As many of our readers know, M started at IBM a couple weeks back. As an MBA working for a publicly traded company, we tend to think about stock performance as an indicator of success (not making a judgment call on whether that approach is right or wrong, just doing the analysis).
Back at the end of December, when M signed his agreement to work for Big Blue the company’s stock hit a 10-year high ($132.85) – the market was clearly anticipating great things from the company’s newest future team member.
Over the next 6 months, IBM’s stock predominately hovered between $125 and $130 as the markets (and C) began to wonder if M would ever be done with school and whether he would actually finish his master’s thesis.
Finally, M finished and in mid-June began with a week of classroom-style orientation (aka on-boarding). The markets, in their sheer excitement about M, soared. During M’s first week, IBM’s stock price soared, gaining nearly $3/share (an increase of $3.5B in market value). M’s friends on Wall Street were even calling about the buzz moving throughout the financial markets – everyone was excited about the reforms M would lead in Washington.
Unfortunately, the markets woke up last Monday (6/21) to disappointment and a downturn, as it was announced that M does not have a project yet and would be hanging out on the “bench” and “working from home” until the company found a suitable project for him. The response was a nearly $4 decline in share price.
When will this market volatility end? When will M be staffed? Who knows, but M reserves the right to complete online courses by the pool.
