Q's CVS Lounge

Both stocks have gone down because Wags investors think they paid too much and RA investors think that they didn't get enough. I think there's a strong sentiment with RA investors that the merger won't happen. Otherwise, why would they sell a stock for $8 when Wags will buy it for $9?

Here's a question for you. In order for Wags to make a deal like this they must think that we aren't going into a bear market (since the deal won't close until the last half of 2016). Am I correct in thinking this?

If I worked for RA, I'd be thinking about a new job. If the deal happens, a bunch of stores will close and a bunch of employees will lose their jobs. Wags makes their profit by cutting costs. Managers will probably have to re-apply for their jobs just like they made the Wags managers do.

I agree, I think there must be a question as to whether the merger will occur, otherwise the stock wouldn't have dropped today. I saw Santorum was asked about the merger today and he blamed it on Obamacare.

I don't think Wags wanting to do the merger has anything to do with whether they think we are going into a bear market, but I'm no expert.

that's total BS that the merger has anything to do w/ obamacare. wags has been on tear, buying duane reade which is a nyc chain and boots which is ubiquitous UK chain, it's as common as starbucks is here. and there.

buying boots in the UK earlier this year can't possibly have anything to do w/ obamacare. if they were that concerned with obamacare they would have bought some US company, not one that doesn't have any meaningful presence here besides selling a few products in target.

I totally agree, I don't think the proposed merger has anything to do with Obamacare. I am amazed about how many unrelated things are blamed on Obamacare.

I totally agree, I don't think the proposed merger has anything to do with Obamacare. I am amazed about how many unrelated things are blamed on Obamacare.

I think I may go into Walgreens stock tomorrow. I don't see a downside to Walgreens even if the deal falls through. RA, on the other hand, will get crushed on bad news.

CVS reports earnings tomorrow, I don't know if that will affect Wags stock.

CVS stock is down around 5% on a lower earnings forecast for 2016. Wags and RA stock are also down. The market is slightly down. A lot can change between now and closing but I'm taking the day off. Not sure if I'll shop. I had an awful day yesterday. I did a Frozen deal and a couple of Schick deals at RA (thanks to a x/xx) but that was it. I stuck my head in CVS but didn't get anything. I've already maxed out Scope and it's hard to find the bonus Colgate. I was thinking about Schick/Special K but I don't want to deal with the beeping over a penny. CVS is doing resets so no clearance but probably lots to come. As of right now, I don't have enough for a sale on Saturday unless it's a really small one (which isn't worth it). Even the big sales aren't worth it. I'm probably not getting papers this week. I want to do Tresemme at RA tomorrow but the coupons will beep not valid until Sunday (I've had this happen before with Tresemme at RA). So many obstacles to actually buying anything. I may see how many books I can sell over the next 4 to 6 weeks (for Christmas) and forget about shopping for the rest of the year.

CVS stock is down around 5% on a lower earnings forecast for 2016. Wags and RA stock are also down. The market is slightly down. A lot can change between now and closing but I'm taking the day off. Not sure if I'll shop. I had an awful day yesterday. I did a Frozen deal and a couple of Schick deals at RA (thanks to a x/xx) but that was it. I stuck my head in CVS but didn't get anything. I've already maxed out Scope and it's hard to find the bonus Colgate. I was thinking about Schick/Special K but I don't want to deal with the beeping over a penny. CVS is doing resets so no clearance but probably lots to come. As of right now, I don't have enough for a sale on Saturday unless it's a really small one (which isn't worth it). Even the big sales aren't worth it. I'm probably not getting papers this week. I want to do Tresemme at RA tomorrow but the coupons will beep not valid until Sunday (I've had this happen before with Tresemme at RA). So many obstacles to actually buying anything. I may see how many books I can sell over the next 4 to 6 weeks (for Christmas) and forget about shopping for the rest of the year.

I was just going to post about CVS earnings report.

There will be a bunch of inserts this weekend. Might be ok to get papers..

yesterday you said you didn't see any downside to wags even if the deal falls through. we won't know that for many months. they are still trying to decide if staples can buy ODOM or not. that was announced at the beginning of the year and at this point it could go either way. wags buying riteaid will take a long time b/c of all the regulatory issues, medicaid, medicare, etc will have to be examined. it will take even longer.

so you don't see this as a chance to buy wags at a discount? it was only reacting to cvs' news and the market in general, not it's own.

I'm shocked at CVS. I was expecting the stock to go up. From what I read, the stock beat earnings but fell on weak guidance for 2016. That changed my opinion on what to do with Wags (for today at least). I figured that if CVS went up, Wags probably would, too, and I'd go along for the ride.

As far as the downside, if the deal doesn't go through, RA stock will crash. If you go in now at $8 hoping for Wags to buy it at $9 and it doesn't happen, the stock could be worth $4 or $5. Obviously, RA corporate has no confidence in the company's future so why should I as an investor? Wags beat earnings so if the deal goes through they aren't really out anything and they can continue with the 3 billion dollar share buyback program (which was cancelled due to the RA buy). Wags also has an ex-dividend date of Nov 16.

This thing with Valeant and Philidor is a big deal and can impact the drugstores. CVS dumped Philidor (which Citron claims is owned by Valeant). Valeant dumped Philidor today.

Wags is very good at making deals. RA can't even figure out when they have a double dip going on. If I had to guess, I'd say that Wags probably got the bigger slice of pie.

There are other elements. RA is union but I don't think Wags is. I've heard that the RA employees recently negotiated a new deal. What happens with that?

How does Plenti work? Does RA pay to be a member? Do they have to stay in Plenti for a certain amount of time? The majority of Plenti's business comes from RA.

Then of course there's the Fed. it always boils down to the Fed. Here's the reality. The Fed can't raise interest rates due to the national debt. As long as the interest is at zero, the debt can't go up. It doesn't have anything to do with the market. Of course, the Fed will say that they're thinking about raising the rates in December but they won't actually do it.

you ever notice that whenever a company meets or beats expectations the stock goes down? b/c the market expected them to do even better even if they did exactly what the estimate was. it's so bogus these days. and everybody acts so shocked that the stock went down when it always does. i always expect shares to go down when a stock meets or beat earnings estimates.

the fed won't raise interest rates unless the economy is so hot inflation goes up drastically to cool it down. i don't see that happening any time soon. the economy is not great but it's not bad either. unemployment rates are average and stable. there are jobs available if people are willing to take them. people may not be making as much as b4 but with minimum wages rising people can survive. they do need to work on the disappearing middle class and more even distribution of wealth in this country. but too many special interest groups makes it very difficult. rich people aren't willing to give up anything they can get and are not known for true generosity. so the few that truly are stand out. statistically and percentage-wise it's actually the poorest who are the most generous with what they have.

There are other elements. RA is union but I don't think Wags is. I've heard that the RA employees recently negotiated a new deal. What happens with that?