Quick..Tidy Up !!

Lads,

Tidy the place up.
Put away the Whiskey.

Rock of Cashel is on the way !!

A happy addition indeed. I look forward to hear his views on that stock that he spoke so highly of in the mid fifties.

What stock was that? Did anyone in this country have stock in the mid '50s ? Apart from the ruling classes. ?

The stock was Merck and it was trading at about 55 dollars 3 months ago. It is now just under 41 dollars. Not as bad as Bear Sterns who had a strong proponent at 104 in contrast to my view and it is now 30 dollars

Oh shite sorry. I thought you meant mid 1950's

What does "had a strong proponent at 104" mean ?

Idon't want to mention his name but the debate back and forth involved whether to buy or sell Bear Sterns and a few others at the time. Bear was at 104 and he was saying it was a good buy and I was saying it was to be sold. This poster is a smart individual but sometimes a stock just collapses for any number of different reasons unknown at the time to the public. He said that he would buy more if it happened to drop from 104. This tactic is known as averaging down. It works if a stock springs back but frequently a stock will continue falling for a total disastor. With discount brokers I would say that every person should try their hand. To get an understanding on how markets work would be the objective rather than making money. Going through life one might come accross a company that you would want to put a few bob in. With the drop I think is coming there may be bargains to be had in the future.

I think you might be a little over harsh on me regarding the Merck shares YD. While they have dropped from a high earlier in the year, a good proportion of that fall would be down to two things:

1. The fact that they are a member of the DJ500, and are taking a hit as the whole index gets dragged down

and

2. They lost out on bringing a drug to market, which frightened the horses a la the Vioxx debacle a few years ago (along with the Gardasil scare)

However, unlike the financials, Merck actually produce goods for sale. The fundamentals are good. They have a decent pipeline, and have only recently announced new research which could blow open the "obesity" market. Therefore, they are a decent mid to long term buy at current prices.

The only blip on the horizon, is the possibility that Americans will be left so poor by the current market crisis, that they won't be able to afford medicine.. or will be able to afford to eat so little, that obesity won't be a problem

The day to begin buying a bit will be the day the treasury bond market collapses and therefore the interests rates skyrocket. A few Merck shares should be picked up for sure that day. I made a bit on Merck going down many years ago on a general market fall but was not smart enough to reverse when it rose thereafter. Many will be looking to Merck as a port of safety.

Howdy Rock!

As for Bear Stearns - I think my pension was based entirely on their stock from the looks of things, bastard banks!