Philip Morris - Right or
Wrong?
An Introduction By Tom
Gardner
On Monday night, The Hall of Portfolios featured a somewhat controversial
take on whether or not it is kosher to invest in PHILIP MORRIS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: MO)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: MO)") end if %> stock. In his portfolio report, David proposed a few courses of action:
a. Don't consume what you wouldn't invest in -- noting that aficionados of
Post cereals, Kraft macaroni & cheese, and Jello are all giving their
business to the conglomerate that retails Marlboro cigarettes. Either don't
consume or recognize that investing is not materially different.
b. Consider buying the stock and giving all the profits away to anti-smoking
campaigns, if you are so inclined;
The Motley Fool is not an organization that cherishes controversy for the
sake of controversy -- so we won't be plastering HUGE headlines and trying
to spur on ranting. As you know, Foolishness prizes civil debate, reason,
even stoicism, and joy.
For that reason, we've opened up this small collection, including articles
sent by Fool readers who herein propose different ways to deal with companies
that may be socially irresponsible. On this topic, Rogue's Jim Surowiecki
wrote an outstanding article on whether to exit or to exercise your voice
as a shareholder in his May Second piece: Nike and the Problem of Voice.
A link to this article is included in this collection.
We provide this collection of short articles, each of which present imaginative
arguments about Phillip Morris and the private investor, for the sake of
thought and healthy debate. The few articles written by Fool staffers sit
alongside the letters that readers sent to David. And finally, we provide
a link to our Philip Morris message folder. We hope you'll share your thoughts
there.
Why?
Because we're going to collect the two best responses on the board and package
them into a kit that we'll deliver to Philip Morris' Investor Relations
department. Perhaps the company will appear in Fooldom to discuss these issues
directly with investors. The shedding of Jeffersonian light is what this
new medium is all about, no?
Fool, our aim here is to consider all of the complexities that lie with MO,
to think the issues through critically and carefully, and to cordially debate.
Regards,
Tom Gardner |