| dallas said: Assumptions: I assume that the stock market is at least somewhat rational, and that stock prices reflect future expectations of cash flow. I also assume that a growing company will eventually be able to muscle out a smaller, weaker one |
Okay, I don't think your assumptions are entirely wrong, but I would like to suggest, in the interest of fairness, that you keep in mind what happened with Zynga, and even what's happening with Facebook. Stock markets are very much in the near-term, focusing on getting as much profit as possible in as short a time as possible. They sometimes miss the mark and end up losing big time as many of these relatively new companies make a lot of money in a short time but then a year or two later they fall flat on their face and end up doing massive layoffs and losing most of their customer base.
You have to keep in mind that corporate management's most important job is maintaining long-term competitiveness and viability, and the shareholder's main concern is short-term profits and excessive growth. Those two goals are not always hand-in-hand. The former leads to bubbles that get too big and they burst, and then the company fumbles and has to fall back on long-term planning and what it does best just to stay afloat.
The Screamapillar is easily identified by its constant screaming—it even screams in its sleep. The Screamapillar is the favorite food of everything, is sexually attracted to fire, and needs constant reassurance or it will die.
