Steel Partners' Disposal Of Shares Pushes Down Some Stocks

Warren Lichtenstein's unorthodox plan to recast one of his Steel Partners hedge funds as a public company is going forward, and the immediate result is that the stock prices of some of Steel's holdings have dropped.

That's because Steel has distributed stock to investors who wanted no part in the public company, but instead wanted to redeem their stakes in the fund, Steel Partners II. Many of those stocks, particularly thinly traded issues such as Conseco Inc. (CNO), Adaptec Inc. (ADPT) and Nathans Famous Inc. (NATH), fell just after the distribution and haven't fully recovered, which suggests that those cash-hungry investors have sold some shares.