Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/01/07

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Subject: [Leica] Re: Kodak stock
From: jshul at comcast.net (Jim Shulman)
Date: Wed Jan 7 17:55:51 2009
References: <200901072352.n07Nq6El079617@server1.waverley.reid.org> <C0479FB3-C11E-4C9C-8DD5-C77CA6BC975F@optonline.net>

And the Pennsylvania Railroad thought in 1940 that it would go on and on as
a profitable, safe investment for widows and orphans.  Cars, airplanes, and
trucks had their place, but would never supplant trains for freight shipment
and long-distance travel.

Moral: the old guard almost never bets on major technology changes.  They
assure investors that change will be gradual, iterative, and not upset
current business models.  

In the early 90s I remember vividly my first Sony Mavica.  The pictures were
awful, they could only be shown on a TV screen, but the idea of eliminating
film (and its attendant inconveniences and delays)in catalog production was
really exciting.  I was told that the camera was a toy and film replacement
for catalog production was a long, long way off.  

As it turned out, about eight years. 

Jim Shulman
Wynnewood, PA
Who has all his money tied up in groceries.





-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Lawrence
Zeitlin
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2009 8:16 PM
To: lug@leica-users.org
Cc: Lawrence Zeitlin
Subject: [Leica] Re: Kodak stock


On Jan 7, 2009, at 6:52 PM, Seth wrote:

> P.S. I've bought some Kodak shares for my retirement account.  
> Shares closed
> today at $7.34. As of 9/30/08, shares had a book value of $15.97,  
> tangible
> book value (ex: goodwill and intangibles) of $8.73, and the Company  
> had
> $6.72/share in cash. Shares are selling at 1950's prices.


Seth,

Unfortunately I bought Kodak a couple of decades ago at $44 when the  
company was riding high on film sales. Digital technology was just a  
toy in the research labs. The company expected that film would be a  
cash cow for the next 50 years. It just goes to show that even  
bright, highly paid executives can be wrong. And in more areas than  
photography, it turns out.

Larry Z

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In reply to: Message from lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin) ([Leica] Re: Kodak stock)