WALL STREET AND THE ELECTRIC COMPANY

摘要

In the game of Monopoly, a lot of real estate separates the Electric Company from the high-dollar, "Wall Street-friend-ly" properties like Boardwalk and Park Place. The monumental changes in the power industry in recent years, however, indicate they are pulling closer together. Enron's ascension to grandeur and subsequent plunge to disgrace heralded the arrival of a new paradigm in the power industry — one where Wall Street analysts and investment bankers assumed positions of greater importance than long-serving engineers and other utility professionals. While the propriety of this shift can be argued, it's unlikely that we'll witness a reversal in coming years. In fact, the power industry and the investment/ banking community continue to converge. As a shareholder in Vanguard mutual funds through a personal IRA account, I receive a quarterly newsletter call In the Vanguard. The Summer 2004 issue contained an article that immediately had me drawing parallels to the power sector. The article presented "Ten time-tested rules for financial success." With a few changes and a minor shift in focus, the article easily could have been re-titled, "Ten time-tested rules for success in the power industry."