To: Sig who wrote (76826 ) 11/6/1998 9:28:00 AM From: arthur pritchard Read Replies (2) | Respond to
don't know, cause this is venkie's dog i think. looks part irish setter, but then i really miss my irish setter..died 5 months ago... he was the sweetest friend i ever had. he died in my arms as we were both on the floor at the vet; he did nothing but stare into my eyes during the injection, and we both held on real tight...hey sig, have you seen don martini this morning? i felt the passion in his note yesterday, his caring for the small investor. tell him i'm looking for a piece of wood large enough for us to sit on the edge of this pond. i need some help, because imho some real caring, and insight, and courage is needed to let anyone view the connection between dell's volitility, and computerized options strategies implemented at places goldman sachs' on behalf of mutual funds, and we as individual investors can only IMAGINE how deep those holes are. my problem is i've worked for merrill lynch and seen their relationship with pension fund options trading. my problem is i worked with fischer black at arthur d little--second little cubbyhole away from mine--too bad he died. would like to ask him about this. another problem i have, is that i can't get away from common sense. like walter with his coke investment approach, and his razor blades;like when walter said one of the most important things in his life, is to always be working around people he likes. i've always respected bill gates for doing his thing in seattle, where he could build his team far away from people who would steal his key players before he reached critical mass. bill gates is a genius of our time; sure he's learning a few things now about lawyers and internal e mail. say what you want, bill always took his time and built shareholder value without regard for options games. i never did like major conflicts of interest;i don't understand why goldman needs to be on the board. i also don't understand why dell's volitility can't be viewed graphically real time by all shareholders from an options point of view. far too much weight and guessing is placed on short squeezing theories. dell is growing at this speed, at the very time that internet trading is a reality. this was not the case for microsoft, or intel. we talk about games cpq is playing; we need to stop playing some of our own games. and another thing, mickey is a different kind of a genius than bill gates. mickey's game requires more of a team effort, and in my strong opinion, a good part of his shares should be used to insure that team effort. i place my bets on teams, not heros or gods, or even geniuses--unless they are able to build teams around them. this is the first time in the history of the world when a thread like this, could have the impact on the future of a company with the delivery capacity of dell. but stop the hero worship. of course its an internet company, with the capacity to deliver unlimited benefits to the world, in partnership with msft, csco, intc, amat, you name it. thoughts from the side of a pond, on a slow friday...and my feet are still dry...i love ducks..used to collect duck eggs every morning as a kid, from the edge of the pond back of my parents house in merrick long island. if it looks like a duck, talks like a duck...
