But if it's a short-term measure that's a clear positive for the long-term, why wouldn't the market grasp that?
Another small point: Baird, who just joined the board, was Director of the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance from 1999 to 2004, and also a past director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
2 questions: How likely is it that if TONE were in trouble he WOULDN'T have known about it beforehand, and with his background - as well as his reputation to think about - why would he have joined the board if TONE was indeed in trouble? Would that have made sense? Note also the timing of his joining the Board and the recent deferral...
Under different circumstances it's true that TONE might have chosen to not defer, but electing to do so is logical under current conditions. They should ultimately be pursuing EVERY opportunity they have to improve their immediate liquidity and rebuild their balance sheet. From that vantage point, one could argue that continuing to pay the Trust Preferreds would have been inadvisable when it was the company's option to defer, and with little consequence in that event.