Posts Tagged ‘stock’

Goldman Sachs Pays Highest Officers In Stock

Friday, December 11th, 2009

Goldman Sachs, the famous and most profitable Wall Street investment bank, will pay its top 30 executives in stock bonuses instead of cash bonuses this year.

  • Paying the executives in stock is meant to reduce public anger over large profits and the $5 billion that has been set aside for employee compensation in the wake of the financial crisis this year.
  • Paying the executive bonuses in stock means that employees cannot reap the benefits of that money for at least five years.
  • The internal reason for paying out stock is to encourage future performance by the whole company – not just focused reward for one particular year.

Facts & Figures

  • Goldman set aside $5.38 billion dollars this year for compensation for its 31,000 employees
  • The average employee at Goldman will earn roughly $700,000 in 2009
  • Compensation and bonuses are at an all-time high for Goldman Sachs

Best Quote

“We believe our compensation policies are the strongest in our industry and ensure that compensation accurately reflects the firm’s performance and incentivize behavior that is in the public’s and our shareholders’ best interests.” -  Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive at Goldman Sachs

Buffet Invests In American Economy

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Warren Buffet, America’s most well-known investor, has purchased the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation in hopes that railroad traffic will increase in the future.

  • Burlington Northern Santa Fe is a railroad company that ships products by train all over the country.
  • Buffet believes that railroads will become increasingly popular for shipping and transportation as oil becomes more expensive.
  • Buffet’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, followed his rules of investing in this particular deal: invest in companies that people can understand, and buy quality products at discount prices.

Facts & Figures

  • Buffet will pay roughly $26 billion for the 77.4% of Burlington Northern Santa Fe that he does not already own (at $100/ share).
  • Buffet is splitting Berkshire Hathaway’s B Class stock 50 to 1 (meaning that if you owned 1 share of stock before the split, you know own 50!) in order to pay for the acquisition.
  • In an investor owned $1,000 worth of Berkshire stock in 1965, that same investor’s stock would be worth millions of dollars today!

Best Quote

“This all happened because my father didn’t buy me a train set as a kid.” – Warren Buffet, CEO and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway

A Share is…

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

A share is a unit of ownership in a company. You can own shares of stock or shares in a mutual fund. The more shares you own, the larger your stake in the company or investment vehicle.

A Glamour Stock is…

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

A glamour stock is a stock that is popular among investors because it has consistently high growth and earnings and because its price is rising very quickly.

An Acquisition is…

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

An acquisition is the purchase of one company by another. You acquire a company through buying or exchanging stock. Usually it relates to a controlling interest, or more than 50% ownership. For example, if you own 35% of a company’s voting shares and you buy another 20% of the shares from someone else (for a total of 55% ownership), you have acquired that company.

A Stock Market is…

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

A stock market is a public market for trading (buying and selling) stocks.  The NYSE  (New York Stock Exchange) and Nasdaq are the largest stock markets in the United States.

A Public Company is…

Monday, August 17th, 2009

A public company is a company that is traded on a stock market and its shareholders have a say in how the company is run.

A Blue Chip Stock is…

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

A blue chip stock is a unit of ownership in a company that is recognized as reliable, resilient, and high-quality. A blue chip company is considered the best of the best, so its stock is highly desirable.

A Warrant is…

Monday, August 10th, 2009

A warrant is a right that allows an investor to buy or sell a company’s stock at a given price in the future – the price can be higher or lower than the stock’s current value. For example, if in the future a stock rises above the warranty price, then the investor could make money (he could buy the stock below market-value), but if it doesn’t then his warrant is – sadly – useless.

Common Stock is…

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Common stock is a form of stock that gives the shareholder equity ownership in a company. This ownership includes voting rights that can be exercised in corporate decisions like choosing the Board of Directors. Shareholders of common stock may receive dividends (if the company shares profits), but only after preferred stock owners have received their dividends.