Netflix all but invented the content-over-Internet model, which is quickly reshaping the way consumers view media, said Covestor Model Manager Charles Lewis Sizemore.

“Netflix and its competitors are the biggest shake-up to media since paid cable TV,” he told the E-Commerce Times.

House of Cards has been a boost to Netflix’s reputation in the same way that original programming vastly changed the way viewers thought about HBO and Showtime, Sizemore continued.

“I don’t know anyone who buys HBO to watch movies; these days they buy it for its original programming — like the popular Game of Thrones. Netflix is trying to follow that model, and they are wise to. Otherwise, the company is a commodity seller of old content with nothing to distinguish it from its competitors.”

Not that it is clear sailing for Netflix going forward. Not that long ago, it was bleeding subscribers.

Competition from Amazon (Nasdaq:$AMZN), Apple (Nasdaq:$AAPL), Walmart’s (NYSE:$WMT) Vudu and other streaming services is a significant concern, Sizemore said. “Netflix needs to keep differentiating itself lest it get lost in this crowd.”

Certainly, these competing companies are not going to give up their own subscribers without a fight, Scherer added. “All of these providers are fighting for the same subscribers, as well as for the same content.”

Content costs remain a concern for Netflix, noted Covestor’s Sizemore.

“They’ve been getting their material from the studios at very attractive prices, but as Netflix grows and comes to threaten the media status quo, the content providers are rethinking this. Higher costs for content, coupled with competition from competing services, mean that margins will likely shrink.”

To read the full article, see Netflix Plays Its Q1 Cards Right

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From Jeff Reeves’ The Slant:

So the Federal Reserve threw investors for a loop with talk of quantitative easing programs ending sooner than expected. The dollar surged higher, gold collapsed, stocks sold off by triple digits … this was a big deal all around.

But what exactly lies in store for investors going forward now that the headlines have hit?

Charles Sizemore of Sizemore Capital Management talked with me for a bit in this latest podcast about what investors can expect. In a nutshell, Charles doesn’t think that it is anything more than a short-term headwind because there’s still little action on the part of Ben Bernanke & Co. … even if the discussion has taken a slightly more hawkish tone.

Much ado is being made of the statement that the “risks of asset purchases might well lead the Committee to taper or end its purchases before it judged that a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market had occurred.” However, without some true hawkish action, it’s not going to mean much.

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Charles Sizemore of Sizemore Capital Management and Jeff Reeves of InvestorPlace discuss Daimler AG (PINK:DDAIF), maker of the iconic Mercedes-Benz and Charles’ top pick for 2013, and chipmaker Intel (NASDAQ:$INTC), which Charles holds both personally and in his Dividend Growth Portfolio at Covestor.

To briefly recap:

Daimler remains a decent long-term buy with a 5% dividend and continued reliance of both upper-class customers as well as emerging market consumers. Europe’s GDP troubles and broader economic software around the globe aren’t grand, but Germany’s Daimler just posted strong earnings and is selling at a good clip.

Intel remains a decent long-term play based on its 4% dividend yield and massive market share of the semiconductor business. Furthermore, the post-PC negativity is overdone since there remains a good utility in laptops and PCs even if tablets are on the rise. Maybe it hasn’t figured out mobile yet, but it is rolling out chips that will work with Google(NASDAQ:$GOOG) Android devices soon that could make a big splash.

You can get all the details by listening to the above podcast.

And check out the complete list of Best Stocks for 2013 on InvestorPlace.com. Current frontrunners include the REIT Two Harbors (NYSE:$TWO), which is up about 13% year-to-date, and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:$GLDD) up about 11% YTD.

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These investors have valid points as they make their case against the LBO, said Charles Sizemore, manager of the Dividend Growth and Tactical ETF models at Covestor.

“Applying a P/E ratio of just 12 would get you a stock price of nearly $18. Applying a price/sales ratio of just 1 would get you to $33 per share,” he told the E-Commerce Times. “Even though Dell’s offer to pay what amounted to a 25 percent premium over the pre-announcement market price, there is a case to be made that it is far too low.”

Indeed, if Michael Dell raises his price, Dell would presumably have to take on more debt to make the deal happen, Covestor’s Sizemore said. “Having too high a debt load is risky for a company in a fast-changing sector like tech.”

What Dell can do to bring these shareholders on board with the plan is unclear.

Dell could change the terms and raise the price above the $13.65 that’s on the table, suggested Barry Randall, who runs the Crabtree Technology Model for Covestor.

It could include a one-time dividend payment to current, pre-private investors, he added.

Dell could also remind investors that the share price had been languishing and that the market had largely given up on the stock, Sizemore said.

Dell is worth more than what was offered, but the bottom line is that a company is only “worth” what someone is willing to pay for it, Sizemore maintained.

To read the full article, follow this link.

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From Jeff Reeves’ The Slant:

After blowing out its earnings report after the bell on Thursday, LinkedIn (NYSE:$LNKD) popped 18% intraday on Friday and is challenging $150 a share. After offering at just $45 for its May 2011 IPO, shares have tripled in a little more than a year and a half for insiders — and for those who bought during a brief dip to around $70 after profit taking from the IPO, LNKD has been a doubler in short order.

Charles Sizemore of Sizemore Capital Management was good enough to chat about LinkedIn with me, and we both agree that LNKD has a much better model than Twitter or Facebook (NASDAQ:$FB) thanks to the focus on corporate customers and a more educated and wealthy consumer base. There’s also the potential for long-term disruption to the entire job-seeking process online as it steals market share from other job posting/seeking services like Monster Worldwide (NYSE:$MWW).

The problem, however, is that the valuation is just way too rich right now. After all, if Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:$AAPL) has taught us anything it’s that growth doesn’t always equal big returns for shareholders.

While there are companies like Amazon (NASDAQ:$AMZN) that continue to see nosebleed valuations for the long-term, I think it’s a risky game — and not one that I would participate in considering the alternatives as the Dow tops 14,000 and investors start talking about a friendlier bull market in 2013 and beyond.

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