Pershing Square CEO Bill AckmanNeil Wilder (photo), Don Rokicki (grooming)
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Just what is Ackman up to?
Pershing Square Capital Management's Bill Ackman recently (and very publicly) predicted that Herbalife stock will hit $0. Meanwhile, his fund is trailing the market in the runup to a planned IPO – a coincidence that Michelle Celarier finds suspicious. According to several sources, Mr. Ackman is likely already up more than $300-million over the past few weeks, which will surely help his end-of-year numbers.
As Felix Salmon points out, there are several things that would need to happen in order to push Herbalife's stock towards $0, only one of which is within Mr. Ackman's control. So what's the deal? Is he manipulating a company's stock (while it's in a vulnerable quiet period) to make up for a lacklustre year or is he out to destroy a company he sees as a pyramid scheme?
It's a miracle anyone invests in this country
For a medium-sized market, Canada has a dizzying array of regulatory bodies, many of which have overlapping jurisdictions, mandates and chains of command – resulting in baffling regulatory decisions. For example, Chinese state-owned CNOOC was successful in its bid for Nexen Inc. while Canadian-owned BCE Inc. was forbidden to buy Canadian-owned Astral Media Inc.
Joe Oliver still believes Northern Gateway can be built
The Federal Natural Resources Minister says the pipeline just needs a good salesperson. He doesn't mention who he has in mind.
A novel idea for America's gun debate
William D. Cohan sees a opportunity to "eliminate from the face of the earth the largest gun manufacturer on the planet".