Do I have enough time to buy stock and get OBC?

[abitaturbodog]

We're sailing in 15 days. Do I have enough time to buy the stock and get the $100 OBC?

 

I've read that you need to send the stock certificate, but how long does it take to get this document? Is there another document that I could send in to receive the OBC?

 

Thanks,

[KLLund]

We're sailing in 15 days. Do I have enough time to buy the stock and get the $100 OBC?

 

I've read that you need to send the stock certificate, but how long does it take to get this document? Is there another document that I could send in to receive the OBC?

 

Thanks,

The buy confirmation should be enough .. I bought stock a week before a cruise and got the OBC with the buy confirmation. It's a nice benefit.

[Carnival Platinum Cruiser]

We're sailing in 15 days. Do I have enough time to buy the stock and get the $100 OBC?

 

I've read that you need to send the stock certificate, but how long does it take to get this document? Is there another document that I could send in to receive the OBC?

 

Thanks,

 

You have plenty of time if you buy the shares online. Stock certificates are a thing of the past for the most part just go into you history (if you have an online trading acct.) and print the page where it shows you bought 100 shares or more of CCL.

 

If you buy them through a broker you still have enough time if you don't waste time. Same thing have the broker fax you a copy of the purchase that is all carnival needs. Fax it to carnival at fax # (305) 406-6478 along with a sheet you can fill out indicating your name, booking #, Ship, cruise date, cabin.

[abitaturbodog]

Thanks for your help! I think I know what I'm doing tomorrow morning!

[Miata]

I bought CCL and RCL last Friday and got the paperwork today so less than 7 days. CCL needs it 2 weeks in advance so you are cutting it down to the wire. BTW, the HAL rep I spoke to Monday regarding getting the SBC claimed I had to own the stock PRIOR to booking the cruise. NOTHING from CCL says this is true so the HAL rep should be made to walk the plank.

 

Check the cruise line web site for investor relations and then call them to see about faxing it in.

 

CCL is at a 52 week low so it is a good time to buy.

 

Larry

[Valor2005]

The Shareholder Benefit page states we should submit the receipt for the initial deposit on the cruise. Is that only necessary if it was booked through someone other than Carnival? We booked ours through our PVP and I'm wondering if the stock documentation, booking number, names, ship and date is sufficient. :confused:

[bleuiz]

Again...how many shares do you need to get OBC?

[ellen9974]

You must have 100 shares of CCL stock for OBC

 

check it out

 

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....l-sharebenefit

[DqALEX]

Again...how many shares do you need to get OBC?

100 shares gets you and OBC

[Browneyes43]

Are you guys saying that you are spending $10000 to get $50 of OBC? I'm not sure I understand how this works.

[calgarygary]

Are you guys saying that you are spending $10000 to get $50 of OBC? I'm not sure I understand how this works.

 

Your math is off, 100 shares @ $21.88 is only spending $2188. for the OBC. Not sure that justifying a stock purchase because it is at a 52 week low is a good investment strategy. I would expect a continuation of cancellations resulting in deeper discounting leading to increased pressure on margins and finally lower stock performance until the economy rebounds.

[cascole]

As of todays close, an investment of $2188.00 would buy 100 shares (lowest in over a year) & you would get an OBC of $100.

[Payd]

Good thing we get an OBC now that Carnival has suspended dividends!

[dafuser]

You have plenty of time if you buy the shares online. Stock certificates are a thing of the past for the most part just go into you history (if you have an online trading acct.) and print the page where it shows you bought 100 shares or more of CCL.

 

If you buy them through a broker you still have enough time if you don't waste time. Same thing have the broker fax you a copy of the purchase that is all carnival needs. Fax it to carnival at fax # (305) 406-6478 along with a sheet you can fill out indicating your name, booking #, Ship, cruise date, cabin.

Do you get the OBC once or each time you cruise? If I buy 100 shares via my 401K plan would that count?

[FamilyDoc]

We bought 100 shares, got a purchase confirmation on that day from the broker, faxed it to Carnival with the booking numbers for the 2 cruises we have planned and within 48 hours, both bookings showed credit. The short cruise for $50 and the 7 day for $100. The cruises had been booked a while but with the price of the stock so far down, it seemed like the right time to purchase.

We have to assume that unless a company is going to go bankrupt, the stocks will eventually return to a better market value. Either way, in 10 or so years the investment will be paid back without dividends. :)

[cruise crazy64]

Do you have to go thru an agent to buy the stock or can you buy it thru carnival?

