juddmiller

EA Sports Disappoints With 'Watered-Down' Games

You can also rent the games before you buy them, to see if it has everything you want. But I share your disappointment...The whole reason I upgraded to an XBox 360 (a $450 investment) was just to be able to play Madden 07 with the 360's wicked graphics...yeah, the game has good graphics on the 360, but there's so many things the game is missing (like, um, the title's namesake, for one!), that I felt I got badly burned by the experience, and I learned my lesson: I won't buy another EA game without renting it first, and seeing what people have to say about it. And who knows, if I rent it, and play it thru, I might not even need to buy it. How about that, EA?

Is Rite Aid Heading in the Right Direction?

Thanks for the article.

I love the Rite Aid story. Not only do I agree with all of your positives, but interestingly, I found four of your five "negatives" to be positives in my mind as well.

1. Acquisition costs/lower 2008 earnings (will keep the share price low while I continue to build my position)
2. Rite Aid is highly leveraged (Rite Aid has been doing an excellent long-term job of reducing their debt, demonstrating consistent discipline and effective management)
3. Faces acquisition risks (Wow, this to me is a nice upside. If Rite Aid doesn't increase it's own multiple through earnings, it could be taken over, which would be a nice bump to the stock. I'll take the cash either way.)
4. Still a turn around story, will have to turn around Eckerd (Their experience turning around Rite Aid makes them an excellent turnaround team for Eckerd, though integrations (separate from turn-arounds) always have unknowns)

I accept that Rite Aid is a speculative buy, but I am very, very bullish on Rite Aid. I'm in a long-term acquisition stage with Rite Aid now, and while I get a quick flush of joy when its stock nudges upward, actually it bums me out, because I'm not done filling up the truck.

-- Hotwheels71 (long Rite Aid, and looking to get longer)