In Search of the Perfect Investment

Patterson Companies (PDCO) has appeal. It’s a huge, profitable and growing distributor of dental and pet stuff — of enormous appeal as a takeover target.

Items:

+ P/E is a reasonable 25.8.

+ They’re in the right place at the right time.

+ 68% of U.S. households own a pet, compared to 56% in 1988. They spent $59 billion in 2014, up from $41 billion in 2007. Patterson is the largest animal health distributor in the U.S. I think we spend more on keeping Rosie alive than we spend on keeping me alive. Here’s Michael, Rosie and me.

Here are some slides from a recent presentation Patterson made to a William Blair Growth Conference on June 16.

You can see the rest of the slides here.

Here’s the stock’s recent performance:

 I’m buying a few shares the moment I post this blog.

Recently learned stuff:

+ I read the fine print on the cortisone eye drops I was using every day. It warned against long-term usage. I called my eye doctor. He said “stop using them.” I have also stopped taking Prilosec, because of studies linking its long-term usage to dementia. (I’m now using TUMS, which work.)

Long-term usage of any drug probably has long-term horrible consequences. But doctors don’t tell you to stop. They like that that their drugs make you feel good, for now. By the time you get dementia, your doctor will probably be dead. CHECK your drugs.

A friend is taking an opiad painkiller for his crook shoulder. He says the drug cuts the pain. His body reminds him each day when to take the next pill, which he finds useful, which I call addiction. But I’m not a doctor. What do I know?

+ Amazon has the cheapest USB and HDMI cables, especially those sold under the brand “Amazon Basics.”

+ It’s probably good to learn how to spell. Item: The nurse sent my prep list for my colonoscopy tomorrow. She misspelled colonoscopy. That made my finding her Prep List hard for my very literal computer to find. My god, you’d think a receptionist to a gastroenterologist would know how to spell colonoscopy.

+ Jeff Gundlach is a very successful bond manager and so CNBC loves to put him on the air. But they ask him about equities, which he doesn’t like — heck he’s selling bonds. He’s been consistently wrong about equities. Being on TV gives you credibility among the unwashed — whether you’re right or wrong.

+ Virtually every Uber driver in Europe uses WAZE. It’s better than the Uber map app. And WAZE saves you getting speeding tickets. There are two ways to “install” your iPhone in your car. This is the best:

It’s called The Original iMagnet Cradle-less Universal Car Phone Windshield Dashboard Mount Holder. It costs $16.99. Click here.

This is the Belkin car vent device. But it doesn’t fit the vent of our Mercedes or Subaru. It fits my daughter’s BMW X3. She likes it. If you want a Belkin, send me your addres. You can have mine, for free. A present.

Friendship among Women:

A woman didn’t come home one night. The next morning she told her husband that she had slept over at a friend’s house.

He called his wife’s 10 best friends. None of them knew anything about the sleepover.

Friendship among Men:

A man didn’t come home one night. The next morning he told his wife that he had slept over at a friend’s house.

The woman called her husband’s 10 best friends.

Eight confirmed that he had slept over.

Two said he was still there.

 

Harry Newton who has his colonoscopy tomorrow. Today is prep day. By this evening, I will no longer be full of sh*t. A first.