We have a big mix of people who read these boards. Some are very knowledgeable about investing, some know a little (raise hand), and some know relatively nothing. People should just keep in mind that while it's true that the stock market as a whole is generally the best investment, putting money into individual companies is far more risky. Look at folks who owned Enron or WorldCom. That stock is not coming back to the levels it was, if at all.
I was someone who always thought it was a good idea to invest in the company I worked for. After all, we were proud of our work. Luckily, someone explained the danger of that to me. The problem that has now hit many Enron workers. If you work for the same company that you also invest your savings with, you lose everything if it collapses. You lose your present job and your savings in one fell swoop. If your spouse is also an employee....it's even worse.
While it may be true that tough times cause people to turn to entertainment like movies, it's very clear already that it turns them off of traveling and destinations like WDW feel the impact. Corporate belt-tightening also scales back advertising....the lifeblood for the ABC cable and broadcast entities. I sure hope things turn around for Disney, and I'm confident that I will not lose my initial investment, but I have not made very much with them over quite a few years either.
GE is a much more diversified company than Disney. It is almost its own "mutual fund" with holdings ranging from medical equipment and broadcasting to military equipment and financial services to name only a few.
I took a quick look at the charts for GE and Disney. On 8/31/92 GE stock was at $6.10. It closed Friday at $29.50. That's much lower than it's been in recent years but is still a gain of nearly 400%. Disney, on the other hand, was $11.38 on 8/31/92 and closed Friday at $15.31. A 34% gain over the last 10 years.
All that said, most "experts" are still calling Disney a "buy". Here's a link to an Orlando Sentinel article
Disney Stock