Since DISCA doesn't seem to fit in our price range and is trading too high...I'd like to hear your thoughts on two cheaper stocks that i think would make good investments.
First is Ebay (EBAY). Its trading at about 23.00/s right now. As you all know its a solid company that will likely benefit from the up-turn in the economy. People are starting to spend more money, but at the same time spend it smartly. People are looking for deals - and eBay is the go-to place to find them. Its got a decent P/E ratio (12) and the company is profitable. I would propose we pick up about 15 shares of eBay and hold onto it for the year through the holidays.
Second is Pfizer Inc. (PFE). Pfizer is a global pharmaceutical company that makes prescription and over the counter medicine, vaccines, nutritional health products, and animal medicines for livestock and pets. They have a bunch of products out on the market and have been a very successful company over the years with a solid reputation. They also acquired Wyeth in 2009, and Wyeth makes many of the of the over counter drugs you see all the time (Advil, Chapstick, Robotussin, Preperation H (mikey's favorite). You would honestly be surprised how much medicine Pfizer/Wyeth is responsible for. They have a decent P/E (12) and are currently trading around 17 a share. I would propose we by 15 shares of Pfizer and hold onto them for 6-9 months and see how things shake out.
What do you guys think?
12 comments:
Almost forgot - Viagra too!
Baby boomers + Viagra = fill in the blank
The market is down down down and it is hurting. Tennessee is flooded. Times Square is reeling. Boston is chugging water. The Gulf is greasy. This country is a disaster.
This is one of the best weeks of the entire year to buy stock. Does anyone feel comfortable with putting our money where their mouth is and motioning to actually buy something?
My motion stays behind NWSA, an even better time to buy after a dip today on a downgrade to "neutral" by JPMorgan analyst (the analyst still set a target price of 16.50 on NWSA).
NWSA just reported better than expected earnings
So it looks like NEWS Corp has been approved to purchase 20 shares with 3 votes (Mikey, Joe, and Pat)
And we have 2 votes to purchase 15 shares of Pfizer (Me and Mikey).
Can i get a 3rd on Pfizer...?
Any thoughts on Pfizer or Ebay?
eBay has plateaued since it's President, who ran the company since '98, left to run for California Governor against Ahnold. It's interesting to try forecasting their earnings. On one hand, they are a web-based service that needs to hold no inventory, yet employs over 16,000 people. On the other hand, is their business model worn out since many people prefer the cost and simplicity of CraigsList?
Two concerns regarding pharma stud Pfizer- Obamacare/generics and expiring patents. In the pharma world, patents are the golden goose. Lipitor is the powerhouse cholesterol drug and Pfizer extended the patent that expired in '09 to June '11. There is no generic for Lipitor so this is a major deal. Is anyone familiar with any other major patents set to expire- whether at Pfizer or at other drug behemoths that Pfizer could compete with? The $4 prescriptions sold at Wal-Mart are made in India and South America and are only periodically tested by the FDA. Anyone familiar with what the impact of Obamacare and insurance companies will have on patients being able to get these brand name drugs for the same price of generics?
i think investing in any part of the healthcare industry is a bigger risk than any other industry, especially for the long term future. I would only be intersted in a short term hedge with specific agenda. I just think there is a lot of unanswered questions about how natioanl healtcare will shake up the industry.
Think pharma is riskier than finance, construction or energy? What are some of your unanswered health care questions?
I 2nd the motion for ebay.. I was on the fence but deciding that it is a good stock to roll the dice on after reading an article about the sales of iPad's on ebay being very strong internationally while Apple struggles to roll out availability everywhere. BY some rough estimates ebay probably grossed an extra million in sales from the ipad in May alone, so by the time the full roll out is complete in July I see there being some increased revenues, seller fees, listing fees, and traffic to the site due to the ipad launch. More on that article I read is here.
I really don't think Obama-care will have as big an effect on Pfizer as you might think. If you look into the details of the health care plan, most of the big changes won't take effect until 2014. The changes that do happen before that, I don't believe will have a huge effect on Pfizer. Pfizer's product line is enormous with many over-the-counter drugs as well as animal medicine so their livelihood does not rely solely on prescription drugs. They have been a profitable company for years and I just don't really think the healthcare reform risk is as high as people may think.
Check out this link - it gives a good overview of what the latest healthcare bill is all about.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20000846-503544.html
As far as eBay - I still think more people use ebay and will continue to use ebay rather than craigslist. There is no rating system in craigslist so its hard to trust people. Plus most times you have to put some effort into buying something off craigslist (like leaving your house to meet someone). People are lazy, they would rather use Ebay, pay someone through paypal and have it shipped to their door.
Rizzi's article is interesting because the same scenario could happen could happen with any hot new product that comes out the market. Its all about supply and demand, if people can't get a hot new product in the store, the next place they go is Ebay. Look at when PS3 and Wii came out. You couldn't fine them at any store, and people were buying them up on ebay like crazy. Especially if one county releases it before another, like with the Ipad..
1- There are an average of over 100,000,000 items listed internationally on eBay at any given time. In addition, PayPal (an eBay holding), moves over $50,000,000,000 in currency annually. As much as a million dollars in iPad revenue is helpful, it is by no means enough to tip the scales in this decision.
2- Obama's health bill eliminates over-the-counter drugs from eligibility in Flexible Spending Accounts starting next year. That may not be as big a deal top consumers in the affluent Northeast, but Wal-Mart's success across the country offering $4 generics is a clear indication that the plan may drive down OTC spending. If automotive was like the pharma business, the company who invented the seatbelt or the airbag or backup sensors wouldn't have to share their innovations with the competition. The power of these pharma companies isn't just the popularity of their retail brands, but the exclusivity of their patents. What impact does Obamacare have on renewals and research protection?
I know ipad sales aren't going to make a percentage impact on ebay profits, I hope you all give me more credit than that.
I was making a comment about that sort of a movement - and how every time something innovative like this comes out and is hard to come by, ebay is the 2nd market for those items and items sell for a premium at that. That's where the strength of this company comes from now, and will come from always. It's the amazon of bidding sites and won't be taken off that mountain top anytime soon - so my motion was to ride the wave while the going is good for eBay.
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