George Will, columnist for The Washington Post, has written a bullish article titled "Boeing's Winning Hand". Will paints a rosy forecast for the commercial aircraft industry and, in particular, for Boeing. Note: the article is also readily available at The Patriot Post.

Some figures that he shares:

• The commercial aviation market will double in the next 20 years
• There will be 27,000 planes built at a cost of $2.6 trillion.
• Boeing has invested $8 billion to develop the forthcoming 787 Dreamliner
• Airbus has invested $16 billion in its faltering A380 program.
• The Boeing 787 draws on ten subcontractors from four continents who provide four million parts.
• Each day 60,000 people fly in Boeing aircraft.

He also comments on some of the strategic and technical issues that will influence the market. Given the technical challenges, global reach and sustained growth of this industry, there should be many wonderful career paths for engineers.

If I may ask a question, could someone tell me where George Will or others obtain this substantive information on Boeing? While I admire Will's journalism, I would like to review the same quantitative information as he so that I may make my own assessment. Of note: within a week of publishing his article, investors were greeted with news that Boeing's stock (see chart) price had fallen nearly 5% in heavy trading; some attributed the decline to an analyst's report issued by Wachovia that downgraded the stock from "Outperform" to "Mkt Perform". I find it curious that these events came on the heels of Mr. Will's article.

I have often heard that once I read about a financial opportunity, it was too late to invest since everyone had the same news and the professional investors were already moving to other opportunities. Perhaps that is true here; nonetheless, CR4 readers should be mindful of the very different goals to which the investment community is beholden. Let pragmatism prevail in your career goals as there is an enormous opportunity for those who wish to invest their intelligence, energy, experience and passion.