We regret to inform you that Kodak shares are again on the move, and in an upward direction, and that, as with all such movement over the last two months, and most especially the past six weeks, it has nothing whatever to do with the anything like the company’s fundamentals.
Shares of Eastman Kodak Co. were up about 60% shortly after the start of trading in New York, following a legal review of how it award stock option grants to its chief executive officer before announcing a federal loan. The review determined the company had mishandled the process, but also that stock transactions by its chief executive officer and a board member didn’t constitute insider trading.
To reiterate, Kodak remains in the exact same position as it was on July 24, when its shares traded for $2.10. That is to say, it remains a flailing legacy technology company without a government contract to make generic drug ingredients, and apparently the only entity—legal or otherwise—on the face of the earth that can’t seem to figure out how to hold an ICO. The only things that have changed are that, in the interim, it has seen three-quarters of a billion dollars evaporate in a highly public and embarrassing way; admitted to a couple of major-league screw-ups; been called stupid by arguably the stupidest man in Washington, who also happens to be one of the senior economic officials of the United States of America; had some very smart people—or at least a machine built by some very smart people—buy a bunch of its shares for reasons and duration unknown; and become the subject of an insider-trading investigation that a law firm hired by said subject assures is much ado about nothing; all of which apparently adds up to a net five-fold increase in share price.
“The manner in which the options grants were awarded was sub-optimal in a number of respects,” the lawyers at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP wrote in the report released Tuesday evening. The lawyers determined that Kodak’s conduct didn’t violate the law, although the situation remains under investigation by U.S. securities regulators and Congress.
Still, no reason for all of those stock market ‘Stoolies loading up on KODK to worry. After all, the results of internal investigations by hand-picked lawyers have the force of law themselves, and are never, ever contradicted by those with actual authority.
Kodak Surges After Review Finds CEO Options Weren’t Illegal [Bloomberg Law]
Kodak erred with stock grants but review finds actions legal [AP via Yahoo! Finance]