Wishin4an05

Hello everyone ..

(long time lurker..first time poster)

I had owned several Mustangs in the past, loved them all, and I am kind of in the market for an 05.. BUT ..After watching my savings account net interest of .000001% last year, I started thinking of Ford more as an investment.

I do not want to be long winded, but I have a few questions :

1) Does anyone on here own any Ford stock, and if so, do you think the strong Mustang sales will help the stock rise?

2) As a shareholder, does Ford give you any bonuses, like maybe a shareholders buyer plan, or other new vehice discount?

I am seriously thinking of buying maybe 200 shares at the open on Monday (closed today at $13.15 I think?)

Any opinions?

95cobraR

Welcome to the site!

The Mustang will have little impact on earnings. Ford USA sales are over 3.5M vehicles. Mustang sales of maybe 200K is only about 5% of units sold in the USA. They also have alot of European sales as well as sales in Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. They also own Mazda.

They make most of their profits by financing vehicles and dealer inventory. Very little profit is made in operations (manufacturering).

Personally, I would not buy any auto manufacturer. It is a capital (plants) intensive industry with huge labor and legacy costs. The global industry suffers from vast over-capacity. Projected global growth is very small. I can think of only one industry that may be in worse shape: hub based airlines.

I'd rather buy a low cost index fund.

jgsmuzzy

I have just had a good look at the Ford profile. Put it this way, If you were to invest in Ford, it should be a straight bet, 3% interest last year, the market analysis is to "Hold" shares (as opposed to buy / sell)
Another thing to consider, is that, while your money isn't working for you in the bank, at least you are guarenteed everything back. If you want more return on your money, you have to take more risks.....


Oh, Welcome!!

BlackRiderX

I almost bought Ford when it was at 7 dollars a year or so ago. Too bad I would have doubled it by now! I'm not sure it has much left in it though.

As someone else said, I also don't invest in auto companies. The Mustang is but a small part of overall sales, and things like massive recalls can be more important from an investor's perspective.

I would suggest buying Ford stock only if you are going for a long term gain. This is not a good short at all.

Wishin4an05

Thanks for the input guys ...

You all make great points ...

I took my down payment $$$ for my 05' , and decided to buy in this morning at $13.14 a share ...I'll stop back here every few weeks, and let you know how its goin ...Hopefully by next fall, my down payment pile will be larger, and maybe I can afford the Shaker 1000 after all ...

thanks ..

Wishin4an05

Just a quick update..

As of this afternoon, its selling at 13.44..I am up 30 cents a share in my first week...

(last week was an abnormal week for the market though)

I guess time will tell...

BlackRiderX

Wishin,

First Congrats and Good Luck! Target price for this stock is 14.00. The high target for Ford is 17.00 within a year. That is a best case scenerio IMO. It hasn't broke 20 since mid 2001. I think you should be alright due to the low entry price though.

Word of warning though. Watch the entire market closely the next few weeks and see how Ford's stock reacts to the direction of the market. The January effect was pretty bad this year, and the market has not decided to go bull or bear yet. Two weeks ago I lost over 22K in one week on one of my stocks, but have gained a good percentage of it back since then. Great time right now for buyers, terrible for most investors.

mav

Wishin4an05

OK ..As of this week, I am getting beat up pretty badly...Ford is now well under $12.95, so I'm down about 30 cents a share...Maybe my plan to increase my down payment isnt working so well...

You guys DID try and warn me ...Oh well, looks like I'm in for the long haul now..

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scottie1113

I figured it was time to resurrect an old thread in the wake of Ford's recent announcements of sharply reduced earnings. I just checked and F is trading at $9.52. Ouch. The Mustang is not a volume seller and even though Ford will sell all they can make it won't greatly impact their bottom line. Their financial status has them one step away from junk bond ratings.

Truck sales are down and that's no wonder considering the price of gas these days. But truck sales made up most of Ford's profits.

The market giveth and the market taketh away.