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Dear sonki, Bless you. It is so difficult to get information on foreign stocks, and Novartis looks like a great one. I went to chart it, at www.bigcharts.com, against Roche and BMY on a 2 year chart (more than 2 years and the chart gets weird, perhaps because of the lack of info and/or the mergers--Ciba/Zandoz) . Anyway, Novartis hangs in there with BMY's recent solid performance. The difficulty is predicting long term. Even Roche, which fared poorly over the same 2 years may do better in a different cycle (and undoubtedly has had better periods historically. How is one to know?! ) Is Novartis's recent success powered by the monetary muscle of the big merger and destined to go flat? When trying to buy and accumulate for the long term, one needs to look at more more than just recent earnings numbers. What kind of things is the company doing? Is it "too big" ? Is it top-heavy with expensive employees (it has 116 thousand compared to Roche's 49 thousand with assets of 43 bil vs. Roche's 29 bil and BMY's of 15 bil). Wow! A powerhouse? Or a slug? Is it going to be a true powerhouse in drug /biotech development ? It owns Chiron, which has been getting bad press. Roche has Genentech, which has been getting good press. Small holdings, perhaps, but American holdings which are part of their overall gameplan. So, what I am up to is trying to build a strong, long-term portfolio of great stuff than includes tech and foreign companies. Does Novartis belong? I want to feel good about plunking down my $ every time a buying opportunity arises. Will I feel that way with Novartis? When I do, I'll buy. Thanks, Sonki. Keep me posted with any news. I am reaching for my wallet, but it isn't quite out of my back pocket, not just yet. So, you work in high tech? Is SAP a good stock? Catch you later. Please DO send the info you mentioned. Thanks much. Tom W.-- barefoot boy from Georgia . |
