Update on Jeff Macke status
Posted Monday, October 5, 2009
Jeff Macke is a very gifted television pundit. In June, he left "Fast Money," apparently in a dispute over a CNBC contract extension but also after an undeniably bad moment on-air with Dennis Kneale.
Such moments live forever in YouTube. That should not have been the capstone of Macke's impressive CNBC career. Ignoring it, other than a few nonspecific references in his Minyanville column, we don't think was the right move. We have no idea what legal/professional advice he received. We wonder why he couldn't have simply said, "I had a bad day, I regret that my performance was below my own standards," instead of leaving viewers to wonder what was going on.
Whether it would've preserved his presence on CNBC, we don't know. Other sites far more in the know speculated about his contract. He was rarely on the air in the last few weeks before his contract reportedly expired. Whether he was fired, resigned, or merely parted ways after a certain date, we don't know. We just know that his absence from CNBC is a loss for everyone. While highly educated, he is not nearly as good of a writer (he tends to ramble in stream-of-consciousness points) as he is a television pundit. His sense of humor is off the charts; he can ignite and light up the set in ways he doesn't approach on the keyboard.
CNBCfix continues to get many inquiries about Macke's CNBC departure and status. Perhaps this entry is more a reminder to us than our readers ... that even national TV celebrities, while public figures, are also regular people, with families and friends aware of what's being written about them on the Internet.
Friendly note to Minyanville: There is so much video, advertising, promotions, gunk, etc., on your site, that even using our fastest computers, we find it takes forever to open some of the articles.
‘Fast Money’ trader touts GCI,
then gloats of dumping it
Posted Thursday, April 16, 2009
(For updates on Jeff Macke's last days on "Fast Money," please visit our "Fast Money" review here.)
CNBC "Fast Money" host Melissa Lee asked panelist Jeff Macke on Wednesday night about owning stock in newspaper publisher Gannett (GCI).
"Gannett, publisher of USA Today, up 7% on the day. Macke, you made a great trade on this, didn't you?" Lee asked.
"Yeah, It worked out OK," Macke said. "It- it- commercial real estate is a lot like the newspapers where, believe it or not, people downgrading these stocks, it's not exactly breaking news. As it turns out, there's trouble in the ad space, folks. I like Gannett, because they've been beaten down about 90%, as opposed to say Google, certain online companies who are also levered to the ad business, that basically are coming in with huge expectations, a 20% rally behind them. Gannett's down, way down, from where it was, I bought it, they were at 5 a couple days ago, pulled all the way back under 4, today got long on them, that chart doesn't really show it, but it popped up rather nicely in the afternoon. It's not something to hold on forever, but in terms of a trade, essentially going in to earnings this week, 'we're staying solvent until at least Christmas' is tantamount to a victory for Gannett."
"When do you sell?" Lee asked.
"I sell when the price tells me to," Macke replied. "Basically, if- if- they say anything other than, 'we stay, we're staying solvent till Christmas,' I'm outta there. If it gets to 6, same thing."
According to Macke's own comments and the show's official disclosure at CNBC.com, Macke bought GCI shares on Wednesday, April 15.
Wednesday, GCI closed at $3.49, in a range of $3.11 to $3.50.
What is significant is what happened to GCI in the afterhours Wednesday, after Macke made his comments on "Fast Money."
Macke and Lee discussed GCI approximately 11 minutes into the show, at 5:11 p.m. Eastern time. According to Google finance (you may have to customize your own GCI after-hours chart here), GCI traded at $3.54 at 5:08 p.m. At 5:16 p.m., after the GCI discussion occurred, the price was suddenly $3.80 — or 7% above its level just before Macke spoke about it.
The shares then briefly retraced to $3.70 — still handsomely above the $3.49 close — zoomed up to $3.99 after the show was over, and ultimately settled at $3.90.
Thursday, Lee and Macke revisited GCI during the 12:45 p.m. edition of "Fast Money Halftime Report."
"I sold that Gannett at right around 9:45," Macke said. "I was champing at the bit all morning to sell it, waiting for the public dollars to come in and dumping it as fast as my little hands could make it work, despite the brain injury. And that was pretty fast, and right now it's already back down to flat."
The stock opened Thursday at $4.02 after the Gannett earnings report was issued. From 9:44 to 9:46 a.m., the stock dipped from $3.80 to $3.68, per Google finance.
Macke said Wednesday he would sell "when the price tells me to," then elaborated: "If they say anything other than, 'we stay, we're staying solvent till Christmas,' I'm outta there. If it gets to 6, same thing."
A Reuters story on the Gannett earnings did not mention solvency issues; in fact it quoted Benchmark Co. analyst Ed Atorino as saying "They're not going out of business."
Please note: This writer is not accusing Macke or CNBC of any ethical breach. (This writer has no position in GCI and has not had a position in GCI for years.)
Evidence shows, however, that these shares likely moved upward based on a "Fast Money" panelist's comments. And the next day, the panelist gloated about "dumping it as fast as my little hands could make it work" into the "public dollars" despite the fact the stock apparently did not meet either of the "sell" criteria the panelist described the night before.
Please note "Fast Money" traders, including Macke, are highly respected, as far as CNBCfix knows, and it would not be surprising that their comments move stocks. It is noteworthy that one of them would trumpet a stock, see it rise after his comments, then gloat the next day about unloading it as fast as possible.