Karen, FL :cool:

[FamilyDoc]

Do you have to go thru an agent to buy the stock or can you buy it thru carnival?

Karen, FL :cool:

 

We went through our regular broker. I know a lot of folks do the online option and seem happy with it.

[KLLund]

Do you get the OBC once or each time you cruise? If I buy 100 shares via my 401K plan would that count?

I bought mine through my 401K plan and have used it on HAL, Princess and Carnival. You get it each time you cruise as long as you still own the stock. We were asked to verify ownership within 90 days of sailing last time.

[YellowTJ]

Where can I get info on this at their site? I've been looking all over and don't see any word. Also someone said it's on Princess too? If so this might be a good pay off as I have a short Carnival in Jan and a long Princess in July.

[DG2004]

As of todays close, an investment of $2188.00 would buy 100 shares (lowest in over a year) & you would get an OBC of $100.

 

 

and its a great long term investment in my IRA

[Valor2005]

Where can I get info on this at their site? I've been looking all over and don't see any word. Also someone said it's on Princess too? If so this might be a good pay off as I have a short Carnival in Jan and a long Princess in July.

 

 

You can go to Carnival's website and click on Investor Relations. Then go to Shareholder Benefits.

[MadManOfBethesda]

and its a great long term investment in my IRA

 

 

Well, let's see. Exactly 10 years ago, in November 1998, CCL was trading at $34.50. Now it is at $21 and change. Yeah, that's a wonderful long-term investment!

 

People, people people. Please don't buy CCL just to receive a $50, $100, or even a $250 credit. We are heading into a deep, long-term recession and CCL has already suspended dividend payments for next year because it wants to conserve cash in the face of declining sales. The share price has a much better chance of going down from this level rather than up over the next 6-12 months, and your paltry OBC could pale in the face of the loss of value in your declining asset.

 

And as for it being at a 52 week low.....

 

There were people on this board just last month who were making the same argument when the price of the stock dropped below 30 and was trading at between $23 - $25. Everybody was saying that it was a great opportunity to buy at $25 because it was trading at a 52 week low and they were sure that it was going to go up from there. Little did they realize that CCL was about to suspend the dividend and knock another $4 of the share price. Just wait and see what happens when they report their declining sales and reduced profits over the next couple of quarters.

 

Now, if you like CCL and still think that it is a great investment on its own merits, then by all means, purchase the stock. But please don't do it simply for the OBC.

 

That is being penny wise and pound foolish.

[Miata]

Well, let's see. Exactly 10 years ago, in November 1998, CCL was trading at $34.50. Now it is at $21 and change. Yeah, that's a wonderful long-term investment!

 

People, people people. Please don't buy CCL just to receive a $50, $100, or even a $250 credit. We are heading into a deep, long-term recession and CCL has already suspended dividend payments for next year because it wants to conserve cash in the face of declining sales. The share price has a much better chance of going down from this level rather than up over the next 6-12 months, and your paltry OBC could pale in the face of the loss of value in your declining asset.

 

And as for it being at a 52 week low.....

 

There were people on this board just last month who were making the same argument when the price of the stock dropped below 30 and was trading at between $23 - $25. Everybody was saying that it was a great opportunity to buy at $25 because it was trading at a 52 week low and they were sure that it was going to go up from there. Little did they realize that CCL was about to suspend the dividend and knock another $4 of the share price. Just wait and see what happens when they report their declining sales and reduced profits over the next couple of quarters.

 

Now, if you like CCL and still think that it is a great investment on its own merits, then by all means, purchase the stock. But please don't do it simply for the OBC.

 

That is being penny wise and pound foolish.

 

 

MadManOfBethesda, I'm going to respectfully disagree with you on this subject.

 

I follow, and agree with, your logic regarding the price of the stock being low and thus not a good long term investment price wise. Where I disagree with you is that you indicate it isn’t a good investment at all. I believe you fail to look at the whole investment picture.

I think it is a safe bet that CC readers like to cruise. Here’s where a CC’r return on investment pays off. Let’s do the math and see if it is a good investment.

Friday CCL closed at $22.03 a share. If a CC’r bought the required 100 shares then their investment is $2,203 (obviously) plus stock commission. My stock commission, when I did this two weeks ago, was $29. CCL has suspended dividends so there’s no ROI (Return on investment) there. You argue that no one should buy stock for the OBC. I say that is EXACTLY why you should do it.

If a CC’r takes a 7 day cruise once a year they get a $100 OBC. $100 divided by their $2,203 investment then that is 4.5% return. Pretty reasonable compared to what banks are offering for CDs.

