beezlebub

Morton's and Ruth's Chris: Eat a Steak, Take a Stake for Juicy Profits

to start, i am long ruth's and am looking to enter mrt. in the current environment high end consumer discretionary names, or extra highly discretionary names, tend to perform weakly....nothing surprising about ruth and mrt's results. i am looking forward to improving results, a 'when' not 'if' and the accompanying equity returns. when the tide shows signs of shifting, rotation into names like ruth and mrt will occur. i do find it amusing reading speculation that these stocks (and others) are a waste of time. patience may be required (a year or so, not a decade) and it should be well rewarded.
ruths purchase of the seafood chain, perhaps ill- timed (perhaps not) was somnewhat of a surpise. but cost reductions (mostly back office in this case) provide some offset to the meaningfull increases in commodity costs. (i have to add that this is not my though, but i agree with dri's ceo as he recently characterized his own foray into the beef sector). Bottom line, i see no reason why the company should not perform exceptionally well from an equity standpoint, it has been pointed out, they generate cash even in these weak times. as for a takeover, could happen, but ruth's leverage is an obstacle here.