What interests me is that the "we must maximize shareholder profits" meme has an implicit "today". Don't you have a spectrum of fiduciary duties? Your respons

What interests me is that the "we must maximize shareholder profits" meme has an implicit "today". Don't you have a spectrum of fiduciary duties? Your responsibility to the day-trader is to keep the stock price high today. Your responsibility to the pension fund is to keep the company in business and viable for the next 20+ years to maximize his return. When you factor in your duty to long-term investors, suddenly a lot of strategies become viable, if not mandatory. Spending the dollar in R&D today to yield 20 tomorrow, or to ensure you aren't lapped by the upstart competitor who did spend the dollar. How do long-term stockholders make sure that the business is acting in their interest, rather than bring overruled by the "waiting for Q2 results to sell" crowd?