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Here is your open thread for the mid-week on January 30th, 2013. You may post random links and off-topic discussions here. Also, if you have an idea or a topic you’d like to see covered in an article, please make it known.
Be sure to also check out the forums, and get your word in the user-driven discussions there!
NOTICE: If you have comments to make about politics or economics that do not somehow directly relate to Seattle-area real estate, they may be posted in the current Politics & Economics Open Thread. If you post such comments here, they will be moved there.
By ChrisM @ 39:
Putting aside the issue that I’m opposed to the death penalty entirely, that would be an incredibly bad idea. Already we have people calling for criminal prosecutions or crimes that they don’t even understand. The chilling effect of making them capital crimes would strip the financial sector of a lot of talent, and cripple the economy.
BTW, I’m also not crazy about your dividend idea. Once a dividend it paid, the recipient has zero interest in the continued success of the entity. That’s the wrong direction to be moving.
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Michigan Supreme Court Justice (Ex) who apparently resigned because of the criminal investigation of her short sale, pleads guilty to federal charges.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-ex-michigan-judge-pleads-guilty-20130130,0,2493516.story
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RE: Kary L. Krismer @ 1 – Now you’re talking! Executing the bankers! Welcome aboard, Kary. The ranks ae swelling!
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RE: Kary L. Krismer @ 2 – It’s Michigan. It’s the norm.
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Nice LIBOR overview: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-28/libor-lies-revealed-in-rigging-of-300-trillion-benchmark.html
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By Kary L. Krismer @ 1:
That assumes that a person is only interested in a one time payout with no concern for future pay outs. As a dividend investor myself, I’m interested in a steady series of payouts off into the future, preferably ones that at least keep up with inflation (e.g. dividend growth). Add to that, for many dividend plays, the capital appreciation is tied to the dividend stability and growth. That is, a company with an improving long term dividend profile will command an increasingly higher stock price, or conversely a lower dividend yield as the price of the stock increases.
How, the reader asks, does an improving dividend paying position result in a LOWER yield? Simple: As the perceived stability of the future dividends increases, the risk premium drops (e.g. for a “guaranteed” future series of divident payments, I’ll ask for a lower rate, versus a risky future series of payments, I’ll want a higher rate – look at credit card rates versus a secured mortgage with 20% down payment for an example – 18% versus 6% in an unmanipulated market). That risk premium drops as the price of the stock paying the yield increases faster than the dividend, pushing the yield down, resulting in capital gains for those in it for the long term.
Dividend yield = (annual dividends per share) / (stock price per share)
As the price per share goes up (with constant dividends) the yield drops. Or if the stock price appreciates 5%in a year, but dividends go up 3%, the yield also drops.
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By No Name Guy @ 6:
But as a shareholder, you probably have more loyalty to the company than its officers and directors. ;-)
Seriously, I’m thinking more of how to have the company’s decision makers be more financially interested in the long term performance. And I think you could perhaps do both of what we’re suggesting–your proposal on dividends, and mine on restriction of the sale of stock for insiders.
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I agree w/ 6 & 7 – the focus on short-term results is not good
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Dozens interested in being state’s pot consultant
Ira’s name is mentioned several times. ;>)
Ed Rosenthal wrote the bible on cultivation, BTW.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Dozens-interested-in-being-states-pot-consultant-189194011.html
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Hey Tim,
I have a suggestion for a weekly poll, would the impact on tolling I-90 affect your 1) current housing situation or 2) if purchasing a home to live on the impacted areas……
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RE: Blurtman @ 9 –
Now We’re Back On Topic: the Last Gasp for Seattle’s [and Denver's too] Economy Comeback
I read in the Feb 4, 2013 Times Magazine, page 8, that the projected annual revenue Mexican drug cartels stand to lose because of pot legalization in Colorado and Washington is $1.4 BILLION….
That will get our total labor force in the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett area increasing again, especially with the tourist BOOM added in. To Hades with giving it all to organised crime and that Mexican cartel war [killed 40,000 to date and counting].
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RE: softwarengineer @ 11 – So should we then short HSBC’s stock?
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RE: Blurtman @ 12 –
LOL Blurtman
You do have a point there though, relying on HSBC for short sales, or any bank for that manner, is not a prudent choice in my book.
Its kind of like when you get older and closer to death that the eternal darnation in a lake of fire part in the Bible for maybe 70-80 years of life infractions seems like over kill by a henious monster, not a loving God….let’s put it this way, you start thinking it was added in by the ancient Catholics to bring in [scare in] more money.
Same with short sales, the eternal fire of risking your credit rating seems OK with youth; but as you get older [wiser too, hopefully]….you start thinking debt free or eternal fire free in your end of life beliefs.
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RE: Blurtman @ 9 –
You got the wrong guy. I’m an innocent boy scout, just like most people from New Jersey are. Besides, I don’t have a law degree. However, we do have a regular participant on Seattle Bubble who might qualify, that bald heeded fellow with the law degree ,who has the look of someone who might’ve taken one too many bong hits. I’m not mentioning any names like Kary.
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RE: Ira Sacharoff @ 14 –
Yeah Ira, You’re Just Like Clinton
You never inhaled.
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RE: Ira Sacharoff @ 14 –
BTW, the Beard Works perfect for Your New Pot Adminstrator Position
Kind of Hippie Looking…
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RE: Kary L. Krismer @ 7 –
Compensation can certainly be structured to encourage a long term focus (restricted stock grants, doled out over an extended period of time, deferred bonus that depends on not only the current quarter, but annual and next multi year results, etc). I’d use that as one of the criteria when picking a company to invest in.
I’d also look at the tenure of management and the board and where they come from. Grew up in the company…..generally like, although with some companies that can be a sign of an inbred culture, resistant to proven ideas that originate elsewhere. Hired in 6 months ago after being in their previous position for only a few years? Nope….that’s the type that’s a strip miner – make a quick buck and move on. Proven person hired in to fix problems – like (Ford and Mullally, for example), although a company like that isn’t one I’d invest in since they’re not a proven dividend payer.
Bottom line, though, for me is the question: Are the interests of the Board and Management aligned with mine as a potential shareholder. No? Not interested. Yes. Then I’ll look.
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RE: Ira Sacharoff @ 14 – A good friend of mine engaged in guerilla farming on a lark. Having recently travelled to Amsterdam, he had purloined high quality seeds for the task. He and a fellow businessman chose two sites for the ourdoor plots. My friend wisely chose a site with easy enough access that law abiding citizens would not stray into. His partner chose poorly and his site was raided. The daring fellows would steal into the night with flashlights in teeth, hauling in the necessary supplies and such. Posion ivy and discovery were constant threats, but they said there was something exhilirating about the whole adventure, out at 2AM on star filled nights, toilng to bring good things from the ground. They did this only once, and laugh about it to this day, I am told.
“Homegrown’s
all right with me.
Homegrown
is the way it should be.
Homegrown
is a good thing.
Plant that bell
and let it ring.”
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RE: Blurtman @ 18 – “A good friend of mine engaged in guerilla farming on a lark. ” Heh – I have the same story, except in Europe (where the penalties are much lower). We were scheduled as the drying location, but the crop got purloined before it could be harvested.
I suppose there’s a story here about US/Washington ramifications, but honestly, if they’d just get rid of all the legal crap we could treat it the same as a tomato/corn harvest, where nobody cares. Or is that too complicated?
PS – believe me, there was nothing exhilarating about any of this
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RE: ChrisM @ 19 – I have alwasy been counting on a little homegrown revenue enhancement in my senior years, to augment the Walmart greeter income.
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