swolf

IBM: Lone Wolf of the Dow

As an iBM'er who had a top rating for the last 3 years i would like to dispute the previous writer's contention that ratings are assigned because of nepotism and cronyism. Although it helps to some degree to suck up to your upper management, top performers can move very easily cross-organization in IBM -- there is a big motivation for managers (I am one) -- to keep their top talent happy. I have had many offers from other departments -- in this climate, every one knows that if you loose a good employee, it will be next to impossible to replace him.

Indexing On Steroids

Thanks for the information - the major risk in rolling forward LEAPs as you suggest (when tied to a stable index fund -- such as S&P 500) is the interest rate risk. If the stock market tanks and the interest rates also shoot up, you may have a large decline in value of the LEAP coupled with a high interest premium when you roll forward -- this may or may not have a pretty drastic effect on the amount of return you will get in the long run. If you have done analysis on this scenario and can post results, that will be helpful.