INVESTING – Page 2 – STOCKjAW.COM

EDITOR'S DESK, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, STOCKS

Leaving, When You’ve Lingered Too Long. Salvaging a Smoking Stock Position.

OCTOBER 23, 2019. The question’s always the same; “Should I stay or should I go?” No humiliation applies in any failure there. Stocks are not a love affair, exactly. Everyone takes their turn in the spank line, in stocks and love. Enjoy it, especially when it’s someone else’s turn. We do.
Being paid is why we all do it. The risks we take are why we’re paid, and others are not. We work our asses off, yet stared like some goofy stuffed animal as macro concerns drove cash out of high-multiple growth stocks. The move punched a fat drain hole in three of our positions. We’ve ridden Alteryx, ETSY and New Age Beverages down like ticking time bombs. All have gone off ugly-time. Now what?
Unwinding ugly is typically painful, but much less so then conducting no salvage at all. Our first move is getting positive about it all, and examining each position closely. Now we’re sharing some takeaway with you. Enjoy. STOCKjAW addresses the problem…”Leaving, When You’ve Lingered Too Long.
Salvaging a Smoking Stock Position.”

FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, STOCKS, TECHNICALS, THINKING NOW

Walking Away From JNJ

OCTOBER 20, 2019. Looking for trouble is unneeded. Plenty exists.
We’ve warned against one since August 29th. It’s glowed right before us, everyday. JNJ, and it proved that trouble, clinically. On October 11, Bernstein analyst Lee Hambright charmed JNJ with an upgrade to “Outperform,” and a price target of $155. Seven days later shares dropped -6.22% on greater than triple volume. Why? FDA testing revealed asbestos contamination in its” baby powder. That came right on the heels of the massive judgment against the company for it’s antipsychotic Risperdal, creating a new nightmarish third legal front. That judgment was for $8 billion, for one individual.
Meanwhile, the company suggested it was “open” to a collective settlement of thousands of looming lawsuits relating to its’ part in the opioids plague. And in the foreground Purdue Pharma is being eviscerated on the very same charges. This month comes the start in Ohio of the first federal-level opioids case.
New Brunswick-based Johnson & Johnson has for decades been viewed as a cozy haven of stability and payouts to investors in all markets. Besides the Bernstein upgrade, eight days ago Barron’s named it as one of its’ five best dividend plays. For now JNJ will be more known as a defendant, on multiple fronts. Their payouts in the future will look very different. “Walking Away From JNJ.”

CULTURE, Editor's Choice, FUNDAMENTALS, GREEDY CREEP, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, THINKING NOW

Dividend Joy. How Now.

OCTOBER 15, 2019. Standing butt-naked on the beach–is that a dividend? Maybe that’s the joy. Either way, there you are. Why? You found your dividend, and they pay, everyday. What would you do to get there? We learned what to look for and we’re sharing. We also came to terms with a criminal bank. Wouldn’t you? Wells is different now. “Really?” you question. Naw, not really–maybe. Corporate culture is as difficult to change as a raging surf. Besides, crime pays well, for a while. Wells knows.
Once and for years Wells was run like some rum-poisoned pirate ship. Former CEO John Stumpf’s gone, replaced by a tenured insider present for all the criminality. Absolutely nothing else has changed, except for the firing of thousands who were only following heavy-handed dictates of senior management bent on committing sprawling fraud. He’s gone too. Now there’s a new guy coming. He’s the FNG. So, let’s say Wells is in progress.
Meanwhile, Morningstar pins a $58.00 price target on the stock. That suggests a 16% up move from here. That’s without the 4.15% dividend. Is it worth it? What makes any dividend stock worth owning? We use wells and a new Barron’s article as examples and lessons.
We pose all the proper dividend questions. STOCKjAW talks “Dividend Joy. How Now.”

EDITOR'S DESK, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

Portfolio Strength. Four Moves Toward More.

