CEO Interview
Ivan Seidenberg, CEO
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)


Jim's comments BEFORE interview:    
Tough tape, nice bounce back, but come on... you know we've got to circle the wagons around the stocks that are working, and will keep working, regardless of what's wrong with the system, and there's a lot that's wrong...

We want the stocks that have no exposure to the pain in the economy, and the credit markets.  Where do we want to stay out of?... The house of pain...  Where do we want to be?... The house of pleasure...  It's simple, but not many people are listening.

We want something that looks like... the most boring stock in the world... Verizon (VZ)!

Hey, boring's cool.  In Cramerica, boring's very cool...

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Nothing that's going wrong now should be able to touch this company...  It's built itself back into one of the pillars of a happy and quiet, government-blessed oligopoly, with an assist from Sprint Nextel (S), which blew itself up nicely...

I don't think anyone anticipated how great a business wireless would be... and now VZ can keep adding more expensive wireless options, especially now that it's opening up its network to third-party devices...

People talk about 3rd generation wireless... Well, VZ just selected its 4th generation technology...  which is more widely-used than CDMA (i.e., code division multiple access), which is their current stuff. 

They're changing the game in wireless... and I think you want to be along for the ride...

They can pick away at cable...  FiOS, their triple-play, it's growing well... seeing its costs fall.  Now to under $800 a home...  They can install this stuff much cheaper than they used to be able to.  Costs should come down much more, but VZ is raising price on FiOS TV, by 12% in 2008...

Here's a perfect combination, right?...  Lowering costs and raising price...   And, at this point, it's only penetrated half the market, with its TV, Voice and Data offering.

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As of the 3rd quarter, FiOS passed the 8.5 million home mark, and it's expected to reach 9 million by year end... although I think it will be ahead of that figure.  The goal is 18 million homes by 2010.

Of those 8.5 million homes, 717,000 have adopted... that's right, they've already taken FiOS TV.   FiOS interenet, much more than that.

It's already in 16 states now.  I am telling you, this is a huge growth story for this stodgy, old company.  

And, if you want to know why Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner (TWX) are so low... blame FiOS!...

Oh, how about this... Big, fat yield... 3.9%... and you know how I feel about transformational managers...

The real reason for VZ, and the spectacular run its had, is that there's a fabulous businessman who understands that his company needs growth, and it needs to offer investors safety... safety like a 3.9% yield.

This is one of those stocks...  I see a lot of people... I do a lot of book signings... and people ask me for a stock, and I just kind of say, who do you pay?...  Who's your phone bill?... You've got it...

The man behind the stock is VZ's chairman and CEO, Ivan Seidenberg...  and I'm thrilled to be able to bring him on the show today to talk about what's happening at his company, and help us with a few questions, before I decide to say, uh, this stock deserves three thumbs up...        

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[See Jim's 2nd Opening Segment stock picks below... ]