Posts for Ticker ‘WMT’

The Palm Margin Squeeze (PALM, S, AMZN, WMT)

Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) has sort of already fallen from grace despite all the hype behind the Palm Pre.  Throw in that Pixi too.  Discounting is trumping what may be weaker sales.  It turns out that Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) is offering the Palm Pre for Sprint for a mere $79.99.  Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) has it offered direct at $149.99 price after discounts and rebates at its site.  Sprint Nextel is also selling the Palm Pixi for $99.99, but the Palm Pixi is now for sale for $24.99 at Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT).  We confirmed all these prices on the websites, and this is going to confirm tough times for Palm and its finances.
Read More »

Posted on: November 20, 2009 – 9:24 am in Consumer Electronics, Retail, Technology Companies, Telecom, Wireless, , , ,

Black Friday Gimmicks & Desperation, A Win For Consumers (WMT, BBY, COST, TGT, KSS, GPS, M, JWN, MA, AMZN)

We are right at a week away from the highly awaited Black Friday for 2009’s holiday and Christmas season.  As you likely know, this is THE day that retailers look forward to all year and critically depend upon as an anchor to how each retailer’s full year earnings results turn out.  You may already be tired of Christmas ads and the holidays haven’t even arrived yet.  With over 10% unemployment, a recession-end that doesn’t feel like a recession-end, a very tight discretionary spending budget, and a general lack of consumer confidence, it is no surprise at all that the focus for the Holiday Season in 2009 is one of deals and thrift.

These are not in any particular order, but the promotions have been reviewed at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY), Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST), Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M), and Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN).  There is also already promotion between MasterCard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).  Admittedly, this is just a sampling of major outlets.

What is amazing is just how much of the deal-making is already out before the holiday season starts as retailers key off of each other.  It is almost impossible to avoid thinking how such a promotional Christmas and Holiday Season in 2009 is going to add pressure to margins at almost all the first-line retailers.
Read More »

Posted on: November 19, 2009 – 12:54 pm in Apparel, Calendar, Editor's Picks, Entertainment, Luxury, Product Review, Retail, , , , , , , , , ,

The More Focused, and More Opaque, Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B, BNI, UNP, NSC, GS, GE, TIF, HOG, WMT, COP, XOM, WFC, RSG, DOW, ETN, WBC, MCO, WLP, UNH, GSK, SNY, GCI, WPO)

This was an important week for investment guru and billionaire watchers to see which gurus were holding which stocks.  The full public equity holdings of Warren Buffett via Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) were particularly of note, particularly with those B shares under “BRK-B” soon to split and giving a chance for even the less astute ranks of Joe Public to own a piece of the Berkshire dream.  Obviously the huge change is via the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (NYSE: BNI) buyout.  As part of this deal, Buffett is exiting Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) and exiting Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) stakes of about $600 million and $100 million, respectively, to avoid duplication and internal competition.  The rail transport play now accounts for about one-quarter of the total Berkshire Hathaway entity upon closing. But the less obvious position in that Warren Buffett in 2009 has made it clear that there will be a simpler and probably less “stock-hound” version of Berkshire Hathaway ahead.

Buffett has gone higher up the food chain and is likely to be a creditor now inside or to large institutions.  We have seen this during the crisis.  Buffett negotiated a better deal for Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) than the US Government was able to get.  Buffett’s preferred stock in Goldman Sachs has a dividend of 10% and is callable at any time at a 10% premium; but Buffett also got warrants to purchase $5 billion of common stock with a strike price of $115.00 per share, exercisable for a five-year term (4 years now), and Buffett would effectively get to pocket $61 per share if he exercised those all today at the market (and with a $2.6 billion warrant profit alone).

