Investing in Sony

[ShawnB]

Hello gentlemen,
I have been watching the whole HD war for a long time and am considering investing in Sony stock. I have held off since everything started up last year, hoping and expecting that a little air would be let out of the bag by now and the price of the stock would come down closer to where it was 4 years ago (half the price of today).

With the holiday season nearly hear, I'm thinking that if i don't invest soon, it won't be worth it, assuming the 4th qtr developments are in Sony's favor and this war ends soon afterwards.

I hope I don't sound aloof by saying that i don't really care or know much about the tech side of things (don't really watch TV much and i really only care to see movies once)...but would anyone be so kind as to give me their thoughts about how likely this format war will end soon and more important i guess how much of an impact a complete victory soon would impact sony's profits as a company overall. I know a good bit about the company but I imagine their is a wealth of knowledge here I cant find elsewhere.

Thank you very much for your time.

[Copywriter]

BLU winning a war (let's just say it's magically ended tomorrow) won't make shares of Sony skyrocket. It's a large company with many products, issues, etc.

There are better things to invest in. For instance, I went against my investing rules and put 30% of my portfolio into Blockbuster when it was right above $4 a share. About two months later, it's near $6.

Read their reports, financial information and listen to conference calls to get a handle on what actual affects the company.

Remember, the price of the stock is about supply and demand--people who want the stock verses those that want out. A so-so company can have a hot stock and vise versa.

[Incog]

Naw, electronics company's are slow and steady performers on the stock end of things. None of them really move and shake.

And anyone who thinks the war will be over in the next year is fooling themselves. I fear we have 3-4 years of this at least.

[actionhank]

No, personally I wouldn't touch anything (financially) in Japan with a ten foot pole. Well maybe Toyota, but not with this currency rate. The Japanese economy has been in the dog house since forever.

But more specifically Sony is too big a company to use it as a blu-ray victory play. Most of its lines of business are in small electronic devices which are extremely competitive and difficult. The same way you can't use MSFT to play Halo's success I don't think you can use Sony for blu-ray.

Personally if you want to play the high def game I suggest you take a look at Corning (GLW) they make the glass for LCDs.

Best Buy is pretty good too if you want cheaper, even though the general feeling in this forum isn't too warm to best buy, its associates especially, the average Joe is still gonna go there to buy their HDTVs, HD players and sadly, ask for info.

[ShawnB]

little surprised by the responses but thanks for the insight

[whoami]

i think you and alot of guys see sony only with blu ray. i bought there stock a year before the ps3 came out at $28 a share. thinking thats where i'll make my money. i was wrong,i made money before ps3 came out in fact ps3 hurt them alittle. what some guys dont see is that sony hd tvs are one of the high selling tvs. the psp is making crazy money and know that the slim came out. it out sold the old psp in japan, ps2 is still out selling xbox 360. sony also has money making movie studios money making record companies they are top 20 worldwide semiconductor seller lets not forget they got great computers.they even have a mortgage and insurance company.personally i think your looking for advise in the wrong place.you should do research before you buy anything in life. but if you want my advise,sony will not make you money over night but is a great long term stock.when buying a long term stock you should buy in a company that you like and use,because when their price drops you dont freak and sell.