Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yup. Corporations are simple creatures that pursue only shareholder satisfaction. Typically, that means profits because that's all that 99% of shareholders care about... No one to blame but ourselves, really.
With margins as low as theirs, even the shareholders may be dissatisfied in the long run. I don't think their stock has done particularly well. I've never invested in them due to their race to the bottom business practices.
I have never shopped at WALMART, sometimes I drive 60 miles to Tucson to get things I need rather than a mile up the road
As said earlier, that might not be the smartest move on your part.
You are not hurting them by putting all that wear and tear on your car---not to mention wasting all that fuel.
In fact, you'll be helping them when you are forced to shop there at 6 am in order to buy a new battery so you can get to work on time that day.
A fund manager is supposed to invest for gains not to promote his agenda.
A fund manager is supposed to follow his client, the fund owners, instructions. Normally, those are "maximize profits". But that is not the only guidline fund managers can be given.
Investing ethically is not a rare guideline for pension funds. The Norwegian pension fund, which owns somewhere between 1 and 2 % of the worlds publically listed stocks, has stict rules about ethics. No tobacco, no arms and no Walmart since 2006.
NAZI Germany? How, in your wildest imagination, do you even correlate their practices to WMs?
That said, I want my pension fund managers to look after the bottom line.
Period.
Legally, of course.
They can invest in so-called "social justice" with their own money.
My sentiments exactly. Whether we like or despise Walmart, it is a legal business selling legal products. Walmart must comply with the labor laws of the states in which it operates. Both its employees and its customers are there of their own free will - no one has coerced them to be there. Let's review some of the common criticisms.
1. They buy much of their merchandise from foreign countries, thus contributing to the offshoring of U.S. jobs. This is absolutely true, but Walmart is not alone; it's been a national trend for a bunch of years now.
2. They are a non-unionized employer and what they pay their employees would not be called generous. This is also true, but I have stated the response in my first paragraph above. Many, many other firms are also non-unionized but they don't draw the same critical attention.
3. They have put many mom-and-pop operations out of business. Also absolutely true, but this has also been a national trend for a long time and the same can be said about so many other large corporations.
The intensity of the hatred of Walmart seems a bit irrational to me. I believe Walmart has become a symbol of people's frustrations and so the actual facts have ceased to matter.
My sentiments exactly. Whether we like or despise Walmart, it is a legal business selling legal products. Walmart must comply with the labor laws of the states in which it operates. Both its employees and its customers are there of their own free will - no one has coerced them to be there. Let's review some of the common criticisms.
1. They buy much of their merchandise from foreign countries, thus contributing to the offshoring of U.S. jobs. This is absolutely true, but Walmart is not alone; it's been a national trend for a bunch of years now.
2. They are a non-unionized employer and what they pay their employees would not be called generous. This is also true, but I have stated the response in my first paragraph above. Many, many other firms are also non-unionized but they don't draw the same critical attention.
3. They have put many mom-and-pop operations out of business. Also absolutely true, but this has also been a national trend for a long time and the same can be said about so many other large corporations.
The intensity of the hatred of Walmart seems a bit irrational to me. I believe Walmart has become a symbol of people's frustrations and so the actual facts have ceased to matter.
I wasn't equating Nazi Germany to Walmart. I was simply pointing out that stating that money managers should only look after the bottom line is a bit simplistic.
There was nothing "illegal" about the Third Reich before the 1 st of September 1939. Same went for Apartheid South Africa or Saddam Hussein in the 80's and 90's or any other questionable institutions or corporations. Investments are made in questionable entities precisely because they only look at the bottom line.
The core of morality is widely shared but there is disagreement at the fringes. For some, Walmart is immoral and they will not invest in it. I see nothing wrong with that and it does not show poor fiduciary responsibility by the fund manager.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
