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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Serge Collins who wrote (30048)	9/24/1999 12:32:00 PM
From: Serge Collins	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

Steve Ballmer is concerned that high valuations might be bad for the economy. That's debatable, but what isn't debatable is the fact that stock options are very bad for the economy. I am totally opposed to stock options as a form of compensation as they are nothing more than a ripoff of shareholders, wage earning employees, consumers and the economy in general. Stock options are evil and a form of legalized theft. They add nothing of value and encourage insiders to be obsessed with the stock price as opposed to being concerned about the fortunes of their companies. The stock market in the 90s has been driven by this obsession, and I place the blame for this on a desire by many company insiders to manage their stock as opposed to managing their company. Making billionaires out of people by ripping off shareholders is usually a crime except when it involves stock options. If you read between the lines of Ballmer's declaration, you will see that his biggest concern with high valuations is that it makes cashing in stock options much more difficult. Well, one way to get around that is by talking the stock down to a level where you can once again issue options and begin the process anew. Of course if you eliminate stock options, people will have to start working for their money and all these high tech billionaires would not exist. What ever happened to the old fashion way of making money -- earning it? Ban stock options. It is abuse of power, theft and is the most decadent form of wealth creation ever devised in history.