Farmer Diaries

Let's be honest, there's not many differences between new and older cell phones anymore.  It's not like to speak faster or that the internet is faster (not yet anyway).  I remember when the news would send reporters to the major Apple outlets to interview people who had been waiting in line for there new phone. The proof that cell phones are now a commodity, I was not aware until this morning that the Iphone 11 was out.  I looked at the specs, just because it was an add on the internet and frankly aside from the camera and possibly a slightly better screen -- not that I would really notice. To be honest I've been kind of disappointed with the apple eco-sphere of late, my Macbook Air, Ipad and Iphone no longer synchronized, and I really don't care enough to do anything about it... Then for the pleasure of buying a Iphone 11, the tab is $1,400.00 in Canada! Steve Job must be spinning in his grave, that his iconic products are now seen as a run of the mill t...

So 30 years ago GPA aviation at the time the largest aircraft lessor was about to do an IPO; at my bank was a lender to the group and we were becoming concerned by the performance of the aircraft lessor.  We had, by some strange coincidence a buyer for our stake, they wanted to be part of the lender's group so that they could get in the "pre IPO bandwagon"  we were not interested in that business (for many many reasons), and they were buying our participation slightly over PAR. My recommendation was SELL SELL SELL, but my boss was a greedy SOB and wanted more, and so in the end that lender lost about 50% of its loan in the bankruptcy...my boss actually kept his job...typical the bigger you screw up the more they keep you! Now looking at WeWork we see a similar situation in that the company is fast running out of cash (burning about US$ 2 billion per annum) and no end in sight.  today the board decided to sell the CEO's GV aircraft (yes a $60 million dollar toy). ...

Update:   It seems that the IPO is now on the shelf (at least for the time being), in a related note, Softbank is seeking to hire a new "valuer" for its assets!   As I said, even $20 billion seems rich considering that IWG market cap is around $3 billion (and that's just risen by $500 MM based on WeWork's "valuation").  I suspect that IWG share price is going to feel some pain with re-adjustment...maybe Soooo WeWork shareholders are starting to see the nature of the problem...in ascribing a valuation of more than $47 billion, the arranger may have overshot a realistic valuation that buyers would be ready to consider.  Now let's be clear that figure of $47 billion was driven by Softbank (that has its own issues) where the valuation there was driven by the latest round in which Softbank participated.  The guy responsible for the valuation is Ron Fisher (yep there's a real name there not just an organization). Part of the problem is that WeWork is ...