johngonole

Amazon, eBay, Overall eCommerce Suffering from Retail Woes

I have to weight in just to say I bought Ebay not to long ago. I'm under water a bit but its only half position. One that I might be willing to triple. I think the pessimism on EBAY is overdone. When it comes to auctions they have a wide moat indeed. They also have a wide moat when it comes to the sales of aftermarket items....think of a giant flee market.

That said the balance sheet is very strong. They are estimated to basically maintain their current earings and PE is less than 10. Long term they can grow overseas and even here in North and South America. I do think the economic contraction will effect them like anyone else due to falling prices and volume. However long term they are a market place not a vendor. I don't think they have any competitors that are about to grab market share from them.

The biggest problem EBAY is having and seems to have had for a while is figuring out what to do with their free cash flow. Eventually they will get it right.

Basically I think we are probably looking at a slow to medium growth company selling as a value stock. It also has a wide moat. Can't get much better than this. Just wish I could find 7 or 8 more companies like this to invest in.