Yesterday’s news is that Simon is once again considering “walking away” from General Growth Properties. I guess this is in case we still do not believe him after his previous threats? The situation is simply one of two scenarios. 1- A blatant attempt to negatively manipulate the stock price in order that shareholders pressure management to take whatever deal he comes up with. 2- Acknowledgment that any “partners” he was trying to line up have not materialized. Let’s address the folly of #1. Who is he trying to scare into selling out to him on the cheap? Ackman, Bucksbaum, Tilson, Elliot, management who owns material stakes, Sullivan? Who? There are not enough shareholders outside of the major holders to scare into forcing management to take an inferior offer from Simon. David Simon is playing from a playbook that simply is not applicable to the game currently being played. It is the equivalent of trying to run the option offense in the NFL, not going to get it done David.