Summary: Chris Liddell does not trust Microsoft's value

A FEW weeks after Microsoft's disappointing results, the company's own chief financial officer (CFO) seems to have decided that the stock is heading downwards. Like Bill Gates, he's selling. It is actually a little bizarre that a CFO is permitted to trade his employer's shares because no-one is closer to inside trading, never mind conflicts of interest. Just because "everyone is doing it" does not mean it ought to be okay. Inside trading from Microsoft's Rob Bach still comes to mind [1, 2].

Rob Enderle, who is a close friend of Microsoft [1, 2] (masquerading as an "analyst"), had a confidential meeting with these folks at the Microsoft Financial Meeting. He is doing a whole series (about 3-4 posts) about those intimate encounters with Microsoft.

In this final section of my series from the Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting, I will give my impressions from the final two Industry Analyst-only meetings. The content was NDA, but I’ll share my impression of the people presenting and then provide a wrap-up of the event.

Why is Microsoft associating itself with people like Enderle, who everyone knows is in Microsoft's pocket? From the firm that brought us loads of lobbyists, including Abramoff, comes this man too:

Pittsburgh Gunman Worked IT At Gates Firm

The gunman who killed three women and himself at a Pittsburgh-area fitness studio Tuesday was an IT systems analyst at a law firm that can trace its roots to the father of Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, according to the man's profiles on social networking sites and other Internet records.

There's is a lot more to be said about Bill Gates Senior, but we did this before [1, 2]. ⬆

"There is such an overvaluation of technology stocks that it is absurd. I would include our stock in that category. It is bad for the long-term worth of the economy."

--Steve Ballmer