SVTP stock pick thread.
- Thread starter STAMPEDE3
- Start date
AT&T has been a horribly managed business for quite some time. The amount of money they have spent on acquisitions that added no value is astronomical. We all know it's not our grandma's AT&T anymore. My father inherited the stock from my grandmother when she passed about 10 years ago and he has stubbornly held onto it because he said he likes the dividend. I asked him how he liked that dividend when they cut it almost in half last year but he ignored me. My opinion is that it's one of those stocks that can be bought and held in the short term. The dividend yield will attract some short termers. I don't think they will cut it again in the near future.
Maybe if the chick on their ads had her tits out they would increase sales.
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I worked for Southwestern Bell / SBC / AT&T for over 33 years.... 20 years in the field as a technician and 13+ as a manager. While I enjoyed a nice career that paid well, towards the end of my career in 2009, things were quite different than when I started in 1976. I started noticing things like:
* "Bonuses" being awarded with worthless stock options that never matured
* More work being piled onto remaining employees after layoffs and job cuts
* Unrealistic productivity expectations that were tied to EOY evaluations
* Benefit reductions and reduced pay for new hires
* Benefit and life insurance reductions for retirees
* Increased employee / retiree contributions to medical plans
* Termination of the lump sum pension option
AT&T stock has never really recovered from the splits of 1999 and 2002. The last time it traded this low was 30 years ago (1993). When I retired, I held over 11,000 shares of AT&T stock in my 401K. Now I only hold 500 in my IRA, and that's just for the 7% dividend.
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Sadly, your bulleted points are becoming more and more common with many companies. Even non-profits have tightened their purse strings inre benefits. I witnessed the latter first hand.
I don't think AT&T is a potential merger/acquisition candidate either.
My retirement represents a classic example of what AT&T has become. I retired in November, 2009 and the whole reason I hung it up was because I was informed that as of January 10, 2010, I would no longer have the option to take my pensions (craft and management) in a lump sum. For many reasons, the monthly annuity did not appeal to me at all, so I decided to retire and take the lump sum.
When I left, there was no "golden parachute" waiting for me. No extra incentives whatsoever. The only bonus I received was the same one that everyone received at that time... a company-paid life insurance policy that was based on the annual salary that I was making at the time ($77,800). Needless to say, this death benefit was of no benefit to me, but would come in handy for my survivors. The stock options I received as management "bonuses" in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 all expired after 10 years and were never worth more than the paper they were written on because AT&T stock never got anywhere near the option price.
To add insult to injury, the AT&T board of directors decided in the 4th quarter of 2021 to cut everyone's life insurance benefit to a flat $15,000, regardless of what your salary was. All of our previous policies were rescinded and not grandfathered. Beyond that, my retiree health insurance premiums have quadrupled in the last 10 years, despite my wife being on MediCare for the last four. Oh, and the employee concession for all of my personal AT&T home services was reduced from 50% to 25%.
See, I really find all of this to be punches to the gut. When I first hired on with Southwestern Bell, I could have gone elsewhere and made more money. However, I went with Ma Bell primarily because they had the better benefits. Now all these years later, they start taking the benefits back.... and that just doesn't seem right.
When I left, there was no "golden parachute" waiting for me. No extra incentives whatsoever. The only bonus I received was the same one that everyone received at that time... a company-paid life insurance policy that was based on the annual salary that I was making at the time ($77,800). Needless to say, this death benefit was of no benefit to me, but would come in handy for my survivors. The stock options I received as management "bonuses" in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 all expired after 10 years and were never worth more than the paper they were written on because AT&T stock never got anywhere near the option price.
To add insult to injury, the AT&T board of directors decided in the 4th quarter of 2021 to cut everyone's life insurance benefit to a flat $15,000, regardless of what your salary was. All of our previous policies were rescinded and not grandfathered. Beyond that, my retiree health insurance premiums have quadrupled in the last 10 years, despite my wife being on MediCare for the last four. Oh, and the employee concession for all of my personal AT&T home services was reduced from 50% to 25%.
See, I really find all of this to be punches to the gut. When I first hired on with Southwestern Bell, I could have gone elsewhere and made more money. However, I went with Ma Bell primarily because they had the better benefits. Now all these years later, they start taking the benefits back.... and that just doesn't seem right.
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You're not alone. Corporate pensions are practically a thing of the past these days. Long time employees are grandfathered in but newer hirees are not part of them anymore. I know GE eliminated the pension for new employees 10-12 years ago. I just retired from public education last year and thankfully the pension fund I draw from is well run and solvent.
I don't think anybody anticipated the huge escalation in the cost of health care. The costs for a hospital visit or stay are just mind-boggling. I have health coverage from my former employer through United Healthcare and Cigna but I still pay almost $700 a month for it. There is a life insurance benefit with it for 10 grand but I don't have a need for it either.
It sucks when you work somewhere for a long time and look forward to those "promised" benefits only to see them cut or eliminated.
yea piss poor marketing on their part
any picks for today I should be looking at? im a newbie 
any picks for today I should be looking at? im a newbie
11% of S&P Cos are reporting earnings this week.
They can affect the entire market.
I’d sit back and watch and see what the trend is but even that’s tough. You see divergence within sectors last couple yrs.
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Almost 4 months later I've finally in the green on SCHW.
what a jump this morning
Bought in the mid 50's. Got scared when it went back into the 40's/stuck in the low 50's. Sold a portion of it when it got close to buying(small loss) but kept some shares for longer term.
Now I'm debating to take the profit and bounce or is this bank "crisis" over?
I'd ride it out of a little bit this week, a LOT of earnings are coming out within the next several weeks, we should have a better direction of the market
SCHW was never in any trouble like SVB for example, thankfully my ESPP bought a lot more shares after the drop and it was at beginning of Q2 when it was very low price while it's the largest ESPP for me at 10% of my pay since that was also bonus time (which I put 10% of that into the ESPP) so I made out nicely there.
Thanks! I only understand some of what your saying but learning!
I was getting my ass kicked this morning, but getting better.
I think there's a lot of companies to take advantage of this week
I just have a fund with a ton in it. I just watch my top 10, which is about 23% or so. No time to watch and move all day.
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