SHREVEPORT, La., Nov. 17, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Pcasystem.Com (http://www.pcasystem.com - an affiliate site of StockPickReport, the web's only non-mainstream stock rating service), rates Cisco Systems, Yahoo!, CIENA, Wal Mart.
STOCKPICKREPORT RATINGS:
Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO) - BUY
http://www.pcasystem.com/pca/csco.html
Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO) - BUY
http://www.pcasystem.com/pca/yhoo.html
CIENA (Nasdaq:CIEN) - BUY
http://www.pcasystem.com/pca/ciena.html
Wal Mart (NYSE:WMT) - WEAK BUY
http://www.pcasystem.com/pca/wmt.html
STOCK COMMENTARY:
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
StockPickReport Commentary
Rant on CNBC
You know how little we regard the silliness on CNBC, right? But today, just was TOO much.
We rarely ever turn on CNBC. Today, we turned it on for about 30 minutes - just in time for the mid-day snooze-fest they call, "Power Lunch". After what we witnessed today, we think CNBC should rename "Power Lunch" to "Power LAUNCH" - as in, "My lunch is about to make a POWERful LAUNCH..."
Did you catch the main topic of conversation? If not, here's your chance to guess what they spent the bulk of their inane bantering on. Did they talk about:
1. The impact the unexpected rise of Producer Prices would have on the U.S. economy?
2. The impact to the U.S. and global economies from the falling dollar?
3. ...or... Which is your favorite band, the "Rolling Stones", or "The Beatles"?
Uh, if you guessed "1" or "2", you would be wrong - those topics are covered below in THIS commentary. No, the chuckles abounded as these "financial" "news" "professionals" wasted our time with discussion about FAVORITE ROCK BANDS!
Now, I'm going to admit something to you: I am a guitar player. What kind of guitar player? Heavy metal, instrumental rock. I love guitar. But, I don't want to listen to Eddie Van Halen or Steve Vai (two of my favorite players of all time) discuss soybean futures, the yen versus the dollar, or the goings on at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. I want to hear them ROCK.
So, when Rick Santelli sheepishly asked, "What about Frank Sinatra"? I laughed out loud...
...until one of the other "financial" "news" "professionals" opined that a discussion of Frank Sinatra would bring questions about Tony Bennett (etc) into the mix.
That's when my laughter turned to a groan and I switched off the TV and switched on my CD player. Any guess who I listened to? It was neither the Rolling Stones, nor the Beatles.
PRODUCER PRICE RISE
If you've followed our comments about gold and silver as investments, you know that we like them as investments. To use an-overused word: Historically, gold and silver are good hedges versus inflation. The idea being that as the dollar drops in value (because the dollar is an essentially worthless currency other than being backed by hope that the Federal Reserve system won't collapse) investments like gold and silver should rise because of their universally accepted value and rarity.
One trader we talked to today said that the Producer Price Index rise was not really a big deal because, "If you take out 'energy costs' things aren't that bad."
We said, (and I quote), "Stop it. You CAN'T "take out" energy costs."
To which our trader friend said, "Well, even so, oil prices are lower now in real-dollars than at pre-WWII levels on an inflation-adjusted basis."
Which prompted us to remark, "That may or may not be true, but versus 2003 dollars, oil prices are almost double."
And, that's the point. If you hear someone say, "Well, 'ex' energy costs, and there is no inflation." Take out a ballpoint pen and write your name on their forehead (if you get that far), and say, "Well, 'ex' ink in the pen, my name wouldn't be emblazoned across your face."
The scant coverage from CNBC today on oil prices mentioned that oil prices were "down again" and at the "lows of the session" around $46 a barrel. I chuckled at this because the move down in oil is not even close to what we need to see to stave off inflation. Some analysts CNBC polled about the impact of oil prices on our economy said that the impact would probably be pushed out til next year, by the way - which does not bode well for next year unless oil prices can be brought under SERIOUS control.
One way we are hedging our bets is to look at "gold and silver" stocks (like Canyon Resources - AMEX:CAU, picked Monday for the penny stock service). Also, If you are interested in owning gold or silver outright, let me know and I'll send you to some folks we trust.)
Please send any questions or comments to don@strikefriday.com.
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If the links to our ratings above do not work, please use these:
Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO) - BUY http://www.stockpickreport.com/rating.php?sym=CSCO Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO) - BUY http://www.stockpickreport.com/rating.php?sym=YHOO CIENA (Nasdaq:CIEN) - BUY http://www.stockpickreport.com/rating.php?sym=CIEN Wal Mart (NYSE:WMT) - WEAK BUY http://www.stockpickreport.com/rating.php?sym=WMT