The General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) stake was listed only as 7.77 million shares of common stock (about $125 million now), the same as it has been for quarters.  Yet last year Buffett came to the rescue with a $3 billion of perpetual preferred stock in a private offering with a dividend of 10% and warrants to purchase $3 billion of common stock.  The preferred is callable after 3-years (2 years now) at a 10% premium; the warrants have a strike price of $22.25 and are exercisable for a five-year term (4 years now).
Read More »

Posted on: November 19, 2009 – 8:59 am in Activist Investor, Bonds, Buffett, Conglomerates, Dividend, Editor's Picks, Infrastructure, Large Cap Stocks, Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity, Transports, Value Investing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Soros Fund Holdings

Yesterday Soros Fund Management Filed a 13-F outlining the fund’s long portfolio as of September 30th, 2009.  The total value of the holdings reported in the filing is $6,198,089.  Twenty holdings represented roughly 50% of the value.  Soros Fund Management is a hedge fund management company that invests primarily based on macroeconomic analysis.  It should be noted that the fund’s equity portfolio likely contains significant short positions, which are not reported in 13-F filings.  Some of the positions in the filing may be in place as hedges or part of a multi-part trade, rather than a directional bet.  With that in mind, a glance at this firm’s major holdings provides clues to its macroeconomic outlook.  

Total stakes in Petroleo Brasileo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR) represent 9.23% of the value of the positions reported in the filing, with just over 13 million shares held.  This is down from by 2.3 million from the fund’s last filing. Read More »

Posted on: November 17, 2009 – 10:52 am in Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Should McDonald’s And Wal-Mart Shelter The Mentally Ill And The Homeless?

It could be the economy or the fact that spending time in McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Target (NYSE:TGT), Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) is more pleasant than it used to be. All of these retailers certainly have clean and well-heated stores.

There appears to be a rise in the number of homeless people and people who are mentally ill in the aisles and at the tables of America’s largest retailers, fast food coffee chains and restaurants. These establishments are often crowded enough or are in buildings that cover enough square feet so that a person could be lost, or to some extent hide in plain sight.

Read More »

Posted on: November 17, 2009 – 5:10 am in Economy, Editor's Picks, , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Holdings P-Z Q3-2009 (BRK-A, BRK-B, PG, RSG, SNY, STI, TMK, TRV, USB, USG, UNH, UNP, UPS, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC, WBC)

This is the list of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) public US equity holdings as of September 30, 2009.  As noted in the “A to F” and “G to O” lists, there have been changes since the cut off date and those have been noted where applicable. Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘P to Z.’

  • Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) 96.3 million, the same as before.
  • Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) 3.625 million shares; NEW POSITION following Bill Gates.
  • Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, same as before.
  • Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) 3.079 million shares; DOWN FROM 3.2+ the quarter before.
  • Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) roughly 2.82 million, same as before.
  • Travellers Cos (NYSE: TRV) 27,336; NEW POSITION but small.
  • US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) roughly 69 million; Same as quarter before.
  • USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, same as before.
  • United Health Group (NYSE: UNH) 3.4 million shares; DOWN from 4.5 million last quarter and down from over 6 million in Q1.
  • Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 9.55 million shares, same as quarter before but this does not matter as Buffett is dumping his non-BNSF rail holdings.
  • United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares, same as before.
  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) 37.8 million; WAY UP from the 19.9+ million shares last quarter.
  • Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares, same as before.
  • Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) 313.3 million shares; ABOVE THE PRIOR 302+ million last quarter and above the 290+ million in Q1.
  • Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 3.394 million; DOWN SLIGHTLY from the 3.5 million last quarter and from the 4.7773 million in Q1.
  • Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares, same as before.

WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) IS GONE after being 2.7 million shares last quarter.

BUFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to F’

BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘G to O’

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, key analyst calls, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: November 16, 2009 – 5:11 pm in Activist Investor, Buffett, Conglomerates, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Target (TGT) Promotes $3 Appliances

hersheyDVDs and e-books that sell for under $10 is one thing. Appliances that sell for $3 is another. Target (NYSE:TGT) is offering toasters, coffee makers, and slow roasters at $3 each, according to data from GotADeal.com.  It is a sign that discounting to pull in retail customers is getting out of hand.

A number of retail industry analysts have questioned whether Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Target (NYSE:TGT) can make money on their DVD promotions. It is just as likely that they choose to lose money on these items to draw people into stores or to their online sites.. They hope that those customers will buy more expensive products that have reasonable profit margins. It is a risk, but given the revenues of the three companies, not a big one. Read More »

Posted on: November 13, 2009 – 6:11 am in Retail, , ,

Media Digest 11/13/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   China’s economy may be hurt as its stimulus ends.

Reuters:   Warren Buffett says the financial panic is over.

