MS gives dividends for the first time ($870M), stock split, Xbox surprise performer

[JohnT]

If you own MS stock, then vote for a slate of directors who will increase the dividend. If MS shareholders are pissed about the "too-low dividend", they'll let the board know - that I'm sure about.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

MS can afford to give more, and I bet you can afford to give more to charity.

Shareholders aren't a charity, you nitwit. You're supposed to make them money and to not do so when you have the opportunity is a disservice. But since when did MS care about ethics...

And increasing stock value doesn't make them money?

Drake, you're allowing your anti-MS stance to cloud your judgement on this issue. The importance isn't how much the dividend currently is, the importance of this news is that MS is, essentially, saying "we're not a growth stock anymore."

[Drake Tungsten]

However, it's a similar philosophy when you actually think about it rather than troll.

No it isn't. I'm not ethically obligated to give to charity. Microsoft is ethically obligated to make as much money for its shareholders as possible. How is it the same?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
No it isn't. I'm not ethically obligated to give to charity. Microsoft is ethically obligated to make as much money for its shareholders as possible. How is it the same?

How on *EARTH* do you come to the conclusion that it's ethical to give dividends???

Dividends is not a question of ethics!

Growth companies with insane growth typically do not give out dividends. That's just how it is.

MS' growth is slowing, but they're still growing, so they've implemented small dividends to make up for the slowed growth. The increased value of the stock make investors fortunes, which MS has done over and over again.

That's not unethical at all. It's just...how businesses work. Perhaps you should stop using the smilie, it's obviously having an effect...

[JohnT]

But paying dividends is not "making money" it is "transferring assets." The shareholders already own the $40 billion regardless of whether it sits in a bank or gets put in their pockets.

[Drake Tungsten]

And increasing stock value doesn't make them money?

I never said that. My point is that MS stockholders would be making more money if MS would pay a realistic dividend instead of sinking even more money into a warchest that is too large already. The $43.4 billion dollars they have right now is more than enough for any plans MS may have, so isn't it about time they give some of their profits back to their shareholders?

[Asher]

BTW, Drake, how do you feel about the Xbox now outselling the Gamecube in the two largest gaming markets?

It came out today that MS sold 1.8M Xboxes in Europe in 2002, while Nintendo sold 1.5M.

The only region in the world where Nintendo's outselling MS is Japan. Japan's gaming market is relatively unchanged, places like Europe and North America are experiencing record growth.

[Boris Godunov]

I fail to see how in any way this is a bad thing for MS shareholders.

[Drake Tungsten]

I fail to see how in any way this is a bad thing for MS shareholders.

It's not a bad thing, but it isn't that good either. It's disappointing...

[Asher]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
It's not a bad thing, but it isn't that good either. It's disappointing...

How many MS shares do you own?

if(shares < 1)
     printf("Shut the **** up");

[Drake Tungsten]

Real intelligent...

I don't own any MS shares, as I could hardly afford them. However, I'll let someone else speak for me (a Canadian no less)...

But Joe Sirdevan, director of research and portfolio manager for Jarislowsky Fraser Limited, a money management firm based in Toronto that owns approximately 2.5 million shares of Microsoft, said it was getting tougher and tougher for Microsoft to justify such a large pile of cash. "I don't think you could effectively re-deploy that cash into the business. It's too big," says Sirdevan.

Joe is, of course, one of the disgruntled institutional investors I mentioned before.

Microsoft has come under increasing pressure from institutional investors to pay a dividend because of its huge cash hoard, which stood at $43.4 billion as of the end of December, up from $40.5 billion at the end of September. Microsoft's war chest has come under even closer scrutiny since President Bush proposed his economic stimulus plan, which includes a tax cut on dividends.

So why don't you shut the **** up?

http://money.cnn.com/2003/01/16/technology/microsoft/index.htm

[Skanky Burns]

while( 1 )
     System.out.println("MS Sucks");

Not that I believe that, in this case.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Joe is, of course, one of the disgruntled institutional investors I mentioned before.

Joe owns 2.5M shares. He's obviously not a poor man.

The reason he wants more dividends is he's a greedy bastard. Please continue to back up your assertion that MS is "greedy" for not distributing much higher dividends, again. I missed the part where you somehow argued that MS is more greedy for keeping most of the money inside corporate coffers, rather than giving individual execs billions of dollars in cash?

So why don't you shut the **** up?

I realize lots of investors with large amounts of MS' cash want them to release higher dividends.

The reasons are obvious: They're greedy bastards.

You don't own a single share in MS, so I don't see why you care to troll about it so much other than your patently obvious anti-MS sentiments. That's why you should just go away.

Second, you've also failed to assert how MS is greedy for keeping the money in the company rather than giving it out to the rich bastard investors who want to buy a new Porsche.

[JohnT]

(at Drake)

Microsoft has come under increasing pressure from institutional investors to pay a dividend because of its huge cash hoard, which stood at $43.4 billion as of the end of December, up from $40.5 billion at the end of September. Microsoft's war chest has come under even closer scrutiny since President Bush proposed his economic stimulus plan, which includes a tax cut on dividends.

So why not argue that MS is jumping the gun and therefore screwing their shareholders by declaring the dividend before the legislation gets passed?

Well, now that the idea is in your head, I expect to see the MS bashers jump in on that exact point.

[Drake Tungsten]

The reason he wants more dividends is he's a greedy bastard. Please continue to back up your assertion that MS is "greedy" for not distributing much higher dividends, again. I missed the part where you somehow argued that MS is more greedy for keeping most of the money inside corporate coffers, rather than giving individual execs billions of dollars in cash?

What are they doing with all the money in their war chest, Asher? It's just sitting there, doing nothing for the stockholders. You need a certain amount of cash to do business, but Microsoft's war chest has reached ridiculous levels. It isn't greedy for stockholders to want that money, as it is theirs.

You don't own a single share in MS, so I don't see why you care to troll about it so much other than your patently obvious anti-MS sentiments. That's why you should just go away.

Just admit you were wrong about this dividend being "a good deal" and I'll leave. That's your only way out, as there is no way you can prove this was anything other than a token move on Microsoft's part to deflect criticism from stockholders.