You should not put money if you don't approve...I respect that (in all sincerity)!
I’m a capitalist at heart who has nothing but love for the free market. I know the flaws and inherent unfairness that you speak of in the system. I just happen to believe that this is the best way to grow an economy. All objective measurements seem to indicate that capitalism with minimal regulation is indeed the best way to grow an economy. Do you know of a better way? Therefore, I don’t have the convictions on this matter that you do. I understand what Snyder is doing and where his motivations are placed. His reponsibility is to the shareholders first and foremost. He cannot be burdened with enthusiast ideals if these ideals conflict with the bottom line! I see a man doing his job. It is not the way I would go about it...but I understand what his plan is and why it would be this way!
Random unrelated thoughts/opinions…
…In the old days when employees were assets and the companies were there for communities…the employees had self-respect and an inner drive to perform to the best of their abilities. A single trip to SFMM demonstrates how the employees themselves might be the problem…maybe? Chicken and egg scenario in my opinion… A sign of the times!
…I do not think it fair to castigate all corporations because of a few bad apples like Enron. Laws should severely punish the guilty. However, the unscathed should not be tarnished at the hands of a few criminals. The initial reaction of many to automatically castigate a corporation for nothing but mere existence is rather sad. Contrary to hater opinion, there are in fact a lot of good corporations to work for who strive to be good community citizens. Profit is not an evil word. It is a necessity to capitalism. Last time I checked, our relative (key word) unregulated form of capitalism results in better economic growth, higher standards of living, and lower unemployment rates than the heavy regulated European capitalistic economies and socialistic economies of the world.
…Investing in Six Flags is akin to investing in a real estate trust at this time and under this ownership. Those who still think of this company as an amusement park chain are so 2005! To expect this company to function in manners that best appease tourists is appetite for disappointment. Tourist opinions and expectations are only important so much as they can and will affect the stock price. In all decisions, the stockholder will trump the tourist.
…All talks of operating debts, etc, while certainly important…must be looked at in terms of debt to equity ratios. As a real estate trust, the land values must be considered as fair game in valuation equations. Without benefit of the open books and land appraisals certain value is impossible to know. Safe to say that with strategic park sell-offs, there is a good chance that equity outweighs the debt. When looked at from this perspective, without hindrance of enthusiast ideals, a scenario exists in which Six Flags could become an asset. Enthusiast ideals permeate this board as would be expected. Snyder does not share your enthusiasm or your ideals.