Hewlett Packard (HPQ)

[davext]

What does everyone think about HPQ? It keeps sinking, is there any reason to buy it?

They are a huge company with lots of different businesses. Is it the overall market and lower demand for PCs/Laptops due to tablets the main driver for the downtrend?

Not to mention getting rid of that CEO, poor decision.

[Dopplegangerr]

I bought on the way down and it kept sinking further, I have been sitting on it for months and months to at least come back to what I paid for it. It had seemed they were getting into more software side of the business and somewhat away from the hardware portion but it doesnt seem to have turned into profits. Anyone believe this will ever return to its former glory?

[PMREdmonton]

I don't know that it will return to its former glory.

It is trying to convert itself to become a big player in the cloud and business services.

This is a crowded field and there will be competition there with deeper roots in this space.

I do like the stock but don't own any. If you can buy at 22 you'll probably eventually be rewarded but I don't know if it's going to see 40 anytime again soon. They really have to fix up management which has been a mess the last couple of years which has really hurt the stock.

The public in punishing it on the basis of the decline in PCs but that is a surprisingly small part of their profits. That is why they thought about spinning it out which would have been a mistake, IMO. Luckily Whitney came along and cancelled that. They can use that to help leverage their way into businesses and would have been foolish to let that dominance slip away for pennies on the dollar.

I do hope they give us a divy bump as they are now clearly in the value space and not growth space. This will help set a floor for the stock price, too.

[Dopplegangerr]

Another bad quarter and does not look to be looking better for next one ether.
Considering taking my 18% loss and using the capital left over in better ways.
Come on HP get your S@#! together so I dont have to sell

[Dopplegangerr]

Well it has not stopped sinking, I am now at a 25% loss on this company. Anyone else hold these guys?

[kcowan]

Mark Hurd was the last good CEO. They got rid of him for questionable ethics. But they have not found a viable replacement yet.

Athough I buy their products (4 PCs), I do not think of them as a good stock investment. I think their destruction of Palm, Digital, and Tandem was a crime.

[Spudd]

I use their outsourcing services at work. They're pretty good but a lot of red tape and overhead - more so than some other vendors we use. I am not a fan of their PCs, I find them to be poor quality.

If they can keep growing their services business they might be worth investing in. But there's a lot of competition in that space.

[m3s]

What a mess. Yes PC and printer sales are declining, but I just read they made an $8.8 billion accounting write down due to "improprieties” and “misrepresentations”? They seemed to be desperately trying to aquire a new business they had no clue about, kind of like YLO


In the latest quarter, the company reported a $6.9 billion loss, dragged down by the Autonomy mess and continuing problems in the business that resulted in an overall charge of $8.8 billion. On Tuesday, the stock continued falling, dropping 12 percent to less than $12, its lowest point since 2002.

Hewlett’s Loss: A Folly Unfolds, by the Numbers (http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/h-p-takes-big-hit-on-accounting-improprieties-at-autonomy/)

[bayview]

It maybe premature but I think HP is going to be another fallen American icon like Kodak.

More shrewd & diligent investors & analysts have raised red flags about Autonomy's fraud accounting before HP consummated the deal but yet its own finance & accounting teams were blindsided. Plus it current array of businesses are no longer leaders like they used to be.

I concur with those who thinks it is a value trap.

[My Own Advisor]

Will never own it. Unless it's part of VTI. :)

[HaroldCrump]

Unless it's part of VTI
Of course it is a part of VTI
About #85 out of approx. 3,260.

This is the reason ETFs like VTI will never make any money.
Its pitiful returns are not beating even 5 yr. bond returns.
Folks are better off stuffing their mattress with cash.

[Jungle]

Harold are you pro index investor or pro stock? Just curious.

I have both index and stocks.

On topic: this type of company is not something I am comfortable buying. Kind of like RIM, but know HP is much larger and been around for a long time. However times are changing, these companies are seeing a dramatic shift in what type of consumer products are being purchased. It this will keep changing every few years as things advance and change.

[HaroldCrump]

Harold are you pro index investor or pro stock? Just curious.
I have both index and stocks.
I am not dogmatically pro or anti any particular strategy or style.
Everything depends on (1) individual's risk tolerance, and (2) individual's ability, time, and interest to pick individual stocks.

I have almost exclusively individual stocks and bonds in my portfolio, except for a physical gold ETF (CGL).
I did have small positions in a couple of TSX and S&P linked ETFs up until maybe late 2010, but since then have gradually sold them away for small profits.

That being said, what I am against, and have always been so, are these broad, global, uber-diversified ETFs or index funds.
These ETFs are essentially proxies for global GDP growth, where strong economies cancel out weak economies.
There is always a recession somewhere and a boom somewhere else.

It is like playing tug of war between your left hand and right hand.

Sure, over very long periods of time (decades and centuries) the world GDP will rise.
You are basically betting on centuries long population and GDP growth rates.
But that time horizon does not match with most individual investors'.

If you look at the returns of these funds, you will see the vapid performance, which does not even beat GIC returns, let alone inflation.

Spend a little bit more time to pick specific regions, sectors or stocks and take informed, calculated risks.