Quick update of stocks that I’ve picked up the last few weeks amid all the turmoil. (BTW, I follow the Peter Lynch philosophy of investing… in a nutshell, it’s “do your stock research at the mall.” Basically invest in companies you know, and forget silicone microchip asteroid mining companies. Another one of his adages is always listen to your wife for stock advice, because they are the ones that spend the money know the trends.)
Priceline (PCLN): I don’t know what I didn’t figure this one out earlier, I used it EXTENSIVELY on my east coast road trip. Almost 80-90% of my hotel bookings were using Priceline.
Vistaprint (VPRT): I used Vistaprint to print brochures, banners, and business cards for the Tremore Breeze Smoker. Then I saw our local bubble tea shop pull their frequent buyer card out of a Vistaprint box. I figured them to be one of those dot bomb type companies that were operating on a “spend venture capital money” business model, but when I checked them out they were very profitable with a PE ratio in the teens. My hope is they’ll consolidate a fragmented industry and make me some cash.
UPS (UPS): What can brown do for you… my dad was watching a documentary on how UPS worked on the Discovery channel, and it sparked my thinking… they’re basically the dominant company in a high capital business! The more efficient they get, the more retailers will get disrupted… and the more we can get to the “buy all non-perishables on-line” model (subject to a later blog). They pay a 3.2% dividend as of today, which makes sense for the business they are.
I also recently missed out on a big return… so I guess I’m not perfect! Subject to a later post.