Professor Elam

Blockbuster is offering a 54% premium for Circuit City CC.   There is someone always going into the electronics retail business as someone else goes bust.  CC was $19  a year ago, today just $3.90.  Blockbuster is not in the best of shape  as they compete with sales and downloads of movies.  Read this article to get a feel for how ‘takeovers’ proceed.  Typically the existing management has put the ox in the ditch so to speak. The hostile buyer points this out but offers more than the current stock price.  The Board of CC in this case then says no we have great ideas and you are ignoring our core values.  Typically the scramble to find  buyer that they believe will not fire the lot of them.  And so it goes.  Remember MSFT is trying to buy YAHOO now also. Blockbuster and a losing electronics chain, I don’t see it frankly, do you? Since I made that comment, here are some analysts in an article posted the next day that feel the same way.   Note the parallel with Apple does not equate, this is true of most mergers, the products and cultures simply don’t mate.

Speaking of takeovers and shake ups, is anyoone following the Katie Couric CBS saga?  You will recall CBS paid Katie $15 M to be the new night anchor. Whoops no one wants to watch the former Today Show anchor at night. Will Katie move to CNN to take Larry King’s show, will Anderson Cooper move from CNN to CBS to take Katie’s slot?  Have you noticed how many folks CNN let go that are doing just fine thank you on Fox like Greta? Trying to figure out how emotes on tv is rather like the first round NFL picks don’t you think?  Eveyrone claimes they picked the winner but only one can win!