Jimmenknee, I'm going to give you (whats now become the industry/press standard) comparison below. Note the first 3 months of uncertainty in MA and then the jump when the lock-up period ended (NOV).
VISA's quiet period is up on April 27th and lock up ends on Sept 14th.
Now, although they are different companies offering different services- Read this excerpt, and then check out the dates I notes for you in MA's chart below.....It's a shakey economy, but fortunately it's a buyers market in both real estate and stock. Everything is on sale as I see it. :) Elections in November may restore investor and consumer confidence. Lots of reasons right now to see the dropping prices- and lots of opportunity. I'd say V is right on at the moment. Too much hype from the getgo- and it could have been a rocket only to collapse so soon. She's holding her own at the moment. Watch for dips (61? high 50's? and enjoy) IMHO
Visa generated $5.2 billion in annual revenue last year as it handled more than more than 44 billion transactions totaling more than $3.2 trillion. The volume puts Visa far ahead of its main rival MasterCard Inc., whose own shares have more than quintupled from their May 2006 IPO price of $39.
Making Visa even more alluring to investors, the company is well-insulated from the credit problems that have scarred many of the lenders that issue the cards bearing its brand.
Unlike those lenders, Visa doesn't carry any consumer debt on its books. It makes depends on transaction fees, which have been steadily rising for years, including the past two U.S. recessions in 1991 and 2001.
Since the last recession, Visa has enticed consumers to use its credit and debit cards more frequently to pay for staples like groceries, gas and even utility bills. Visa estimates about 42 percent of its transactions fall into this "nondiscretionary" category, up from 27 percent in 2000. http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/visa-stock-soars-in-market-debut/n20080319152109990017
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