When Walgreen, the US drugstore chain, announced it’s intension of acquiring Boots the Chemists, part of the plan was to shift its headquarters to Switzerland.

This caused fury in Obama’s White House, and they lambasted Walgreen for being another US company wanting to embark on the disloyal path of ‘Inversion’. Threats that patriotic customers would withdraw their custom unsettled the company’s board, and they announced they  would not pursue potential tax savings by shifting its headquarters overseas. Apparently, such a move was ‘not in the long-term interest’ of Walgreen.

What did Wall Street investors think? Shares of the US’s largest drugstore chain closed down more than 14.3% at $59.21 after the announcement. Interesting!

Could it be that the Street didn’t believe this, and that it was annoyed that in its analysis the board did not put shareholder value before the interests of politicians?