Weekly Wrap

When I was in high school I had three great friends, Ann, Vicki and Lisa. They were my best friends in the whole world. When we were seniors, Lisa and I got into a huge fight. like one of those cat kinds. It was something about Spanish class, or cheerleading. I can't really remember. We didn't speak to each other for weeks. It was horrible and I thought it was never going to end. Everyday I'd wake up, go to school, and there she was, purposely avoiding me at every corner. I thought my life was over and I'd never get out of the slump.

Someone should have told me about that long-term thing. I'm in Scottsdale this weekend with my three greatest friends, Ann, Vicki and Lisa. What was my immature mind thinking back in 1982? When you are best friends, you're best friends for life, for the long haul. Kind of reminds me of the stock market.

This last little while in the market has been horrible. It feels like the slump is never going to end. Every day I wake up and there are the breakfast boys on CNBC trying to figure out a new way to tell me about the "economic slowdown." What I have to keep reminding myself is, I'm a long-term investor and this little blip in the whole big picture is going to mean about as much as that one semester of school did. It will end, and there will be light.

This past week in the market was just like the last twenty. The question still remains. "How low can you go?" It's really low. The Dow dropped 3.4 percent, and the Nasdaq dropped 7.2 percent. On Thursday it was at lowest it has been in two years.

Couple of noteworthy news items, Chick owned AOL Time Warner (AOL) chose another Chick owned company, Coca-Cola (KO) as it's sole promotional partner for the upcoming film, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." I for one, as the mother of Harry Potter fans, will be going to support my stock. I mean, bringing my kids to the movie.

Another Chick-owned stock, Sun Microsystems (SUNW) slashed its third-quarter earnings guidance and said revenue would grow just 10% to 13%, well short of the 30% analysts were looking for. This economic slowdown is affecting all the tech stocks. (Bummer for me as I am a little tech-heavy in my personal portfolio. Think long-term, Karin. Remember Lisa.) Sun joins a depressingly lengthy list of tech companies that have recently disappointed investors.

One of my faults is that the glass is always half full so I have to add here that Sun also announced a $1.5 billion stock buyback. What this means is that they took 1.5 billion dollars worth of their stock out of the public's hands. I see this as a great thing. The company believes in itself, sees a bargain, and would like to own more of itself. Whenever you see a company scooping up (buying back) their own stock, it's a good thing, Martha. CEO Scott McNealy was featured this week in the Chick's Eye View. Let's hope his Sun starts to shine soon.

The #1 data storage firm and Chick-owned EMC (EMC) announced today that they're still going to hit their 35% growth mark and $12 billion in revenue for this year despite their earnings warnings yesterday. They also announced a new software product (Chick Susie always keeps us abreast on her company to track).

Since the glass is always half full I know you were probably asking where my glasses are from. The Pottery Barn. And this little tidbit makes me happy: Williams Sonoma (WSM), the owner of Pottery Barn stores announced that their fourth quarter earnings should be better than expected. Their stock was up 14% on the news. My glass is now filled to the rim.

I flew to Arizona on Northwest Airlines (NWAC) only to find out that their CEO John Dasburg will be moving on over to Burger King Corp. He would like to return to his hometown of Miami where the Diageo PLC (DEO) (owner of Burger King) company is based. It's stock closed Friday very near its 52-week high. Florida is the real "Home of the Whopper."

Since the Weekly Wrap inception in September, it's been a tough thing to write about. How low can it go and when will this bear market end? I'm looking at my friends sitting out by the pool. Ann, Vicki and Lisa. This afternoon we went to lunch with 65 people from my mother's past. They were all friends from her high school. They graduated in the 50's. Fifty years ago! When sinking thoughts enter your noggin about the stock market, remember you're in this for the long haul.

Chick Karin

Closing Market Numbers