There's no fighting the trend, no fighting the Fed. That's why, as much as I adhere to fundamentals and technicals, I view my remaining buying power with a trading mentality. The common denominator, though, is that I am willing to deal with A and A- grade stocks. Best of breed, pack leaders, however you label them, it's pointless to avoid great companies and settle for mediocre outfits. Why avoid Tom Brady and the New England Patriots only to settle for the middling New York Jets? The Arizona Cardinals have offensive weapons, but a horrible offensive line, so I'd rather ride the San Diego Chargers and LT.
NFL fanaticism is a far cry from investing hard-earned money into stocks and a fickle market, but the principle applies. Not gonna put money on a losing team, not gonna put cash on a longshot company. I've got pieces of my five A grade stocks now. Goodie.
Amazon = Denver Broncos
Apple = New England Patriots
Crocs = New Orleans Saints
Garmin = Pittsburgh Steelers
Research in Motion = Indianapolis Colts
Fair? I think so. Of these five A grade stocks, Crocs faces the most scrutiny. Even before they examine the numbers, there are a lot of haters. Some people, mostly men, just can't stand the sight of Cayman sandals, and therefore, they write CROX off as a useless, doomed fad. The same bears are taunting longs over the recent media hysteria over Crocs and escalators.
Sounds a little like the "fans" jumping off the Saints' bandwagon after an 0-2 start. The escalator problem is real, but here in Hawaii, we've all learned to wear slippers to the mall, and the slippers most of us wear are much thinner, much more floppy than Caymans. Parents on the mainland will wise up, I think, and take their kids' Crocs off before stepping on escalators. Plain common sense.
Or they'll just wear tennis shoes to the mall and use the Crocs for everywhere else. I'm not worried about my CROX. Common sense and huge growth will continue to prevail. Here are a few more NFL analogies.
Jeff Bezos' clone in the NFL is Mike Shanahan. Master game-planner, visionary and relentless. The Broncos' zone-blocking scheme is one of the automatic successes every year, as is Amazon's peerless distribution model.
Garmin isn't an old, historic franchise like Pittsburgh, but has a killer app that is quickly becoming a part of our culture. GPS, GPS, GPS.
RIMM is explosive, the BlackBerry gives users reach and power while on the go. It is novel technology, all about control. It is Peyton Manning calling audibles and finding open receivers at will against any defense.
Baidu = Detroit Lions
Blue Nile = Cincinnati Bengals
Google = San Diego Chargers
McDonald's = Dallas Cowboys
Nintendo = Seattle Seahawks
Baidu has a savvy, U.S.-educated and experienced CEO (Robin Li, formerly of Infoseek) and a lot of explosive growth ahead, much like the passing fiends at Detroit.
Blue Nile is big on margins, the first-mover in its niche, but there is a lot of doubting from the bleachers when it comes to off-field activity. NILE has heavy insider selling; the Bengals had, well, indiscretions.
Google and the Chargers are both powerful teams who haven't quite reached their plateau yet.
McDonald's and "America's Team" are twins. The Cowboys were down after the "Triplets" retired, but like Mickey D's, Dallas back with a swagger and global dominance. (And yes, Tony Romo quarterbacks one of my fantasy teams.)
Nintendo owns the Seattle Mariners, and like the Seahawks, have been much improved in recent years. Can Nintendo and the Seahawks get the gold this winter? I'm more bullish on the Wii and DS than I am on Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck.
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