Serwer: Betting on a head rolling Watch for a Bristol pop when the CEO leaves ... and Goldman looks like a deal.
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Was down on the floor of the NYSE during the 9/11 moment of silence yesterday and, boy, was that emotional. Producer Ashley says they should keep the two pillars of light up every night, instead of building the Freedom Tower. Hmmm..... BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB: So word is that a court appointed monitor is recommending that this company's board fire CEO Peter Dolan. Like duh! This guy has presided over more black eyes and gaffes (going all the way back to BMY's romance with Imclone and Erbitux ... you know the company and drug behind the Martha Stewart mess.) Dolan's been CEO since 2001, and over the past five years the stock (Charts) has been a stinker. P!U! Down some 60 percent, worse than the market. Worse than Pfizer. Worse even than Merck! Stock isn't cheap, but I say Dolan will go and the stock will go up! KROGER: You know how all the talk is that Wal-Mart (Charts) is going to become the only grocery store left standing in America? Well, that's only partly true. (see Dixie, Winn.) But others will survive: First of all, high-end shops like Whole Foods (Charts), will do just fine. Some others are adapting like Publix. And what about Kroger, the biggest U.S. supermarket chain? Seems to be making it so far. Stock (Charts) is up from $16 to $24 over the past two years. Company is reporting earnings today, and at least one analyst is concerned the stock is more expensive than Wal-Mart. But why not? It's not like WMT is burning up the track. But I'm still not sure this is a place to park your hard-earned coin. GOLDMAN SACHS: Here's another company that's done well recently (in this case REAL well!), that's also reporting earnings today. Bloomberg reports: "The world's most profitable securities firm may report a 12 percent drop in third-quarter net income to $2.97 a share from $3.25 a year earlier, according to a analysts." Hmmm. Wonder why the drop? I remember talking to now CEO Lloyd Blankfein about GS over the past few years, and one of his big concerns was that everything was running on all cylinders and that it couldn't last forever. True. On the other hand the stock is down from $169 to $150 and it only has a P/E of nine! So how much downside is there? Maybe not that much. Over time, I bet GS (Charts) will do better than just fine. Loose Change: Okay, so I'm a sucker. I paid $250 for a plan to call Apple's (Charts) help desk as many times as I want for free. Waited on hold last night for 52 minutes. Spoke with a technician for a few, then cut off. Dear Steve Jobs: if you are selling so many more machines, GET MORE HELP! (Or get your black-jeaned butt on the phone itself.)..... Is it really true that DSW doesn't carry shoelaces because they get stolen?....... Hey to Dan C! Glad to know you are a faithful reader. This stuff ain't so complicated, hi to Nancy!!!! _______________ E-mail Andy Serwer at serwer@fortunemail.com |
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