I think most of us are 30+ and have a fixed income on this forum… (I think)…
I have a tonne o’ cash (6 digits) that I want to invest somewhere…
what video game companies (other than Microsoft) would you invest in?
- D
Interplay.
;)
Ok… I fit in there…
Whoa… you lost me there, brother! :oops:
Well, although I certainly don’t have the nest egg you do, I follow gaming stocks pretty closely. Some thoughts:
AKLM: some really bad management lately, although they just fired the boss and are planning on laying off a bunch of people. The stock is at an all-time (I think) low, and if you think AKLM can refocus and pull this one out (as I do) then it’s a really good long bet at 0.58.
ATVI: What the hell has happened to this stock? It’s now trading at 13.56, less than half it’s 52-week high of 35.10. Now, I don’t think ATVI is worth 35 bucks, but I certainly think they’re a steal at 13.50.
ERTS: I dunno… I gotta think this company is due for a fall. All the recent corp. PR likening them to the next Disney is, IMHO, a bad sign. Some recent less-than-stellar releases suggest that the bloom might be off the rose. ERTS is currently trading at 49.26. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go even lower.
HP (TSE): Now, I own stock in this company, so take my advice accordingly. But I think this is a huge potential gainer. Sales around $350M, lean operation, and they’ve got Canadian videogame distribution totally sewn up. They’re also profitable. Do your DD… but certainly look at these guys.
There you have it. I’m not an expert, and as always, YMMV.
But you asked! ;)
Speaking only for myself:
As a long term investment? Electronic Arts. They are ruthless. Ruthless = profit + growth.
Long term, you’re probably better off snatching some beat up tech stock such as INTC or ORCL.
If you have $100,000+ to invest, you should be issuing call options on the stock that you own. Especially now, when there is no real movement in the market. You can make about 8% a month doing this.
If you have $1,000,000 to invest, pick up some Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, not BRK.A because that’s closed to new investors)
Yes, their two top MMORPG prospects also seem to have failed. Sims Online (huge surprise it’s not going anywhere) and E&B (sigh).
I don’t know if their value is going to be going up that much next quarter.
I would say be careful when investing in an area you have a hobby interest in. A lot of people seem to make the mistake of buying gaming stocks because they know games better than the average investor, and can anticipate success/failure, but oftentimes stock performance has very little to do with caliber or even sales of games, and much more to do with management, debts, mergers, etc.
Make sure you have a perspective like Gladguy where you treat them as corporations rather than games makers.
It hasn’t even been TWO MONTHS since the release of Sims Online, and you’re comfortable proclaiming it a “failure”?
In the future, please consult with your fact checker before posting. kthx.
-wumpus
To be perfectly honest, I don’t know that I’d even invest in MS at this point, considering their 2002. EA would have been a very, very, very strong buy in 2001 (I’m actually kicking myself that I didn’t buy in then–they released 2 Sims expansion packs, The Sims itself was riding high, and they also picked up the Harry Potter license that year…the stock kicked serious behind that year, if you’re wondering), but I’m not so sure I’d recommend them now; they still have good sellers and would be a solid buy, but I don’t see them making any huge leaps this year, because their 2003 lineup isn’t that strong (C&C Generals might be pretty big for a PC game and I think SimCity 4 will probably sell well at least for a little while, but otherwise, they’ve basically just got a few sports games like Def Jam Vendetta and NBA Street 2, plus the usual EA Sports lineup, coming up).
If you were looking for a buy recommendation, you might want to consider Activision. Want to know why? Two words: Doom 3.
I don’t invest. Partly, this is to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. But, even more, it’s the sense that the stock market is a big crap shoot … and that the watchdogs are dozing.
If I had money, I’d probably put it in something stable and reliable like CDs or Treasury notes.
Peter
Publisher Activision has announced a better than expected profit for its financial third quarter and also expects a large year-end profit at the end of March - but guidance for 2004 suggests a forthcoming drop in revenues as the company moves to an operating model which will see fewer games released each year.
