Any thoughts on which way UNH will trade after earnings Friday? It's $537 now. It looks like the options are pricing about a $13 move. It's gotta be a core holding in every blue-chip fund manager's portfolio I would think. If it sells off, I could see it hitting the $510 - $517 level, and unlike Nike or Fedex, I think it would see a pretty rapid bounce off of that level. I would say take it long right here, it has $550 in it, but I think a better play would be to place a limit order Thursday night around $515 for the pre-market Friday. That said, I think we'll see some "tech-like" earnings moves on the blue chips this time around. A 7% drop would put it down around $495. The $515 puts are only $0.60. `Hmmm,
DAL reports Friday. Fair weather in the NE corridor delivered the lowest flight cancellation rate in over a decade. .8% vs 8.4% in 2022. Now they had no idea that would happen when they gave estimates for this quarter back in Oct, so I gotta think they allow for a certain amount of cancellations in Q4---- which this time didn't manifest. IE, they're gonna beat both the top and bottom line #'s. Unless the analysts have already adjusted them. Either way, the stock is cheap. And going forward, the use of predictive AI will make ALL the airlines more efficient and profitable. $42.30 now, a big bounce off last week's lows in the $38's. I think it'll take out $50 before summer. As long as fuel stays reasonable.
From last week: US flight cancellations fall to lowest rate in at least decade REUTERS 12:09 PM ET Jan-03-2024 By David Shepardson WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - U.S. flight cancellations fell to the lowest rate in at least a decade in 2023, the U.S. Transportation Department said Wednesday, after a string of bumpy years for air travel. There were 16.3 million U.S. flights in 2023 and a cancellation rate of below 1.2%, the lowest since at least 2013, USDOT said, adding that it was even better over the holidays. The cancellation rate for the period from Dec. 17, 2023 through Jan. 1, 2024 was 0.8%, despite a record number of passengers, the department said. That was far below last holiday season's 8.2% cancellation rate, which included the Southwest Airlines (LUV.NaE) meltdown that disrupted 2 million passengers and led to a record-setting $140 million civil penalty last month.
I have to be honest, I didn't like the way DAL behaved today. It's still a $50 stock, but the way it acted 2 days before earnings... I was not impressed. Proceed with caution. Ditto UNH. Buy the dip on both Friday however. More so DAL than UNH.
Tenaris--- PE 6, 3% dividend, 3 Billion in cash, trades at a P/S of 1.2, 4.5 price/cashflow, 3X EV/EBITDA. Someone find some fleas, because this stock looks too cheap. Way too cheap.
Centene---> $CNC $79 Solid company. Good balance sheet, forward PE of 11 It's breaking north. Probably on CA's new policy of healthcare for everyone. With or without that, it's a good stock.