Stock Itch

Check out The Street’s Note to the Deluded: Don’t Buy GM Stock article.

As noted back in October 2008, I bought a few shares of General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) for what I considered a small cost (30 shares at $5 a share). Today it looks like that opportunity is in the toilet (but I’m not whining…my overall portfolio is diverse and just fine).

As I’ve watched the stock price go down and down and down and then flushed, it became clear quickly that there’s no way I was investing any more money into it. If I made it out on the positive side, great, but I wasn’t holding my breath.  The up and down movements (in “penny stock” territory) confused me. My gut was to just observe and when/if the stock is wiped out, use the loss for what it is.

And regarding the “new” company, don’t get me started on that. Bottom line, I think that the powers that be in Washington D.C. are a bunch of morons who in 9-months have increased our deficit so drastically that I bet my great-great grand-children will still be paying for it. But that’s another topic for a different blog.

If I were to add any auto company back into my portfolio, it’d be Ford (which I have held in the past) due to sticking to their guns and not taking a “bailout”, but at this point I’m still just a little hesitant. Luckily, as I said, the portfolio is diverse & I cannot stress enough how important that is.

Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, Inc. (NYSE: WEN), the parent company of Wendy’s International, Inc. (Wendy’s) and Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. (Arby’s), announced the declaration of its next regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.015 per share, payable on March 30, 2009 to Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, Inc. stockholders of record as of March 20, 2009.

Via BusinessWire

Having watched the stock market closely since the recent “crash” back in October, yesterday’s 6 year DJIA low doesn’t really surprise me. What did surprise me was the upward run in early January. What was that all about? Bad numbers continued to mount, mass layoffs were looming after the holidays (now realized) & the media has people freaked out to the point to where no body wants to buy anything.  I’m starting to understand a few things, the most important being that in general people are not rational. And that’s what I’m banking on.

November 2008 Overview

In a bit of sad, but not unexpected, news, Circuit City (NYSE:CC) has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection.  I had held out some glimmer of hope, but the fact remains that the Circuit City has had problems for years and this cannot be credited solely to the current state of the economy.

Remember, Circuit City closed a lot of stores a few years back AND they still have leases on many of those still on the books…and last week they added 155 more stores to the list.

While advertising is an important part of marketing in the retail realm, I did find it silly that they’re running so many commercials recently and rolling out their “one price” campaign.  Watching football this weekend I can’t even count how many Circuit City commercials I saw…and I don’t think I saw a single Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) or Target (NYSE:TGT) commercial.  It was all Circuit City and Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) commercials…but Garmin can afford it.  I’m sorry, but people are so freaked out about the economy right now that a commercial blitz is not going to make a large return on investment.  Especially when “Black Friday” is just around the corner and there are rumors of huge HDTV price drops looming…not to mention that their marketshare has shrunk due to store closings.

Now that Circuit City has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy I think that it’ll be hard for them to move big ticket items at a decent profit due to customer fear of warranties not being valid if something happens.  I know that the only things that I’ll be buying from them this holiday season are movies, music & games.

However, I do hope that Circuit City is able to pull out of this.  While I do purchase most of my electronics from Best Buy (I have two within a few miles of my house), I do like competition and think that is good for consumers. Hopefully this isn’t going to be the final chapter to the Circuit City story.

What: General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM)

When: Wednesday, October 9th, 2008

Why: General Motors makes the best American sports car, the Chevrolet Corvette.  The Corvette is an awesome car (minus a few of the 1980’s bodies) that we get to see a lot of here in Indianapolis as the official pace car of the Indy 500.  The past 12 Indy 500 pace cars have all been GM products, 7 of which were the Corvette.  Sure, I have other reasons as well, but the Corvette is reason enough.

Personal Overview: General Motors Corporation stock has “tanked” in recent months (currently down 84.25% in the past year) and that GM is in serious need of a new business and marketing strategy. For an older company, I don’t think that is entirely a bad thing.  Difficult times breed innovation which is just what the American auto industry needs.

There are also rumors flying that they may combine with Chrysler, announcing a plan as early as this coming week.  I’m not sure if that’s a good idea or not, but I must say that I love the Chrysler Town & Country minivan and the Dodge Viper is a pretty cool American sports car too.

Personal Expectations: I’m planning to hold onto this one for a while and then see what unfolds.  While some consider this “risky” right now, I’m looking at it as more of an opportunity.  If the worse thing happens, I’m not out a whole lot since I got in on the low side.  But if the company and the economy get turned around in the next decade, I’m going to be a happy guy when I remember when I bought in.  But in the near future, say a year or two, I’d like to see some dividens happening again, as the recent $0.25 – $0.50 quarterly dividends per share aren’t too shabby.

Here’s the summary of Wendy’s / Arby’s Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEN)  common stock for the week of October 20-24, 2008.  The stock lost $0.04, or 1.25%, from the previous weeks’ close of $3.20 (See chart).

Performance for October 20-24, 2008

SEC Filings for October 20-24, 2008

• None

Wendy’s / Arby’s Group, Inc. News

• Earnings preview: McDonald’s to serve up a happy meal of data? BloggingStocks – Oct 21, 2008

Here’s the summary of Emmis Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:EMMS) common stock for the week of October 13-17, 2008. The stock lost $0.54, or 57.45%, from the previous weeks’ close of $0.94 (See chart).

Performance for October 13-17, 2008

Emmis Communications Corporation SEC Filings for October 13-17, 2008

• None

Emmis Communications Corporation News

• Emmis Communications Reports 2nd Quarter Results and CBS Corporation… Financial News USA (press release) – October 13, 2008

Here’s the summary of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) common stock for the week of October 13-17, 2008. The stock gained $0.59, or 4.18%, from the previous weeks’ close of $14.12 (See chart).

Performance for October 13-17, 2008

Akamai Technologies, Inc. SEC Filings for October 13-17, 2008

• None

Akamai Technologies, Inc. News

• Akamai Helps Best Buy Improve E-Commerce Performance Retail Solutions Online (press release) – October 16, 2008
• Wayn.com adopts Akamai to improve site performance by up to 173% across… Response Source (press release) – October 15, 2008
• Akamai Technologies Soars into Technical Resistance Schaeffers Research – October 13, 2008
• BlackArrow Integrates Ad Management System with the Akamai Media… MarketWatch – October 13, 2008
• Paul Sagan of Akamai Elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences MarketWatch – October 13, 2008
• Wising Up On Akamai Tech RTT News – October 13, 2008
• Akamai Exec Opens NASDAQ Stock Market Trading Markets (press release) – October 13, 2008

Here’s the summary of General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) common stock for the week of October 13-17, 2008. The stock gained $1.54, or 31.49%, from the previous weeks’ close of $4.89 (See chart).

Performance for October 13-17, 2008

SEC Filings for October 13-17, 2008

• None

General Motors Corporation News

• GM-Chrysler merger talks advance CNNMoney.com (October 18th, 2008)
• GM exec hopes US car market has hit bottom -paper Forbes (October 18th, 2008)
• GM sends Hummer sales book to potential buyers Forbes (October 18th, 2008)
• GM offers $1.6 bln, buyouts to close Ohio plant Reuters (October 17th, 2008)
• Car market decline spurs fresh Big Three merger talk Reuters (October 17th, 2008)
• Lenders eager for Chrysler-GM deal- WSJ Forbes (October 17th, 2008)
• GM’s Sales Drop in China Puts Forecast In Doubt Wall Street Journal (October 16th, 2008)
• GM campaign tells buyers they can still get loans BusinessWeek (October 16th, 2008)
• GM names CEO for its Hummer brand slated for sale Forbes (October 16th, 2008)