It seems like the Dow Jones has been setting pretty much left and right over the past few months. Just today it finished over 13,900 for the first time. The Dow Jones is up 11.50% so far in 2007.  You’d think with all of this recent movement that its’ owners wouldn’t be looking to sell anytime soon, but, as far as I can tell the Dow Jones is still very much available for sale if the price is right.

Interestingly enough, regardless of the record setting Dow Jones stats, the US dollar has been dropping in value. Sure the two are not directly related, but it’s still an interesting coincidence if anything. Apparently Europeans have been visiting the US recently to take advantage of the decrease in our dollar’s value. One of the factors behind the recent decline in the dollar is due to a spike in yen. I guess now is a good time to buy some gold. Who wants actual money anyway.

Source: CNN

So you’ve decided to sell a percentage of your company to Venture Capitalists? I’m sure you’ve had time to think through the potential pros and cons that can come with such a decision. Just in case, here are some things to consider.

1. Say you are looking at receiving an investment for a large stake in your company. At first you might be excited to have some extra money to put into new growth and marketing. After some more thought, you might start to second guess whether it’s a good idea to sell part of your company. You have good reason to question. After all, if somebody is willing to put X dollars into your company for partial ownership, is that same chunk of your company worth the investment price to you? Would you invest in your own company if you had the funds? If so then it’s probably not going to hurt you to sell, however, are you 100% positive that you even need the money? If you don’t necessarily need the money, your long term profits and worth will most likley be much higher if you don’t bring in outside investors.

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If you read this blog regularly then you probably know that I am a Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway fan. I believe that Mr. Buffet is one of the smartest investors alive right now. As I’ve pointed out before, his Berkshire shares have gone up 30% in the past 2 years. That, my friends, is a nice return on your hard earned cash. Buffet will be holding his annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha Nebraska this coming Saturday. Berkshire holds large percentages of several large companies including Coca-Cola, Dairy Queen, Pampered Chef, Geico, and Fruit of the Loom. All in all, Berkshire’s portfolio is spread out over $61.5 billion dollars worth of investments. Berkshire also owns over 60 companies on it’s own.

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I’ve blogged about webmaster stuff for the past week or so and thought today would be a good time to take a break and touch on some big news in the business world. If any of you follow the stock market you ahve most likely heard the news that the Dow Jones Industrial Average has hit an all time high. It has literally been going up and up since the depression ended in the early 1940’s. Just take a look at this graph at Yahoo Finance.

Interestingly enough, the NASDAQ Composite has yet to rise above pre-911 levels, although, it has been going up slowly but surely since around 2003. Check out this graph for a visual example.

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