|
OT--Wal-Mart Posts $2.44B in 2Q Earnings
"I am pleased our associates achieved record quarterly sales and earnings,"
said company president and chief executive Lee Scott. ....except in Rochester, right Doug? Hehehe. |
OT--Wal-Mart Posts $2.44B in 2Q Earnings
"NOYB" wrote in message
hlink.net... "I am pleased our associates achieved record quarterly sales and earnings," said company president and chief executive Lee Scott. ...except in Rochester, right Doug? Hehehe. The sales figure doesn't break apart categories. The only thing I've bought repeatedly at WM, on an experimental basis, was groceries. With that in mind, I can only tell you what I see: 1) I track grocery prices for my own shopping, using about 50 items I buy repeatedly. Wegman's, a locally owned, high-quality behemoth of a chain, is consistently cheaper on 3/4 of the items. For the other 25% of the items, they're so close that it's not worth bothering with Wal Mart, with its aisles littered with empty boxes, spotty unit pricing (a trick, by the way), 30 minute lines at the registers and annoying "don't give a damn" employees. Further, I won't buy meat at WM because it's tainted with some sort of crap to tenderize it. (Read the labels). And, the produce looks like the stuff I leave for the squirrels in my garden, laying under the good stuff. 2) On any busy weekend, the Wegman's (4 blocks from WM) is packed with customers. No matter: At any register, I'm out in 5-8 minutes. 3) Tops, another chain (owned by Ahold) is now being serviced by one of the two largest wholesalers East of the Mississippi. This particular wholesaler buys at better prices than WM most of the time. It's reflected in the Tops stores, whose prices are suddenly giving WM and Wegman's a run for their money. Don't question #3. It's the business I'm in. I know how WM buys groceries. |
OT--Wal-Mart Posts $2.44B in 2Q Earnings
"JohnH" wrote in message
... Yet WM is going crazy, as are many other retailers. Is it because only the 'rich' shop at WM? After all, they are the only ones to have received any benefits from a tax cut. Right? Perhaps many of us have given up trying to find clothing made in this country. Once you've accepted the situation, you may as well buy it where it's price reflects its true quality. |
OT--Wal-Mart Posts $2.44B in 2Q Earnings
"NOYB" wrote in message
hlink.net... "I am pleased our associates achieved record quarterly sales and earnings," said company president and chief executive Lee Scott. Uh oh. Wallmarts numbers ain't gonna be so good next quarter if the mortgage refinancings that've put $ in people's pockets keep dropping precipitously. By Richard Leong Reuters Wednesday, August 13, 2003; 9:23 AM NEW YORK - The number of applications Americans filed for mortgage loans dropped last week to its lowest level in more than a year, even as mortgage rates subsided from their recent spike, according to an industry survey. The Mortgage Bankers Association of America said on Wednesday its seasonally adjusted gauge of overall mortgage requests fell to 824.6 for the week ended Aug. 8, down 16.1 percent from the previous week's 983.2. The group's weekly barometer of mortgage demand fell to its lowest level since 815.2 for the week of July 19, 2002. Although overall mortgage demand remains high on a historical basis, the previously red-hot level of refinancing, which has put money into consumers' pockets, has cooled rapidly. Applications for refinancing made up 55.8 percent of all new requests filed last week, down from 72.1 percent a month ago. "We are on the downside, but it (refinancing) has not gone away completely," Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist Douglas Duncan told Reuters. Duncan estimated that the refinancing boom will be over when the weekly share of refinancing applications falls to about 20 percent to 25 percent of all new applications. The recent rise in mortgage rates has hit refinancing -- down 67.5 percent since its peak in May -- much harder than demand for loans to buy homes, down around 10 percent. |
OT--Wal-Mart Posts $2.44B in 2Q Earnings
"JohnH" wrote in message
... On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 19:20:26 GMT, "Doug Kanter" wrote: Yet WM is going crazy, as are many other retailers. Is it because only the 'rich' shop at WM? After all, they are the only ones to have received any benefits from a tax cut. Right? Have I just gotten more stupid in my old age? Chance are good. You may want to wait and find out if Target, K-mart and other retailers are seeing the same spike. Wallymart may be enjoying more business because they're selling more cheap goods manufactured in China. Also, as you may know, mortgage refinancings have been driving a lot of liquidity into the economy. That's now trailing off and I expect the free flow of money will follow. |
OT--Wal-Mart Posts $2.44B in 2Q Earnings
"JohnH" wrote in message
... On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 21:12:46 GMT, "Doug Kanter" wrote: Doug, the question referred to the fact that people are spending more money, not where they are spending it. How can you assert that when the news simply reflected Walmart and not the general state of discount retailers? How are Walmart's competition doing? If they're doing well, then you may have a case. If not, money may simply be shifting from one retail outfit to another, potentially based on price. See, there's more of the conservative vs. liberal thinking. Our lot is willing to be patient and make a judgement when all the data is in. You folks want to make a case on one month, one day, one report. Sorry bud, that dog won't hunt. |
