I am an existing Verizon customer and signed up for the Exclusive Customer Invitation. I got the following e-mail from Verizon today.
iPhone 4. Verizon. It begins.
Exclusive customer invitation.
Existing Verizon Wireless customers will have
an exclusive online purchase opportunity before
iPhone 4 is available to everyone else. Order
iPhone 4 from our reserved quantity on a first-come,
first-served basis beginning at 3 AM Eastern.
> verizonwireless.com/iphoneorder
Not yet a customer? We look forward to welcoming
you to the Verizon Wireless family beginning 02.10.11.
The phone that changed everything.
Coming to America's most reliable network.
Verizon has now announced the prices of its plans. See article from Computer World - http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9206520/AT_T_vs._Verizon_iPhone_plans_duke_it_out.
Facebook is raising $1.5 Billion via a "private offering" through Goldman Sacks. Today, Goldman Sacks decided to restrict the offering to private investors in Asia and Europe. What is your take on this move from FB and GS? Here's my take.
First things first - why doesn't Facebook just go public now? Because going public has a lot of implications on how a company is run. Mark Zuckerberg still writes code as the CEO of facebook. It breeds a different culture. I don't think he and the company is ready to go public just yet.
I am not shocked by Goldman's decision to not offer in the US. However, I am suprised that a firm like Goldman is engaging in a private offering like this. As a small individual investor, I hate the fact that I cannot participate in this private offering. If I had a choice, whether I bought it or not is a separate question. A lot has gone in to make sure that all investors regardless of size have the same information for public companies. This will get fixed in due time as well.
Verizon is expected to announce the launch of the iPhone tomorrow. This is not news to anyone as people have been speculating this for months. The stock has gone from $28 to $36 in the last 6 months. The stock still has a pretty hefty yeild, but that is not the topic of the discussion today. Jim Cramer on Mad Money today reiterated his $40 short-term target for Verizon and said that it will continue to go higher, but it will be slow because it offers a nice dividend.
There is an old saying in wall street, "buy on rumor, sell on news". To that end, I would recommend that if you are not already in Verizon, then do not buy the stock tomorrow if it is high. If the stock goes down, you may want to start a position in it. While some people book profits in VZ, other At&T shareholders may dump T and move to Verizon.
If you are already a shareholder, then lets go back to stock basics. Why did you buy this stock? Was it a trade on the iPhone play or is it a long term investment in verizon? If it is a trade, then you should look to exit based on how the stock performs tomorrow. For me, it is an investment. I reinvest my dividends back into the stock. I started a position at $28 and change. (Full disclosure: I am a long Verizon shareholder).
If you share a different opinion, please use the comment feature and share your thoughts.
The following stocks were the best S and P 500 performers (in terms of % price change) for the year 2010.
CMI: Cummins Inc. (+137.46%)
ZION: Zions Bancorporation (+89.61%)
AIG: American International Group, Inc. (+88.01%)
HBAN: Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (+87.23%)
AKAM: Akamai Technologies, Inc. (+85.38%)
WFMI: Whole Foods Market, Inc. (+81.98%)
PCLN: priceline.com (+80.79%)
Q: Qwest Communications International Inc. (+80.19%)
FDO: Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (+79.37%)
CRM: salesforce.com, inc. (+78.65%)
PXD: Pioneer Natural Resources (+77.28%)
WYNN: Wynn Resorts, Limited (+73.27%)
AZO: AutoZone, Inc. (+72.76%)
JDSU: JDS Uniphase Corporation (+72.17%)
SNDK: SanDisk Corporation (+71.88%)
F: Ford Motor Company (+67.07%)
CLF: Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (+66.02%)
PCS: MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (+65.92%)
ANF: Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (+64.34%)
HOT: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (+63.66%)
The following stocks were the best NYSE performers (in terms of % price change) for the year 2010.
# Symbol Name % Price Change (2010)
1 WNC Wabash National Corporation +553.76%
2 IDT IDT Corporation +433.75%
3 CPE Callon Petroleum Company +308.97%
4 KEM KEMET Corporation +284.87%
5 FTK Flotek Industries, Inc. +279.76%
6 PPO Polypore International, Inc. +242.61%
7 UXG U.S. Gold Corporation +226.56%
8 NCT Newcastle Investment Corp. +220.48%
9 GRT Glimcher Realty Trust +216.29%
10 SFI iStar Financial Inc. +210.80%
11 ABR Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. +201.54%
12 MSB Mesabi Trust +198.33%
13 MBI MBIA Inc. +197.9%
14 LVS Las Vegas Sands Corp. +194.88%
15 HYC Hypercom Corporation +170.19%
16 BEE Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. +170.10%
17 APL Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. +154.61%
18 KRO Kronos Worldwide, Inc. +153.23%
19 SLW Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) +153.14%
20 RES RPC, Inc. +149.81%
Others that missed the list because they were not in the top 20 but still had over 140% gain in 2010: ZQK: Quiksilver, Inc. (+144.93%), KKD: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (+144.90%), TWI: Titan International, Inc. (+144.07%), CMG: Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (+142.02%), SWC: Stillwater Mining Company (+140.77%).
Do Your Own Homework
All information presented in this blog is the writer's opinion. Do your own homework before making investment decisions.
We are not providing Buy, Sell or Hold recommendations on this blog. Information provided here is just our opinions and should not be used to make investment decisions. Although we strive to present true information, we do not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided in the blog.
