>Not likely. However, this round goes to you, which after so many times
>crying wolf, you were bound to get it right for once.
Crying wolf? Glenn and I have stated dozens of times that Amazon's business model is fatally flawed. The only reason they didnt go bankrupt sooner is because the capital markets seemed willing to give them another billion dollars to burn whenever Bezos stuck his hand out.
Do you tell your doctor that he's just crying wolf when he says smoking will kill you? If you manage to live 24 months while smoking 3 packs a day, after he tells you they're gonna kill you, does that make him an idiot?
The only thing that surprises any of the regulars on here is how long it took for the average investor to realize they were being taken for a ride. It's amazing that Bezos pulled off the scam for so long. That's about all.
BTW- I used to buy all my books at Amazon, since they were basically subsidizing the cost of merchandise by spending money raised in the junk bond offerings and secondaries. But now there are booksellers everywhere who are willing to blow even MORE money by selling stuff for an even bigger loss, so I go with them.
No rational company conducts business that way. You either make a profit, or you go bankrupt. The stock market allowed a lot of half baked companies to continue with half baked business models, when they probably should never have been in business at all.
But then again, if you define the purpose of a company as: "An orginization to produce profits for its owners" then I guess Amazon succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams. While not profitable in the "real" sense, it has produced BILLIONS in insider stock sales. So in some way, Amazon really was a success. I don't know if that sort of "success" is worth being Time's Man of the Year, though. |
