A FrontBurnerivan notes that all media stocks, not just Belo’s, are down. That just reaffirms Bruce’s point: the herd mentality at work. But he also notes a particular problem with Belo’s stock:
Another factor in the price decline is that one institution, Private Capital Management, holds an inordinate number of Belo shares…almost 26% of the Series A Shares. Private Capital began selling shares in the fourth quarter of last year (-1,242,200 shares) and when the 13f report are parsed soon, it would not be surprising to learn that they sold more in this year’s first quarter. The volatility of stocks with a high concentration of shares in the hands of a few institutions can be quite high.
PCM is the investment subsidiary of Thomas Lee that made a huge bet on newspapers, forced the sale of Knight Ridder, is taking a beating on its bet, and now bemoans the invention of the printing press.
