>
> Don't forget that for some high-flying "nonfinancial" stocks,
> financial returns (as opposed to core-business returns) can become
> not insignificant to earnings: MSFT and INTC are two companies who
> have benefited greatly from participating in the public market and
> adding to their earnings by taking advantage of out-o-whack volatility
> -- in particular by selling puts.
>
> Microsoft in particular is making in the three-digits of millions
> (!) per quarter in the derivatives market. The last 10-Q I read
> said 3rd quarter total investment income was $720M ... note that
> in the same perios sales and marketing expenses were "only" $990M,
> so we're not talking about small potatoes ...
>
> /jordan
>