A long time ago, I received a couple shares of stock in a company. This was received as a gift. I have held on to these shares for a long time. I have benefited when the stock split time and time again. Each quarter I receive dividends from the company. Normally I also receive a proxy to vote my shares in the annual meeting.This year I just received a postcard in the mail. It told me to go to a web site to download the proxy information. I don't think so. I am old fashioned in this regard. So I called up the company and got them to mail me a printed copy of the proxy information.
There was a strange proposal up for vote this year. It had a strange name and I could not figure out what it was. So I poured through the proxy information. Buried down on page 62 of a total 68 pages was the information. They were proposing to increase the number of shares available as incentive options for employees. There is already 26 million shares authorized for this purpose. They were trying to add another 5 million with this proposal.
I do not hold it against employees to earn a good salary. And if you started the company, and still hold on to a big portion of the company, then good for you. I even think that a little stock option incentive is good for employee morale. But let's not get greedy. And let's not dilute the my common shares. You would think they would be cautious in this regard given the current financial situation. Maybe that's why they tried to switch me to electronic proxy delivery this year automatically. Nice try guys. I am voting no for more stock options. Keep my share price up.
