Cedar Fair is the top conservative stock pick for 2007

I tried to contribute this as news but was met with an error message.

Cedar Fair, LP (NYSE: FUN) is the top conservative stock pick for 2007 from Sy Harding, editor of Street Smart Report. He explains, "With its recent $1.2 billion acquisition of Paramount Parks from CBS Corp., Cedar Fair now operates 17 popular regional theme parks, and five water parks, in 13 states in the U.S. and one province of Canada.

Read more here.

Boy, I hope they're better at the stock market then they are writing about coasters.

"Top Thril Dragster, the worlds Tallest and Fastest coaster..."

Six Flags is also a top conservative investment idea for 2007. Read about it here . *** Edited 12/30/2006 7:33:04 PM UTC by person***

Shhhh. Six Flags bad. ;)

"Top Picks 2007: Chris Mayer waves the flag for Six Flags"

Which flag, the white one?

LOL at jason - good one! :)

That's the problem with stock analysts.. they don't always (often?) know the inner workings of the companies actual business, so they don't/can't take it into consideration.. for example, Snyder may have made the redskins one of the most valuable properties in the NFL, but I bet they didn't have 2 BILLION in debt, either.

Yes, you could say the same about the article about Cedar Fair.

Then again, how much did SFI pay in dividends this year? ;)

Stock picks mean nothing. Sure Cedar Fair has been doing well for the past few years and they have been very generous to stock holders, but they also just doubled in size and still have a lot of deals to work out with the new acquisition. Six Flags has done very well in the past, a long time ago before they doubled the chain in size (I'm not saying that cedar fair is on the same path as six flags) but have been doing poorly. Granted there has been a lot of talk about all the great things for 2007 but we heard a lot of great things in 2006 followed by some of the largest operating budget cuts in recent history and a drop in attendance more significant than anyone will admit.

Is Cedar Fair a top pick? It is a little early in the game they have a lot of work to do to keep from falling apart.

Is Six Flags a top pick? I have high hopes for the future, but really that means nothing. Sure there is a new plan and sure theres a new group of very successful history, but theres no way of telling how this will end up.

In the end anyone can give advice, but it really means nothing. If you want my advice, I would hold of on buying both for right now just because both chains have much room to loose me money. Then again at this time next year I'm sure I will be wishing I would have brought both, because the only way to make the cash is to take the risk.

good luck

If you're looking for the stock price to move, I agree with you. CF's price is going to do little but fluctuate and stay relatively stagnant. It's not a stock for the savvy to buy for a quick move and then dump. You make money on CF stock with the dividends. When my grandmother passed away 2 years ago, I took 1/2 the money she left me and put it in CF stock. At the time it was a little over 30 per share. However, I haven't lost that value because the dividend every 3 months like clockwork has more than made up for it (and actually compounds since I have my sharebuilder account set to auto-reinvest the dividends commission-free). I could actually sell for 26 per share and still break even from that investment.

Don't forget the number one rule of stocks: If you don't sell you haven't lost money.

I have a couple of dividends from Disney (Much to my dismay) I recieved from my grandparents when I graduated from the 8th grade. After I turn 18 I will be selling both of the dividends and purchasing either Cedar Fair or Six Flags dividends. So I guess I'll see when the time comes which is a better investment.

Cedar Fair works as an investment, not so much for the price, but for the consistent dividends. Very few stocks disperse $1.60 - $1.80 per share (unit in FUNs case) per year. This is what makes Cedar Fair attractive.

With Six Flags, the price can't get much lower. If you buy it at $5 and it gets back to $10, you have done very well. Will it ever see $20 again, who knows. Also, don't expect Six Flags to pay any dividends any time in the next 5 to 10 years. Too much debt to pay off to start giving back to shareholders.

I am curious about the comment regarding Cedar Fair doing "poorly".

It has fluctuated in price around $5 over the past year. The current price is about $2 down from the 52 week high, and for off season, that's about right. They run at just over a 15% NET profit margin. That's pretty good. Expecially when you consider that Disney runs at about 10%, Busch at 12% and Six Flags runs at -24%.

FUN paid out $1.88 per unit in the past 12 months. If they continue to pay dividends, they are not doing poorly.

Edited to update poorly typed figures. *** Edited 1/1/2007 6:53:05 PM UTC by CoasterDad64***

^ Actually you don't buy dividends. Dividends are earnings that a company pays to its stock holders. Disney is a good company to own stock in - it is well diversified in the entertainment industry. Welcome to the world of investment.

^^Plus, if you own two shares, it will cost you about $17 to sell your $70 worth of stock. Then with your $53 you can spend another $10-15 to puy 1.75 shares of FUN or maybe 8 shares of SIX.

Just keep them. As SWS points out, Disney is a well rounded company that will be solid. What do you have to lose.

I wouldn't call it a pick just because some blogger likes it. I mean, who the hell is he?

That said, I'd like to up my monthly accumulations. As a consistent and safe performer for the distribution, I do think it's worth it. It's just not much of a growth stock.

^ Of course growth stocks have not been in favor for the last few years. In the late 90's all the money went into the growth stocks, and values stocks were out of favor. With the fall of the dot.com stocks in early 2000s, the market swung back to value stocks. Cedar Fair would fall into the value stock category. If you had some money to play with in the stock market, it's a decent pick. Overall, it's best to diversify in a broad mutual fund with low costs such as an S&P 500 index fund. If you use the approach of dollar cost averaging and set up an account with automatic investments for a set amount on the first of the month regardless of market fluctuations, you will do well over the long haul. That's basically what you do with your job's 401k plans. CoasterDad makes an excellent point. Do your research, then plan to buy and hold. If you constantly buy and sell, the transaction costs will kill you. Plus you're guaranteed to miss on the timing of purchases, and buy at the wrong times.

Oh and one other point before I'll shut up. Anyone who is foolish enough to make investment decisions based on what they read on a coaster site, can probably kiss their money good-bye. ;)

Scott *** Edited 1/1/2007 8:31:31 PM UTC by sws***

Quick note on transaction costs... for the low-budget investor, look to sharebuilder. The highest cost for "free members" is $4 per trade instead of $10-$15. Further, you can lower that cost if you upgrade your membership... although it only pays off if you're going to make several purchases a month.

^^ Sharebuilder works great for regular buying. That's where I have my meager holdings. But selling will cost you a standard commision. Not a huge one, but when you are looking at under $100 worth for the sale, you should consider it. Hell, when you look at any amount, you should consider the amount.

CF is a "conservative pick" because that's how CF operates...even the acquisition of Paramount's parks, while a large MOVE in the market, was done in a manner consistent with their previous business methodology. They'll keep the parks growing, slowly but steadily, and they'll continue with dividends and modest growth, and expansions done in a well thought out manner.

SFI is a conservative pick as well....because the stock can't GO too much lower...LOL! :)