In case you had any doubts, it’s official. Diageo (DEO), the world’s largest spirits maker, will not be buying Beam, Inc. (BEAM) for its bourbon portfolio. CEO Ivan Menezes said this week that Diageo would be expanding its existing portfolio of whiskeys and launching new ones, and adding for emphasis that “we don’t need to” buy Beam. I told you...Read More

It’s so good to be bad—at least when it comes to investing. Vice stocks are a corner of the market where many investors—and particularly professionals—are afraid to venture.  But this reluctance by many investors to embrace vice stocks is precisely what makes them such profitable investments (see “The Price of Sin”).  Because professional investors like...Read More

Last month, I wrote that Australia’s plain-packaging law was one of the worst setbacks for Big Tobacco in decades because it attacked the companies’ single most valuable asset: their brands. Big Tobacco has strong enough moats to survive high taxes, punishing lawsuits, and an aging and declining customer base intact.  But plain packaging threatens the...Read More

Back in April, I asked if E-Cigarettes would relight Big Tobacco’s prospects.   I had my doubts. E-cigs seemed to be a more pleasurable version of a nicotine patch: something that an existing smoker might switch to for health reasons but not exactly an attractive or glamorous product for someone who doesn’t already smoke.  (Humphrey Bogart...Read More

I’ve been a big believer in vice investing—and particularly tobacco stock investing—for a long time.  I turned bearish on tobacco stocks late last year, but this was based purely on price.  In my view, tobacco stocks had simply gotten too expensive relative to other dividend-paying options—and I would reiterate that view today. But if ol’...Read More