Road Captain lesson Number One
martes, 24 de mayo de 2011
lunes, 23 de mayo de 2011
Harley-Davidson good for patient investor
Harley-Davidson Inc. dealerships are reporting strong sales in the second quarter, a promising sign that the motorcycle maker's turnaround is taking hold as the slow economic recovery continues, an R.W. Baird & Co. analyst wrote on Monday.
Baird analysts contacted 54 of 650 U.S. Harley dealers, and 60 percent said they sold more new motorcycles in the first seven weeks of the quarter than a year earlier, with sales up in the low single digits. Harley is on track to grow sales in the second quarter for the first time since 2006.
"The question is, will the broader recovery gain traction to support growth in 2012?" asked analyst Craig Kennison.
Harley's CEO Keith Wandell slashed the company's cost structure during the recession and intensified its focus on core business. Harley still controls roughly 50 percent of the U.S. motorcycle market and has scale advantages over most competitors, Kennison wrote. It also has a big opportunity for international sales growth, and its strategy of limiting supply to maintain prices appears to be working. "Harley remains a top pick for patient investors," Kennison wrote. "Inventory is low, retail is on the brink of growth and a dynamic restructuring plan is gaining traction."
Kennison set a one-year stock price target of $50 per share for Harley and he sees earnings potential of nearly $3 per share by 2012 on shipments of 250,000 motorcycles. Earnings could rise to $3.50 to $4 per share on shipments of more than 300,000 motorcycles in the next cycle, he wrote. For the full year in 2010, Harley reported net income of $146.5 million, to 62 cents per share, versus a loss of $55.1 million, or 24 cents per share, in 2009.
Kennison gives the stock an "Outperform" rating, meaning that he expects it to outperform the broader U.S. equity market over the next year.
Before the market opened, Harley's stock was flat at $36.56. It has traded in a 52-week range of $21 to $43.
Baird analysts contacted 54 of 650 U.S. Harley dealers, and 60 percent said they sold more new motorcycles in the first seven weeks of the quarter than a year earlier, with sales up in the low single digits. Harley is on track to grow sales in the second quarter for the first time since 2006.
"The question is, will the broader recovery gain traction to support growth in 2012?" asked analyst Craig Kennison.
Harley's CEO Keith Wandell slashed the company's cost structure during the recession and intensified its focus on core business. Harley still controls roughly 50 percent of the U.S. motorcycle market and has scale advantages over most competitors, Kennison wrote. It also has a big opportunity for international sales growth, and its strategy of limiting supply to maintain prices appears to be working. "Harley remains a top pick for patient investors," Kennison wrote. "Inventory is low, retail is on the brink of growth and a dynamic restructuring plan is gaining traction."
Kennison set a one-year stock price target of $50 per share for Harley and he sees earnings potential of nearly $3 per share by 2012 on shipments of 250,000 motorcycles. Earnings could rise to $3.50 to $4 per share on shipments of more than 300,000 motorcycles in the next cycle, he wrote. For the full year in 2010, Harley reported net income of $146.5 million, to 62 cents per share, versus a loss of $55.1 million, or 24 cents per share, in 2009.
Kennison gives the stock an "Outperform" rating, meaning that he expects it to outperform the broader U.S. equity market over the next year.
Before the market opened, Harley's stock was flat at $36.56. It has traded in a 52-week range of $21 to $43.
miércoles, 18 de mayo de 2011
This Harley's got a real beat
Harley-Davidson motorcycles have long been famous for their big booming sound, but Moncton bike owner Don Aubut has taken it a step further by mounting a full set of electronic drums to his cool 1977 FLH.
I want to rent it out as a show for special events and bike shows," Aubut said yesterday. "The ideas is that you can drive it right up on stage, put it on a rack, flip out the drums, plug it into the PA and do a drum solo. It only takes a couple of minutes to set it up."
Aubut has been working on the bike for a few months with the help of some specialists. There's still some finishing touches to be done, but he's hoping to start drumming up some business soon. He plans to charge $1,000 for the machine to appear at bike festivals, concerts and any other special event where organizers want something unique. He's not a drummer, so he's looking for some talented stick-swingers who can make the most of the unique setup.
A long-time Harley rider, Aubut says he saw a similar setup at a bike show in Montreal and decided to try it himself. He got some help from Luc LeBlanc, a well-known custom bike-builder at Kent County Customs; and Andy Davis, a veteran drummer at the Long and McQuade music shop in Moncton.
The bike had its headlight and running boards removed to make room, and special brackets were built to hold the Roland TD-9 percussion pads.
Electronic drums are different from regular drums in that they use flat percussion pads connected to an electronic sound module, or "brain." When you hit the pads, the electronic signal goes through the brain to an amplifier or PA system. The sound module has many settings so you can create hundreds of different sounds - from regular drums and cymbals to steel drums, pings, pops, crashes and even voices.
The bike has five pads. The kick drum and high-hat pedals are located on either side of the bike so the drummer can sit in the regular riding position and play with both hands and feet. The bike just needs to be leveled and the sound module plugged into a PA system. The bike is still rideable but Aubut says he'll take it to special events on a trailer so it will be clean and ready to ride onto the stage.
martes, 17 de mayo de 2011
Sturgis 2011
El HOG de los Cabos tiene planeado asistir a este importante evento, buen viaje amigos, esperamos pronto leer todo la resena
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