The Daily Dow
Wednesday, September 24, 1997
by Rick Aristotle Munarriz (TMF Edible)

MIAMI, FL (Sept. 24, 1997) -- I went to Disney World this weekend. Living in Miami, the simple 200-mile trek is a ritualistic penance. I was just four when my family dragged me to the park's opening and I've been hooked ever since.

I'm rambling about my field trip because DISNEY <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: DIS)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: DIS)") end if %> is a Dow stock you will rarely find written about here. Pauly didn't mention it on Monday. Debbie surely won't mention it tomorrow. Jerry, well, Jerry might mention it on Friday. Heck, if Vinny Testaverde got some play here last week you never know. The problem is that there is no Foolish Four short list for Mickey Mart. The company has traditionally been priced at a premium to the market. Too many strong hands hold the stock and would rather sell something else than to have to take down their framed certificates.

Then there is the paltry payout ratio courtesy of a company that prefers to reinvest its earnings into its theme parks and ever-growing entertainment division than to mail large dividend checks to shareholders. So stack a high P/E multiple to a low payout and you get one scrawny dividend yield.

That is certainly not the case at UNION CARBIDE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: UK)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: UK)") end if %>, which hiked its quarterly dividend today to $0.225 from $0.1875. The 20% hike has far-reaching implications for Beatin the Dow trackers. It now displaces MERCK <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: MRK)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: MRK)") end if %> for the tenth slot.

In a gutsy move, the company also announced that if it does not earn at least $4 a share in the year 2000, the CEO will forfeit a year's worth of salary. Other senior management members will also forgo a portion of their pay. So either we have a stock trading for no more than 12 times the year 2000's earnings or we are going to see some panhandling executives out at Danbury, Connecticut.

But Disney, with it's meager 0.6% dividend yield, hasn't been pointing to the left field wall. Disney has become a steady, conservative blue chip -- far from where it was decades ago. Back then, Walt and Roy Disney's costly productions at times threatened to take the company under along with a few BankAmerica credit managers. Disneyland's opening, complete with malfunctioning rides and plumbing, was a public relations disaster. Despite the success of Snow White, some of the now critically acclaimed Disney movies that followed flopped in their initial release.

But the park eventually rebounded and just when it seemed as if the animated classic library was all Disney had to offer, Michael Eisner stepped in with Paramount bravado and rejuvenated the pipeline with new box office sensations like The Lion King, and my family's favorite, Beauty and the Beast.

Back in 1986, a girl I was dating bought me a share of Disney for my birthday. It was my first stock. Needless to say, I matted the certificate and married the girl a few years later. And now we take our son, who will turn four next month, to Disney World as often as time and finances allow. His eyes grow as wide as mine did way back then. His knees shake on Haunted Mansion, as did mine. He is even beginning to tire of "It's a Small World," as we all eventually do. But the glow in his face when he comes across a familiar character or landmark makes it all worthwhile.

So, I went to Disney World this weekend, but, well, I already told you that.

(c) Copyright 1997, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of The Motley Fool. ________________________________


1997 Foolish Four Model
Stock  Change   Last
--------------------
T    +   1/2   45.06
GM   -   1/2   66.00
CHV  -   7/8   84.56
MMM  -1  1/16  87.00

                  Day   Month    Year
      FOOL-4   -0.19%   9.12%  15.57%
        DJIA     +0.00%   4.56%  23.60%
        S&P 500  +0.00%   5.83%  28.51%
        NASDAQ   +0.00%   6.94%  31.47%

     Rec'd   #  Security     In At       Now    Change
   1/2/97  153 Chevron       65.00     84.56    30.10%
   1/2/97  179 Gen. Motor    55.75     66.00    18.39%
   1/2/97  479 AT&T          41.75     45.06     7.93%
   1/2/97  120 3M            83.00     87.00     4.82%


     Rec'd   #  Security     In At     Value    Change
   1/2/97  153 Chevron     9945.00  12938.06  $2993.06
   1/2/97  179 Gen. Motor  9979.25  11814.00  $1834.75
   1/2/97  479 AT&T       19998.25  21584.94  $1586.69
   1/2/97  120 3M          9960.00  10440.00   $480.00


                             CASH   $1009.44
                            TOTAL  $57786.44