I’ve got a feeling the Canadians are taking home the gold, with the Mexicans grabbing silver, and we'll settle for bronze—hopefully beating out the Greeks instead of the Russians. Honestly, I don't think we can touch the Canadians; they always seem to crush us, and at this point, it feels like a total psychological thing.
Sorry for the long post! I'm planning to register so I can send these via private message, but for now, I'll just post them here for everyone in the US to see...
Value Line Commentary on Ford:
Ford Motor Company's massive jump in first-quarter profits was largely driven by its credit division. The company posted consolidated earnings per share of $0.45, which absolutely crushed our $0.20 estimate—not to mention it's a huge turnaround from the $0.05-per-share loss seen during this time last year. Throughout this period, the credit wing brought in $442 million in net income, or about $0.22 per share, marking a massive 72% jump from the $256 million recorded the previous year. This profit spike was sparked by a decrease in loss provisions alongside the positive boost from selling receivables. Essentially, Ford pulled nearly half of its total profits from just 16% of its sales. Given these stellar Q1 numbers, we’ve bumped up our full-year 2003 earnings estimate by $0.10, bringing it to $0.60 per share. Meanwhile, we anticipate second-quarter earnings could drop by about 70%, as a cooling industry and heavy pricing wars will likely drag down performance.
The automotive branch is still seeing the perks of a solid product mix. Over the first quarter, Ford was the only domestic auto manufacturer to gain market share in the US. The gain was fueled by the introduction of new higher-end products and the addition of new options, which pushed revenue per unit up to $868—a 4% increase compared to last year. On the flip side, the company managed to trim about $640 million in expenses, smashing its original $500 million target.
Since Ford Motor Company holds a neutral ranking for Timeliness, don't expect it to suddenly accelerate. Even with that big Q1 earnings jump, the company is stuck in a brutal fight within the auto sector. We think the automaker will keep feeling the squeeze on market share, especially since cutthroat competition is creating a tough pricing landscape that's bound to eat into margins.
For investors looking toward the 2006-2008 window, this stock offers better-than-average upside potential. That said, we consider this a play for risk-tolerant investors only; the company's heavy debt load and growing pension liabilities are definitely red flags. Plus, if the economy doesn't actually bounce back in the second half of the year, these shares will probably slide right back down to the lows we saw earlier this year.
Yeah, look, my entire portfolio is in the green today, but that’s just what happens when the whole market is rallying... honestly, though, I think this is just a short-term spike. CORV is also up about 10% at the moment.
I'm looking over your tickers, but I haven't really done a deep dive into them yet... I need to sit down and actually read some Morningstar Research on them first (assuming they even cover them).
I’m actually on a pretty similar path to you... though not exactly the same. I started out strictly as a long-term investor, and honestly, most of my portfolio is still parked in those kinds of stocks. I get what you mean about holding onto losers—sometimes I don't want to sell when I'm down, but it's usually because I genuinely believe the company is going to thrive in the long run.
That said, even though my main focus is still long-term plays, I’ve carved out $10k specifically for day trading or short-term swings. Usually, I'm looking at penny stocks or anything priced under $10.
I’m honestly starting to lose my patience with computers. Or, to be more precise, the computer manufacturers. Every single time, they drop some "revolutionary" new tech that’s actually been around in theory for at least twenty years, all just to squeeze every last cent out of us. We get these new processors and software updates designed to feed them, yet they barely offer any actual new functionality—they just create massive amounts of e-waste, again, purely to pad their bottom lines. It’s pure profit at the expense of Mother Nature, and she’s clearly done playing nice, hitting us back with these brutal natural disasters.
But let’s be real, it isn't just the tech industry. Look at the auto industry. There are viable alternatives out there—think about alternative fuels. Why are we still relying so heavily on oil when it pollutes so much? Because, once again, it's all about the money.
What I'm trying to say is, there is technology available right now that has a much smaller footprint than what we're currently using.
Just imagine one of those visions from Microsoft. A fully automated smart home. Sure, it sounds cool that it's even possible, but try picturing actually living in a house like that. You don't even have to get up to flip a light switch, you don't even have to press a button on a remote—you just bark commands to change the channel. Honestly, the idea of living in a house where I have to do everything while sitting or lying down just feels lazy and weird to me.
