Use This Market Opportunity to Unload Merck
- 4 Comment
My thoughts are that Merck is going to try it’s hardest to keep the dividend intact, but that the string of dividend increases will be few and far between. I just cannot see how they can support increases going forward. Add that with Zocor losing U.S. market exclusivity in June and sales will likely drop as well.
Bottom line – I think that I can find better places for my investment money. I already own Pfizer so am exposed to healthcare already so I may just add to some existing positions. I will let you know what I decide to do.
4 Comments on this post
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Black said:
Hi DivGuy,
At first, it’s very difficult to watch a stock go on such a run when you had either good intention to buy or looked at a chart and said to your self this is going to take off. The great thing about the stock market is there’s always another stock or index that will do the same thing. Good trading.
Regards
Black
http://www.leverageyoureffort.comApril 22nd, 2006 at 9:29 am -
yielder said:
An index fund spreads the risk – XLV, VHT, IYH, IXJ. If you want a stock replacement, JNJ is a thought – http://www.dividendgrowth.org/StockIdeas/JNJ.pdf
April 22nd, 2006 at 9:00 pm -
G said:
First of all, I enjoy reading your posts. Next, I agree with you that this is probably a good time to get rid of MERCK. I read a report that states the company will handle each claim one at a time. So far I’ve seen two claims and two large rewards, and two dips in MERCK stock. I’ve added a link to your site on my blog.
April 25th, 2006 at 3:48 pm
[...] Around September 2005, 2million made a purchase of Merck on the weakness that the stock had gone through since the Vioxx problems. If you remember, I chose to sell the stock 8 months later on the worries with the Vioxx lawsuits. Although I admit the timing of this is not necessarily a one for one exchange of shares, I think it does highlight the fact that people analyze stocks with different assumptions and come up with different perspectives on the future prospects of the company. 2million believed, and it appears he still does as he transferred his shares recently to a Sharebuilder account, that Merck’s prospects are good and the gains he has received will hold and grow in the future. I do not know, as I have not looked at the shares since I sold. I have just chalked that one up as poor timing on my part. [...]