Diamonds and Dogs

6/17/19

 Sotheby's (BID) did a good job of auctioning off their own stock. The high-end art auctioneer company is up 56% after agreeing to be bought out by billionaire, Patrick Drahi for $3.7 billion. The offer represented a premium of 61% to Sotheby's closing price on Friday. The deal will result in Sotheby's returning to private ownership after 31 years as a public company. Management said the acquisition will provide Sotheby's with the opportunity to accelerate the successful program of growth initiatives of the past several years in a more flexible private environment.

Target (TGT) had a rough weekend. The retailer is down a percent after facing a weekend's worth of long lines and irritated customers after being struck by technical problems in its cash registers and payment systems both Saturday and Sunday. Problems seemed to vary at stores throughout the chain; some had lines that stretched for 30 minutes or more; others were able to check out customers with little trouble. Target gave few details about the cause of the problems when it posted a statement later Saturday saying the problem lasted about two hours. On the plus side, Target did raise their dividend 3% last week and now sports a dividend yield of 3%.