ISSUE 15
25 April 2007
STOCKCENTRAL RESEARCH AT MYICLUB.COM
IT'S NOT JUST FOR ACCOUNTING ANYMORE
If you're a member of one of the thousands of clubs using myICLUB.com for accounting and club management, you've probably noticed a small cosmetic addition to the Home and Accounting screens. Next to each of your club's portfolio holdings you'll see the iGuys, the ambiguously-human mascots for ICLUBcentral and StockCentral.(Some say this delightful logo looks like a tooth -- these persons are not to be trusted in matters of sartorial acuity.)
Is this some form of Warhol-esque pop art? No, friends, that moonbat's 15 minutes have long since passed. These replicant blue buddies have a REAL job -- they send you to StockCentral's new Research Links pages.
Located under the Learn tab and available to everyone -- even non-StockCentral philistines -- the Research Links provide a quick snapshot of the company you clicked on, including Sector & Industry listings as well as the most recent closing price (and you can always jump to another company with the Ticker Search box). You can extend your research on StockCentral with links to the Take Stock analysis, the Company Report, the .ssg Stock Study, and the Ticker Forum in the Community. Other links include the finance pages for Google, Yahoo, and Reuters.
THIS BUD'S FOR YOU
ANHEUSER-BUSCH SPENDING HANGOVER
Now here's a story this reporter can truly wrap himself around -- the Q1 report for Anheuser-Busch (BUD), saw profits rise only 3.7% percent and sales only 2.7%, missing analysts' estimates due to increased Bud Light marketing and the acquisition of InBev NV brands Bass and Beck's.
In this reporter's professional opinion, any merger, acquisition, buyout, or hostile takeover that involves increased availability and potentially lower costs for potent potables is cause celebre. However, this is merely the opinion of a customer, not an investor. Take Stock puts BUD's quality at a paltry 0.60 (which, incidentally, was this reporter's collegiate GPA). However, Anheuser-Busch claims the Bud Light advertising and brand acquisition falls in line with its long term target of boosting EPS by 7-10 percent per year.
On the heels of today's report, only seven of 17 analysts following BUD rate it as a "buy" or a "hold." Are you holding BUD (the stock, not the beechwood-aged brew)? What do the Q1 financials mean to you? Discuss over a few tall ones in the BUD forum.
(Tip of the Hat to Bloomberg.com)
GOOD KNIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK
KNX DRIVES INTEREST
Everyone's favourite short-to-medium-haul trucking company, Knight Transportation, Inc. (KNX) is garnering quite a ballyhoo in recent days, including within the StockCentral Community. Several members have already posted their stock studies in the KNX forum, and are raving about the fundamentals:
"Gotta love those railroad tracks." -- R. Ann Bliss
KNX is also one of Ellis Traub's picks in the ongoing
25 Top Stock Picks competition -- be sure to
read his analysis and download his stock study.
Take Stock backs up the opinion of its Founding Father, rating
KNX at a solid 9.5.
Download the stock studies of your fellow StockCentral members, post your own, and discuss whether or not KNX can keep on truckin'.
(Note: This reporter does not normally use the phrase "keep on truckin'" but the timing and subject matter was serendipitous. However, he immediately regrets this decision.)
SOMETIMES, INVESTING IS JUST A GIANT GAME OF "RISK"
"You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you."
- LEON TROTSKY
Investing for the Proletariat
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