Fwd: NOTMILK - Wall Street & Mad Cows

[Guest guest]

>Sun, 18 Jan 2004 09:52:17 -0500 (EST)

> " Robert Cohen " <notmilk

>Fwd: NOTMILK - Wall Street & Mad Cows:

>

>Wall Street & Mad Cows

>

>Were Wall Street insiders given an illegal heads up

>regarding America's first mad cow? In reviewing market

>data, there seems to be something rotten in the stock

>market, and I'm not referring to feed lots, where cows

>are fattened by being force fed lots of corn and live

>in their own excrement. Come to think of it, that seems

>a lot like the ugliest part of Wall Street that often

>produces insider trading scandals.

>

>Speaking of ugly, take a look at the chief advisors

>to USDA Secretary Ann Veneman. Her closest aides have

>ties to the meat industry. There is a long paper trail

>from her office which leads directly to meat-producing

>National Cattleman's Association.

>

>On December 23, 2003, after the stock market had ended

>its daily trading, USDA announced that a suspected

>case of Mad Cow Disease had been indentified in the

>state of Washington. Two days later, lab tests confirmed

>cattlemen's worst fear. USDA possessed this information

>long before their official announcement.

>

>Who are these USDA phonies kidding? Americans, that's

>who. They alerted us on the evening of December 23rd that

>there was a " suspected " mad cow. By then, it was too

>late for most Americans to return Christmas roast beasts

>to their butchers. On Christmas day, we were told that

>the brain of that animal tested positive in a British

>lab for Mad Cow Disease. A few days later, entire herds

>were placed into quarantine. Over six hundred animals

>have been slaughtered. Analyses of their brains takes 2-3

>weeks to reach anxious consumers. So, figure it out.

>How then, could the analyses of the first cow brain take

>just two days? No way. The animal's brain was sent to

>experts in England for careful analyses many weeks earlier.

>What had been kept from Americans was truth. Cattlemen

>had an opportunity to prepare for this.

>

>A historical review of market trades reveals that the bad

>news may have been delivered to meat industry insiders

>three weeks earlier. They had plenty of time to do damage

>control before the rest of America got the news. Publicists

>and spin doctors applied their form of marketing medication

>so that the bad news would be buffered by rosy outlooks

>from Veneman and President Bush.

>

>An official investigation should ask why did stock market

>prices began to fall lomg before the announcement. That

>same investigation will explore why stock market prices for

>McDonald's and Wendy's increased in the days and weeks

>after the Mad Cow revelation. The market should have gone

>down, not up. Is the world insane?

>

>The timing of the release of this story should not come as

>any comfort to the Seattle families who dined on tainted

>beef from that mad cow. For them, the fear of Mad Cow Disease

>is something that they will live with for many years.

>

>Let's examine trade histories for McDonalds (MCD)

>and Wendy's (WEN):

>

>......12/3...12/17...12/24...01/2...01/9...01/16

>

>MCD $26.58 $24.50 $23.96 $24.79 $25.15 $25.31

>WEN $40.30 $37.97 $37.39 $39.11 $38.00 $39.49

>

>It is clear to see that during the two week period

>from 12/3-12/17, both hamburger stocks were hit with

>bad news about " something. " Billions of dollars in

>stockholder equity is not lost for " no reason. "

>

>Before the official announcement was made, in that

>fourteen day period, McDonalds lost 9.86 percent of its

>equity, while Wendy's lost 7.22 percent of its value.

>Insiders were trading on serious information. That is

>clear. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

>should immediately launch their own investigation.

>

>So, with the worst case scenario for meat producers,

>why is it that stock prices for fast food burger

>companies have recovered so rapidly? Because meat

>producers have had enough time to prepare an

>unprecedented publicity campaign. Subtle at times,

>overwhelming at others. Bush went bird hunting, then

>dined on a well publicized steak. Ann Veneman did the

>same. Governors and Senators, Congressmena and Mayors,

>all dined on beef, proclaiming versions of " it can't

>happen here. " American consumers swallowed the

>brainwashing. Hook, line, and stinker.

>

>How is Wall Street reacting? The proof is in the

>(blood) pudding.

>

>Closing Prices January 16, 2004, just 23 days

>after news of the first mad cow hit:

>

>McDonald's Burgers (MCD) $25.31 (up 5.63%)

>Wendy's Burgers (WEN) $39.49 (up 4.50%)

>

>Animal rights activists demand safe conditions for

>animals. No more downer cows. Larger living crates.

>Better feed. Old Chinese proverb: Be careful what

>you ask for. Your wish might come true.

>

>USDA has both been working hard to insure that

>America's meat remains safe to eat. New regulations

>and laws will be passed. Thanks to one mad cow and

>AR activisim, more meat will be eaten. More animals

>are to be killed.

>

>The American conscience is relieved. Meat is safe

>to eat, or so we are told. As Americans become convinced

>that meat is safe, more meat will be eaten. Cattlemen are

>realizing record high prices.

>

>So, how's the meat industry doing?

>They seem to be having no beef with mad cows.

>

>Robert Cohen

>http://www.notmilk.com

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