CG, Since Oct 98, AOL is still up 5x. I realize its down 40 or 45% from its high, but I still believe nothings fundamentally changed about this company:
1) still an excellent growth story
2) so-called "competition" is not making any headway ( do you hear anything about MSN or Worldnet or any ISP for that matter ADDING 900k subs each quarter ? ) Heck, any of these other ISPs are lucky to even have 10% of the total subs AOL has.
3) Wall St is myopic in its cable-only broadband wish (xDSL is actually better b/c througput is constant and results in higher bandwidth...not dependent on # of users like cable)
4) AOL branching out into a true AOL anywhere w/ partnerships and plans for access from anywhere and anything
Let me add one last thing. Those people who keep harping on P/E or archaeic valuation models have NEVER made any serious $. If P/E is someone's criteria for an investment, they would've missed AOL, CSCO, DELL, INTC, MSFT and WCOM over the last few years and instead have been in Steel stocks like Bethleham Steel (BS). I sympathize w/ your entry and cost basis in the stock. However, I can't fathom why one would sell the stock at this point.
FWIW, i'm no expert and as I have been wrong in the past, I will be wrong in the future, but I just bought some more AOL (first time since last October and November). Perhaps the next couple wks make me look foolish, I don't know. What I do know is that w/ a lil patience I will be rewarded. I hope this helps. Good luck.
Regards,
Hasan |
