MasterCard (OH, YEAAAHH!)

Judging by MasterCard’s (MA) 3% gain today (while the market heads south) I’d say the kool-aid at the annual shareholders meeting is being downed like wine coolers at a pre-teen kegger.

kool_aid

If memory serves me correctly…

Reuters reported that MasterCard Inc posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings but said revenue growth this year will fall short of its targets. MasterCard said net revenue growth this year will fall short of its long-term goal of 12% to 15%. The Company reported revenue of $4.991 billion for fiscal 2008.

So my question is why this?

MasterCard President and CEO Robert W. Selander noted that while the financial services industry has experienced challenging economic conditions recently, MasterCard continues to deliver shareholder value and the company is well positioned for the long-term.

I realize that MasterCard makes money regardless of whether or not a balance is carried so I won’t fly the flag of consumers buying back their debt. However, I can speak for myself and perhaps a few would agree, that the plastic isn’t coming out of the wallet quite as easily as it has in the past.

Maybe the good folks at MasterCard are banking on the chance we do reach 10-11% unemployment and consumers are forced to use plastic rather than paper. Might not be too bad of an idea since we all can’t be on food stamps.