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by lotsofpulp 94 days ago
>By that logic the cap’s on annual profits by insurance companies suggest significant pricing power by insurers.

I disagree. If I was a seller, and if I had pricing power, then I would not settle for a 2% profit margin when the cap is 15% or more. The only reason I would settle for 2% is because I cannot sell for my product or service at higher prices or in higher volumes to get more than 2%.

>Further a weekly turnover at 2% is a rather insane annual ROI, we’re talking 100% return on investment

I don't know what definition of return on investment you are using, but it does not match any that I am familiar with based on share price and dividend history of any publicly listed grocer (kroger/albertsons/walmart/target). Obviously, Costco has done well, and Amazon, but those are not strictly due to selling groceries, or retail in general.

1 comments

A 10% or 20% cap is only relevant if the company is hitting the cap. Operating a subdivision with a lower profit margin is a different matter, that’s no longer an insurance company hell they could be selling porn and it would be equally irrelevant.

Instead what matters here is that insurance companies by your own admission clearly have pricing power and that’s a problem.

> does not match any that I am familiar with based on share price and dividend history of any publicly listed grocer

Return on capital when starting a company is different than return on investment when buying a public company. If a company is kicking off 1 Billion dollars a year it doesn’t matter if it cost 10 million or 10 billion dollars building the company, you pay for the share based on future revenue. When starting a company however it very much matters if it takes 10 million or 10 billion to get off the ground.