Recommended Reading - CEOs Who Should Go

Morgan House in a piece for The Motley Fool December 5 lists three CEOs that should go:

1. Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide Financial CFC (NYSE) already on my CEO Watch list.
2. James Tobin, Boston Scientific BSX (NYSE)
3. John Mackey, Whole Foods WFMI (NASDAQ)

For now, I would add Scott A. Edmonds, CEO of Chicos FAS CHS (NYSE). Chico's owns and operates specialty stores throughout the United States. The boutiques target middle-to-high-income women ages 25-40 with clothes made primarily from natural fabrics. The company's results have continued to perform poorly under Edmonds' leadership and now might be a good time to seek a change in leadership and strategic direction for the firm. In a story by Reuters

The company reported a 44 percent drop in third-quarter net profit on Tuesday and forecast weaker-than-expected results as sales continued to slump in November. The company's shares slid 8.7 percent in extended trading following the announcement, in which it also said it was scaling back its expansion plans for 2008.

"We are greatly disappointed with our performance to date," Chief Executive Scott Edmonds said in a statement. "Numerous challenges continue to affect the entire retail sector."

Third-quarter net profit fell to $23.6 million, or 13 cents per share, from $42.1 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier.

While retail has been under pressure, Edmonds has failed to demonstrate the leadership and the talent to right the company ship. Keep an eye on Chicos.

CEO Watch - Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide Financial Corp. Update 1

Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of embattled Countrywide Financial Corporation, continues to exude confidence about his company's prospects as well as his own to survive the turmoil in the mortgage business. His confidence seems to run in the face of reality. Since my initial CEO Watch on Mozilo, CTW an adviser to pension funds has added itself to the company's list of critics. CTW has begun to put pressure on Countrywide's board of directors particularly its chairman. In a recent Los Angeles Times article by Kathy M. Kristoff and E. Scott Reckard it was stated,

CtW Investment Group, which represents the pension funds for the Teamsters, United Farmworkers and other unions that hold Countrywide shares, also criticized the board for excessive compensation for its directors.

"Current and historic director pay is both unjustified and a likely source of the board's passivity in the face of the company's current crisis," CtW Executive Director William Patterson wrote in a letter to Harley Snyder, Countrywide's lead director.

The letter says Snyder bears "central responsibility for Countrywide's egregious compensation."

"Your excessive compensation, together with your aggressive divestment of your own Countrywide stock at the peak of the housing bubble, militates powerfully against any inclination you might have to lead your fellow independent directors or hold Mr. Mozilo accountable," Patterson wrote.

The likelihood of the credit crisis continuing will only result in increased pressure on both Mozilo and the board. Stay tuned and keep a close eye on moves surrounding the firm and its top executives.

For more:

SeekingAlpha
MarketWatch
Bloggingstocks
New York Times
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