In the wake of the floormat-related recall, the subsequent accelerator pedal recall, the Prius brake problem-related recall, and the investigation into problems with their drive by wire system, the following is an excerpt from an article in today’s news about Toyota:
“In an alarming disclosure that could widen Toyota’s recall crisis, the Toyota executive in charge of quality controls, Shinichi Sasaki, said Toyota was taking seriously the complaints about power-steering problems in the Corolla, the world’s best-selling car.
Sasaki said drivers may feel as though they were losing control over the steering, but it was unclear why. He mentioned problems with the braking system or tires as possible underlying causes of the steering problem.
There have been fewer than 100 complaints, the automaker says.
Speaking at Toyota’s Tokyo office, Sasaki said it was still uncertain if a Corolla recall would be necessary but the automaker is considering one. The number of affected vehicles is unclear, he said.”
Although I previously thought that Toyota’s reputation would rapidly recover from their gas pedal problems, I now believe that the tarnishing of their image is going to have a fairly long-lasting impact on their sales–at least in the US.
I agree. Toyota will have every problem, big and small, put under a magnifying glass, so it’s going to take quite a while to get through this. There are many good options to Toyota out there, once the ‘best in class quality’ label is gone (real or imagined).
Their stock price is at a 5 year low; coincidentally where it was about 5 years ago. This discounts the new year period in 2009 when the market tanked. Still, if you like Toyota’s long term prospects, it’s time to buy. Their high during the last 5 years was about $135.
It could be a good time to buy Toyota stock. Look at Ford – trading at $1.00/share in Dec. 2008 and now around $11.00. Buying a car and buying a company’s stock are two very different and unrelated things.
Twotone
As my mother always says, “This, too, shall pass.”
If Toyota stock is at a five year low perhaps it’s a good time to buy some.
That’s what Warren Buffet does. He LOVES to buy stock on a company he believes in when it’s low. Obviously that philosophy has done him well for years.
Myself, I am really sad that after 8 years of Bush (2 unfunded wars, unfunded Perscription D, tax reduction at a time of war) I don’t have the money to buy anybody’s stock.
Isn’t that your fault that you don’t have any money to buy stock? Taxes have been low for many years now.
The taxes I pay aren’t the issue, the issues is when customers don’t have the money to bring me their cars for repair my bottom line hurts. I am at the bottom of the food chain, and when things go bad for people that can afford my services or buy the products my employers sell, well we all know which way s*** rolls.
Just what was the thinking of Bush going to war and pushing Plan D through (which does benifit me in the short time) and reduce taxes all at the same time? Plan D is the largest unfunded “entitlement” the government ever enacted, the cost for Plan D is different than the costs for the wars, Plan D is open ended, the costs will never stop going up and no one knows how high they will go. How could this series of events ever have ended up any different than they did?
I agree.
I bought Ford stock for $8.00 a share, in August 2009, as I perceived it to be much better-managed than GM or Chrysler and I believed that their long-term prospects were good. So far, there is about a 36% gain in the price per share, and I believe that it will sell for around $15.00 per share w/in a year or two.
I would consider buying some Toyota stock at this point, as the bad news is apparently already priced into the share price. Over the long term, it should appreciate in price.
For those who bought Toyota stock as recently as a few months ago–woe is them unless they are willing to hold it for many more years.
The problem is, though, that people tend to panic when they see their stock going down. As it keeps going down, people start selling it off more and more, which causes the stock to drop even more. So on and so forth.
I wouldn’t doubt that some of the recession was caused by people panicking and selling off their stock rather than keeping it in play for the long term.
"Plan D is the largest unfunded “entitlement” the government ever enacted…
I think that one could argue that Social Security is the largest unfunded entitlement. Those on social security didn’t pay for it all - not nearly. The only reason they get paid is because current workers pay for it. There is no rainy day fund where social security money goes. It goes into the general revenue fund if it is not spent on someone else benefits. It’s a giant Ponzi scheme.
Buy low, sell high, timing is the key, Stock has not hit bottom yet but watching and waiting. There is not much better luck sometimes than a monkey throwing a dart at the listings, there are people like me looking for the down side steal, and we will be repaid on the upside. I would not hesitate at buying a toyota. Now to sell that gold
i overpaid at $399. Today : 1119.30
Over the years, my rule of thumb on investments has been simple. Look at what “everybody” is doing, and it is guaranteed the correct thing is the exact opposite. Using this, I bought a lot of low priced stocks in the 70’s when everyone was scared off. Eventually, I paid my house off 15 years early, and bought a house in Mexico City.
Remember when money markets were around 18 or 20%, probably early 80’s? My wife came home and said she wanted to get in on some of those profits. I had her buy stocks paying dividends around 11%. Her fellow workers really trashed me to her, for being that stupid, when she could have got 18 or more % in money markets, especially since I had passed the CPA exam, and should have known better, etc.
A few weeks later, money markets plummeted, back to 10% or less, and her stocks nearly doubled. She earned 35% a year on her stocks for a long time. Not one of these smart people apologized for criticizing a man in front of his wife.
Some people do make money on gold, which is pure speculation. Speculators overall over the years lose big. And, I mean speculators in anything, not just gold.
Someone pointed out gold becomes worthless if the balloon really goes up. How much water could the dummies in NO who refused to leave have bought with gold?
Buying their stock now is a bad idea. This recall fiasco only has the stock down to the mid-70s. It was there in both July and October last year. Look at the one year graph. They only lost a recent run-up before the recall business hit. If it gets to the low 60s you might think good long-term investment.
OTOH, Toyota is a lot larger company than they were in the 1960s. That means the break-up value is much, much higher. The stock is worth more on than in 1965 on that count alone.
What part of my statement do you contest “largest” “unfunded” "or “entitlement” ? we all have our own definitions of each. Just like when each of us reads the Constitution, we all come away thinking it says something different than the other guy thinks. Then we get the Supreme Court involved to give the “offical” interpetion, and when they do some say they are “making laws” which is the job of Congress.
That would be 60s, as in dollars, as in price per share, as in Toyota’s March 2009 low…which it gets to revisit again after (1) the whole market revisits 2009 lows and (2) Toyota settles its first major class action law suit.