What is the CNBC disclaimer for "Fast Money"? It says, in part: "The Fast Money Participants, CNBC, its affiliates and/or subsidiaries are not under any obligation to update or correct any information available on this website. The Fast Money Participants are professional traders who may be actively involved in securities discussed herein, on behalf of themselves, their companies and their clients. ... Also, the opinions expressed by the Fast Money Participants may be short-term in nature and are subject to change without notice."
The disclaimer does not list any trading restrictions. Based on his statements Thursday afternoon, Macke could've sold any amount of GCI shares around 9:45 p.m. Thursday ... and also apparently could've sold Wednesday after his comments apparently lifted the stock.
Regular CNBC viewers of "Mad Money" know that Jim Cramer regularly refers to his own comments moving stocks afterhours and usually tells interested viewers to wait for the stock to pull back the next day. However, Cramer also regularly explains his own trading restrictions. Those are, in part, according to his "Mad Money" recaps at TheStreet.com: "Mr. Cramer is subject to certain trading restrictions, and must hold all securities in the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio for at least one month, and is not permitted to buy or sell any security he has spoken about on television or on his radio program for five days following the broadcast."
Again: CNBCfix believes Macke to be a fine trader and television personality. CNBCfix believes that allowing the panelists to actively and immediately trade keeps the show genuine and in fact enhances network credibility, such as in the recent case of General Electric shares. CNBCfix is not suggesting Macke or the "Fast Money" production did anything unethical in touting GCI. CNBCfix does find it worth reporting that a "Fast Money" trader's comments would significantly lift a stock afterhours and perhaps into the next day, and that the trader would then gloat the next day about quickly "dumping" the stock into the "public dollars" that immediately entered the market Thursday, despite suggesting otherwise the night before; and that the trader — we are not saying this happened, only that it is apparently possible for something like this to happen — is able to sell into that rally immediately after or even during the Wednesday show when the positive comments aired.
Update: On Monday, April 13, "Fast Money" panelist Tim Seymour discussed Stillwater Mining (SWC) as a "Rising Star" stock. SWC closed Monday's regular session at $4.77, per Yahoo finance. In the half hour before "Fast Money" aired, it traded flat at $4.85. The Google finance afterhours chart of SWC does not budge until 5:32 p.m., when the shares suddenly started trading at $5.17, a 6.6% gain in a matter of seconds. We reviewed the tape of Monday's "Fast Money." Seymour began speaking about SWC approximately 30 minutes and 30 seconds into the show — or roughly, 5:30:30 p.m. Buyers must've liked what they heard. The shares peaked at $5.25 during the show, were at $5.20 when the show ended, and closed the afterhours session at $5.21.
SWC opened Tuesday at $5.13, closed at $4.96, with a low of $4.86 — above the post-Seymour comment level. Wednesday, it traded in a tight range, from $4.90 to $5.09, closing at $5.00, still above the level when Seymour mentioned it Monday.
Here's what raises eyebrows: The official CNBC.com summary for "Fast Money" on Monday does not disclose any SWC ownership for Seymour or his firm. Yet in the program segment that day, Seymour says, "I like the stock, I'm long the stock." Keep in mind the "Fast Money Rapid Recap" at CNBC.com is usually posted, in pieces, hours after the show concludes (the time varies). Either the disclosure is inaccurate, or Seymour sold the stock in afterhours after his comments clearly drove it higher and before the show disclosures were compiled. On Tuesday, the CNBC.com disclosure lists SWC as a stock "Seymour owns." Seymour was not on the show Wednesday. Thursday, his disclosure does not list owning SWC.
Confused? Simply put, one of these three things must have happened:
1. CNBC.com disclosure wrong: Seymour owned SWC Monday and Tuesday, before and after the comment.
2. Seymour on-air comment wrong: He did not own stock Monday when he said he did; CNBC.com Monday disclosure of no SWC ownership correct.
3. Both CNBC.com disclosure and Seymour comment correct: He owned SWC when making comment, sold after the comment Monday, did not own SWC when "Rapid Recap" disclosure posted, bought SWC shares Tuesday.
Furthermore: The stock jumped during/after Seymour's "I'm long" comments Monday to a level it held for three days. If Seymour did indeed own the stock prior to mentioning it, the segment helped him with almost zero doubt whatsoever sell it for a profit and the CNBC.com disclosure should be considered unreliable at best. If Seymour did not own the stock Monday and the disclosure was correct, then his trading position is not at all dubious, but his statement on the show would be blatantly wrong.
Our disclaimer, unfortunately all too common now in this subject: CNBCfix thinks Macke, Seymour and other "Fast Money" regulars are gifted traders and television pundits, and — as far as we know — fine people. This site is not suggesting an ethical breach occurred in either situation. Rather, this site is only reporting facts of two traders' comments on sub-$5 stocks and the disclosures of both the traders on-air and officially at CNBC.com, and concluding that, in general, the potential for ethical lapses involving "Fast Money" trades exists.
Another perhaps more significant issue: as stated above, SWC and GCI had trickled up slightly Monday and Wednesday, respectively, in afterhours trading before the show began. Certainly someone on or around the set, possibly familiar with the stocks that are going to be discussed, could've bought, for example on Monday, SWC and pushed it from $4.77 to $4.85 before Seymour's comments, then cashed in once the segment aired. The fact the steep climb occurred only after the comments suggests any potential leak of the stocks to be discussed — a potential problem for the show — would have been minimal.
But, nevertheless, possible — Monday and every day.
Other than the automated reply received by every e-mailer to "Fast Money," the CNBC "Fast Money" people did not respond to this CNBCfix inquiry.