A sputtering economy, implosions at financial institutions, or just plain bad management -- on any given day, investors can name a number of reasons to sell a stock. Yet while panic is never beneficial to investors, it's good practice to play devil's advocate with investments from time to time.
In Motley Fool CAPS, more than 115,000 members have weighed in on more than 5,500 stocks, sharing bullish and bearish opinions alike.
In the case of U.S. telecom Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), 2,495 members have weighed in on the prospects. I've already plucked out some of the bullish rationale backing Verizon today, so here are three counterpoints to consider, courtesy of CAPS:
No iPhone. Verizon has always been chided for a less than stellar lineup of phones for consumers to gobble up, often being late in carrying the latest Nokia (NYSE: NOK) or Motorola (NYSE: MOT) hit device. Not only does Verizon lack a solid response to the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone, but struggling Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) even appears to have an edge with the desirable Instinct device peddled by star retailer Best Buy (NYSE: BBY).
Consumer connection. Stock in both Verizon and AT&T (NYSE: T) dipped and swayed earlier in the year as the companies tiptoed around the fact that the poor economy is forcing customers to cut back on their telecom budgets. Many investors see it as inevitable that the housing crisis, the poor credit environment, and low confidence in the economy will catch up with Verizon and its peers.
Brave new world. Many investors see a new kind of telecommunications world opening up -- one where giant telecoms loosen their tight control and yield more of it to Internet, device, or content companies like Google or Apple. Certainly, Verizon is pushing its own style of a new, open network, but it still looks more like status quo than revolutionary.
Of course, Verizon has survived and thrived through decades of telecom turmoil. But the question about whether the company can continue to do so profitably is why CAPS is such a great resource to augment your own analysis.
To see what the very best CAPS members are saying now about Verizon, just click on over to Motley Fool CAPS and have a look -- it's all free, and even open to your opinion.
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