opl

W

wkmac

Guest
Will it make a difference or really matter? I wrote this company off some time ago and if we get anything in the end we'll probably be lucky. Hindsight is 20/20 but UPS made a very poor decision when they created this company and just shows UPS can make a real bonehead move from time to time.
 
G

gsx1990

Guest
wkmac,
One of the few times I disagree with you. OPL
had been doing quite well up until the IRS case.
That along with some poor underwriting in the past
several years, along with the LARGE drop in the
stock market has cuased OPL's woes. My own opinion is that the recent management of OPL (last 3 years or so) have done a very poor job.
Of course Mary got a golden parachute for her
poor performance. Bottom line, OPL underpriced
insurance in the past 3 years, and the IRS decision along with the stock market bust have
caused OPL's problems. Had OPL been managed
properly the past 3 years, we might not be quite
as bad off as we currently are. I still have
no clue why they decided to close up shop.
Sorta like "selling low and buying high" in
my opinion.....
 
D

dabusdrivr

Guest
gsx1990, I have to side with wcmac and disagree with some of your comments. OPL relied solely on the UPS insurance premiums to grow their business from day one. Sure they bought some real estate and also had a portfolio of securities they counted on to grow profits, but those were both very risky ventures as we have all found out. What OPL failed to do was grow their core insurance business which should have been the primary growth engine, and not rely solely on UPS for profits. OPL's demise was caused by poor management decisions, negative factors that faced all insurers after the 9/11 incident, the IRS tax case, and losing UPS as their main profit generating customer. OPL never envisioned losing UPS as their main source of profits, and had management had some clue as to how to run an insurance business, they would have been expanding their insurance business from day one. OPL could have survived with a competent management team running the company, and a solid business plan to grow the company into the future. They failed in both areas, and thus they decided to close shop, making all shareholders the primary losers in this case.
 
G

gsx1990

Guest
dabus,
I agree 100% that poor management in OPL caused
most of their problems. What I didn't agree with
in wkmac's post was that UPS made a bad move in
forming OPL. It was OPL management, not UPS
management that made the wrong moves.

BTW, OPL's investment in real estate was profitable, correct? I think they lost most of
their money in investments and poor pricing in
their insurance business. From what I understand,
they were increasing their exposure in the
insurance industry before the IRS decision. They
just executed it very poorly, and underpriced
themselves.....

gsx90
 
L

lr1937

Guest
Had it not been for the tax case we would all be happy investors in opl and none of this crap would be happening. We would be singing the praises of opl. We should all be glad the purchase of opl was tied to ups. Otherwise a lot of people would have put a lot of money in opl. How many of us would not have purchased as many shares as we could before the IRS case. Everyone was upset that they couldn't buy more. I for one made a lot of money from opl and never lost a dime because I never took a dime out of my pocket for the original 25 cent shares I got. I am still $10 ahead on most of the shares I own. How can I bitch about that?
 
T

tieguy

Guest
To me the jury is still out on OPL. The investment cost me nothing. With dividends already received the Return on investment is somewhere around infinity.
 
W

wkmac

Guest
gsx1990,
A real key to what I said is the following statement, "Hindsight is 20/20...." Having the ability now to look back at what has transpired yes I do believe UPS made a bad decision. First off, not all of us got our OPL stock for next to nothing but the sad part is UPS moved all that package insurance profit to another entity rather than leaving it attached to it's own bottom line and had they done so the stock value(UPS) "might" (noticed I said might) be up higher than it is now. Again I'm talking hindsight and some what if's but I still believe in the end it was a poor move on UPS' part and the inability to oversee and stop bad management is another good argument from my point of view. This is JMO and you have your's and I respect that.

OH! One last thing. You said, "One of the few times I disagree with you...." I would suggest you seek medical treatment for this condition before it becomes terminal!
lol.gif
Be good!

mac
 
T

tieguy

Guest
The only flaw i see with this investment is an overzealous IRS. I'll be ready to join the class action against the IRS when this travesty gets "settled"
 
Top