30 days closing below the 1 dollar mark is grounds for de-listing, but, the exchanges leave themselves great latitude in assessing that sanction.

A couple of exceptions to the rule that come to mind, Siris XM (SIRI) and Citadel Broadcasting (CDL) have been trading below one dollar since August and July respectively without so much as an official notification that I am aware of.

Both are media outlets that took on debt to finance mergers that would help to insure their survival, however the difference between them and MNI is that their acquisition and merger were with companies that had positive growth and a viable business plan. CDL bought Disney Radio and SIRI was a monopoly coup on pay radio.

MNI on the other hand had a plan, but instead of strengthening that hand, they doubled down when they should have folded. Everyone, but them, knows full well that their future is at best, a shell of what it once was. The exchanges will not afford them the same grace without political interference. One simply cannot pay off a 2 billion dollar debt when your gross revenues are dropping at a rate of 20% and over half of that is going to pay the interest alone.

They can say, "I am profitable" all day long, but that doesn't have a thing to do with affording their debt.