Victory! US pension fund giant TIAA-CREF drops SodaStream stockBut did TIAA-CREF say they sold the stock because they intend to divest? Of course not. There could be many reasons for them to sell.
Pension fund giant TIAA-CREF has removed the increasingly controversial Israeli company SodaStream (NASD: SODA) from its portfolio. As of March 2013, financial data posted on TIAA-CREF’s website valued shares in SodaStream at $9,444,292. According to financial data available today, it is zero.
Even the BDSers are tacitly admitting that they will claim victory no matter the reality:
“No matter the reason TIAA-CREF dropped SodaStream, we view this as a conscientious decision.” said Sydney Levy of the We Divest Campaign.Hater Anna Baltzer says something similar:
Well, we cannot be sure of the reasons why TIAA-CREF divested from SodaStream. We do know that SodaStream has performed very well over the last 12 months, market-wise; well above average. And yet TIAA-CREF decided to divest.Perhaps the age old financial advice of "buy low, sell high" is too difficult for BDSers to fathom.
Regardless of TIAA-CREF’s reasons, I think what we’re seeing is that it is increasingly unacceptable to associate in any way, to invest in, to sell products that are produced in illegal Israeli settlements. And we’re seeing this as part of that trend.
It is nice to see that even the BDSers admit that they are more than willing to lie and declare victory when the evidence is lacking.
One thing that is very certain is that the sale of SodaStream stock was not because they are divesting from Israel. As noted recently in a linkdump:
For the fourth year in a row, the TIAA-CREF Board refused to put divestment from Israel to a vote at its annual share holders’ meeting. TIAA-CREF, the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical, and cultural fields and a Fortune 100 financial services organization was supported by a recent ruling of the Securities and Exchange Commission in choosing not to plunge its four million investors into the controversial geopolitical issue of sovereignty of disputed areas in the West Bank/ Judea Samaria.
(h/t Lianne)