Final Word from Tuesday, January 22, 2008
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Ah, if only everyone on the stock market had the good fortune to do as Martin Roman does. He's always in the right place at the right time. The CEO of ČEZ received his options at the bottom-end strike price of Kč 139 and sold at the near-record price of Kč 1,350. Since he cashed out, the share price has fallen 13%, to Kč 1,170, and further declines can be expected as world markets grow more nervous about the U.S. economy. The sharp decline in the ČEZ price is conveniently coming as Roman is about to receive new options. He's again in the right place at the right time. Roman can't be held accountable for the downturn in global markets, but the more the ČEZ share price retreats from its peak now, the more the attention will turn to whether the rise and fall (on the stock exchange) of the Roman empire hasn't been helped by some not-so-divine intervention.[Czech Republic United States of America exercise]
Glossary of difficult words
when in Rome, do as the Romans do - (proverb) when in an unfamiliar environment, one should adopt the customs or behavior of the local population;
CEO - chief executive officer;
strike price - the price at which the underlying shares granted by an option may be bought (they may then be sold at the market price);
to cash out - to sell (usually at a nice profit); according to press reports, Roman still holds some of his shares;
to retreat - to decline in value;
peak - highest point;
divine intervention - the religious belief that god intervenes in the affairs of humans;
not-so-divine intervention - not very admirable human intervention, such as running a stock price up or down.