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[Beginning of
Cramer's
verbatim
comments for
this segment...]
Jim:
With trading
halted in
CIT Group, Inc. (CIT)...
one of the
worst, and
worst-run
lending
institutions in
the word... why
am I relating it
to Planet
Earth... And
with a
government
care-package
expected for
this company in
the next 24
hours...
probably because
the government
doesn't want to
risk harming all
of the small and
medium-sized
businesses this
company lends
too... by
letting it go
the way of
Lehman... What
I'm about to do
may seem petty,
even downright
malicious... In
other words...
in keeping with
my sweetheart
style...
That's right... I'm
putting Jeffrey
Peek, the simply
awful Chairman, and
CEO of CIT up on
the Wall of Shame...
Now, in truth, of
course, this is a
better late than
never situation... I
should have done
this a long time
ago... as CIT has
been a trainwreck of
a company... And,
you know what, maybe
this guy... there
are some pretty
dynamite people up
here... But you
know, he may the
worst of the
worst... Say it for
the folks who used
to run IndyMac and
WAMU... I mean those
guys were dumb as
plywood... No insult
to the good people
at Warehouse or
Louisiana Pacific
when I make that
comparison... This
is a case where,
again, I have no
choice... It doesn't
matter how late...
By the way, I'd like
to ask a question to
the people of CIT...
Do you have a board
of directors?... I
mean, this is a
travesty... Even for
Counselor in
Training... which is
what CIT really
stands for... What
else could it stand
for?... I mean,
there is no way this
is a really
counselor... and
you've got to take
it from the father
of two counselors...
I think aid package
is outrageous...
But, if the
government is going
to rescue CIT, then
at the very least, I
don't think that
this guy can stay...
I don't think he
should be left
anywhere near this
camp...
They way I see it...
He has been a truly
terrible CEO... A
value destroyer
extraordinaire...
who has lost
investors tremendous
amounts of money as
he did stock
offering after stock
offering to try to
prop up his ailing
company... One of
Wall Streets walking
wounded... When Peek
was made CEO on July
21st of 2004... CIT
was at $37.60... Who
knew that that was
just the beginning
of its walk down the
Green Mile... Now
it's at $1.64, and
the government is
about to insert the
respirator...
despite my belief
that the DNR sign
should be hanging on
the door...
But that's not all.
What really
infuriates me are
all the financings
this company has
done to stay
afloat... which I
suppose is attribute
to Peeks' real
strength... selling
debt and common
stock to the
unsuspecting...
hoodwinking them...
as each time the
stock and bond deals
have broken price
immediately... CIT
did a Jim Dandy $600
million equity
offering in October
of 2007... Priced
$24 million equity
units at $25... Hey,
but wait a second...
if you convert it to
common stock... if
the common reached
$42, these units...
Well, that never
happened... It's a
total money loser
for anyone who got
in on that awful
deal... Then he came
right back to the
party, April 21st of
2008... The company
raised $1 billion,
selling 91 million
shares at $11 a
share... That was a
steal, right?... Buy
one, get one... At
this point, any
buyers of the
secondary should
have paid attention
to the old adage...
Fool me once, shame
on you... Fool me
twice shame on me...
Then, hey listen...
Peek couldn't
resist... December
17th, 2008... 75
million shares,
priced at $4...
raised $300
million... And even
that offering,
priced at just $4
bucks, has given you
60% loss of what CIT
stock wanted...
Although, at that
point... you really
should have known
better, maybe... I
mean this guy is the
P.T. Barnum of the
lending biz...
I think CIT is small
enough that it
should have simply
been left to fend
for itself... even
that man would have
died... The
government should
have seen CIT and
given it to a bank
that hasn't screwed
up in the lending
business... even
though those are
admittedly few and
far between...
But the company
talked about the
million small
businesses that
depend on
CIT Group, Inc. (CIT)...
and that's the kind
of PR that no
politician can
afford to ignore...
So even though it
doesn't deserve to
be saved... it looks
like that is what
has to happen... I
think that's
outrageous... CIT's
demise wouldn't have
posed a threat to
the country... It's
part of our
Japanization of our
lending
institutions... As
it is, I think CIT
will probably end up
owned by the
government... As
we've had to own so
many other
companies... I don't
like it... But the
very least the
government can do if
it saves the
company, is to fire
CIT's CEO, the
walking disaster
known as Jeff
Peek... It's an
outrage that he's
still running the
company at all... I
don't think he
should be allowed to
stay if CIT is
allowed to live.
▼ ▼
▼ ▼
▼
 The Bottom Line!:
Peek's adage...
there's a sucker
born every minute...
will start
tomorrow... I
believe to now
include all of us
taxpayers... Maybe
now, at last, we'll
have the guts to
fire the guy.
[verbatim recap]
[end of segment]
Read Jim's next Segment
here
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