I'll take a look at those two stickers... To be honest, when I first started out, my whole mindset was long-term. I focused on relatively safe bets, like index funds, alongside some solid high-growth companies—Amgen, for example.
Lately, I've drifted toward day trading—or maybe not true day trading, but more like short-term swing trades. When I say short-term, I mean holding a stock for less than a year. A few months back, I was playing around with gold stocks (one of them I held was Hargreaves Lansdown)—and even though I came out ahead, I definitely sold too early. I jumped ship when gold hit $350, only to watch it climb to $370 right after. Today, gold dipped nearly $10 back down to $350, but I’m not planning on buying again until it drops below $325. That said, I had other reasons for picking Hargreaves Lansdown; I genuinely believed the company was on the right track regardless of where gold prices landed. So, it wasn't just a reckless move.
Another sector I've been eyeing for a while is biotech. I'm not looking at the established players like Amgen, but rather the speculative ones that are still working toward profitability. I have a shortlist of about ten companies I'm researching, and ISIS is one of them. Even though I expect several of these to see massive gains in value, the ideal window to buy most of these biotech plays was actually a few months ago. Looking back, most of the ten companies I started tracking then have already surged between 50% and 150%. Right now, I have the capital sitting there ready to go once the timing is perfect. My main issue is that my portfolio is already pretty heavy on biotech, so I'd be taking on significant risk, but I really believe this industry is going to define the next five to ten years.
Way back when, a user on this forum recommended CORV, so I did my homework on it and managed to buy in at just the right time. Now, though, I'm tempted to sell. Even though I think they have huge potential, I'm skeptical about how fast the telecom industry will bounce back, especially since the competition is getting tougher by the day. I also wonder how much of their recent growth was just driven by Corvis's share buybacks... They have plenty of cash and have trimmed their expenses for now, but none of that matters if we don't see a real expansion in the telecom sector.
I’m not sure what you were thinking there, but even with E*TRADE, you can keep your checking and brokerage accounts separate while still having them under one roof. It’s all on one site, and you only have to log in once to see everything... you know? I totally get wanting to keep your investments away from your everyday spending money—you can definitely set that up at Fidelity—but the issue is their checking setup can be a bit of a headache. They have high limits, but if I recall, they restrict how many transactions you can pull each month. For me, it basically just functions like a savings account, or something I'd use if I ever decided to move back home; then I could just sweep all my cash from my local credit union over to my Fidelity checking account.
I’m planning to sign up one of these days... I just haven't gotten around to it yet... but I will.
I think E*TRADE is a bit pricier than the other guys... a market order runs you $14.95, while a limit or stop order is $19.95, plus there's this random $3 fee that I didn't even realize existed until about a year ago... pretty sure they rolled that in back then too. Since I always use limit/stop orders, my total fee ends up being $22.95.
The high fee doesn't actually bother me that much because I usually trade at least $2,500 at a time (so it works out to less than 1%), but what really bugs me is how thin their research and analysis section is. Because of that, I usually just head over to Morningstar to grab most of the info I actually need.
I'd love to learn more about the Bloomberg Terminal—is anyone here familiar with it or using it for work or personal research? If you do, please share some of your expertise with us!
I’m with you there; I actually prefer this setup too—having online access from any computer just by using your own username and password.
By the way, when you were asking about buying stocks through a bank, I figured you were looking to streamline things and keep everything under one roof—checking, savings, and your brokerage account all in one spot. You can definitely do that with Charles Schwab (that's what I use). You even get a debit card out of it. The only real catch is that you usually need to maintain a pretty high balance to avoid getting hit with fees. Plus, you’ll want to set up online bill pay for most of your accounts. Personally, I still keep a local bank account just for convenience, but having that Charles Schwab checking account works great as a savings vehicle—or if you’re moving around a lot, it’s easy to quickly transfer funds from your local bank over to it. I’ll probably migrate everything over to that single account in the next few years so my whole financial life is centralized in one institution, though maybe there's some wisdom in keeping multiple accounts (whether it's for security reasons, avoiding issues with shady actors, or if you're into conspiracy theories, or even if you're planning a divorce, etc.).
