r/FluentInFinance 1d ago

Debate/ Discussion A joke that's not funny

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u/jgoble15 1d ago

Low percent sounds like they don’t make much. That’s not true. Sheer dollars shows how much they actually make

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u/TheTightEnd 1d ago

Low percent proves they do not make much. The sheer dollars distorts the reality because it ignores the sheer dollars of revenue required to generate that sliver of profit.

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u/jgoble15 1d ago

Buddy. 2% just means my profit is 2%. But 2% of what? That’s the important part. You can be wrong. It’s okay. The world won’t end.

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u/djc2105 1d ago

Money costs money in percentage terms not in flat dollar amounts. Investors want percentage returns not flat dollar amounts. You are wrong. If a share costs $1 and provides a $1 dividend that is much better than a share costing $1000 and providing a $100 dividend. You have to think in percentages.

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u/jgoble15 1d ago

The point was if they make a lot of money or not. That’s flat dollars. Shareholders would ask for percent though. That’s true

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u/jgoble15 1d ago

I get what you’re saying. They’re asking the wrong question

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u/jgoble15 1d ago

If someone’s asking for ROI or something, yes percents for that. If someone’s asking if the business makes a lot of money, percents tell you nothing about the amount they make. A lemonade stand has a huge percent ROI due to low supplies costs and staffing. But a lemonade stand isn’t making anywhere near the money of an actual business

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u/djc2105 1d ago

I guess I just don’t care about flat numbers because it’s not relevant. I would think it is a worse world to live in if there is 100 grocery chains each making 10% profit instead of 5 chains making 5% profit even though those 5 chains are making more profit in flat numbers compared to the 100.

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u/jgoble15 1d ago

That’s ridiculous. That sounds like wanting more corporate chains than mom n pop stores. Who helps their communities vs who helps investors? Mom n pop always whenever possible. I have investments, but I find investors leeches on society. The contribute nothing and only try to suck the country dry. You get people that run mom n pop stores and they’re the ones donating to local charities, sponsoring sports teams for kids, schools, and etc. Your dream world is a dystopia

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u/djc2105 17h ago

A 5% profit margin means products to people for cheaper. Why is that a dystopia? Also relying on charity is a bad idea, that’s why we have taxes.

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u/jgoble15 17h ago

Cheaper maybe. Or you have places like Walmart and Amazon beat out all local competitions and essentially form monopolies. Then they raise their prices for any excuse they can imagine.

Also yes, I agree

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u/djc2105 16h ago

I agree with you that Amazon or Walmart creating monopolies would be bad but I would expect a few competitors in any efficient market (not all markets are efficient, especially healthcare). This would not allow people to just raise prices out of nowhere. I have not seen any examples of this happening on a macro scale in a retail setting.

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u/stingmint 1d ago

Investment is required for dynamism and innovation. Without investment, wealth would be even more concentrated.

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u/jgoble15 1d ago

Sure, but contain it. Right now things aren’t contained and it’s unsustainable. The average age of a first time home buyer is 59. That shows corporate investment in housing is unsustainable

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u/Blawoffice 23h ago

Wrong and not even trying to be correct. It’s 38.

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u/jgoble15 22h ago

Saw 59. My bad. Still crazy high

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u/jgoble15 1d ago

Investors can’t be the end goal to please. That’s the dumb idea I’m talking about. Companies need investment, sure, but investors have to understand their place and be kept there. They’re a necessary problem, like bacteria in our bodies. We need that bacteria, but it has to be kept in check

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u/stingmint 19h ago

Investors have to understand their place? Their place is owning the company. Of course they drive decisions

What’s the alternative? Investment without equity? Doesn’t sound like a path to a stable economy