Well, I’m just going to be honest. I’ve had a terrible past two weeks on predicting stocks. Maybe it’s the weather, maybe I’m feeling stressed, but whatever it is, I just can’t seem to get it right. I have hit a Prediction Block. And so I’ve been thinking how to overcome this and after evaluating several ideas I’ve come to the conclusion that the best thing to do is to keep predicting, but on less stocks and only the few that I really know and love. I’ll also be taking more advantage of the Change Prediction button. Often times I find a make a prediction but after looking at the data given in the widget I find I actually feel the opposite way I predicted.
The market is up today, not too shabby, not too great. Wait, just kidding! I refreshed my finance page and the DOW is now down 26 points. Just when you think you catch a break. Stocks are apparently fluctuating on news from the Institute for Supply Management that the nation’s service sector shrank less in January than it did in December. Regardless, it’s the fourth straight month business activity in the industry has declined. President Obama also imposed a dramatic cap on senior executive pay for the financial institutions receiving federal bailout money that are in the worst shape. Obama states Americans are angered by “executive’s being rewarded for failure.” Finally someone is listening.
I was reading some articles about industries that have the most potential during the recession and one particularly caught my eye; movies. This seems obvious now after thinking about it too. A typical family outing could cost upwards of $50.00. Most movie tickets are between $9-12.50. Mom, dad and two kids and you’re looking at about 50 bucks, not to mention concession snacks and lets just throw in gas it took you to get there. While its not an outrageous number, family outings and entrainment expenses add up. And why wouldn’t you substitute for a cheaper alternative when itss so accessible? Clearly staying at home to watch a movie rental isn’t a new experience, but it is a definitely an option that more families will be choosing now. But forget Blockbuster (BBI), a new wave of home movie rentals has surfaced and NetFlix (NFLX) is at the frontier of that. NetFlix not only realized this opportunity, but perfected the model. The most expensive subscription service is about $15.00 a month and NetFilx now offers streaming videos included in the subscription so you can watch any movie you want at home even quicker over your TV or PC for no additional costs.
NetFlix (NFLX) has seen a ton of customer growth and profit growth. Right now about 10 million homes have subscriptions. The stock has been getting a lot of press lately as its price has been gaining for awhile. It’s creeping up close on Blockbusters market share too. If NFLX can have another quarter of profitability, a lot more people are going to start paying attention to this stock. There appears to be much potential. Checking them out on PredictWallStreet, 67% of predictors predicted up for them today and NFLX did close up at $36.85. Sentiment has crept up too and is becoming more bullish as investors take notice of this stock. Under the Accuracy tab’s Star Performers, they are only rated 3-star performers who all predicted up. I would imagine that there will become more experts on this stock as it slowly gains more attention.
Stumble It!
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