Reuters:   Former bankers are considering buying failed banks.

Reuters:   The SEC is expected to go ahead with the Bear Stearns case. Read More »

Posted on: November 13, 2009 – 4:03 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , ,

Wal-Mart (WMT): It’s Beginning To Look At Lot Like Christmas

WMTWal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) beat Wall St. expectations for earnings and revenue.

Perhaps more important, it indicated that the fourth quarter would be OK. The Christmas retail season just began to look a bit better.

Wal-Mart reported diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for the third quarter of fiscal year 2010 of $0.84, exceeding the company’s guidance of $0.78 to $0.82. Walmart earned $0.77 per share from continuing operations in the third quarter last year. Net sales for the third quarter were $98.667 billion, an increase of 1.1 percent from $97.619 billion in the third quarter last year. Read More »

Posted on: November 12, 2009 – 7:43 am in Earnings, Retail,

Media Digest 11/12/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   China is the key stop on Obama’s tour of Asia.

Reuters:   South Korea’s businesses may start to feel more pressure from China competitors..

Reuters:   Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) bought 3Com (NYSE:COM) for $3.1 billion.

Reuters:   Lou Dobbs left CNN (NYSE:TWX) Read More »

Posted on: November 12, 2009 – 4:00 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today’s Best Market Rumors (9/10/2009) (AMD)(AMR)(LCC)(CLWR)(MOT)

magazinUpdated throughout the day.

Update 2.52 PM EST:  The antitrust disagreement  between Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and AMD (NYSE:AMD) may be resolved by a private settlement  (MarketWatch)

Updated 12.23 PM EST:  Motorola (NYSE:MOT) may have sold 100,000 Droid the first weekend the handset was on the market  (Bloomberg)

Updated 11.33 AM EST: Huge hedge fund SAC says it has found no improper trades. Media sources has linked the firm to the Galleon insider trading investigation. (Bloomberg)

Updated 8.48 AM EST:  Hedge fund assets could hit $2 trillion worldwide by the end of 2010 (DealBook)

American Air (NYSE:AMR) and US Air (NYSE:LCC) may merge  (TheStreet)

The International Energy Agency may be downplaying the need for greater oil supplies to prevent a market panic.  (CNBC)

AT&T (NYSE:T) is publishing data to undermine Verizon’s (NYSE:VZ) claims about the better quality of its cellular network.

Time Warner’s (NYSE:TWX) AOL unit will lay-off 1,000 people next month. (AllThingsD)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is not likely to close its media properties.  (Ad Age)

A number of public pensions face bankruptcy. (Forbes)

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) may use its China business as a template for expansion in India.  (The Deal)

Even after a $1 billion cash infusion 4G WiMax company Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) may need more money from Sprint (NYSE:S) and other partners.  (BreakingViews)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 8:38 am in Rumors, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wal-Mart (WMT) Lends Hand To The Poor One $2 Meal At A Time

WMTThe cynic’s view of Wal-Mart’s (NYSE:WMT) new expansion of its Great Value private label food brand is that it is aimed at making as much money as possible from those who are out of work or work for the minimum wage. The New York Times reports that Wal-Mart is marketing the brand as a way for food shoppers to get good meals for “less than $2 a serving.” It might not be too crass to say that the program is nothing but the big box retailer’s equivalent of the McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) $1 “Value Meals.” Read More »

Posted on: November 9, 2009 – 5:39 am in Economy, Retail, ,

Media Digest 11/9/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Hurricane Ida is heading toward Gulf oil fields.

Reuters:   Kraft (NYSE:KFT) will make its bid for Cadbury.

Reuters:   GE (NYSE:GE) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) have agreed to an NBCU valuation.

Reuters:   The IMF is considering an insurance levy on banks. Read More »

Posted on: November 9, 2009 – 4:03 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Earnings on Deck This Week (ERTS, ENER, PCLN, SQNM, TYC, AMAT, M, JWN, WMT, DIS)

bull-and-bear-image2Earnings season has wound down now with over 85% of the S&P 500 Index having reported.  Still, there are some key companies posting their quarterly results and some companies were screened out of this list which are still actively traded or widely held stocks.  Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER), Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) and Sequenom Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM) are on deck Monday. Also this week are earnings from Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC), Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M), are Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN). Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) are our two DJIA components reporting this week.

