Forbes has run an article in the October 30, 2006 issue titled, "Dick Parsons Flatlines" (registration required). It opines that no matter what Dick Parsons does, Time Warner Inc's (NYSE:TWX) stock seems to remain stuck below $20, where it has been for the four years he has headed the company.

The article concludes that nothing works: The $20 billion stock buyback, the sale of flagging Warner Music, the proposed sale of 18 marginal magazines, the painful cost cutting and layoffs, the paring of huge debts. It did at least note that Parsons has taken the company out of the red and bought assets from bankrupt Adelphia Communications, even though it has pushed debt up again. The article also notes that Carl Icahn is still pressuring the company and that there are calls to just sell AOL.

This article could have just as easily been called "Looking in the Rearview Mirror at Time Warner."

"Even an improved financial performance gets a shrug from Wall Street," according to this article. It is interesting that the writer notes that The Street has "shrugged it," because on last look its shares are up some 18% in the last two months alone where the stock has climbed steadily from $16 to the recent $19+ closes.

After reading this article it almost felt as though the editor told the writer, "Go write something bad about Time Warner and Dick Parsons and if you show the good things, make sure that they don't look like much."

NYSE Magazine (August-September 2006) contains snapshot interviews with 20 CEOs of leading companies, including Richard D. Parsons, CEO of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) who spoke about changes in corporate governance in the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley. Almost 90% of CEOs surveyed admitted that they were spending more time and money on regulatory and compliance issues than three years ago. Amazing how much more seriously CEOs take their responsibilities now that there is the possibility they could become the prom queen of cell block H!

Compliance costs have skyrocketed. Since they weren't paying enough attention or devoting enough financial resources previously, huge increases in compliance costs are not unexpected. It's the cost of doing business. But for companies with a market cap under $3 billion, hefty compliance cost increases have delayed or scaled back business expansion plans.

Time Warner CEO Parsons was asked how governance rule changes have affected the way boards of directors operate? How do the CEO and directors relate to one another under the new rules of governance?

"The FCC won't let me be" opines Eminem in his 2001 hit "Without Me," and these days Time Warner is feeling Eminem's pain.

Recently, the Federal Communications Company (FCC) pushed back an announced June 29 auction for wireless spectrum. The new auction date will be August 9.

Why does this matter to TWX? Well, according to some, by getting in on this wireless auction, Time Warner Cable wants to get in on some wireless action. Given Richard Parsons's optimism at last week's shareholders meeting, one can't help but wonder: is this part of Parsons' plan to right the good ship TWX?

Whatever the future holds, I think we can be certain of one thing: unlike Eminem, TWX will never do a duet with Elton John.

Richard Parsons is one optimistic dude. The Time Warner CEO gave a positively rosy-hued speech at last week's shareholders meeting in Atlanta, with the reassuring statement that "our company is clearly undervalued."

Among other plans, Parsons believes he can rejuvenate AOL by increasing revenue from online advertising (some of our BloggingStocks readers, meanwhile, seem to think that  AOL's "certified" email program is also part of the plan to jump-start AOL).

And while he's made some bold moves -- slashing some 2,400 jobs, for instance -- the stock has remained relatively static.

Is it just me, or is Parsons' cheerfulness a bit like shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic? Or is it rather -- in Stephen Colbert's famous phrase -- like shuffling chairs on the Hindenberg?