Reynolds American, Inc. (NYSE:RAI)

georcole (91.80) Submitted: 6/29/2010 11:17:01 AM : Start Price: $18.97 RAI Score: +92.86

What can be said about tabacco that hasn't already been said many times over? I am a former smoker and can't stand the smell of cigarettes or somebody's breath right after having a cigarette. I will never smoke again, yet that is my choice, and I would never push my choices onto others like others tried to do to me to try to get me to quit. Everybody knows that smoking is not good for you, but many people will continue to smoke. That doesn't bother me. Playing with snakes can be very bad for you too, but look at how many people milk snakes for the venom or just play with them as pets. One wrong move there and you can die rather quickly, whereas with cigarettes, we all seem to know some 90 year old person who has been smoking for 70 years and is in relatively good health for their age. You just don't seem to die as quickly as with a rattlesnake bite. I do not mind making money on the choices of others. I know that people made money off of my choice to smoke for twelve years. People continue to make money on my choice to go out to dinner. If I eat a fattening meal, nobody is yelling at me and telling me that I shouldn't eat that.

As long as people wish to smoke in numbers sufficient enough to keep the big tabacco companies in business, companies like RAI will continue to be around and pay out those nice dividends. I know that the trend for the number of smokers in the U.S. is downward. That's OK with me. The trend is upward in some other countries.

So while I will not join you in your little pleasure, I say, smoke 'em if you got 'em.