Tuesday, February 20, 2007

JBLU (JetBlue): Customer Bill of Rights = Company's Living Will


Today, JetBlue unleashed (on itself) what it calls it's Customer Bill of Rights (essentially putting themselves in a burlap sack and then beating themselves with a freshly made sausage) which details a list of self-imposed penalties on all of it's flights if they are delayed in an attempt to win back passengers after last week's operational screw ups. The release states that:

"JetBlue customers will be compensated based on the length of the delays. The vouchers range from $25 to the full amount of the ticket. The delays include airplanes unable to taxi to the gate within 30 minutes and flight departures held up for a minimum of three hours, according to a program copy provided to The Associated Press."

I am personally a part of this because for the long weekend, we flew out a friend to come join us and her flight was delayed 7 hours. We were thankful that she even made it out considering the icestorm however the delay was a drag. We ended up picking her up at 4 am in the morning at a different airport 40 miles away.

Reading this new this morning was great! I'm glad that we'll be getting a full refund and yes, JetBlue still has our business however this Customer Bill of Rights is essentially death for the stock and what it comes down to is that the company pretty much has given up profitability for half the year. Every time there is fog, rain, snow, a troublesome passenger, a technical malfunction, or a pilot with an overly active bladder, they'll be reaching for their pockets. It's brilliant in terms of customer satifaction but suicide in terms of profits. They'll be breaking even or losing money on any flight that goes wrong. Surely this is an over reaction on their part.

I'm glad I cashed out at $14.50 with my $50 dollar profit because ever since, the stock has been crashing and will continue to crash until they revise their bill of rights or until man learns how to control the weather.





Notes:
In Portfolio: Just got the hell out.
Random Thought: Cats aren't clean, they're covered in spit.
Best Dunk: Dwight Howard's Sticker Dunk

Monday, February 12, 2007

SBUX (Starbucks): A Legal Addiction


What it all comes down to is legalized drug dealing (OK, maybe not that bad but I'm just illustrating a point). Society needs outlets and the three that Uncle Sam has allowed us are smoking, alchohol and caffeine. It begins as a social thing and later becomes a dependancy. It's crazy and it's to a point where my friends make mental notes of each and every Starbucks location as they are driving. I guess what I'm trying to say is that coffee is a neccessity (like gas, food, and water) for many.

My second thought is that drinking a cup of Starbucks is like having a little slice of luxury for a few dollars every day. It's also part of the reason why the iPod has been enjoying so much success, because it's considered a luxury item that can be easily accessed by the general public. It's not a 3,000 rolex or a 35,000 BMW. It's 300 dollars for the iPod and 3.00 for the coffee. Coffee is even better because of the margins but that doesn't need to be delved into.

The most important stat is that Starbuck's goal is for 40,000 thousand stores world wide and they currently are at 14,000. “We keep getting surprised by how successful we are each time,” says Peter Maslen, president of Starbucks Coffee International, commenting on how new international customers have reacted. They are gaining nice traction in non-US countries and although the stock seems pricey now, I don't see it going anywhere but up. It's currently expensive however it will seem relatively cheap a while from now. We'll see tho, but from the way my friends are mad about their coffee, it's a great buy for me. Witness.





Notes:
In Portfolio: Entry buy at 32.75 and will buy more as it goes down.
Duration: Long term
Random Thought: Justin Timberlake has a higher voice than the girl he sang with at the Grammy's... that's just wrong.