We have included Thomson Reuters consensus estimates and included performance and other important color where applicable.  We have shown the share performance since the March 9 close that traders mark as the official end date of the bloody bear market.  One issue to consider is that we used the performance since June 30 to keep consistency for our prior previews even though some of the quarter-ends this coming week are technically August 31.
Read More »

Posted on: November 8, 2009 – 10:26 am in Alternative Energy, Calendar, Cult Stock, Earnings, Green Biz, Retail, Semiconductor, Short Interest, , , , , , , , , ,

Wal-Mart (WMT) Drives Price Wars To DVDs

WMTWal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) is not satisfied challenging rivals like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Target (NYSE:TGT) in the e-book and toy businesses. Its program to take the lion’s share of the modest number of consumers likely to come out during the end-of-recession shopping season has been extended to DVDs.

Walmart.com has started to offer DVDs which are likely to be hot sellers for only $9.99. Most have retail prices of $25 to $30, so the world’s largest retailer is not likely to be making money on them. It is part of Wal-Mart’s strategy to get people in the “door” and then sell them other items. Read More »

Posted on: November 6, 2009 – 5:11 am in Retail, , ,

Media Digest 11/6/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The Wall St. insider trading probe lead to another 14 arrests.

Reuters:   Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) lost $19 billion and asked Treasury for money.

Reuters:   GM is readying its plans for Opel as some of its workers went on strike.

Reuters:   The pay czar says the jury is still out on reforms. Read More »

Posted on: November 6, 2009 – 3:58 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Disney (DIS) Goes To China, And Locals Get Angry

chinaChina has approved a plan for Disney (NYSE:DIS) to build a theme part in Shanghai. The American entertainment company has been trying to get a go ahead to build the $4 billion project for several years. The Chinese government gave no reason for the timing of its announcement. Shortly after the news became public, Chinese residents began to attack plans to build the park. The Wall Street Journal reports that, based on online polls and comments “Walt Disney won’t make Shanghai the happiest place in the world.”

Disney joins a long list of companies from Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) to Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) to McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) and Ford (NYSE:F) which are willing to bet that the Chinese consumer will eventually become a critical part of the expansion of the economy in the world’s most populous country. China’s GDP has been driven by exports. The US, where most consumer-focused firms have made their profits over the years, has counted on those consumers to be the engine of its economic expansion. Read More »

Posted on: November 4, 2009 – 5:20 am in China, Media, , , , ,

Wal-Mart (WMT): More Toy Price Cuts And Big City Dreams

WMTWal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) becomes more aggressive in soliciting new customers and undercutting rivals as each week passes. It has the balance sheet and retail locations to do those things.

The world’s largest retailer recently cut the prices of 100 toys below $10 and brought the price that it charges for popular e-books under $10 to take market share from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).

Wal-Mart knows that this holiday retail season will probably be very weak because of unemployment and lack of access to credit for many consumers, so it is not finished offering bargains to bring in customers. Read More »

Posted on: November 2, 2009 – 6:01 am in Retail, , , ,

Media Digest 11/2/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Investors in the banking sector were disturbed by the CIT (NYSE:CIT) bankruptcy.

Reuters:   Summers will lead a high level meeting on the economy.

Reuters:   US companies are holding more cash.

Reuters:   The Fed is likely to keep interest rates flat due to economic uncertainty. Read More »

Posted on: November 2, 2009 – 4:54 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Small Books Stores, Hurt By Amazon, Try To Strike Back

magazinAmazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Target (NYSE:TGT), and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) are apparently sharply limiting the number of books customers can buy under their programs to sell popular titles at discount prices. Book publishers have already claimed that the three companies are trying to monopolized book distribution.

The Wall Street Journal surmises that the reasons for the restriction on the number of books any one customer can buy has been set at two or three is that small book stores are buying the books and then marketing them up in price for their customers. While that may be true, the entrepreneur with one or two stores cannot offer the discounts that Amazon can. The huge e-commerce company can afford to lose money on the titles because visitors to it website may but other items. The book shop owner cannot afford to adopt the same tactic. Read More »

Posted on: October 30, 2009 – 6:08 am in Media, Regulation, , ,