S&P 500
7,226.20
+0.01%
Dow Jones
49,494.60
-0.62%
Nasdaq 100
27,685.40
+0.66%
Russell 2000
2,804.78
-0.02%
FTSE 100
10,364.50
0.00%
Nikkei 225
59,260.50
-0.78%

Investing

NRG Lectures the Feds (NRG, EXC)

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) responded to yesterday’s announcement by hostile suitor Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC) that Exelon had filed for Hart-Scott-Rodino approval of its proposed merger with NRG. The response is nothing more than a big whine.

NRG says there is no transaction to approve, and that the filing is an"unnecessary distraction for regulators" and that "processing thefiling would result in an inefficient use of government resources." NRGcould be right, but presumably the Department of Justice, the FederalTrade Commission, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission knowwhat they’re supposed to do and when they’re supposed to do it. Thefederal agencies probably don’t need NRG to give them a lecture on howto do their jobs.

NRG’s share price hit an intra-day peak of $22.55 at about 1 p.m.yesterday. The company’s tepid response to Exelon was issued at about 3p.m. NRG shares closed at $21.12. This is probably not the response thecompany hoped for, but it’s certainly what they deserved.

Paul Ausick
December 19, 2008

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

A 70-Year-Old With $1.4 Million Faces a $62,000 RMD That Pushes Him Into a Higher Tax Bracket
Drew Wood |

A 70-Year-Old With $1.4 Million Faces a $62,000 RMD That Pushes Him Into a Higher Tax Bracket
A Couple's $1.2 Million Portfolio Faces a 3.9% Withdrawal Rate That Feels Safe but Is Not
Drew Wood |

A Couple's $1.2 Million Portfolio Faces a 3.9% Withdrawal Rate That Feels Safe but Is Not

Continue Reading

Douglas A. McIntyre |

Exelon Fires Another Round (EXC, NRG, RRI)

Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) has filed its preliminary proxy statement for the 2009 annual meeting of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:…
Douglas A. McIntyre |

Exelon Results Mixed, But Maintains 2009 Outlook (EXC, NRG, RRI)

Electricity generator Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC) this morning reported EPS of $1.08 on revenue of $4.77 billion. Analysts’ estimates averaged EPS…
Douglas A. McIntyre |

Electric Utilities Make News on Expectations, Merger Plans (LNT, EXC, NRG)

Alliant Energy Corp. (NYSE:LNT) this morning released financial guidance for 2009. The company also noted that it has reached an…
Douglas A. McIntyre |

NRG-Exelon-Reliant: Merger Soap Opera Continues (NRG, EXC, RRI)

The CEO and Chairman of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) have sent a letter to stockholders pointing out the weaknesses in…
Paul Ausick |

Exelon Gets Approval for Constellation Energy Deal (EXC, CEG)

The US Department of Justice has given the go-ahead to the merger of Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) and Constellation Energy…
Jon C. Ogg |

Alternative Energy Watch: Power Merger; Evergreen Solar Stumbling; Beacon Gets a Second Deal (EXC, CEG, ESLR, BCON, DE)

Alternative energy news for today takes a look at the merger of Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) and Constellation Energy Group,…
Paul Ausick |

Constellation Energy Posts Big Miss (CEG, EXC, PGN, DUK)

Constellation Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: CEG) posted an EPS loss of -$2.91 on revenue of $2.95 billion. Stripping out costs…
Regulators Approve Pepco, Exelon Merger
Chris Lange |

Regulators Approve Pepco, Exelon Merger

Regulators in Washington have just announced that Exelon's proposed $6.8 billion acquisition of Pepco was approved.
Paul Ausick |

Exelon Bid for Pepco Rejected by DC Regulators

Exelon, the largest utility in the United States, had its $6.8 billion offer for Pepco Holdings rejected Tuesday morning.

Top Gaining Stocks

Cboe Global Markets
CBOE • Vol: 1,568,143
New Pluto Global
PSKY • Vol: 12,285,993
Seagate Technology
STX • Vol: 7,378,346
Oracle
ORCL • Vol: 26,317,675
Datadog
DDOG • Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ • Vol: 4,367,433
Clorox
CLX • Vol: 13,260,523
Stryker
SYK • Vol: 4,519,455
Mohawk Industries
MHK • Vol: 1,859,865
Amgen
AMGN • Vol: 3,818,618