RE: RE: RE: RE: I don't get this fascination with I specifically used "I" to denote my opinion, and not a fact. Some of the rest of what I have said is fact, and people should not mix those up. Since I cannot (don't care to take the time to do it, really) lay my hands on the studies showing that share buy backs are not the best use of a companies funds, I made it clear that it was my opinion. Take it for what it is worth. The chart showing oil production curve being 40 years behind the discovery curve is fact, not my opinion.
When you find big companies with buy back policies, what you are seeing is them buying back the shares they gave to company insiders; it is not the great deal you think it is. Do Coke, Colgate, J&J actually have less shares in the market than they did 10 years ago?
I never said "no one is gonna trade Mart if a dividend is in place". What I said was that at some point I will need cash. If it is coming via a dividend I will get the cash that way, and have no need to sell shares. If I (and other shareholders that this applies to) are not putting shares up for sale, it then helps to increase the stock price. Same number of potential buyers with fewer sellers means a higher price. This is basic economics.
I had, and have, no intentions of expecting everybody to believe as I do. You are an adult. You form your own opinions. You live with your own investment successes and failure. I have had some spectacular ones on each side.
"lose it's money on dividends" is an interesting concept.
I don't take anybody for a fool. I never thought you were. You are making your point, I am making mine. Seems to me there is some Old Testament wisdom about many opinions being a good thing. I enjoy reading what everyone has to say on this board. Hopefully, we all become better investors for it.
I have said all I am going to on this topic, probably more than some of you wanted to hear, but hopefully we all have had some food for thought.
As somebody else writes on this board "good luck to all".
Bows
PS: Larry Walker better stay in his own neighborhood picking up aluminum cans; I'm going out tomorrow and looking so I can pick up a few more shares yet!