In Brief: Golden State Chief Files to Unload Stock

Stephen Trafton, chairman of Golden State Bancorp., is selling a quarter of his stake in the company, according to a Nov. 3 filing.

Mr. Trafton plans to exercise options to buy 460,000 shares, and will then sell them, the filing said.

Shares of Golden State, the parent of $16.2 billion-asset Glendale Federal Bank, closed Wednesday at $32.50, down 25 cents. That means the shares earmarked for sale are worth approximately $15 million. Investors appeared to shrug off the news. Golden State's shares opened at $33.25 on Nov. 3.

A spokesman for the company declined to comment on the reasons for the sale.

"From the PR perspective, it does not send a highly positive message," said analyst Thomas O'Donnell of Smith Barney. However, he added, Mr. Trafton's "net worth is pretty much tied up with the company," and it is prudent for him to diversify.

As of Friday, Golden State's stock had risen 45.2% this year, mostly in response to favorable court rulings on the thrift's goodwill suit against the federal government.

Investors are betting Golden State will win a bundle-as much as $18 a share-to make up for $700 million of regulatory capital that Glendale wrote off in 1989. That year, the government changed accounting rules covering purchases of failed thrifts.

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