09-30-2014, 04:59 PM
Added a small opening position in PM today. I had to replace my LO with at least a partial tobacco holding. I wasn't interested in RAI or BAT as I think, with attitudes changing around the world, I wanted to stick with the market leader(s). LO owned the menthol market and had significant penetration into the e-cig market but merging with RAI would've diluted those attributes. MO was too highly priced right now. S&P is projecting high single digits EPS growth over the next several years, P/E is around 16 with a 4.8% yield. I believe currency fluctuations will vex them at times but, with leading brands, PM will weather it for at least the next decade or two.

