Two investment firms in one, and in just one week! Goldman Sachs: sell J.C. Penny short. Goldman Sachs: sole underwriter for 84 million new shares of J.C.Penny. I realize that Goldman’s not a retail broker for little old ladies and thus has no particular fiduciary duty to buyers of its new issue, but wouldn’t it be difficult to do this with a straight face?
No wonder the pros use computer terminals to communicate these days.
The bad news just doesn’t seem to stop for J.C. Penney. The embattled retailer saw its shares fall dramatically in afterhours trading on Thursday after the company announced plans to issue 84 million shares, with Goldman Sachs as the sole underwriter. Goldman, whose own research department caused a massive double digit decline in the stock a few days ago with a scathing research report that called for shorting the company, has the option of selling an additional 12.6 million shares within 30 days. Hours before, the company’s controller had announced he was resigning.