"I am recommending shares of American Tower (NYSE: AMT), a leader in the wireless transmission space," says industry expert Nikhil Hutheesing.

The editor of The Forbes Wireless Stock Watch explains, "The stock is down, the company has top notch customers, strong free cash flow, a growing business within the U.S. and increasingly, its building up its business in emerging markets. AMT is a strong company with strong prospects."

"American Tower, based in Boston, is the leader in the wireless tower business. These towers are essentially real-estate for antennae of wireless service providers. The service providers need the towers because their antennae must be elevated so that their signals propagate, allowing their networks to provide wireless coverage.

"The good news, is that this is a growing business. American Tower's CEO just recently said that he expects 2008 to be one of the best years ever for American Tower. That, of course, is great news.

"It also means that it is very likely that the company's subscriber base will also continue to grow at a steady pace. Among its subscribers are wireless service providers-companies such as Verizon, Sprint Nextel and AT&T.

Continue reading Forbes wireless expert: American Tower (AMT) poised to rise

Forbes wireless expert: American Tower (AMT) poised to rise originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is pretty crazy: American Tower (NYSE: AMT) has sued former Goldman Sachs executive Jide Zeitlin, alleging that he forwarded a negative article on the stock to two top institutional investors following the company -- and used CEO Jame Taiclet's name in the sender line, creating the impression that it was him forwarding the article.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Mr. Zeitlin left Goldman Sachs in 2005 and later founded Independent Mobile Infrastructure Ltd., a closely held rival of American Tower that owns, leases and operates wireless towers in India ... The complaint alleges that Mr. Zeitlin also provided Fortune reporter Bethany McLean with information for the article, which looked at the company's executive-compensation practices."

Mr. Zeitlin is accused of computer fraud and defamation. The suit alleges that the email "was part of a longstanding and ongoing pattern of conduct intended to undermine American Tower's relationships with its investors and its position in the mobile infrastructure marketplace to the defendants' benefit."

The merits of the lawsuit aside, it certainly appears -- if the reports are correct -- that Mr. Zeitlin, who is on the board of directors at Coach and is chairman of the board at Amherst College, may have behaved badly.

Question is whether pursuing such a lawsuit against a competitor who may have engaged in a fairly childish ploy to undermine the company, is really a worthwhile use of shareholder capital, legal fees and management's time? I'm not so sure.

American Tower accuses competitor of spooky scheme originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Jan 2008 14:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.