Shareholders: Suffering suffrage

Wading through corporate proxy statements can be a jarring task. Strategic overviews, executive biographies and justifications for compensation are all purposefully snooze-inducing. But then one gets to shareholder proposals by corporate gadflies. These are often completely loony. And they are usually swatted down. But while they’re good for a chuckle, their fate holds a lesson. Here’s a sample. Activists wanted JPMorgan to consider rescinding its apology for a predecessor bank’s involvement wi...