Should You Buy Disney Shares

Walt Disney beat the Q2 profit estimate,earning 1.01 per share versus the 0.93 estimate,but missed on sales,racking up 11.1 billion dollars versus the 11.3 billion estimate.It found a lot of studio success with "The Avengers" film.Media Networks and Entertainment and Theme Parks provided most of the income.Media Networks rose 3%,while Theme Parks gained 9%,and the Studio division was flat overall.
Disney's new CarsLand park was well-received.Worldwide TV was driven by higher sales in international markets-the hot places to sell properties.ESPN charges pay TV operators more than anyone else does.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said every one of our businesses were up nicely year over year.The consumer is still flocking to valuable,good product.Spending is up nicely from a year ago.Visibility is still somewhat lacking in advertising.Generally speaking,there is not much visibility in the ad market.ABC had a modest decrease in advertising for the quarter.
Resort spending is up nicely.We have huge strength in ESPN.The Disney Channel has been on fire,in the number one position.We actually see a relatively strong environment for our channels' franchise fees.
We're relatively consumer-facing and global.Europe is troubling us the most.Our businesses in Asia have been quite strong-the Tokyo and Hong Kong theme parks.People are willing to step up for the cruise ship business and expanded parks.We started to ween ourselves off deep discounts.There's still some room to increase prices based on good,fresh product.
It would be fair to view the environment with some degree of caution,but with our product,our outlook is generally favorable.The world is more complex and competitive than ever before.We've got to have a culture of innovation and a strong infrastructure.We've got to figure out a way to get the government moving forward.That's vital for our business.Corporate taxes have to be looked at carefully,Mr.Iger urged.
Walt Disney Company(DIS)

Who Narrates The Pure Michigan Commercials

You may think it must be Cliff Robertson's voice in the "Pure Michigan" travel commercials.Think again;it's actually Michigan-raised and educated Tim Allen,59,star of the popular sitcom "Home Improvement."Yes,that's also Allen narrating the Chevrolet commercials.Denver-born Allen moved to Michigan as a child,eventually graduating from Western Michigan University with a BS in Communications and concentrations in radio and television production.
The comic actor's life had some missteps that were anything but funny.In 1978,25 year-old Allen landed in federal prison after pleading guilty to drug trafficking.He served two years and four months there,having been arrested with cocaine in his possession.In  1997,Allen was arrested for DUI.He was sentenced to one year of probation plus substance abuse counseling.He recovered from these wayward acts and has sustained a high level of success in his career,recieving five Golden Globes and an Emmy award for his work,as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.Allen starred  in "The Santa Clause" film series and did voiceover work in the "Toy Story" films.He is currently starring in the ABC sitcom "Last Man Standing."
The commercials are the product of the McCann-Erickson subsidary of McCann Worldgroup,a leading marketing communications firm with offices in New York,Italy, Brazil,India and Singapore.The company pledges to transform its clients' brands and grow their businesses.