I hate commercials on TV. If I'm watching something, the second one comes on, I switch the channel until I land on a channel that isn't on a commercial break. The problem is, they all seem to be in sync with their commercial breaks. And since I mainly flip through news channels, because of their location on the dial, I frequently land on C-Span 1 or 2. "Where are you going with this Van?" Last week I caught the Commandant of the Marine Corp doing a 90 minute interview with the Brookings Institute. He did a Q&A at the end with the room, lots of very bright recent college grads doing internships at various DC think-tanks. C-Span segments like this, are gold for professional and amateur investors alike. This 4-star general went in depth about China/Taiwan. And where we currently stand from a militarily readiness point of view. I won't go over the range of things discussed, I'm sure its available on C-Span's website for anyone that cares, but I did take away one little tidbit. Know what the ONE thing is that "keeps him up at night?" The logistics that would be required to position our strategic assets in theater if China did in fact initiate blockades etc.on Taiwan in advance of a larger military move. He said... "We don't have an answer." It's a big deal. So for whatever it's worth, West Coast logistic and shipping companies might be worth a look. Especially those that are under contract to the U.S. government under the merchant marine umbrella. We'll be moving a lot of equipment to places like the Philippines and Okinawa just to name a few, and those merchant marine contracts are lucrative gravy trains for the shippers, especially before any shooting starts. Just a little out loud thinking on my part if things do in fact start to get a little "warmer" over there. You long term outlook pro PM's out there do with it what you want. ~Van
Earnings tomorrow for Abbott. The only thing that's holding this stock down is that stupid lawsuit, but the way I see it, until that thing is finalized, it's already priced into the stock. Nothing they can say on this CC will change anything regarding the lawsuit. And one has to assume that WS has pretty much assumed the lawsuit won't go well. Do they ever against companies like this? No. And it's in Missouri, which of course is one of the worst states to be sued in. So Wall Street knows all that. My take, as long as they don't disappoint, and hopefully raise 2024 guidance a little, this thing should blast off and then establish a new level where it can flounder worrying about the lawsuit. ABT---> $105.33 (+$2.57)
ODD is at $43 Earnings on 8/7 30% of the float is short, probably for good reason. Oppenheimer said this earlier this week regarding ULTA Beauty In recent weeks, Oppenheimer has seen continued aggressive promotions from Ulta, which suggests to the firm ongoing challenges and potential risks to company’s fiscal 2024 guidance. The firm trimmed estimates for both fiscal 2024 and 2025 to reflect more conservative comp growth assumptions and the impact “of what appears to be an incrementally more promotional backdrop.” Opco finds it unclear what management has built into guidance on the promotional front but its tracking of promotions suggests “fairly aggressive efforts” on a year-over-year basis If this company, Oddity Tech doesn't come in with incredible results, it'll see the $20's. Too risky to short however, with 30% of the float short, and 70% of the shares held by just a few players. Those insiders have had the entire month of July to sell above $40 and yet its been creeping up. I doubt the high it reached yesterday was any type of squeeze with 7.5MM million shares short on a float of 25MM and the 10 day average volume only about 350K. Tough call on this one. Who knows, they may have a great quarter, the last one was off the charts, but it has only been trading for one year (almost to the day). If the quarter does defy the odds and comes in strong, this thing will burn the shorts bad.
Abbott CEO on CNBC. He looks like he's 18 years old lol. $104 and trying... 10% organic growth on a $178B company... I mean... if this thing doesn't go up--- I quit.
If I had to pick between the two, it would be SBUX. Nike is dead money for awhile, SBUX is the type of stock that could break some kind of news, and gap up 15% out of the blue. It depends on your time-frame, I don't think I'd buy NKE though. Starbux... ahhhh... you never know, it could drop a surprise out of the blue. I didn't realize they had so much debt. Earnings are on the 30th, I'd probably wait and see what they have to say, I doubt they'll miss, buy they may guide down again.