The Bravern in Bellevue this September

Alright I don't know if anyone has heard but Bellevue is going to be the epi-center of high luxury shopping come this September. The Bravern in Bellevue will be opening its famous high end shops including such names as: Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Neiman Marcus, Louis Vuitton, Her'mes...along with good eateries such as: Wild Ginger, John Howie Steak, a wine bar. I am incredibly stoked for this to happen. Finally the Seattle area (well its Bellevue but what ever) is going to have some marquee luxury branded boutiques in the area. Which brings me to an upsetting topic.

Why now? Why in the economic time that we are in do we just start to get something so luxurious as the Bravern? Seattle is always ahead when it comes to everthing tech trendy and eco friendly but we Seattle peeps tend to forget about becoming urbanomically dressed. Sure a majority of Seattle residents know how to live an urbanomical lifestyle but we have not been treated to high luxury shops like the ones listed above. Well, it's about time...you might as well buy one of the swank Bravern condos. Check out the website at www.thebravern.com and you will be surely impressed if not in awe.

Netflix? I'll buy that

I just switched from blockbuster to Netflix today and have to say I am pretty pleased with the move. $13.99 plus another $3.00 ain't bad for 2 unlimited rentals a month I must say and we will have to see how quickly I can get my movies but in the mean time I can start watching some streamlining video of movies such as: Unforgiven, The Searchers, and Casablanca. I was really shocked by this and had to take a look at the stock like any well informed investor would do. So I did and wow am I impressed, sure the stock is close to its 50-day moving average of 44 (it currently trades at 39/share) but this stock has some staying power. The founder, Reed Hastings, is a genius, he took bold steps to create/integrate top boxes for the company basically keeping 3 steps ahead of any competitor. Netflix has turned into the modern day tivo with a twist of blockbuster. With the way economic times are looking right now the companies that are going to survive are the ones that are dishing out high quality entertainment on the cheap and easy to access. That's what Netflix is all about, easy access...:)...

Here are some stats I like about the company...

Total Cash: 286 million vs 38.87 million of debt

Revenue: 1.43 Billion with market cap of $2.4 billion

Profit: 434 million...(would like to see about 250 million more but eh)

yoy growth: 67% (thats huge..)

The analysts like it too...we got a firm upgrade from Citibank last month and a few more reports that say it's a buy (at least 3 vs 11 hold recos).

If you can be patient I would go for this stock at $34...

Buying this Rally? Yes

It's May 2009 and we are seeing some positive territory with stocks lately. Sure the Bank reports of the 19 biggest banks are in and the reports were well...not so good and we're still waiting on the government's suggestions I'm really seeing a period of "stability". According to Citigroup they will be seaking 10 Billion in capital not through government investment (which for all of you's that's keeping count is 45%) but private investments. What's even more exciting is that there are potential suitors!!! The stock has been trading at the $2.00-$3.90 range the past month or so and I think finally (once the bad bank assets get bought up) we're going to see stability with the banks. Sure I would love to see Citigroup sell some assets like its Traveler's insurance brand (Hey Warren you listening?) but for now I like the idea of private investment in CitiGroup.

Yes, I am basing this whole positive empathy on the fact that the big banks (Citi, Bank of America, Wells Fargo) are looking up as far as performance lately. I would like to see some more mergers coming about but for now I like the performances by Mr. Geithner and Mr. Pandit. So what is going to dig us out of this recession hole? Well, obviously we're going to see it with housing starts, I think once housing gets going again for consecutive months we're going to see some bullish sentiment with stocks. Also, commercial properties are going to have to lead us out because with commercial property comes jobs. I do believe that unemployment will peak at oh about 12% until we see it come down but that was already priced into the market in February. So what do we buy?

Specifically:

Apple- I know I love this stock so much that I always recommend but think about it. It's done so well during the recession and with out Steve at the helm. Think of what it will done once we're good again.

Citi- A bit speculative but seriously this stock will hit $10 by summertime I can believe that for sure.

Amazon- Tech/retail mix is one of the few companies with a notable CEO that doesn't flinch at a bad economy.

First Solar- With growing economy we're going to have to get energy somewhere and First Solar has the monopoly when it comes to alternative energy.

Toyota- Going back to alternative energy this company produces affordable cars that don't guzzle gas. As well as unaffordable cars that do not guzzle gas.

Wells Fargo- The new Warren Buffett, Jamie Dixon is CEO/gambler of the year in my book and the stock price shows.

my speculative play of the year? Saks Fifth Avenue- They're real estate values them much higher than $5/share plus it's got the reputation to sustain its legs.