Skyfall
, the twenty-third installment of the wildly successful
James Bond
film franchise, hits U.S. theaters on Friday. There is no doubt
the franchise has spanned generations.
Skyfall
, starring Daniel Craig in his third appearance as the infamous
agent 007, debuted in foreign release a in late October, almost
exactly 50 years after Sean Connery first made 007 a hero to men
everywhere in 1962's
Dr. No
.
There is something else about Bond films; a flaw some
cinematic purists are loathsome to acknowledge is a fact of life
these days: Product placement. Some would argue that in recent
installments of the 007 franchise, product placement has reached
almost gratuitous levels.
Purity aside, all the familiar brands that are expected to
appear in
Skyfall
make for an interesting exercise. That being the construction of
a James Bond stock portfolio.
Caterpillar (NYSE:
CAT
)
Without having seen clips of
Skyfall
, the imagination is left to run wild with what type of scenes
will feature products made by the world's largest purveyor of
construction and mining equipment. It is doubtful 007 has traded
in his sporty Aston Martin for a lumbering bulldozer, but
Caterpillar products are even more expensive. A 10-year-old
Caterpillar off-highway truck
can be had for more than $615,000
.
Fun and games aside, the Dow component lost more than four
percent in the past week. This week alone, the company has
announced job and production cuts. If the shares can find support
at $83, Caterpillar might be worth a look as a swing trade.
Coca-Cola (NYSE:
KO
)
Another Dow component finds its way into
Skyfall
, as Coke Zero will be visible to moviegoers. As is the case with
Caterpillar, Coca-Cola currently finds itself in a precarious
technical position. The stock is also vulnerable to selling if
the fiscal cliff comes to pass because that will mean a higher
dividend tax rate for some Americans.
The bull case for Coke consists of a dividend that rises
practically every year and a beta of just 0.51, meaning if the
fiscal cliff is avoided, Coke will remain a prime destination for
conservative investors.
Heineken (OTC:
HINKY
) James Bond has traded in his trademark martini for beer in
Skyfall
. Bond purists are not a fan of this and some Brits probably
are not happy to learn the beer featured in the film comes by
way of a Dutch brewer. Raise a glass to Heinken though, the
stock has jumped 15.4 percent in the past three months. And do
not be turned off by the fact the stock trades on the pink
sheets. Several large-cap European companies do that to avoid
the higher listing costs associated with the mainstream U.S.
exchanges. Nestle (OTC:
NSRGY
) is another familiar European large-cap that trades on the
pink sheets.
iShares MSCI Turkey Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE:
TUR
)
Turkey makes its second appearance in a 2012 blockbuster, but
many Turks were not pleased
with how their nation was portrayed in
Taken 2
. Hopefully,
Skyfall
will be more to the average Turk's liking. This is the third
time Bond has made an appearance in Turkey. The first was in
From Russia With Love
and the second was
The World Is Not Enough
. TUR has been one of the best-performing emerging markets
ETFs
this year and has the potential to keep that ebullience going
thanks
improving sovereign credit, favorable
demographics and tame inflation
. Interestingly, hit movies have the potential to generate
tourism dollars for locations in which memorable scenes were
filmed. Think Las Vegas and
The Hangover
. Tourism is an important part of the Turkish economy. As in
important to the tune of
$23 billion last year
.
(c) 2012 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment
advice. All rights reserved.