Hello Friends! Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog, Stock Picks Bob's Advice! As always, please remember that I am an amateur investor, so please remember to consult with your professional investment advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website.
I have recently written up two auto parts chains: Genuine Parts (GPC) and Autozone (AZO). Genuine Parts is a holding in my Covestor "Buy and Hold" Model, I also have a very small position (2 shares) of Autozone (AZO) but I do not own any shares of O'Reilly (ORLY). ORLY closed at $82.28 on 1/20/12, down $(2.50) or (2.95)% on the day.
Simply put, this entire group of stocks has been doing quite well in the market reflecting, I believe, the underlying strength of their business. People are owning their vehicles longer than ever and they are thus repairing them more often to keep them on the road. As this article points out:
"...the age of the cars and trucks we're driving has hit an all-time high. Here's the breakdown
- 2011: 10.8 years vs. 10.6 years in 2010
- Average car in US 11.1 years old vs. 11.0 in 2010
- Average truck in US is 10.4 years old vs. 10.1 in 2010
- There are now 240.5 million vehicles in the US - up nearly 500,000 from 2010"
Since what caught my attention first was the underlying performance of the stock let's take a look at the 'point & figure' chart on O'Reilly from StockCharts.com.
What can you say about such a gorgeous price chart except that the stock may be getting a bit ahead of itself. And no I do not own any shares although I am kicking myself for not buying shares in late 2008 when the stock was trading about $20.