OCTOBER 12, 2019. Trade “agreements” are never final and “deals” are firstly talk. Meanwhile your portfolio turns in the wind created by all that gas. Individual investors can’t stop such. We can however reposition. Trade’s a drag, but not the only macro funk we face. Additionally there’s that pesky “economic slowing” thing. O.K.
Many people talk and some actually make sense. Here’s some. Opportunities only truly end when we stop looking, or thinking. Here’s more. Everything good’s now too expensive. Hog shit. The door toward greater safety or growth’s now closed. Pish-posh. Sometimes the good stuff stares you in the face to the point you don’t even notice anymore. Or maybe that stuff simply looks very different in this macro light. We have one, or two, and they’re not secrets. Both are in fact perfect examples of five characteristics that work brilliantly now. Buy either, or use them as ideas to narrow your process. Your portfolio will love you back for that. The future’s yet coming. Now is always when we’re preparing, Sumo-style. “Portfolio Strength. Four Moves Toward More.”

EDITOR'S DESK, EDITORIAL, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

Lookin’ For Love, Or Fraud. Match Group.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2019. Investing offers up plenty of material for cynics. Volkswagen can’t be honest about what’s issuing from its’ rear. AT&T’s turned billing into a shell game, and 4G into 5G just by simply saying so. Is GE an “Enron-sized fraud?” How ’bout online education? Jesus. Admittedly, it i’s entertaining.
Now it’s the interactive media company Match Group’s turn. The FTC has now rammed a probe into their emissions. The Dallas-based owner of dating websites now walks weird as a result of the FTC’s firmly inserted probe.
CEO Mandy Ginsberg is out of the Wharton MBA program and still smiling. But the probing’s still fresh, and still civil, sort of. Nonetheless, copulating with the fed’s is never a sign of over-arching wisdom. And the actions Match Group is charged with are indeed over-arching, blatant, and unwise. Enjoy the fun. “Lookin’ For Love or Fraud. Match Group.”

CULTURE, FUNDAMENTALS, INVESTING, MARKETS/ECONOMY, STOCKS, TECHNICALS, THINKING NOW

A Nine Worm Apple? Tell Me No.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2019. Apple isn’t Amazon. It’s China locked–big time. Nor is it exactly cheap. Some can’t decide. It’s either 18 trailing and 19 forward, or the other way round. Anyone worried about that shouldn’t buy Apple. Owning shares of Apple is like owning a slice of a country. AAPL doesn’t have revenue. It has GDP. Thousands of companies collaborate to create those ultra-sleek marvels. Does that matter?
GDP drops during any recession. Being big doesn’t stop that. Last night Jim Cramer stared into the camera and said “It’s not trading on fundamentals.” But he was talking about JNJ. “It’s mammoth” he said, and “JNJ’s trading on opioid headlines.” We said that in our piece “Off Label” back in August.
So what’s JNJ have to do with Apple now? Both are involved in complications that can’t be measured. For JNJ it’s a blizzard of full-ugly lawsuits, and Apple’s global fishing net of component supplies, most in oppositional China. Anybody know what they’re gonna do?
Apple has more money than Italy. That’s good because it will take money to thrive if economies dive. What else does Apple have? “A Nine Worms Apple? Tell Me No.” STOCKjAW takes a bite(Cover photo; Apple Store, Union Square, San Francisco.)

EDITOR'S DESK, FUNDAMENTALS, GREEDY CREEP, INVESTING, STOCKS, TECHNICALS

Junk Squawk. Whatever. FORD. What’s Next.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2019. TV news. What’s not to love?
Who saw this? The feds rolled another dawn raid to net suspects. They followed that with a perp-walk, which led to a news cycle, about UAW leadership. Hum. Why? Both current United Auto Workers president Gary Jones, and past president Dennis Williams, among others, are suspects in an on-going federal probe concerning corruption. Wow. Flashy news no doubt, however the story behind that is more Ford’s concern–one concern.
GM’s now in contract talks with the UAW, and Ford’s up next. GM’s contract with the union ends tonight. Ford’s does not. And?
Ford’s a turnaround story. Labor is but part of that process. What else? California, D.C., China, and Moody’s. They’re at 7 World Trade Center. Did we leave any junk out? How about that Ford’s climbed 23.53%YTD, and 5.47% over the past twenty days? That’s a turnaround right?
Can we keep the dividend? “Junk Squawk. Whatever. FORD. What’s Next.”(Cover photo; Ford’s 2020 GT-500 Shelby Mustang. Cirrus Crisp.)