In a recent business headline page, I found three well known companies highlighted with current financial news. It made me wonder what is the most important thing to us? Finances, communication, or information.
The liberal democrat in me leans toward communication, of course. If we can’t talk to someone, and find out what they feel is important, then how can we find common ground? That looks so cliched, looking at it in print, but bear with me. I was waiting for a ride downtown in our local city last week, and was approached by the usual crazy. Dressed in warm weather clothes in a heatwave, broken glasses, voice too loud, and repeating words over and over again. Part of me wanted to run. I didn’t feel threatened, so it must have been guilt. He only wanted a smoke, but I apologized and said no. I am a firm believer that giving a little bit to someone who has nothing only exacerbates the poverty cycle. If we all said no, then no-one would bother us, because they knew they wouldn’t receive. Great! That’s really lib-Dem.
He looked at me, shrugged and said: “Well, they’re bad for your health, anyway. How are you doing?” I have never had my health questioned by a homeless person. I was so shocked, I carried on with the conversation. In five minutes, I found out that his name was Paul. He had a room close by, so he was better off than some of those “poor people out there”, he felt good, came from about 50 miles away in the country, but never went home anymore, because he didn’t feel comfortable. Yes, he was in hospital, but they couldn’t help, so he left. He knows that he’s a “bit out there”, but loves life. “Not everyone’s bad.”, he said. Just in trouble, sometimes, and the drugs make them go a bit bad. Not him, though. I said that everyone is basically good, and he agreed. Then he made his excuses and went away looking for a smoke. Just a conversation with a random stranger, but it made my day. I was glad to see that Paul wasn’t in trouble.
So, information was also passed, and that was what really made me feel good. I thought that I had grabbed a bottle from the sea, and read a small message. Perhaps information is just as important as communication. After all, you need something to say, once you touch someone else – even if you don’t know anything, you can still listen.
Is it any wonder, then, that two of these companies highlighted in the paper were Google and AT&T.
The first is doing well; Stock price up 20 per cent thanks to wonderful recent quarter results that ’surprised industry analyst’s. These stocks are now worrth over $530 US each, and this surge had added $28-Billion in company value. What? $28 Bill for a website? What do they do? If I don’t know something, do I immediately “google it”? Does this add to their advertising rate? I use the service a lot, but I cannot remember ever clicking on a single ad. If I want to know something, I think of the people I know that may know something, and call them.
Weird, then, that AT & T have announced they are cutting 4,600 jobs and take a downswing of $347-Million U.S. What? If a phone company can’t make money, then who can? Every month I check my phone bill and wonder how the hell it costs me over $80 per month when I have stopped making calls becasue I can no longer afford it. Surely the only people that couldn’t make money in the communications industry would be my new friend, Paul? Well, they obviously haven’t been checking Google news items, where it’s obvious that everyone is going wireless, and mobile advertising is coming up next. Didn’t you see that change in the tide? Whoops.
I would like to say that those famous ‘Industry Analysts’ had something to say about AT & T’s downturn, but they didn’t. Someone, somewhere, though, is looking at this stock price and making a decision about the future worth of your portfolio, and retirement plans. Most likely they would work for a financial services company. One of the World’s biggest, Citibank, recently announced that they would cut over 9,000 jobs (Whose going to analyze Industries, now?), and their current loss due to the credit crunch is now $15 Billion. These are the ‘experts’, folks. These are the ones making decisions about which companies are good and which are no good. They are the ones surpised by how good that Google did, and who were taken by surprise by the slippage in AT & T.
A recent upswing in Google’s stock price, mean that this company can take just a portion of their last three month’s profits, and bale both the other two companies out. Would the World be a better place with Google in charge?
I would like to think that if they were, there would be fewer Paul’s around. However, that would mean that I wouldn’t learn something waiting for a ride. Discuss.
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