Cheney cashes in large stake in Halliburton stock

Tom Raum/Associated Press Writer

AUSTIN (AP) -- Dick Cheney sold 100,000 shares of stock in Halliburton, the oil services and construction conglomerate that he heads, last month for an estimated $5.1 million, according to documents he filed with the government.

The former defense secretary has been selected by Texas Gov. George W. Bush to be his vice presidential running mate.

Cheney, chief executive officer of the Dallas-based company, held options before the sale on 229,000 shares.

The Securities and Exchange Commission requires officers, directors and major shareholders of publicly traded companies to disclose when they buy or sell company stock, so the public can be informed of what company insiders are doing.

Cheney did just that, filing a so-called Form 144 with the SEC on May 31 declaring an intent to sell the 100,000 shares.

Although Cheney is head of Bush's search for a vice presidential candidate, in recent days he emerged himself as the front-runner.

The SEC filing was made a day after Bush told reporters in Denver that, for all the speculation, only two other people then knew his thinking about a running mate: his wife, Laura, and Cheney.

Halliburton spokesman Guy Marcus said it is not unusual for "our executives from time to time to exercise their stock options" after serving with the company for a number of years.

He noted that Cheney had been with the company for nearly five years and had not exercised any stock options before this year.

Still, the sale represented a sizable chunk of Cheney's holdings -- nearly half.

Whatever his motivation, he managed to cash in nicely on the recent rise in oil prices. In March, Halliburton stock was trading in the high 30s. It rose to over $50 a share at about the time of the Cheney sale, and has since fallen back to the $40s.

It closed at $41.69 on Monday, down 56 cents.

"I assume if he's going to be a candidate, he'd want to avoid any conflict of interest," said Robin Shoemaker, an oil company analyst for Bear Stearns of New York. "That means not owning any Halliburton stock."

Shoemaker said Cheney likely would unload his remaining stock after becoming Bush's running mate.

Arvind Sanger, an analyst with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, said Cheney may simply have been taking advantage of good stock prices when he sold his shares.

"It sounds like he was exercising some prudent profit taking," he said. "A lot of executives are taking money off the table."

Sanger said Cheney wouldn't necessarily have to sell all his stock as Bush's running mate -- he could always put the holdings into a blind trust.

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