OT--Wal-Mart Posts $2.44B in 2Q Earnings
On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 16:34:59 -0700, "jps" wrote:
"JohnH" wrote in message .. . On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 21:12:46 GMT, "Doug Kanter" wrote: Doug, the question referred to the fact that people are spending more money, not where they are spending it. How can you assert that when the news simply reflected Walmart and not the general state of discount retailers? How are Walmart's competition doing? If they're doing well, then you may have a case. If not, money may simply be shifting from one retail outfit to another, potentially based on price. See, there's more of the conservative vs. liberal thinking. Our lot is willing to be patient and make a judgement when all the data is in. You folks want to make a case on one month, one day, one report. Sorry bud, that dog won't hunt. Gosh, jps, I'd have expected you to do this: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Economy shows further signs of recovering By Patrice Hill THE WASHINGTON TIMES More signs that the economy is gathering strength emerged yesterday as big retailers like Wal-Mart reported their best sales in a year while productivity boomed and unemployment claims dropped for a third straight week. The increase in same-store sales last month, at 4.3 percent, was nearly double the pace set in May and June in a survey of big department stores by the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. Wal-Mart, the biggest retailer, said better-than-expected sales were partly the result of tax rebate checks. With consumer momentum building, the retailer boosted its profit outlook for the rest of the year. "It was a good month, and it may be a good omen for the second half," said Michael P. Niemira, vice president of the Tokyo bank. Although warm weather and heavy discounting by retailers accounted for some of the gains, "this could be the start of a much better trend," he said. Some analysts said consumers seem to be spending more on clothing, furniture and other discretionary items because sharply higher interest rates since June have dampened interest in buying cars and houses. While consumers were shifting into a higher gear, the number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped for a third straight week to 390,000 last week, a sign that the stagnant job market may be improving. The four-week average of new jobless claims compiled by the Labor Department dropped below 400,000 for the first time since February. Businesses so far during the economic recovery have met growing demand with the same or fewer workers because of strong productivity gains. That continued during the second quarter, with a stunning 5.7 percent jump in productivity reported by the Labor Department yesterday. Analysts said the acceleration in consumer spending seen last month may force businesses to start adding workers soon. The "amazing" productivity gains eked out by businesses and workers in the last few years have been "the silver lining in the jobless recovery," said Bill Cheney, chief economist for John Hancock Financial Services. But "based on today's jobless claims report, this recovery may not be jobless that much longer." .... (Continued) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- But you didn't. Most respectfully, John On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD |
OT--Wal-Mart Posts $2.44B in 2Q Earnings
|
OT--Wal-Mart Posts $2.44B in 2Q Earnings
"JohnH" wrote in message
... I had heard so much BSR to the effect that the tax breaks were going only to the 'rich'. I honestly don't think it's the 'rich' folks who are doing the spending at Wal-Mart. No, stupid Americans with Child tax credits in a spendy mood. They bought several six packs and some new underwear and called it a day. BTW, most of those sales were at Sam's Club, not Wallymart. |
OT--Wal-Mart Posts $2.44B in 2Q Earnings
Is the proverbial glass always half empty for you Gene?
"Gene Kearns" wrote in message ... On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 16:55:16 -0400, JohnH wrote: Lots Snipped Lots more snipped... How can this be? The economic news, according to most libs, is absolutely atrocious. Millions upon millions are out of work and looking hard for jobs. Most of those people will keep on looking for those jobs, too, unless they look for that job where your dollar ended up in that third world country. (Many more millions just draw their welfare checks.) The USA is sinking rapidly. And, its all George's fault. More likely the culprit is ditech.com and similar businesses. When the slowdown in mortgage activity shows its effect, the truth of how bad things *really* are will hit home. Yet WM is going crazy, as are many other retailers. Right? Wrong.... re-read the news on WM. Sam's Club saved their bacon..... Have I just gotten more stupid in my old age? No, just more cynical... and less willing to see the fallibility of those you see as leading the charge toward more prosperity. -- Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Southport, NC. http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/cavern/ Homepage http://www.southharbourvillage.com/directions.asp Where Southport,NC is located. http://www.southharbourvillage.com/autoupdater.htm Real Time Pictures at My Marina http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:37 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2014 BoatBanter.com