It's an Inflammatory Read, and it Should be!

So, the shareholders are taking it on the chin, and the directors are doing their usual marvellous job of protecting the shareholders' interests. Management? Big bonuses at Goldman, as usual. And, as the article points out with remarkably restrained words, when an chief executive is forced to go, like at Merrill or Bear Stearns, he gets to keep his stock options. Look closely at the following beautifully, bluntly honest quote:

"The employees and executives at Bear Stearns own a significant portion of the firm; as such our interests are closely aligned with outside shareholders,'' company spokesman Russell Sherman said. ``We are intensely focused on delivering value to our shareholder base.''

By making themselves as big a part of the stockholder base as they can???

I'm waiting for an ETF holding profitable companies with dividends, without larcenous stock options programs camouflaging dilution by stock buybacks, and with directors militantly committed to defending stockholder interests, specifically minimizing management influence over the board. Haven't seen one yet!. We've got everything else! If the name isn't taken, they could call it the Governance Leaders Fund! An ETF with contrary practices could be called the Sticky Fingers Fund!


Bloomberg.com: Exclusive