What a difference a new year makes! Well... at least for the market in some stocks.
Last year AAP under performed the S&P by 50 percentage points, but today it booms ahead. Let's see. Is it the January effect? Is it buyers loading up on last year's losers hoping for big gains from the reversal? Or, is Mr. Market just excited today.
The only news I saw was Barron's Ben Levisohn's analysis of his winners and losers for 2017. Nothing here but a bad "one year pick". (At least according to Mr. Market's actions for the year!)
As I have written before, I still think AAP is a good company to "own" over the long term (5+ years). The market crushed it down because it hasn't shown the benefits quickly enough of their major acquisition several years ago.
They are paying down their acquisition debt, integrating a huge acquisition and focusing more on commercial business. They are making a significant transformation in their business. The margin's are lower in the commercial space, but building those relationships should be great for the longer term outlook.
As always, you have to see "value" where others discount it. Once everyone sees the value, the "cat is out of the bag" and the market has fully valued it. Open your eyes. It is a brand new year!
