Hey md1 et al. Take a look at this... I posted it over on the Fool. It started one hell of a debate.
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What has happened to Mighty MO? One of the most profitable companies in the world, one of the most diverse companies in the world, one of the largest companies in the world, is suddenly being brought to its knees by juries awarding outrageous sums of money to the families of life-long smokers. If the smell of smoke didn't give away the fact that, hmm, smoking may be bad for you, maybe the feel of a cigarette burn would. I just don't get it. Let's sue all of our biggest companies until they are all running at zero profit. Hell, why invest in the stock market, I'd rather sue because I'll probably get a better return on my investment. Sue the gun-makers for the violence in America. I won't even guess what industry is next.
Does anyone else think there is something wrong with all this?
I mean, $81 million! $51 million a month ago! What other investment, than an individual lawsuit seeking punitive damages, can you get that kind of money. The odds of the jury finding in the smoker's favor are one hell of a lot better than that of winning the lottery.
What do you think people, should we all sell all of our stock, in every company we own, and then sue the exchange because investing is risky?
Better yet, let's sue the government for allowing companies to produce guns, cigs and booze, not making any of them illegal despite the health hazards associated with all of them, and then taxing the hell out of them but not using the tax proceeds to educate the US citizens about the dangers of them.
I'd say we have a 50-50 shot at winning.
This train is just getting started back up....
CHOO CHOO!
geoff
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