Headlines of Interest

11 thoughts on “Headlines of Interest”

1. CSSEN – From a bond holders perspective:
   Good News – They were able to raise equity capital.
   Bad News – Common stock down 40%, not much equity capital left.
   End game – A bit more than 2 years to maturity, will they be able to refinance existing debt or will they be able to sell the company before then.
   High risk, not as high of a return (relative) as it used to be.

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   1. Another rule to add to Alpha’s list. Stay away from investment in entertainment.

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      1. Charles, I’ve thought of that in the past but have been a shareholder in Disney for decades. Actually, I would sell the equity if I didn’t have to pay the capital gains taxes 🤐 🩸

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         1. Azure,
            You might consider donating it. Then you could be out of entertainment stocks.

            If you donate to a qualified charity, (1) you can get a tax deduction for the market price , )2_ you never have to pay tax on the gain, and (3)the charity gets a nice gift. Everybody but the IRS wins.

            https://www.irs.gov/publications/p526#en_US_2022_publink1000229762

            Personally, I hate paying those big capital gains taxes too, and I kind of feel like I am beating the IRS a little by donating it.

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         2. I grew up in the South Bay and had friends go into the entertainment trades. Heard the stories about being paid to drive a film across town and what they made, then there was special insurance to cover the transport, equipment rental, travel costs, etc. My brother in law got into a investment group backing a movie. As far as I know he never got the money back and he doesn’t talk about it. Numerous films make no money on paper and everyone gets paid except for the investors

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            1. Wow, I’ve been there done that, Charles…. Back in the 80’s I invested with a group that had the movie rights to the term “Valley Girls” when that was hot topic,, They got a movie made with some “stars” like Chuck Connors and Sony Bono and I forget the female lead…. Then somehow or other “Valley Girl [singular]” got made and they never even did anything to protect their rights….. You know which one was the hit and which one never saw the light of day…. Distributor went BK or something like that and it never even made it to video either…. Actually there was another movie they sucked us into as well at the same time, one called “Balboa,” a “Dallas” like movie based on the “Dallas” formula only set in the super rich Balboa Island area in CA……… never saw a dime back……. and my schlocky neighbor/attorney/”executive co-producer” of these things eventually got to go to jail as well, but not over this mess… But he did get to see his name up in the big lights in the movie credits…. The investors sure didn’t…

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               1. 2WR and Charles, I use to live in Los Angeles (Brentwood and Westwood) when I managed money out of law school. I had soooo many clients that were entertainment investors, studio execs, actors, wealthy institutional clients etc I was friends with a brilliant guy named Gregg Champion and he sold my group of friends into buying into a cute “hit” movie he was directing called Short Time with Teri Garr and others. I liked that the budget and schedule to film were tight as many of the crew and stars had other projects they were contractually obligated to so production could not run over time. I was also very close with someone that was a TV star (at that time) and lived across the courtyard from me in Brentwood. He and I use to workout together most mornings. I had him read the script and he said, “ IT CAN’T MISS”; you know the rest of the story. I get a check every once in a while and just always shake my head. It’s truly like playing the lottery and was a great lesson I guess I needed to learn. We are all shaped by our experiences (good/bad) and that’s what makes the journey so interesting…

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                  1. All I remember was doing a lot of what I thought was the equivalent of due diligence, trying to figure out all the possible avenues for revenues to eventually or possibly turn into profits then figuring the overall budgets for producing the movies were so low that there had to be at least a good chance of breaking even…. Yeah, right…. That’s the ticket…

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            2. Ahhh, Hollywood accounting. What a mess. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting

               I was tangentially involved with some of the lawyers who represented Art Buchwald and got some of the film industry accounting practices declared as “unconscionable” by the judge. I don’t recall a lot of the details, but it got the term “Hollywood accounting” a permanent place in my discussions with clients.

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               1. I now live in the North bay as it’s referred to. Lot’s of movies shot here. Budget hummm? A children’s movie called Explorers was shot on Mare Island and the “Treehouse” spaceship, one of the movie props was left behind. All vertical grain Redwood & Genuine Honduras mahogany and handmade working double sash windows. Two of us were told to tear it apart and put it in the dumpster. No time to recycle, so we took our forklifts opposite each other and smashed to kindling.
                  Later as a novice hardwood salesman I worked for a company that had a long time relationship as a material supplier to movie procurement.
                  I asked the boss what to charge for 1 plank of molding grade sugar pine for a movie crew. He told me to double it. Ended having a argument on the phone with the person in charge of budget expenses. Ah the old days

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2. Also – another headline re the recent tender from PS Business Parks – https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230329006000/en/PS-Business-Parks-Inc.-Announces-Expiration-and-Results-of-Tender-Offers-to-Purchase-for-Cash-Any-and-All-of-its-Outstanding-Preferred-Securities-Described-Below

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