Corporate Flight Records and Other Cockroaches During your Due Diligence

[BG2008]

I was shocked to read Audrey McClendon's lavish spending and intermingling of Chesapeake's resources.  Is there a public website where corporate flight records are maintained?  I would certainly like to know which other CEO/boards are doing the same.  Some of the flights, sponsoring the OKC Thunders, getting into real estate development, running a hedge fund, etc are so atrocious that it almost sound fictional.  Let's help each other spot some corporate red flags. 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-chesapeake-mcclendon-profile-idUSBRE8560IB20120607

 

1) I heard somewhere that any company that puts their name on sports teams are great candidates for shorting.  I think it says a lot of the company's intentions when they agree to these naming rights. 

 

2) In the course of your due diligence, if no one has anything bad to say about a CEO, you shouldn't invest in the company.  The theory here is that the CEO job is sometimes quite unpleasant.  You need to be able to fire people, say no to people, etc in order to create value for shareholders.  A CEO who can do this will ruffle some feathers.  When no one has anything bad to say about a CEO, that's a sign that he's an ineffective CEO.   

 

Hope to hear more from the board.