[Leaning Right]

Proctor and Gamble has a P/E under 19, Ford under 10, meaning yields of greater than 5% and 10% respectively.

According to www.bigcharts.com, Proctor and Gamble and Ford both have yields around 3%.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I think that’s divends, not ROI. Management reinvests some of the profit. Some of the investment is paying down debt (almost certainly true in the case of Ford.)

Of course, vastly profitable Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) went for about 30 years without paying dividends, then paid a couple of paltry dividends before is was sold off to Compaq at a fraction of its market high, later acquired by HP.

People did stop wanting VAXs and PDPs and VMS, and Ken Olson wasn’t ready to adapt and change.