Around the Markets – 3/7/13 – Chanos chimes in on Dell

The most interesting story of the day was when Jim Chanos announced on CNBC this morning that he is short Dell. So while just about everyone is arguing that Dell is undervalued and the buy-out price should be much higher, Chanos, perhaps the best short seller out there, is short.

Chanos said, “I’m puzzled here. Are people looking at the balance sheet and the cash flow statement of this company?”

“Looking at the balance sheet at the end of January, Dell had positive working capital plus receivables and long-term investments of about $8 billion,” he said. “They had long-term liabilities of $13 billion. So it’s a negative number before we get to the equity.”

To add to the mix, Carl Icahn has built up a 6% stake in Dell. He values the Company at $22.81 per shares and wants Dell to pay out a $9 special dividend and for shareholders to keep their shares.

For a Company that needs major change to prosper, I don’t see how stripping the Company of cash would be optimal for anyone with any kind of long term interest in Dell.
——————————————————————————————————————

BYRON WEIN -Check out Byron Wein’s March 5th Market Commentary.

INTERVIEW OF THE DAY – Chris Verrone, from Strategas Research Partners, is interviewed on Bloomberg this morning, on technical analysis.