Thursday, January 27, 2011

Headline Fun

Read All About It!

Gotta love those headlines! AZN announced earnings this morning. How did they do? Difficult to tell from the headlines!

AstraZeneca Profits Decline 5%
AstraZeneca profit down on heavy competition in US
AstraZeneca profit up 4%, pipeline outlook cut
UPDATE 1-AstraZeneca beats forecasts, plans $4 bln buyback

Do you think people buy or sell stocks based upon a headline?

Transactions

I sold PDLI the other day, based upon Steve's warning that they might not be a going concern a few years down the road. As long as I was working through the "Ps" I also sold PETS, which I was beginning the think was not a good stock either (Steve had an article on them as well, but that did not influence my decision -Has PetMed Express Contracted Fleas?). My concern was that PETS is an internet-based company, and anyone not living under a rock knows that virtually all companies are growing their internet sales. But not PETS! And they keep making excuses about the cost of advertsing. But if their product and service were good, wouldn't they keep current customers and add new ones? I didn't understand negative growth in light of improving economy and what should be a cost advantage.

I replaced these two stocks with IDCC (a former holding) and ARO (I have limited retail exposure).

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