“Should investors care about the political beliefs of executives? According to the managers of the Blue Fund, a mutual fund launched in the US in time for the mid-term elections, they should. The name (as in ‘blue states’) shows it is designed for Democrats. But its also shows Republicans how to invest in line with their politics,” John Authers reports for The Financial Times. “Blue Fund looks at the political donations a company has made from corporate political action committees, and from the pockets of its three most senior executives.”
“The research has yielded lists of ‘red’ and ‘blue’ companies, which gave 95 per cent of their donations to Republicans and Democrats respectively over the past 10 years. The bluest include Google, Apple Computer, Starbucks and Costco. The reddest include Exxon Mobil, Union Pacific, International Paper, Halliburton and Dell,” Authers reports.
“Over the five years to June this year, the blue index gained 139 per cent, compared with 34 per cent for the S&P 500, which in turn beat the red index. Even excluding recent stars Google and Apple, the blues are easily ahead,” Authers writes. “How seriously should we take this? It may be a fluke. Republicans could argue that after such a rally it looks time to sell blue stocks, and they should dispute the Blue Fund’s contention that Apple’s principles have helped it to be more innovative than Dell. Dell’s political conservatism did not stop it from revolutionising its industry in the 1990s.”
Authers reports, “Under President Bill Clinton, Dell grew at 93.8 per cent per year, according to Bloomberg data, while Apple fell at a 4.6 per cent annual clip. Under President George W. Bush, Dell has limped along at 3.8 per cent a year, while Apple grew at 47.5 per cent.”
Full article (subscription required) here.
Authers’ use of the word “innovative” in relation to Dell is unfortunate. Apple, which does it all, is clearly vastly more innovative than the Wal-Martesque PC box assembler Dell, regardless of politics. The political party of the U.S. President has about as much effect on the fortunes of Apple and Dell as Punxsutawney Phil has on the weather (although one might argue that Microsoft’s slap on the wrist vs. more severe penalties in the U.S. DOJ antitrust case was by some measure related to the administration in charge and could’ve changed the dynamics of the Mac vs. Windows market).
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Thank God
Not surprising at all.
Well, considering Dell appeals to the base knuckle draggers of computer users, it makes sense that they would support the political party of uninventive knuckle-draggers.
Hey, blue is my favourite colour!! It is the colour of aqua……
Yeah, MDN. This one should get you plenty of hits. Not to mention an all-out JR. High level political flame war.
True, the political party of the sitting president is irrelevant to the economic fortunes of the companies compared.
But the political leanings explain a great deal about why one company is pathetic imitator and the other is a leader with bold ideas.
Uninformed trailer trash support Republicans out of fear and ignorance. Enlightened, intelligent, informed people do not.
Good.
No complaints from me… and in fact, I’d have been surprised if it’d been any other way. Costco on the other hand, does surprise me, yet I’m not sure why.
and cue the spittle frothing asshats spewing political crap in 3…2…1…
democrats sucks as much as reps. what the US needs is a restart. Sure, I guess the dems will get lots of protest voters coming from ex-reps. since the current setup in Washington is a slap in the face of humanity. However, I doubt the dems will be able to reverse or repair what has been done. It’s all really sad. :((***
Watch out, here we go. It’s gonna be the longest tread ever. I use Macs exclusively but I support Red. What gives?
If Republicans are so evil, then why has Apple prospered so mightily under the leadership of President George Bush?
The amazing thing about many of the bush/Cheney NeoCon crowd is that they do not vote their own interest. The working poor/middle class evangelicals support people who give huge tax cuts to the very wealthy at the expense of everyone else, export jobs overseas, drive down their wages, undermine their unions and worker protections, oppose healthcare reform, etc.
Look at this map of where people without healthcare are. Most are firmly in the NeoCon grip. Maybe that’s why so many go to faith healers. They also buy a lot of cheap Windoze PeeCees at Wal-Mart.
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/10/25/health/25insure_graphic_sub.html
Steve Jobes voted for Pedro. Gosh.
I’d rather be dead than have red on my head.
ok, ok.. raise your hand if you think the dems are gonna put more money in your pocket? What? no hands?
Now you done it…. A thread the is SUPPOSE to be about politics… This ought to be good!
By the way. I’m waiting for the far left Dems to completely take over California, and finish the job of screwing the State up that they started under Gray Davis. Then when thing get so bad, people might wake up, and we’ll get some real reform and straighten out this mess that is the People’s Republic of Kalifornia.
So Steve…. just keep giving to those nuts……
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Yeah boy!
I’m with mactivist. The party that bribes me with cold hard cash will get my vote. Screw everyone else!
Proof that no political part has a monopoly on retards:
Real CEO/Pro Doughnut Eater Rob Glaser is a tree-hugging, commie pinko, liberal Democrat who fronted the now-bankrupt tree-hugging, commie pinko, liberal Democrat Air America radio fiasco.
Apple is prospering because of what Apple is doing and DESPITE the knuckle dragging, inbred, butt-buddy, crony morons of the current cabal running both the Congress and the executive branch.
BTW- Air America is still on the Air & is the fastest growing radio net in the USA.
Colbert has the word
Here’s a nice list of ongoing G.O.P. (Gang of Pedophiles) scandals.
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/01/18/scandal/index.html?pn=1
So in other words if I’m a liberal I should only invest in Dell and use their products while I can’t use or invest in Apple if I’m conservative?
So much time and bullcrap spent to try to divide people even further than we already are.
Forget the Vista and Zune news, I want MDN to be a “No Politics” zone.
MW = “job” as in: Get a real job and quit trying to pit people against each other over petty differences.
Democrat to Republican Switcher:
Way to go! You managed to use all the bankrupt buzzwords in one, semi-coherent sentence. Well done…. don’t you feel pleased with yourself now?
Now if only you really knew what those big words mean….
Weird, Republicans make up a more educated demographic, so they should go hand in hand with the smarter demographic of Apple users.
Red vs. Blue:
It seems to me to be backwards. Dems lean left, Communists are often identified as “Red.”
As for the party in power, the Republicans, the term “True Blue” in America means “politically sound.”
Who decided on these color designations, the mainstream media? If so, is it a ploy by the liberal media to subconsciously “color” voters’ perceptions of the respective political parties?
Good thing that most of us don’t give a rat’s ass what Steve Jobs’ political affiliation is. Luckily he’s a hell of a lot better at running a company than he is at picking his political friends and causes.