Wal-Mart's head of U.S. e-commerce, Marc Lore is leading an assault on internet shopping for the traditionally brick and mortar retailer. Wal-Mart is working with up-market department store Lord & Taylor (owned by Hudson's Bay Co.) to add the retailer's website to WalMart.com. Suzanne Kapner and Sarah Nassauer explain that the plan is to make the website an internet mall featuring higher-end brands. They continue: Additional brands that eventually could be included in the project include men’s clothing company Bonobos and online retailer Jet.com, both of which are owned by Wal-Mart, as … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2017
Welcome to Hôtel de Crillon: You’ve Arrived
You know you’ve arrived, literally and figuratively, the minute you see Place de la Concorde up on your left and Hôtel de Crillon on your right. As your driver pulls up you are surrounded by regally dressed staff, guiding you to the historic facade as if it’s your movie being premiered. Welcome to the mansion built for Louis XV, and, since July 2017 after a four-year renovation, for you too. The minute you walk inside Hôtel de Crillon you know how Louis XV must have felt. The entrance is unlike that of any hotel I’ve ever been in—it feels like a mansion—there’s no lobby. There’s no check-in … [Read more...]
The Bears have Punched Themselves Out
You are investing through what has become the third longest bull market in history. Over recent months it has also been one of the calmest markets on record. The first chart in this post by James Mackintosh shows the percentage of newsletter writers who are bullish versus those who are bearish. Bull-bear sentiment is often used as a contrary indicator. The greater the percentage of bulls, the greater the likelihood the market will fall is the thinking. After more than eight years of a relentless bull market, most of the bears seem to have punched themselves out. … [Read more...]
Will NAFTA Negotiations Help or Hurt?
Negotiators are looking for a "win-win-win" outcome, but they're also talking about the collapse of the trade pact. Will negotiations over NAFTA have a positive or negative effect on business in America? Jacob M. Schlesinger writes: Donald Trump’s presidency has so far been largely good for big business and investors, with deregulation in train, hopes for corporate tax cuts, and stocks hitting records. But the risk of a serious jolt now looms: the potential end of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has governed continental commerce for a quarter-century. Because the likelihood … [Read more...]
Economic Freedom: Where does USA Rank?
You may be surprised at how far you need to scan your finger down the list to locate the United States in the Economic Freedom of the World: 2017 Annual Report co-published by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute in Canada and more that 70 think tanks around the world. The United States, which has held a spot in the top ten for decades, now ranks 11th. Going back to the period 1980-2000, the U.S. was an economic beast, generally ranked 3rd freest economy in the world behind Hong Kong and Singapore. And then came the decline. After the U.S. ranked 2nd in 2000 it’s been mostly downhill … [Read more...]
Is it Time to Worry about a Stock Market Crash?
Tomorrow marks the 30-year anniversary of the 1987 stock market crash when U.S. shares plunged over 20% in a single day. The 1987 crash was blamed on a new innovation in financial markets at the time—portfolio insurance. Since the crash, controls have been put in place to prevent sharp one-day declines in markets, but risks remain. Volatility strategies that have been adopted by many investors have characteristics similar to those of portfolio insurance and market structure has shifted. Index-based ETFs that are bought and sold by investors with little regard for the value of the underlying … [Read more...]
Can Grocers Cut Out the Milk Middlemen?
Grocers like Kroger are moving to expand their private label business. Now Kroger is leading a new trend for grocers, bottling their own milk. The move could harm Dean Foods and other milk producers who have traditionally supplied the grocers. Heather Haddin and Benjamin Parkin report: Milk is a low-margin commodity, susceptible to price swings. Americans are drinking less of it, even as demand rises for cheese, butter and other dairy products. But grocery executives say ensuring for themselves a steady supply of what remains one the most frequently purchased items in their stores is worth … [Read more...]
October RAGE Gauge
My October Rage Gauge is in and it seems like the frogs in the pot have no idea what’s going on around them. When someone tells me they can handle a 20 percent hit because they’ve “made” so much money in this market, I think to myself, “they haven’t done the math on a 100 percent hit.” Another month has passed and more records have been broken. Now would be a good time to think about protecting your portfolio. You never know when the big hit is going to come. … [Read more...]
Do you Invest with a Performance Chaser?
It’s that time of year again, when portfolio managers who are trailing their benchmarks throw well-crafted investment plans out the window and start chasing the market higher. The goal for this short-term focused crowd is to have a higher return than the market by the time of close of business on New Year’s Eve. The PowerShares High Beta ETF is your evidence of this shameless practice. High-beta stocks are stocks that tend to move up or down more than the broader market. If a stock has a beta of 1.5 for example, one would expect this stock to rise 1.5% for every 1% rise in the S&P … [Read more...]
Wal-Mart to Open Fewest U.S. Stores in 25 Years
Rather than opening as many stores as normal, this year Wal-Mart is limiting its store openings to about 24. Rather than spend big money on more new locations, Wal-Mart will focus its spending on increasing its internet sales, and developing its service businesses, like grocery delivery. Sarah Nassauer and Austen Hufford report: The strategy is central to Wal-Mart’s plan to fend off Amazon.com Inc. and a sign that executives believe the profitable business based on cavernous stores that Wal-Mart built rapidly for decades won’t grow through expansion. At an investor meeting on Tuesday at … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- …
- 7
- Next Page »