Kolek planning to go pro
Since Chicos managed to get the last one locked, let's try again.MU82, anything looking tempting to you right now? (Yes, I know all the caveats that you do not dispense advice ) My small foray into ABBV has worked out fine so far, but I have another chunk that I'm partially looking to put to work due to the payout from Altaba.Saw your write up on HON, and I agree. That was one that I had on my short list three years ago and never pulled the trigger--congrats on making a much better decision that me. Like you, I've also been increasing my cash position, but want to put some of the AABA cash back to work.Anything stick out to you?
I "like" a lot of companies, but valuations are so stretched on the highest quality names that it's not easy to find many I'm willing to buy.AT&T just had a really good earnings report. Price has run up this year, but it's still fairly attractive compared to its historic valuations, it has a good dividend (not great dividend growth but a high yield), and it has some growth catalysts going forward.In a similar industry, Comcast is a solid company that looks fairly valued, and Disney is still not outrageous.If, like me, you aren't overly concerned about legislative changes that could radically shake up health care, UnitedHealth is a money-making machine and a decent value. I like stocks of companies that make war machines because that never really goes out of fashion. They've had a pretty big run-up the last several years, though. Lockheed Martin is my fave of the group, but Northrup, Raytheon, UTX, GD, HON, etc, all have some good things going.I love everything about Microsoft except the valuation -- one of the best-run companies out there IMHO. The same could be said of quite a few defensive companies, such as utilities (NextEra is my favorite) and consumer staples (McCormick, Hormel, Costco, etc etc).Possible value plays involving beaten-down stocks for those with strong stomachs could include MO, CVS, MMM. Both Amazon and Alphabet (Google) had disappointments in recent earnings reports; neither is cheap, but both are cheaper than a week ago.Just a few names to chew on. Obviously, there are thousands more. Again, I do not offer refunds ... but I'm happy to take a share of profits - ha!
Buy SPY and call it a day
AT&T announced HBO Max SVOD launch yesterday for May. Will be interesting to see how that all goes.
The market anticipation of dumping deadweight DTV in a spin-off also is also a nice upside.
DTV is and always has been a cash flow play for AT&T and allowed their Uverse product to finally by margin positive by combining more favorable programmer deals. Who is going to buy DTV?
I hear the Duke brothers are buying orange juice futures.
I'll bet you $1 on that.
On a more serious note, it's hard to give individual stock advice when we don't know what the rest of the portfolio looks like.It's important not to have too much exposure to any one area of the market. I try to avoid just giving one name when making recommendations, I'm just not that smart.So, I will tell you what my last three purchases were for my personal portfolio. Exelixis(EXEL), biotech stock. Infinera(INFN) communication equipment. Starbucks, I think you know what they do.EXEL, I've owned for a long time, my original purchase was for about $4/share, then I bought more under 2. It's beenmy biggest winner. I recently bought more. They report today after the close, so likely a big move up or down.INFN, I'm taking a flyer on, I bought it at 5 bucks/share.SBUX I bought recently, I'm slightly underwater there. They also report today. Bought for the income and long-term growth potential.
If nobody does, they could just spin it off. That's what companies do sometimes with underperforming divisions. Honeywell spun off two such divisions last year, for example.
Just my suggestion, but I think you may want to listen to AT&T’s earnings call from Monday about that asset.
Here are the two main points the CEO and CFO made about DTV in the earnings call:Gaining scale in linear pay TV was the core rationale behind our DIRECTV acquisition. We realized the satellite business was mature and we anticipated subscriber losses.However, the content savings quickly turned our U-verse pay TV business from loss to a profit. And since we bought DIRECTV, it has generated healthy cash flows of over $4 billion per year or a total of $22 billion in cash by the end of this year.Our free cash flow has grown significantly over the past few years, and that's thanks in part to our DIRECTV and Time Warner deals being cash flow-accretive on day 1. We expect free cash flow to be at $28 billion in 2020.[/i]And ...We're always open to making portfolio moves, and DIRECTV has been the source of a lot of public speculation in that regard. As we've said, it will be an important piece of our strategy over the next 3 years.But no portion of our business is ever exempt from a continuous assessment for fit and performance. We'll approach it with a fresh set of eyes and clarity around the rapidly evolving consumer environment, and we'll evaluate multiple options. That includes partnerships and other structures.Likewise, given the quality of our assets, there will be no major acquisitions during the next several years.[/i]+++In other words, they are rationalizing having significantly overspent for DTV by saying it's been a cash-flow machine ... and they are talking like a pro sports team GM might about a player they think will be part of their future but never say never to moving any player.There is no reason for them to give away DTV. It really is a solid cash-flow creator, and they need that. But, as the CEO said, there are no "sacred cows." Selling or spinning off DTV certainly could happen.Seriously, hoopy, thanks for calling it to my intention. I usually only read earnings call transcripts if I am considering buying or selling a stock, but this was interesting.
Is it generally smart to take advantage of employee stock plans?