That's Comcastic! Patrick's Q3 2009 pick

My pick for Q3 2009 is Comcast (Nasdaq:CMCSA.)

I'm willing to bet 4 out of the 5 of us have comcast in our homes, and I'd also say that if I had the option to have it in mine I would cancel DirecTV and install Comcast tomorrow morning. Having used both services I can see the benefits of both - but the bottom line is that Comcast provides a better value, faster product, and better services. Don't get me wrong, I love having the NFL Sunday Ticket for a few months a year - but at the end of the day I'd be just as happy with every Patriots game and the NFL network.

CMCSA is currently trading around $14.50/share. It's down about 14-15% this year, and I think it's a bargain to get in and ride the economic wave upwards back to it's previous highs. It is a profitable company with cash in the bank, a strong brand name - and a rather cocky outlook about it's future (they just inked a 5 year deal to allow Verizon FIOS to advertise on their networks.. not to mention the constant DirecTV ads they play). I think what that shows is they know the value of their product, and realize a few may leave to FIOS and DirecTV, but the advertising revenues they receive will far offset the lost subscriber revenues.

I'm also predicting some strong earnings from Comcast with their new basic cable programming aimed at capturing the US population who currently uses antennas to receive free over the air programming. With the new digital switch, Comcast now offers a cable package starting at $10/month aimed at capturing "over-the-air" viewers and swaying them to become cable subscribers. Comcast estimates there are over 2Million such viewers in the US. In all, Comcast has 24.6 million cable subscribers, 14.4 million high-speed Internet customers and 5.6 million voice customers. Based on these facts I place CMCSA into a "moderately safe" category with an upside potential for 20-30% gains in 12 months.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's picks.. I just wired my $$$$ to the bank account.

Q3 Meeting

Hey guys, I wanted to throw out some dates for our next meeting... how about June 27th/28th or July 11th/12th? I also will volunteer my place for the meeting, but will go wherever the group decides is most convenient.

I'm available on any four of the dates above as of now, but a Saturday is best for me.
Patrick