Greg Weston

What's Behind Hansen's Smackdown?

Another reason I wouldn't want to own the stock is the risk that Coke/Pepsi/7-up/Starbu... will offer retailers deals to exclude these competitors and only stock their brands of energy drinks. They don't have to be too explicit, they could just be "we'll give you a discount on Pepsi and Mountain Dew bottles if you meet sales goals for Mountain Dew Amp." Next thing you know, Amp gets placed in the best location of the store, while Monster gets kicked out of the fridge and is only sold warm.

I'm not short. I considered shorting when Herb Greenberg starting writing about them, but decided I didn't want to fight a stock with a strong up-trend. As has happened so many times, Greenberg was right!

What's Behind Hansen's Smackdown?

I like my coffee cold, especially in the summer. I tried the Java Monster drink, several different flavors actually. However, Starbucks is now selling the same thing (cold coffee in a big can with ginsing added), plus a few other brands.

I don't like the taste of any of them, and have gone back to drinking either brewed black coffee over ice, or if I am in a rush the glass bottles or little "double-shot" cans of Starbucks.

All of the "big can" coffee drinks have a strange taste to them, which I assume is the ginsing. Plus they are more expensive. To the extent that people want stronger coffee, 7-11 has for free "stok" packages that you can add to fresh coffee, which goes for $1.79 rather than the $3 of the big cans.

Something also to be worried about is state and/or federal regulation. What happens to revenue if sales to minors is banned?