Well. I have two clients who did legal work for phil knight when nike was in bankruptcy and got $20K work of stock in the new company. one sold the stock within the first couple of years for $2 mil. the other never sold it and is worth $120 million. the people who don't sell believe their company is that next nike. I completely agree with you btw, I'd sell in a heartbeat, but I'd also not have $120 mil.
I agree, but once you are part of a corporate culture its not that easy. I once worked for a company where the CEO would individually call employees if they sold their stock and ask them why. executives were expected to never sell it as a sign of confidence in the company. a lot of the $120 mil has gone to the usc football program.
I try not to let outliers guide me, but I think you and I are in the same boat. Obviously, if your second client did his research and trusted Knight and knew the product would take off, he made the smart move. But I would have a damn hard time not cashing in, even if it was a slow roll as the stock kept climbing.
he believed completely in phil knight. but the guy who sold is the one I consider by far the better investor.
How much risk are you willing to take. It's what it all comes down to. I'd like to say I'd ridden it out, but I know better.
I told him it was none of his business and he could feel free to talk to my manager, but I'm not a normal person. I know people who lost millions when the company essentially went bankrupt.
I'd probably would have sold half, but there is no chance I would have held the other half for the full ride. once I hit say $10 mil I'd be done. I've tried to get him to sell his nike many times with this essential argument: is an extra $20 mil really going to change your lifestyle? how about if the company is the next Enron? he still doesn't bite. personally I'd be up at night worried about it. his stock DID drop in half during the whole child labor scandal.
There's a lot of issues with bio fuel. First off we should stop all farm subsidies. Plus folks are growing how our government and universities promote. Its a broken system, but its going to be hard as hell to stop. We use 10 petroleum calories for ever one food calorie. In 1940 it was 1 petroleum calorie for every 1.3 food calorie. It takes about 400 gallons of oil to feed one american a year in our current system
I found this interesting. No hard facts, but still interesting to me. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/america-getting-rid-oil-addiction-055336154.html
My sister swears this is the predicted price drop before Peak Oil and the cost skyrockets. Not so sure about that. We aren't as dependent now as we were 10 years ago.
The biggest impact is that cars that were 10 and 14 miles per gallon are now getting in the 20's per gallon. That's where you get your biggest savings.
I think this part of the story is a bridge too far: The idea that something everyone uses gets cheaper and people use the savings to invest in ways to buy less strikes me as hopeful thinking to the extreme.
I bought a Prius for the wife 3 years ago. We went from $400/month in gas with an Explorer for her driving to work/running the kids to functions to about $40/month. We are saving >$200/month even with a car payment. We ain't goin' back. Would buy another one in a second.