That downgrade from UBS today was not appreciated since I own both American Express and Discover Financial.
It actually seems a little funny to me, I mean, to get bearish now. If somebody was going to look ahead and say that heavy debt burdens and a falling housing market were going to crimp consumers, it seems like the time to do that was back in, say, July of last year. Right now we're inundated with recession talk and consumer-exposed companies have already been slammed -- Discover and Amex are down 49% and 28%, respectively, from their 52-week highs.
Now I won't claim clairvoyance and say that these stocks won't still go down more, but I think when you look at the long term fundamentals of these businesses, along with the strong brands, you're getting a pretty good deal today.
Capital One -- which was also downgraded -- well, that's another story, UBS can have that one.
(redundant disclosure: I own AXP and DFS)
-AvgJoe
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