Activist Stockholders proposing changes at EXXON

I have a round lot of EXXON stock in my IRA, so I get the annual report and proxy statement every year. This year, the Shareholder Proposals include 15 proposals that the Directors advise us to vote "AGAINST". They include the following:

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/34088/000119312507078537/ddef14a.htm

Cumulative voting, shareholder advisory vote on executive compensation, exec comp limits, incentive pay recoupment, political contributions reports, ammendment of EEO policy for GLBT, community environmental impact, greenhouse gas emissions goals, CO2 info at the pump, renewable investment levels.

Looks like some investors are tired of "business as usual" and want the company to be more responsible to the public and shareholders.

and is it legal for directors to advise against voting to rein them in?

round lot
Definition

The normal unit of trading of a security; 100 shares of stock or 5 bonds. also called normal trading unit or even lot or full lot. opposite of odd lot.

http://www.investorwords.com/4327/round_lot.html

as for the legality not sure, could just be the opinion of the board. :shrug:

proxies, the board of directors sends a list of issues up for vote at the coming stock members meetings. Each of the companies advise whether to vote for or against the issues up for vote and sometimes explain why they so advise.

which is actually already available to the shareholders. So the board will advise against the new measure and explain where the shareholders can find this info without creating a new repetitive report, for example.

given them when they leave a company's employment, say 42 shares. I'm not a major investor, just trying to spread my IRA money around into different industries to spread risk and make a little money through growth and dividends. I'd do better fnancially if EXXON would decrease their margins by cutting the price of gas at the pump, but I'm making up for my losses slightly by owning some stock which has gone up in price.

The directors can advise stockholders on the proposals, and they typically advise voting "FOR" the nomination of directors, aditors, etc. Theoretically, the stockholders have some power, but realistically, I don't see it unless they can move together as a large voting block.

1/3 down the SEC filing, you can read some of the porposals, what they are for, and why management disagrees withthe proposals.

According to the Democratic Party, the five major oil companies have made nearly $400 billion in profits in the last six years, but have hardly invested any of that in research on the development of alternative renewable energy. I think that issue should be front and center for every shareholder.

http://democrats.senate.gov/dpc/dpc-new.cfm?doc_name=fs-110-1-64

that we aren't asleep, and we have some money for investment, and they need to be a responsible corporation.

I am with you, I had been one of the stockholders that just went with what the Directors advised or abstained if I didn’t know the issue; not anymore. We hedged our bets with some oil companies, blue chips and I have noticed lately that it is the stockholder proposals that want to look at environmental issues and exec compensation that the directors advise against, not cool. It is blatant corporate greed and hubris and it has become so pervasive it is going to bite them in the ass.

Just want to say, I did get out of Halliburton in an act of protest, couldn’t handle the cognitive dissonance, I am a fan of Jim Kramer and in it for the money, but I still have a conscience.

broker didn't suggest Halliburton when he jumped into it at about $20/share.

to compensate the fishermen of Alaska for the EXXON VALDEZ spill? Almost 20 years later, and the assholes STILL won't pay up.