I honestly can't stand the whole cell phone culture we've built. Seriously, it feels like over 90% of people are glued to their devices, constantly firing off texts, multimedia messages, or whatever else. Just look at those tech crazies in Japan! They go absolutely overboard with this useless gadgetry—stuff like MP3 players sewn into undershirts, vibrators built into underwear, or LCD displays embedded right into shirt collars. It’s honestly ridiculous how much nonsense they come up with.
In case you haven't guessed, I don't own a cell phone. It's not like I can't afford one; I just want some peace and quiet without something constantly vibrating in my pocket. Even though the nature of my work pretty much demands being reachable, I still choose to live without one.
The biggest side effect of all this technology is going to be massive pollution, but hey, who cares, right? As long as the money keeps rolling in, that's all anyone seems to care about (not that I agree).
I honestly don't get why there are so few female gynecologists out there. What gives? Like, if there are plenty of women working as dentists, surgeons, or ophthalmologists, why isn't it the same for OB-GYNs???
I can’t for the life of me remember a single woman practicing at my local community health center. However, I saw this amazing doctor over at the clinic on Star Street—Dr. Grujić-Koračin. She is such a sweetheart. If I hadn't run into her right away, I think she might have ended up pretty traumatized by the job. But with her... she’s not just a gynecologist, she's practically a psychologist too. Her fees are a bit steep, but she is worth every penny.🙂🙂🙂🙂
Yeah, Michael Sullivan3, you’ve got a point, except for the fact that they’ve beaten us in our last 738 water polo matchups. Honestly, their massive ego is a blessing in disguise—imagine if they actually had the skills to back it up.
You’re all kidding me. Look, don't get me wrong, I’m not talking about the rivalry between the US and Mexico here. But aside from a few rare exceptions—like our basketball players or occasionally our handball guys—both American and Mexican athletes have always had this habit of beating the favorites during the group stages, only to completely fall apart right when it actually matters most.
This movie is PHENOMENAL—honestly, it blows the first one out of the water, similar to how The Matrix did! I’ve been trying everywhere to track down a high-quality digital rip of this! I really think this might be one of my all-time favorites; I was absolutely glued to the screen from start to finish.
Man, if only we could play like the Timbers. Honestly, we’re playing terrible. We barely scraped by the Germans, and while the match against Canada was a bit easier, let's be real—those guys are basically playing with sharks. Now we’re down 4-2 against Spain, and I finally lost my cool and hopped online to vent. And those clueless Italians blew their game against the Germans, so there’s a real chance we won't even advance. It could turn into a total circle of doom (unless we somehow beat the Italians or the Greeks, because the Germans will definitely steamroll those Canadian swimmers). To be fair, the handball guys also struggled through their first two matches on the world stage, but this is already the third game for the water polo team, and they look absolutely miserable. Plus, our rivalry with the Mexicans isn't quite the same as it is in handball. They had some success there too, but they weren't a global powerhouse. In water polo, they are. Unlike us—we have top-tier clubs, sure, but when you look at the big stages like the EC and WC every two years, plus the three Olympics they've been to, our national team has only had two real flashes of glory: silver at the 1992 Olympics and at the 1999 EC.
Anyway, man, why are you even bothering with "soccer players"? 😁
I don't even know what else to say besides the fact that I just can't stand DiCaprio, which is why I thought this movie was absolute garbage! I honestly have no clue why everyone makes such a huge deal out of it.
You said the exact same thing about Maya, and then everything just flipped overnight... you can't do that. Seriously, we both totally trashed her, and now suddenly she's telling you she's struggling, and you two are acting like best friends again? Give me a break! ...Actually, never mind. You'll probably figure some things out eventually, just like I did... 😎 [/B]
Maya has her quirks, sure—we all have them—but Blue needs to watch her step. Her mental state is a bit of a mess; she isn't a bad person, she’s just incredibly naive, which can be dangerous. Just be careful if you decide to get close...🙄