It turns out that even if our hypothetical heart attack victim were able to run price checks on emergency room EKG offerings, he or she would be highly unlikely to get a straight answer.

FORBES: How Much is that Hip Replacement in the Hospital?

Michaels subsequently ran occasional columns by Price in FORBES, in which the guru listed hypothetical portfolios for investors.

FORBES: James W. Michaels

If Lewis was one of those, he was perhaps egged on by a hypothetical projection from the broker that assumed Microsoft's stock price would rise 25% a year for the next nine years.

FORBES: Out of Options

We forecast market share remaining stable for both currently but note that a hypothetical 5 percentage point increase implies 2.5% upside in our share price estimate for Intel and 11% for AMD.

FORBES: AMD Stock Price Sensitive To Intel Market Share Theft