When I blogged recently about Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), I hadn’t expected to come back for a while. But, as I’m learning in the Blogosphere, things change.
Abbott is increasing its quarterly dividend 11%, its thirty-seventh annual increase (www.smartmoney.com/news/on/?story=ON-20090220-000734-1120 ). This was an opportunity to return and blog some more. Miles D. White, Abbott’s CEO, was upholding Guy’s Eighth Rule of Being a CEO, when in trouble, talk about the dividend, better yet, increase it.
The old saw about those who do not remember the lessons of history being doomed to repeat will really come into play here. What we’re seeing here is another of the large pharmaceuticals (does Abbott really even qualify as Big Pharma?) trying to keep up the pretense that it’s business as usual. Unfortunately, I’m only reminded of those recently unemployed who struggle to maintain their standard of living in order to convince their families and neighbors that everything is alright. One has to ask are they only really kidding themselves.
Monies that will be needed in the future are being dispensed today to keep the shareholders complacent. I still don’t see any reasons why Abbott Labs, along with several other pharmaceutical companies, won’t be traipsing up to the Hill in Washington in a few years looking for a bailout. Finding someone to blame other than themselves could be hard, especially by then. Big Auto blamed the banks. The banks blamed their borrowers. Giving that the drug industry will looking to the government for help, I suspect that they won’t be blaming Washington. But, hey, dumber things have happened.
I keep harping on companies like Abbott and Pfizer and issues like acquisitions (i.e., Wyeth), pursuit of the next “blockbuster” drug, and dividend increases because these are all busted strategies. Other industries like Big Auto and financial services have tried some or all of these and have come to naught. Why should things be any different this time?
A friend of mine (contrary to what Larry says, I do have some) once said that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Get the picture. I know that I’m using up my quota of clichés in this blog but isn’t that what they’re for, right?
We’re looking at an industry that’s on the cusp of changes that will be seismic in nature. There will be winners and losers. So far, I’ve been focusing on the behaviors that will signify the losers. Shortly, I’ll begin to blog about the characteristics of the winners. This is an industry in transition and we won’t be lacking things to blog about.
As always, we welcome your feedback. Please contact us at larryrothmansblog@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
Contributed by Guy de Lastin
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