Are you kidding me? We are taking our cue from the president, Illinois Tool Works ($ITW)and 3M($MMM)? Is that right? Should we not take our cue from Ford ($F), National OIlwell Varco ($NOV),Cummins ($CMI) and Domino's ($DPZ)?
I guess the combination of the president telling us to be afraid, very afraid, dovetails with the poor execution -- sorry -- from ITW and the worries of 3M, which I think are more Japan-oriented than they may fess up to. Look, today is a mixed bag. Netflix ($NFLX), which has captured the trading fancy of just about everyone, is being hit by a triple whammy: higher content costs coming, higher expenses coming because of the international expansion, and an attempt to raise prices, a move that many think is a mistake.
But why not give them the benefit of the doubt? Doesn't CEO Reed Hastings deserve the benefit of the doubt? Is he being too conservative, a la UPS ($UPS)? Or is he just flat-out regretting the move? I think that it is the former.
Nevertheless, the caution controls the action. Anyone who is cautious is killing his or her own stock. Remember Pepsi ($PEP)? I think that those who speak positively -- like Eaton ($ETN), Cummins, National Oilwell and Broadcom ($BRCM) -- work. Those who are downbeat -- 3M, ITW -- get spanked.
And the president casts a pall over everything, including the good ones. Stay the course.
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