Started in 1972 this company has worked it’s way up in the world of cruise line operators. In fact it has almost succeeded in monopolizing the business entirely. It owns quite a few “brands” that are easily recognizable even if you have never set foot on one of these boats in your life. The most prominent ones are Cunard of the “Queens” fame as well as the Titanic and HAL, Holland America line. At over 1000 feet and 130,000 tons these vessels are among the biggest ever built. Buying one of these will set you back a little over 3/4 of a billion once everything is said and done. These ships are equipped with stabilizers so you barely notice that you are at sea, so much so that you might as well go to Las Vegas and have one drink too many to experience the same dream.
This is a capital intensive business. The liners have to sail close to capacity (3.500 passengers) just to break even. Nothing is left to chance as every possible activity , no matter how seemingly innocent, is engineered to add to the bottom line. But Murphy’s Law presumable also applies to the cruise business and when it does this stock will be extremely vulnerable. A reasonable target would be around $7 or so but that could easily be exceeded. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) is another example, perhaps an even better one given the greater swings that it has displayed in the recent past. A nice example, by the way, of a triple top! The wave count is identical.
