Why I Invest in Fed-Ex
by: Taurean J. Washington | Military Officer, “Combat Investors” Geezeo Group leader
It is easy to lose sight of your tactical approach when you consider buying stock. We’ve all been confronted with a database containing over 6,000 public companies and a year’s worth of research. When this happens to me I often ask myself “Well Self”, (because that’s what I call myself), “how the heck did we pick the last company?†To answer this question, I think back to when I bought shares of FedEx (NYSE: FDX).
FedEx was an easy buy for me and is a fairly easy hold/additional purchase as well. I grew up in Memphis, TN., the home of Elvis Presley (my first job was at the Rally’s Hamburgers across the street from Graceland), the Blues (The world-renowned Beale Street where I flipped for chips), and FedEx (where everyone knows someone who knows someone who works for FedEx).
We Memphians are also known for BBQ. But, being in the service, I can’t find it in myself to talk about it when my current options are the mess hall or freezer burned steaks with store-brand sauce!
Put no simpler way, FedEx is home and, in my eyes, maintains loyalty to that home when I am away. Not to say that a company based in Memphis easily gets my dollar. But, it’s certainly not a bad starting point either.
FedEx is headquartered a 25-minute walk from my childhood home. It has many qualities that meet my goals even when the emotions of the market don’t see things my way. The company established itself as a global force that can only be truly understood when you’ve worn a pair of Belleville combat boots. When I need a package delivered immediately (a concept of little influence to the military postal system) FedEx awaits just outside of Bamberg, a beautiful small city near the U.S. station in central Germany.
As I run the half-marathon route bordering Camp Victory, a not so beautiful and smaller town (if you will) in central Baghdad, I am reassured that this run will end at some point when I see the signs to the FedEx office. That familiar purple logo splashed on the side of a cargo truck takes me home no matter where I am. Even if it’s as I sit with my wife sharing a 20 Euro hot dog and coke near the Eiffel Tower.
My emotions and passport aside, FedEx’s current stats include a trading price nearly $35 less than my calculated worth, price-to-book of less than 2, current ratio of 1.34, beta of 0.63, an annual dividend at 0.50% (hey, it’s growing), and a market cap of 25.73 billion according to Yahoo! Finance as of August 24, 2008. This is even in the face of an unstable dollar and astronomical fuel prices, two things that can quickly bring a global transporter to its knees. Separately, the numbers don’t serve their maker well but this is one Black Jack table that I am comfortable sitting at.
For these reasons (mainly the loyalty to the city of Memphis), I can still find my pillow when the emotional market gets a little out of hand. How I miss real BBQ!
Write us back here at Geezeo to share how you shake a chicken’s foot over market data to come up with a personal winner (even when they aren’t winning).
Related:
Taurean’s Combat Investors Geezeo Group
Family CEO, Reporting for Duty (interview with Taurean’s wife, JoAngela Washington)
Money and Military Life in a Time of War
Politics, Money, and Votes
October 21st, 2008 at 1:28 pm
[...] Training Why I Invest in Fed-Ex Three Reasons Uncle Sam is Your Investing Partner Four Smart Ways to Invest Tiny Sums addthis_url [...]