A snip from thestreetdotcom:
thestreet.com
"....Seagate, on the other hand, gave us very little to get excited
about. Frankly, the management of Seagate was openly
disparaging of the industry it operates in and point-blank
threw cold water on the possibility of a turn for the better. In
fact, I was grimacing at Jeff Berkowitz, my partner, when I
heard this, visibly distraught that Seagate was not about to
break out of its range. After Jeff had listened to a replay, I
screamed at him : "Why did they feel they had to be so
downbeat? Why did they have to point out all of those
negatives?" His answer? "Because they don't work at
Cendant (CD:NYSE)."
Regardless of whether the industry has turned, Seagate is
clearly doing better. But every analyst knew that, so we did
not garner any new, often motivating, upgrades. The result: a
dead stock for now, but a livelier one later, I believe.
All of this better-than-expected/worse-than-expected blather
is nice shorthand. But in the end there is no substitute for
reading the releases and listening to the conference calls if
you are going to play the short-term game of divining
immediate price movements.
But as I outlined in my Intel article yesterday, with both
these stocks the short term has never been the real driver. If
you think the PC business is going to strengthen you want
to own the market share leaders that make PC innards.
Both of these companies fit that bill. That's what matters to
a long-term holder, and for you long-termers, I didn't hear
anything on these calls that would discourage me from
buying or holding on."
James J. Cramer is manager of a hedge fund and
co-chairman of TheStreet.com. At the time of publication
the firm was long Cendant, Intel and Seagate. Under no
circumstances does the information in this column represent
a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Cramer's writings
provide insights into the dynamics of money management
and are not a solicitation for transactions. While he cannot
provide investment advice or recommendations, he invites
you to comment on his column by sending a letter to
TheStreet.com at letters@thestreet.com. |
