I've been remiss posting about my stock transactions. I raved to you about Suntech (STP) in this space. It is a solar power component manufacturer. I bought some shares exactly 10 days ago at $12.61 (U.S.) and sold them a few minutes ago for $17.69.
I apologize for leaving you out of the loop and promise to do better. However, if you've been following me (and the stocks I've recommended), you would have picked some up. Other stocks I've had my eye on are:
Highveld Steel and Vanadium (HSVLY), a company in the quickly expanding South African economy
Tata Motors (TTM), Indian auto producer of the world's cheapest car
Seagate (STX) disk storage producer
Akamai (AKAM) internet data performance company
VMWARE (VMW) specialize in server virtualization
SOHU.com (SOHU) Chinese internet portal and gaming concern
Showing posts with label seagate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seagate. Show all posts
Monday 1 June 2009
Friday 16 January 2009
A great, big harrah!
goes out to Seagate. As one of the largest manufacturers of hard drives in the world, and having fallen on hard times, Seagate has announced that it will reduce its workforce by 3,000. No, that's not the part that needs to be applauded. It also said that various executives' salaries will be reduced between 15% and 20%. Now, we're getting warmer. The CEO will take a 25% salary hit. Applause!
Why does the reduction of someone's pay require applause. Simple. Very quietly (to some) the gap between CEO's pay and that of the average worker has widened exponentially over the last few decades. You're probably thinking "Vin, you must be exaggerating when you use the word 'exponentially', aren't you?" Au contraire, my friend. It is almost beyond belief how the wage gap has turned into a veritable chasm.
In 1965, the average Joe's pay envelope contained only 1/24th of what The Big Kahuna's did. Back then, that difference almost sounded reasonable. But greed being the hallmark of the rich, by 1979, that difference had grown to 35. By 1989, it was 71. 1995 was a banner year--it hit the 100 times milestone. Unbelievably, it was at this point that Chief Executives' salaries really took off. By the year 2000, they were making 300 times more than Joe Lunchpail!
If you were making $40,000/year, The Grand Poobah was pulling down about $12 million. And that's not counting the myriad of stock options, bonuses and benefits which can add millions more. Baby, you're a rich man! The tech wreck caused executive pay to be reduced...but it was short-lived. The gap between the poor and the rich continued its relentless, ever-widening journey.
This graph gives a visually-startling picture of the enormity of this untenable situation. Unfortunately, it only shows data up until 2005.
On behalf of all the little guys, a hearty congratulations, Seagate, on taking a gutsy stand on executive pay. Here's hoping your peers follow your sensible and ground-breaking stand.
The Story.
Why does the reduction of someone's pay require applause. Simple. Very quietly (to some) the gap between CEO's pay and that of the average worker has widened exponentially over the last few decades. You're probably thinking "Vin, you must be exaggerating when you use the word 'exponentially', aren't you?" Au contraire, my friend. It is almost beyond belief how the wage gap has turned into a veritable chasm.
In 1965, the average Joe's pay envelope contained only 1/24th of what The Big Kahuna's did. Back then, that difference almost sounded reasonable. But greed being the hallmark of the rich, by 1979, that difference had grown to 35. By 1989, it was 71. 1995 was a banner year--it hit the 100 times milestone. Unbelievably, it was at this point that Chief Executives' salaries really took off. By the year 2000, they were making 300 times more than Joe Lunchpail!
If you were making $40,000/year, The Grand Poobah was pulling down about $12 million. And that's not counting the myriad of stock options, bonuses and benefits which can add millions more. Baby, you're a rich man! The tech wreck caused executive pay to be reduced...but it was short-lived. The gap between the poor and the rich continued its relentless, ever-widening journey.
This graph gives a visually-startling picture of the enormity of this untenable situation. Unfortunately, it only shows data up until 2005.
On behalf of all the little guys, a hearty congratulations, Seagate, on taking a gutsy stand on executive pay. Here's hoping your peers follow your sensible and ground-breaking stand.
The Story.
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