That's a nice theory.

However, as DSK pointed out, shareholders haven't been substantially
rewarded for the climb in profits.



RCE wrote:
Higher profits usually produce higher stock prices. Few public companies
pay dividends anymore. It's all in the stock price.


Actually, that's not true. It was true that many
investors... and many 'investment writers' widely
published... back in the late 1990s were loudly disdainful
of dividends.

Nowadays investors are very definitely interested in
dividends, and the stock-touters talk about them a lot.


I am not saying it's right - I am just saying it's the way it is.

Maybe we follow very different segments of the financial
news media.


... A CEO
that does not show bottom line growth ain't gonna be a CEO for long.

Well, no. He pockets his $50 million and saunters off stage
left, whistling a happy tune. And his platinum parachute is
paid for by the employees & common stockholders. It's the
new corporate kleptocracy... profits are irrelevant.


.... And
although publicly reported quarterly, most large companies now report
monthly and even weekly, internally. That's why I don't work for one
anymore.


And the auditors have become paid consultants on how to
cheat. Did you notice that Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling might
actually have a court date? Good thing the Bush
Administration is really cracking down on corporate
malfeasance... how many years has it been now?

But I digress.... I own several oil company stocks, and the
neither dividends nor price appreciation has not followed
reported profits... yet...

Regards
Doug King