IANAIC (I am not an investment counselor) but if I had the money, this is what I would do:
Starting with 100k, take 90k and invest it in a wide variety of mutual funds. Growth, value, bond, and international funds.
Then I’d take 10k and just pick some companies I like. Say TiVo or Electronics Boutique or EA or whatever.
I’ve been told it’s generally a poor idea to invest in specific stocks, especially concentrated in one sector. Over the long run, the mutual funds will do fine with very much less downside risk.
[EDITS: Basically, this strategy supposedly has the benefit of being sound for 90% of the investment, but 10% is just for “fun”]
A year or two ago, I stopped investing in paper, and focused on real estate. Haven’t looked back, until very recently with such bargains everywhere.
With a six digit nest egg, I’d buy an apartment complex, $100K might be enough to get you a 10-unit here in California. Major cash flow.
the other options was to buy a couple of houses, each on 10 year mortages… then rent them out… and have the renters pay the mortagae… I would be bothered by being their landlord and fixing the house up and shit… but real estate seems a lot more secure than mutal funds…
ah fuck, all this spare cash and I dont know what to do with it…
Eli Lilly is v. good long term. Just an excellent company with a ton of really, really smart scientist dudes who can make anyone feel stupid. Stock got knocked down when Prozac rights went generic, but in the long run, they do so much good research that they’re bound to keep creating wonderful expensive drugs.
Weird place for stock tips…
Gladguy, where do you go for stock information?
I usually go to globeinvestor.com
I don’t rely on any one source. I track 21 different gaming stocks using the portfolio manager on StockHouse. I’ve been tracking the same (more or less) 21 stocks for about 3 or 4 years now.
For information, I subscribe to just about every gaming newsletter there is, both the gamer-centric and industry-centric. I just love this business and I want to know everything I can about how it works. I have big dreams… 
xahlt has it right. There’s a lot of money to be made in this sector, if you realize first and foremost that this is a business. A companies stock value has as much to do with the quality and forecasts of their products as it does with the quality of their management. Look at IPLY. Great games, great IP, shitty management. If you had invested in IPLY based on their IP, you’d be out some serious coin by now. Ask Titus.
The flip side is you can’t rely totally on great management to be able to continually sell shit-in-a-box. That’s why I am comfortable stating that I think ERTS is going to drop a lot lower before it goes much higher. Sure, they are shrewd as hell and hungry as ever to milk their franchises. But, IMO, they are very top-heavy with senior management (which costs big $$) and their 2003 lineup is weak.
But of course, I’m a big talker, huh? I don’t have two nickles to rub together! :roll:
I’d be jonesing for Take 2 to take a plunge: until GTA they were basically nothing. And what do they have to succeed GTA? Nothing…
But they say there’s no better investment than a child’s education!
C’mon, what would feel better, adding more “extra” money that you don’t need to your coffers, or knowing that you’ve endowed my 4-month-old son to go the university of his choice someday? :-)
(You don’t want to do that? Okay, I second the Interplay recommendation…)
My takes:
Pick stocks with that’ll make the jump to gaining positive cashflow from online gaming…right now, isn’t ERTS the best pure game play for that? (Discounting Sony and Microsoft…)
Activision seems to be in shambles from what I can tell–poor titles, no coherent strategy. I always thought THQI could distinguish itself, but they seem to pick crap franchises and their only ace in the hole is if cellphone-based gaming takes off.
TTWO has the one killer franchise and is doing a $25 million stock buy-back, but what do you think of their stable of titles coming out in 2003? Any winners there? The Great Escape, Project Manhunt, Conflict Desert Sabre, Mafia, and Max Payne II. They seem to be weakening in cash flow, but not hurting.
Opinions? Agree/disagree?
And don’t I wish I had six figures to invest too!!!
Just get a property management company.
I always use one… I already have a job, I don’t need another one.
You just have to make sure to pay enough down so that the rent will
cover mortgage and management fee (and insurance, and HOA, etc)
Aside: Speaking of stocks, my 401K when up 10% last quarter!! With no additional contributions!! First time it’s gone up in 2 years!