Should that same CC’r take two 7 day cruises a year then they got a 9% return on their investment. The math is two $100 OBCs = $200 for the year divided by that same $2,203 = 9%.

Now let’s really get excited because my math leaves out a VERY important component and that is every investors favorite part TAXES. The OBC is AFTER taxes so if you really want to compare ROIs you need to consistently look at that either before tax or after. Let’s look at before tax.

If you are in a 20% tax bracket that means you get to ‘keep’ 80% of what your investment returns (You get $.80 on the $1 earned for example). Looked at another way, you would have to earn $1.25 to keep $1 after taxes ($1.25 times 80% after tax equals $1). You can do this same math by dividing the $1 by 80% ($1/.80 = $1.25)

Now let’s go back to that OBC of $100. $100 / .80 = $125. Let’s look at the ROI before taxes. Take that $125 OBC and divide it by $2,203 = 5.6% ROI. Take two 7 day cruises and you have an ROI of 11.2%.

Some of our CC’rs take 3-5 cruises a year so, for them, it is a great investment. If you cruise only once every few years then it would be a lousy investment.

So what about the price of the stock going up or down? I know I don’t have any idea what it will do. From a businessman point of view, cruising is here to stay. If people aren’t cruising as much in the next two years then they will have a pent up demand to go again as soon as they are comfortable with the idea of spending the money. When that happens, stock prices will go up and dividends will return.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to make my position as clear as possible.

 

Larry

[MadManOfBethesda]

Excellent post, Larry, although a lot depends on a couple of your assumptions being true.

 

The major assumption is that the OBC will continue. I don't necessarily agree with that. The OBC is addressed each year at the annual meeting and is granted on a year-to-year basis. The current OBC provision expires in July 2009, for cruises booked by February. Now, one could argue that CCL would never cancel the OBC, but then again, who foresaw them suspending the $160 per year dividend payment?

 

Your second assumption is that people who are asking about the OBC will be taking annual cruises or even cruising 3-5 times annually. It appears to me that the people that are inquiring about purchasing the stock for the OBC are not cruising that frequently or else they would already have known about the OBC. (Granted, that is an assumption on my part as well.) However, I will concede your point that IF people are planning on taking multiple cruises and IF CCL continues to grant OBC's to shareholders, then it makes sense to purchase the stock.

 

One final note: I didn't say that CCL was a bad investment; in fact, I own it myself. I said that buying it now solely to get an OBC for an upcoming cruise with the thought that it can only go higher because it is at a 52 week low, would be a bad investment.

 

I think that CCL definitely will survive this recession and that its stock price will be higher 2-3 years in the future than it is now. However, I think that there is still downward pressure on the stock price and that it would behoove prospective investors to wait awhile before purchasing the stock. I don't think that you'd be able to find any rating service or financial planner that would rate CCL a "buy" today. At best, it is a "hold." (In fact, I'm not sure I'd buy any retail or entertainment company stock at the beginning of a recession.) It would be better to wait a few months to buy the stock and then hold it through the recovery. Much better than buying it now simply to get a $50 or $100 OBC on an upcoming cruise.

 

But again, I appreciate your thoughtful analysis.

 

Scott

[Miata]

Hi Scott, I follow your rational thinking about not being able to predict whether OBCs will continue. Assumptions are always based on history and, as you accurately point out, who would have predicted the ending of dividends. OBCs could indeed end. I could point out “Why invest at all as you could just take the $2,200 and have 22 cruises with an extra $100 on each one”. I actually straggled with the idea of buying it at all verses just putting the cash in the bank (a local bank has CDs at up to 5% for 5 years. One year is at 4%).

Regarding the second assumption of going on many cruises a year, my math was based on just one and pointed out that multiple cruises just improves the return. I even pointed out that if you don’t cruise but every few years then this is a bad investment.

Regarding the 52 week low, I feel that info is relevant because it gives some indication of where the stock has been (and hopefully will return to). It shouldn’t, by itself, tell you what to do. You make a good point on that subject.

We’ve kind of hijacked the thread to a degree and I apologize for that. I do think that you and I agree that all CC’rs should ‘do the math’ when they invest.

Getting back to the original thread, I actually had a HAL rep tell me I couldn’t get the OBC unless I owned the stock PRIOR to booking the cruise. This info was erroneous and Carnival needs to smack that guy on the back of the head for giving out inaccurate information. My cruise is 8 weeks out (HAL Maasdam on January 2nd) and I need to get back to 'investing' some time on exercising so I lose weight before I go.

Larry