Madacasto

Is a Crash Impending?

or maybe post-digested dog food. Oh well, I own a nice heap of it.


On Aug 31 12:30 PM logicalthought wrote:

> Personally, I don't know if Denninger's timing is right or wrong,
> but I just love the phrase "used dogfood stock"...
>
> I think the only thing lower is a "used dogfood stock with fleas"!

Citigroup Looks Overpriced

Yahoo???? Ya-what you talkin' bout Willace?

Citigroup: Priced to Succeed

The next big shoe to drop is the abolishment of overused financial cliches, like "the next big shoe to drop".


On Aug 09 02:45 AM Anthony Alfidi wrote:

> Citigroup: Priced to FAIL. What's their exposure to commercial mortgages?
> That's the next big shoe to drop, and woe to anyone close to where
> it falls.

Blackberry’s 26 Advantages over iPhone

not apples to apples...no pun intended.


On Aug 10 10:29 AM martyg wrote:

> despite all your posturing, the proof of the pudding is in the price
> of the stock.
>
> aapl is twice the price of rimm but is only off about 35 or so points
> from the high, whereas rimm is down about 60 points from the high.
>
>
> tough to argue with those numbers. rimm is still trying to contact
> dr ehrlich to find that magic bullet.

Another Citigroup Scandal: Business as Usual for Wall Street

The real crime is the fact that these banks (not just Citigroup, just about all publicly traded banks on the planet) were acting within the bounds of the law. Fraud is an inherently illegal act. Why are CEO's not being paraded in shackles??? Because voted and appointed officials permitted what these companies were doing. The banks did not commit fraud and your use of the term is inaccurate. You might as well scream at the hot dog vendor for selling what you consider an unhealthy food item. It's a simple fact. No need for the academic explanation, thank you.

Citigroup Can't Keep Phibro

This is akin to telling Ford to get rid of truck sales. Phibro is a profitable unit and the executive pay is commensurate with their production. This concept is counterintuitive. That group is said to account for as much as 10% of Citigroup net income. Declaring all executive payments and bonuses as bogus is not the answer. My prediction is that Citigroup will maintain this unit and will pay them accordingly, as well they should.

Is 'Buy and Hold' Investing Dead?

I'm surprised that there's no mention of the prevalence of shorting stocks and the facilitation provided by technology - via online brokerages. Consider how drastically different investing is now, as opposed to even 5 years ago, because of the internet. Quick money has an impact on the psychology of novice investors, and so does the prospect of losing money. I believe this has a very strong impact on investment styles and the lack of the buy and hold strategy we see in today's marketplace.

Bill Ackman's Investment Thesis: Wendy's

Striking commentary above. I live in the town where Wendy's originated - Columbus, Ohio. Everyone here misses the well managed Wendy's for the quality and cut above normal fast food burgers and fries, not to mention the Frostys, salads and value menu items (which they started, by the way). A goliath brand has been incredibly mismanaged for some time now.

The Tim Horton's endeavor was costly in it's support of this loss of focus. Their major stockholders and the Thomas (re: late founder Dave Thomas) family, not to mention a new formidable ownership and leadership team are committed to righting these wrongs and returning Wendy's to it's once solid position as the "quality among the crap" fast food restaurant. It appears well on it's way, and I've thankfully bet 2,893 shares on it, because it continues to rise and has shown amazing endurance in an otherwise volatile market.

These guys are committed to supporting investment in research and development, site location, marketing and product positioning. You'll know that they have righted the ship when you notice your local Wendy's quality improve and the stock price continue to rise.

Just so I can put some numbers behind my cheerleading: as of today's close of $5.33 (1/28/09), the stock price of WEN has risen 24.5% from the date of the release of this article (12/12/08 and $4.28). In the same period, the Dow has lost 3%. McDonald's has lost 2.3% in this period ($60.59 down to $59.20).

That's right - Wendy's is at $5.33 today and McDonald's is at $59.20.

Netflix Reports Earnings Monday: Business Model Still Looks Strong

I'm feeling the rumbling of a media-tsunami when somebody figures out how to streamline the distribution of media to tv's/displays without traditional coax distributors (ie. time-warner). Very fragmented now. I'd like to see Netflix gain the edge in this arena and lock down agreements with the major studios and television networks. Netflix has made gains, but is not quite there. The mail-order business sure beats the pants off of video stores though, in the mean-time.