Walt Disney Co. (DIS)

(A Top Pick Dec 17/15. Down 12.14%.) This has been under pressure on concerns of ESPN and cord cutting. The last quarter was met reasonably well, because management has been pretty upfront about what they see going on in the environment, and feels that the subscribers’ loss has been moderating. Next year, ESPN will be included in a lot of direct TV and bundles, which will offset any losses. All the other areas of their business are doing well.

Looking at the 10-year chart, this has been a fabulous story. If you take children to their theme parks, you walk away with a lot less money than what you had. The movies tend to move the window from time to time. Sports is also a big thing. Feels the longer-term story is a good one. It is one that you could just put into your portfolio and wait.

Down 30% from its high a year ago, with cord cutting because of ESPN. It was a $120 stock very recently. Year-to-date it is only down about 12%, but that is in a market that has been flat to up, so far. On a relative basis, we have seen the stock reflect uncertainty, but doesn’t think that uncertainty is a third of the value of the company. You are seeing other companies trying to get into the content and media industry, who may not be experts at running that. There is no question that this company is an expert on cross content. Dividend yield of 1.51%.

This is one where people think of theme parks, movies, etc. Those things have been doing okay for them. The problem for them is their broadcasting area, with most of it in the cable area like ESPN, which is hurting them badly. Because of that, he can’t get excited about this.

Had owned this for 6-7 years. There was a bit of a drop and he gave it a pass, thinking how bad can it be. Didn’t think the ESPN thing was going to be as bad as people had thought. A lesson he learned through many years was don’t trade for what you think is going to happen. The price is really telling you something. On the 2^nd fall he felt enough was enough and sold his holdings. You are going to have some tax loss selling on this right through into December, and he might consider buying at some time.

It is about 15 times next year’s earnings. It is a great company with great assets. Parks and movies have done well and are growing. They have ABC and ESPN. It sounds like ESPN is getting less subscribers but Disney is not being clear about it. They have lots of content and content is king. The stock is cheap at these levels.

(Market Call Minute.) A great investment. Buy it and hold it for the long haul.

He likes this and is Buying it. It is going to enjoy the benefit of the focus that is now going to be on the content providers because of AT&T and its activities with Time Warner. A cheap stock now. It is functioning well in all areas.

(A Top Pick Nov 16/15. Down 19.61%.) He switched course and went for a bit of a Short on it. This had been priced to perfection, and since then ESPN started to disappoint in a big, big way. Right now there are just too many things not working.

He would sell it. He thinks the issues are here to stay. They are having pricing problems because of cord cutting. It is a fantastic franchise and a wonderfully well managed company, but as an investor you have to ask at what price. He would be a seller and perhaps look at it later.

He endorses this name. It is attractive right now. He is surprised it has fallen as much as it has. They produce hit after hit. They have a lot of levers to move forward. People are watching ESPN online and these numbers are not included in subscriber numbers in their 10k. He thinks it is going higher from here.

On so many stocks now, the value of a company is the intellectual property. This has a vast library of content, which can be used on all platforms, and is new to every new child. This falls into a category of increasing interest to him of Experiential Consumerism. Millennials in particular are spending a lot of money on experiences. This is playing into that theme, and is quite inexpensive at this price. He would buy this company up to $110, or even $115.

(A Top Pick Oct 22/15. Down 17.97%.) He still likes the movie business. This got hit because of their sports network ESPN. Expects they will manage through this.

She likes the idea of a Twitter buy out. They are struggling with ESPN.

A consistent performer. The media business is holding it down. They are in the right type of business.