The Foundation of the Future must have Integrity

Reader comment on: Berkowitz and St. Joe

Submitted by Rurbane (United States), Jul 6, 2011 13:06

The market doesn't work to our collective benefit unless investments are made on correct information. Material information that is corrupted is not correct.

The issue here, SAY IT AIN'T SO, JOE!, is whether JOE has correctly written down their actual losses from the past - which influences its future (imagined) value - and what the (business) plan is to sell at that future value.

This is bad news for JOE because a formal inquiry will unearth the Miraval / Steve Case debacle at Windmark.

This hasn't even shown up in the filings. Clearly, not only doesn't JOE account properly for its holdings and liabilities (in failing to correctly account for required write-downs), but it doesn't even have a (business) plan to sell (on Wall Street) other than snake oil.

And there is no corporate memory remaining.

Berkowitz will rue the day that he made Windmark the poster child to repudiate Einhorn. I doubt seriously that even he knows about it (Windmark costs relative to the Miraval exercise) – but if he doesn't, (ex-FL gov and Berko-installed director) Crist does.

With a formal inquiry, I find it difficult to see how the SEC could NOT bring it out into the sunshine for all to evaluate.

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