Filed under: Deals
E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) put out a pretty blustering press release this morning with its headline proclaiming that “E*TRADE FINANCIAL Marks Progress on Turnaround Plan.”
The news? This company that has watched its stock lose billions in market value as a result of horrible subprime investments is selling RAA Wealth Management, LLC to PHH Investments, Ltd for about $80 million.
The fact that E*Trade is PR’ing this minor sale of a company it acquired in August of 2006 with such a hyped-up headline is pretty indicative of how hard the company is working to try to generate some good buzz — It’s a tiny bit like the company’s Super Bowl ads.
The company said that “As outlined last month in the details of its Turnaround Plan, the Company is actively working to improve capital and liquidity. Management has identified non-core assets with high market demand that will create value for the franchise through the orderly sale of such assets.”
So maybe this is a baby step. But the fact is that $80 million is not going to make or break this company’s turnaround — and investors shouldn’t pay much attention to promotional PR like this from E*Trade or any other company.
Entries (RSS)