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Can Donald Trump help WWE's stock?

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World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) is calling on an old friend to help it bring in an audience beyond the media company's hardcore demographic. Donald Trump, who has worked storylines with WWE before (remember the battle between Trump and Vince McMahon, the one that saw McMahon lose his hair?), recently appeared on WWE's Raw television program. In fact, TVSquad.com discussed the high-profile promotion Trump's involvement received over this past weekend. TV Squad also covered the little controversy caused by Trump's "purchase" of WWE's famous asset (I honestly cannot believe that some investors actually sold the company's stock based on a storyline).

Using Trump isn't a bad idea. He's a pretty good performer, and he seems, at times, like a natural for the wrestling business. How should an investor process his involvement, however? Does it show that WWE is having a hard time developing engaging angles with its own talent roster?

Interest in wrestling tends to ebb and flow. Right now, WWE is in a tough position. There's a ton of competition out there for its content. Video games, social networking, digital clips on YouTube, etc., are all taking up some space in the valuable real estate of the collective attention span of WWE's core demographic. It's ironic: WWE is a master marketer of its media portfolio, and it uses many of the platforms that engage the company's youthful demographics. Yet, if you look at the most recent quarter for the business, you'll see that WWE isn't in the healthiest of states.

I'm not sure Trump will do a lot for the stock. It will depend on whether his presence is strong enough to serve as a major catalyst for the rest of the company's operations (especially in terms of pay-per-view performance). Remember the feud between Steve Austin and McMahon? Now that was a script that seemed to truly invigorate the brand and gather a lot of momentum for the squared circle.

I don't necessarily see a similar outcome. Trump and WWE: eh, it's been done. We'll see what happens, though. I'm neutral on WWE shares at the moment. Earlier in the month, WWE was trading above $14 per share. On Monday, shares closed at $12.24. If it corrects further, I'd be more interested in it. If it goes below $10 per share (might be a long shot), then anyone who was looking to get in should really get serious about due diligence on the company.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change without notice.

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+30.6910,464.40
NASDAQ+6.872,176.05
S&P 500+4.981,110.63

Last updated: November 26, 2009: 03:02 AM

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