Curious that some folks took out their pens to offer that the reason they didn’t cover the Apollo-buying-Cooper rumor that captured the entire tire industry’s attention in October was because…it was a rumor.
We found it a bit odd to go to such lengths, because by writing about not writing about it, they actually did write about it. Just writing that made my head hurt.
In my experience, there are “rumors” and there are “RUMORS,” and the two are pretty easy to sort.
For example, if I had a nickel for every “rumor” I dealt with, you would not be reading this blog. Or anything with my name on it.
In this particular case, reporting by a respected international financial newspaper like the Economic Times had “sources with direct knowledge” stating that Apollo Tyre was working to acquire “a controlling stake in Cooper” in a deal that “could be in the range of $600 million to $800 million.”
That is a far cry different than the other “Cooper is being bought” rumors that I’ve cast aside over the past decade (at least 30 cents worth). There was more than enough reasonable “smoke” in that report to warrant attention, even if it was only to inform the industry at-large as to what was happening, and to the potential of great change.
And the phrase “working to acquire” does not translate into “closing the deal by the end of this month.” No matter what language is being spoken.
For their own parts, neither Cooper nor Apollo did much to squelch the chatter. Cooper said it had a “strict policy of not commenting on rumors and speculation in the market.” Apollo “would not comment on market speculation.”
The lack of a flat-out, no-BS denial was a flat-out failure to pour water on the smoldering, smoking pile. There was not a “No,” not even a chuckle, and that leaves the door wide open.
The point, as I mentioned, is that we have a duty to report important industry news. Every rumor, to be sure, is not news, but many RUMORS are. Today’s smoke can easily evolve into tomorrow’s “fact;” Nixon’s connection to the Watergate burglars started as a RUMOR and then, well, you know the rest.
Readers deserve the opportunity to know what’s going on, weigh the available information, and consider how those potential events might impact their businesses – indirectly or in the most profound of ways.
Would you rather know of the possibility that a tornado will hit your house well before the wind speed increases, or just as the twister is tearing off your roof?
At the moment, any Apollo-Cooper hook up remains a RUMOR. We will continue to monitor this situation because we believe you deserve to know what is transpiring.
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Nothing sends chills up the spine of a Global Tire Expo/SEMA Show attendee faster than the phrase “taxi strike.”
Well, that’s what we faced at the recent GTE in Las Vegas, one of America’s great taxicab towns. “Great” as in “cabs are your only real transportation option.” Not “great” as in “clean, comfortable and not that smelly.”
On the opening day of the show, we were quietly told by folks we rather trust that it would be wise to consider other ground transportation options for the following day. Seemed unionized (USW, to boot!) cab drivers – some 2,000 hacks in all – and those from an individual cab company were set to walk.
If you have not been to Vegas, there are very few effective options to get around town – let alone move an estimated 150,000 visitors from two convention centers to dozens of hotels.
Sure, there is the tram – provided you can stand in line for a seemingly endless period to get on a train that likely doesn’t come close to your hotel. There are free shuttle buses, which, in the event of a cabbie strike, would be rendered useless by sheer volume.
And then Wednesday came and cabs were in queue like any other show day. Yeah!
By Wednesday afternoon, though, more job-action talk crossed the floor. Even some of our cabbies that day chimed in, warning of an ugly Thursday evening when the flow of cabs (not that that happens under the best of circumstances) would cease.
Cooler heads apparently prevailed, and there was labor peace through the end of the show. Even after we returned home, the Las Vegas news was talking about a possible strike.
Now that AAPEX and SEMA are over, any cab strike in Vegas will be missed. Not.
