All posts by Peter Jefferson

About Peter Jefferson

Peter Jefferson is a full-time researcher for www.businessdistrict.com, a task he took on in 2011 when the site was launched. He brings to the position a wealth of practical experience in the field of fiscal policy, having consulted with various government bodies on revenue collection, expenditure and economic growth. Contact Peter at peter[at]businessdistrict.com

Cisco Profits Exceed Estimates

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Cisco has risen after sales and profits exceeded analysts’ estimates. Profits, not including certain costs were 40 cents per share in the 4th quarter which ended in July 30th. Analysts had only predicted 38 cents per share. Sales went up by 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter.

Cisco has a plan to cut expenses by firing and early-retirements of about 6,500 workers globally and by ending the Flip video camera unit. Cisco will focus more on its more profitable products which are switches and routers. The company also sold a Mexican Plant to cut back and is concerned that global economic distress may cause a drop in demand for high tech products.

From a marketing perspective, Cisco has lost 5.8 % of global switching revenue but still controlling 68.5 % of the market. Router sales also dropped by 6.4% of the market leaving them with a 54.2 % market share. To regain market share Cisco has added new products, such as upgrades to its switches, to handle greater video and data traffic. Other new products offer greater security and effectiveness in cloud networks.

Safety With Johnson and Johnson

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With all the talk of placing investments in currency instead of company stocks there is one thought that most investors are not thinking about right now.  There is panic and so investors are trying to find the safe haven where they can leave their money.  Currencies like the Franc and Australian Dollar might be good in the short term, but these countries don’t want a lopsided exchange, so expect an intervention soon to close the difference.  If that happens those investments will be lost.

So Where to Invest?

One must think calmly and invest long term.  Multinationals seem to be a good long term bet.  Have they gone down? Yes, but that is to be expected since almost everything is going down in the short term.  When the dust settles these stocks will be stable and perhaps safer over 3-6 month range.

Take a loom at Johnson & Johnson stock over the last 6 months:

johnson and johnson stocks

Over the last 6 months there have been ups and downs but moreover they have been safe and up. These types of companies won’t make an investor rich over night, but are the kind of stock that remains more or less stable in the storm the finance world now finds itself in.