Serwer: 2 winners and a very soft shoe The future for Schering-Plough and the NYSE seem bright, but beware DSW.  NEW YORK (Fortune) -- All this reading of the tea leaves of Fed meeting minutes makes my brain hurt! I mean talk about white noise. Here's a question: Will the action pick up after Labor Day? SCHERING-PLOUGH: Okay so the company pays a $435 million fine and admits guilt. Is it time to buy? Hmm, good question. What blows my mind is that investigation goes back to 2001! Wow! Think of the legal fees. Most of this stuff happened before Fred Hassan became CEO in 2003. Ticker is SGP (Charts). Company makes Remicade for rheumatoid arthritis; allergy fixes Nasonex nasal spray and Clarinex pills, both allergy treatments; cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia, as well as over the counter stuff like Coricidin and Drixoral, and Coppertone. The stock isn't cheap. But I think that it may finally be out of the woods... and good for the long haul. NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE: News here is that Euronext, the Euro stock market that is being bought by the NYSE, reported that its profits nearly doubled to $248 million buckaroos (that's converted from euros for y'all) in the first half of this year. The NYSE, ticker NYX (Charts), went public in 2004 and has been a hot potato since then, climbing from $12 to $90 this year and now back to $60. Still! Here's the story. I think the Euronext deal will work out, but more to the point, this stock is a proxy for the U.S. stock market, only better because the guys who work there get paid to a degree with this currency. So I bet it's a winner over time. DSW: The old discount shoe warehouse (DSW (Charts), get it?). Profits up 66 percent in Q2. Okay that's fine. But I'm not necessarily such a big believer. Stand alone shoe stores ... that's an incredibly competitive business. Then there's the big identity theft problem the company recently had. Then there's the company's "Thrill of the Hunt" TV ads which features stylin' women eyeing the same desirable pair of shoes, then shows them closing in "for the kill." So wrong. (Plus supa producer Ashley doesn't like them because they wouldn't give her money back for a pair of shoes she bought there that were broken. You don't DO that to a customer .....) LOOSE CHANGE: The worst beer in the world? Newcastle Brown Ale in a can! What are they THINKING!....Saw the Metallica movie. What are they THINKING?...... _________________________ E-mail Andy Serwer at serwer@fortunemail.com |
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