Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) reported its third-quarter results yesterday and they were excellent. The stock is down $15 today so far to $85 as Amazon did not hit the "whisper number" that was circulating about the Street. Analysts were at $0.18 EPS, Amazon reported $0.19, but the "whisper" was at $0.21-$0.22. So, what do we do now? Simple, kill the name!! Then go back and buy Amazon and make it a core holding.

Amazon is a unique and interesting story, not to mention a category killer. No one can touch Amazon, and the proof has been shown with the shares tripling from $32 to $101 over the past 52 weeks. The so-called value guys who do not understand growth investing will pooh-pooh Amazon and give you the old "I told you so," as the shares are down $15 today from the $101 high. Value guys, take your victory lap, then get out of the way so you don't get run over. Oh, by the way, these are the guys that have been negative on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) since it was at $50 (now at $185) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) at $150 (now at $665).

Amazon, Apple and Google should be core portfolio holdings for any individual investor -- heck, it's a core holding in most growth mutual funds. So what do they know that the naysayers and purveyors of doom and gloom don't know? It's called dominance -- category killer. Try and replicate any one of these three companies ... Impossible, OK, almost impossible!!

Continue reading Why Amazon.com should be a core holding

Why Amazon.com should be a core holding originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Stories about Google have dominated the news and our BloggingStocks site. My own take has been that the company is great for the fine products and services it offers, but that the stock is volatile, over-priced and a risk not worth taking. This theme has been the prevailing sentiment here, however, the general opinion in the market has been more mixed. We have seen analysts projections that the stock will reach $500, and even $600 within 12 months.

This week, when Yahoo! reported earnings, Google dropped with Yahoo! after the close of the market and is still down. Why did Google drop because Yahoo! did? Toyota did not drop on GM & Ford reports. The answer is simple -- uncertainty and the perception of risk.

The question is, why take the risk? Here we all sit wondering whether Google will report strong earnings and top line growth, simply meet expectations or disappoint. Equally intriguing is that no matter what they report, who knows what spin the market will put on the outcome, and will the stock price flash upward or downward? Does anybody think they can possibly report news that will not move the stock at all in one way or the other? The pattern on the first few reports was that it moved up. The last report even though positive sent the stock price down significantly and then it gradually settled in to a level between its high and the short term fade.

Continue reading Google reports soon -- STILL A GAMBLE

Google reports soon -- STILL A GAMBLE originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Jul 2006 13:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.