What color is your parachute? Orange?
I'm not a fan of paying CEOs to go away, especially when it's an obscene amount like the $210 million that Home Depot (NYSE:HD) is paying to rid itself of its albatross of a CEO. Yes, golden parachutes apparently bleed orange, as the company with the orange aprons is making sure that shareholders pay -- one last time -- for Bob Nardelli's mistakes.
To be fair, we can't blame Nardelli for his ridiculous compensation level or even the beefy severance package that he is getting now. Hate the game, not the player. Competent or not, a person would be nuts not to take the big bucks if they are on the table. So it's Home Depot that needs to have its head examined in offering up the money so freely. Yes, Nardelli came over from General Electric (NYSE:GE) with glowing acclaim, but there's no victory in watching your stock drop while rival Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) gains ground.
Only in Corporate America -- and in Mel Brooks' The Producers -- can failing brilliantly be a get-rich scheme.
Also in the news ...
- It was a busy week in badmouthing the future of trans fats, as both Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) and Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) declared war on the "bad" cholesterol promoters by vowing to wipe them off their menu. That's a "latte" bad news for card-carrying members of The Official Trans Fats Fan Club.
- Retailers began posting their comps over the critical holiday shopping season, and few apparel specialists fared as well as trendy teen magnet Zumiez (NASDAQ:ZUMZ). December comps up 11.5%, stacked on top of a 20.9% boost a year earlier? Gnarly, dude. It just goes to show that you can be the last name in retailing when the roll is read alphabetically, yet still move up to the head of the class.
- We should probably can the Blockbuster (NYSE:BBI) jokes now that the company's online service has lapped the 2.2 million subscriber mark. The company is wearing the gold and blue better than Notre Dame in a bowl game these days, even if that may not be saying much. Seriously, well done, Blockbuster.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
Home Depot is an Inside Value recommendation. Zumiez is a Hidden Gems pick. Starbucks is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor selection.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz recommends windshield wiper fluid when trying to look back. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
