Today’s Federal Register.
The front page of today’s edition of the Wall Street Journal has a controversial article by Ellen E. Schultz which you can access online here (with subscription): “Firms Had a Hand in Pension Plight They Now Bemoan: Relying on Arcane Rules, Some Have Drawn Down Assets for Corporate Purposes; Now, Asking Congress for Relief.” You can read my comments about the article in a separate post today.
The WSJ is also chock-full of articles discussing Microsoft’s announcement to end its stock option program (sorry, links only accessible online with subscription): an op-ed: “Better Shareholder Options“, “Cultural Evolution: At Maturing Microsoft Corp., Entrepeneurial Ethos Goes the Way of Stock Options,” “Will Options Shift Scare off Good Job Seekers” and “Ballmer Seeks Stability in Stock Awards.” Also, there is this article–“The Employee Guide to Restricted Stock“–and these three articles: “Wall Street Hunts for Underwater Options: J.P. Morgan’s Deal with Microsoft Likely to Spur Many Firms,” “For Now, Workers Have Few Options for their Options” and this–“Microsoft’s Reboot: Decision to Restate Earnings is Unusual.” Some light reading for those summer evenings if you don’t have time for all of that this morning. . .
The Washington Post has this op-ed–“Welcome Steps on Stock Options.” The article suggests that Microsoft’s action may be part of a “bigger shift that could herald the end of what the Wall Street Journal called ‘the golden age of stock options.'” Another article in the Washington Post by Jackie Spinner and Kirstin Downey here: Tech Firms’ Options Fight Loses Steam: Microsoft Move May Doom Attack on Rule.”
The Associated Press for the Detroit Free Press reports: “DaimlerChrysler might abandon stock options.”
“Even as Microsoft Corp. abandons the practice, many technology startups need the allure of stock options to attract talented – and risk-taking – workers who otherwise might opt for more established companies”: that’s what this article by Paul Elias for the Seattle Post has to say–“Stock options common in Silicon Valley.” SFGate.com also reports: “The impact of switching from options to shares: Loss of stock options won’t change Silicon Valley’s mentality.”
On the other hand, Gary Strauss and Michelle Kessler for USAToday have this to say: “Stock options on their way to passé?“
UPDATE: Mike Sullivan at CorpLawBlog provides this discussion and a later update regarding the details of how the sale of underwater options to J.P. Morgan will be structured. Broc Romanek’s blog in today’s post also discusses the issue as well as the possible tax consequences.