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Microsoft Shareholders Unhappy After Annual Meeting

Posted by Unknown on from the 15-minutes-should-be-enough-for-anyone dept.

Kozar_The_Malignant writes "Microsoft shareholders left today's annual meeting grumbling about the 15 minute Q&A period with Bill Gates and Steve Balmer and the lack of any real specifics about corporate direction. Many shareholders are concerned about Microsoft's static share price over the last decade."

4 of 521 comments (clear)

  1. Just now they're "disgruntled"? by bmo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=MSFT+Interactive#symbol=MSFT;range=my

    Just look at that chart. Look at it, guys. It's been down and flat since 2000. Yes, that chart is split-adjusted. All Y! stock charts are split adjusted. If you want growth, Microsoft is not where you want to be.

    And the outlook is not encouraging. Just look at Windows 8.

    --
    BMO

  2. Re:Simple solution.... by fsckmnky · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yeah, that describes it nicely, although I think the one I was originally thinking of was "confirmation bias" as I had recently read an article on cracked.com titled '5 Logical Fallacies That Make You Wrong More Than You Think."

    link for those interested.

    http://www.cracked.com/article_19468_5-logical-fallacies-that-make-you-wrong-more-than-you-think_p2.html

  3. Re:So much Softie Butthurt(TM) by moderatorrater · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I've got a theory. Here's some of your last few modded down comments. They're all -1 flamebait. See if you can see why.

    You're stupid.
    I'm smarter than you.
    Deal with it.

    Oh look the years that the company was left to colored sugar-water salesmen and bean counters. Not the dynamic and growing company it is now.

    Yes, and if I had been born in an earlier decade, I could have bought IBM when there was a market of "four to five computers"

    Moron.

    Oh, look, a softie redefining words at whim.

    You're an idiot.

    Here, have another chart. This is growth.

    You should have bought AAPL, ya dummy.

    http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MSFT&t=5y&l=off&z=l&q=l&c=aapl

    Of your last six comments, 2 are at +5, 3 are at -1, and one is at +2 (at the time of this writing). For what it's worth, I agree with every one of them.

  4. Re:Simple solution.... by CodeBuster · · Score: 5, Interesting

    big institutional investors who want to play the volatility game

    Then why are they buying Microsoft (MSFT) of all things? Microsoft is a dividend safety play and has been for at least a decade now. It's not Microsoft's fault that these pension funds promised their members payouts based on 8%+ returns when the only way to get them these days is to go risk-on heavy into high yield bonds, small to mid cap stocks or options, futures and derivatives (aka the financial weapons of mass pension fund destruction). They should either man up and sell their shares so that they can make those plays and get those 8%+ returns (or not) or they should sit down, shut up and be happy that they still have their principal and the dividend was paid on time. This is the new reality of investing and personally, I don't think that things will ever get back to 8%+ consistently on average, or at least not here in the United States or Europe. We live in a world of increasing population, increased demand and increasing depletion of natural resources. We won't have another fossil fueled 20th century of growth and investors, just like everyone else, are going to have to get used to that and plan accordingly.