In every city’s history there is a great something – bigger than before and hopefully nothing has ever matched it. In Chicago, it was the fire; in other cities it is the flood or the earthquakes. People flocked to cities for better opportunities and when many come because the rural area or their previous homes were under attack, cities grow up fast and usually faster than urban infrastructure allows people to be safe. Many of us take for granted the fire hydrants, the sewer system, the water filteration system, the lighting until things go wrong and they do not work. Then we wonder why the city fathers did not put them in or why they are not working properly. In London, UK a PBS series in 2014 focused on the great fire of 1666. Thousands of homes burnt and there was reasons in the background why the authorities did little.

In part where the fire started was the slums (they can be cleared out); there was disease there (in cleans the area up); in part was an ineffective King who lived on the other side on the fire and was not worried until the fire threatened him and his living style; in part the city was not meeting its payments (the cupboard was bare) and there was little desire to pay compensation to stop the fire. Add to the mix England had recently changed from a Catholic country to a Protestant one and people saw threats behind every action including setting of the fire. At the end of the 4 days of the fire destroying half of London, the King actually became effective.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, there are always reasons not to do something. It is less expensive, there are few threats, there is always something or some technology. The trick is to invest in companies who actually seem to know what they are doing and doing it well. In England, while the fire burned the King was useless, until such time as he went to the area being harmed and ordered things to be done. Is the company president worried in the glass tower or is he/she ensuring the company is doing what it should be doing?

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions