^Wal-Mart was tiny in the '90s as compared to today.

Sam's Club closings were pretty much inevitable - their bulk prices weren't any cheaper than buying bulk online or buying store-brand items elsewhere during sales, add in the membership fee and the traditional hassle of brick and mortar shopping and I can't see them doing to well long-term.

 

A bigger move by WalMart this week, the nation's largest employer, was raising their starting/minimum wage to $11 and enhancing maternity/family leave - all at a cost of $700 million. I imagine that's a pretty big step up for tens of thousands of people. That's money directly in the hands of the working poor who need it most. A full time WalMart worker now gets better parental leave than many white-collar office workers. And of course, this was all made possible by the tax cut they are set to receive.

A bigger move by WalMart this week, the nation's largest employer, was raising their starting/minimum wage to $11 and enhancing maternity/family leave - all at a cost of $700 million. I imagine that's a pretty big step up for tens of thousands of people. That's money directly in the hands of the working poor who need it most.

 

They're closing 63 locations.

^ Right, you already posted that, and I referenced it in the paragraph you failed to quote. What do you think I was referring to when I said "bigger" (a comparative adjective)? The good news here impacts tens, even hundreds of thousands of hourly workers. Brick and mortar retail closings, though sad news, are inevitable and pretty routine at this point.

People just don't pig out on large quantities like they used to.

And of course, this was all made possible by the tax cut they are set to receive.

 

How so?

 

EDIT: meaning, they had plenty of net income before the tax cut to incur the additional cost; and this additional cost is eating up just a small portion of their benefit from the tax cut. But even so, "how so?" wasn't a good question.  A better question would have been "is that enough to make the tax cut worth it?"

^ Right, you already posted that, and I referenced it in the paragraph you failed to quote. What do you think I was referring to when I said "bigger" (a comparative adjective)? The good news here impacts tens, even hundreds of thousands of hourly workers. Brick and mortar retail closings, though sad news, are inevitable and pretty routine at this point.

 

You're simultaneously claiming bonuses (for 20+ years employees) and bumping the minimum wage to $11/hour are due to tax cuts...while they announce 63 store closures laying off thousands of employees all as good things and proof that the tax cuts work.

 

Tell that to the thousands of employees who just got laid off without notice.

Sam's Club closings are interesting to me because Costco to all outward appearances (including its shareholder letters and quarterly results ... my wife is a small shareholder) is doing just fine.  Not growing like Amazon but still quite healthy.

Costco has better "snob appeal" and have been more targeted with their locations, I feel. Their Kirkland brand is very strong.

^ Right, you already posted that, and I referenced it in the paragraph you failed to quote. What do you think I was referring to when I said "bigger" (a comparative adjective)? The good news here impacts tens, even hundreds of thousands of hourly workers. Brick and mortar retail closings, though sad news, are inevitable and pretty routine at this point.

 

You're simultaneously claiming bonuses (for 20+ years employees) and bumping the minimum wage to $11/hour are due to tax cuts...while they announce 63 store closures laying off thousands of employees all as good things and proof that the tax cuts work.

 

Tell that to the thousands of employees who just got laid off without notice.

 

They're probably able to pay for the bonuses and higher wages by closing the unprofitable Sam's locations and selling the real estate they don't need while alleviating the need for leasing warehouse space. The buildings they keep are getting turned into warehouses.

If someone makes $11/hour and works 40 hours a week and 52 weeks a year, they would still only make $22,880 per year. That offers very little ability for them to save up for a down payment on a home, take a vacation, etc. It's still insane that someone in America can work full time and still make so little money.

Costco is a good company.  We share memberships to Costco and Sam's with family and routinely find better stuff at Costco.

^ Right, you already posted that, and I referenced it in the paragraph you failed to quote. What do you think I was referring to when I said "bigger" (a comparative adjective)? The good news here impacts tens, even hundreds of thousands of hourly workers. Brick and mortar retail closings, though sad news, are inevitable and pretty routine at this point.

 

You're simultaneously claiming bonuses (for 20+ years employees) and bumping the minimum wage to $11/hour are due to tax cuts...while they announce 63 store closures laying off thousands of employees all as good things and proof that the tax cuts work.

 

Tell that to the thousands of employees who just got laid off without notice.

 

They're probably able to pay for the bonuses and higher wages by closing the unprofitable Sam's locations and selling the real estate they don't need while alleviating the need for leasing warehouse space. The buildings they keep are getting turned into warehouses.

 

They're closing 63 Sam's Clubs.  Only 14 are turning into distribution centers.

If someone makes $11/hour and works 40 hours a week and 52 weeks a year, they would still only make $22,880 per year. That offers very little ability for them to save up for a down payment on a home, take a vacation, etc. It's still insane that someone in America can work full time and still make so little money.

 

After deductions that person is bringing home less than $1,500/mo and probably more like $1,200. 

 

^ Right, you already posted that, and I referenced it in the paragraph you failed to quote. What do you think I was referring to when I said "bigger" (a comparative adjective)? The good news here impacts tens, even hundreds of thousands of hourly workers. Brick and mortar retail closings, though sad news, are inevitable and pretty routine at this point.

 

You're simultaneously claiming bonuses (for 20+ years employees) and bumping the minimum wage to $11/hour are due to tax cuts...while they announce 63 store closures laying off thousands of employees all as good things and proof that the tax cuts work.

 

Tell that to the thousands of employees who just got laid off without notice.

 

They're probably able to pay for the bonuses and higher wages by closing the unprofitable Sam's locations and selling the real estate they don't need while alleviating the need for leasing warehouse space. The buildings they keep are getting turned into warehouses.

 

They're closing 63 Sam's Clubs.  Only 14 are turning into distribution centers.

 

Right, the ones they keep.

Damn, hell of a first two weeks for 2018:

 

DOW: 25,803.19 (+4.39% YTD)

NASDAQ: 7,264.08 (+5.35% YTD)

S&P 500: 2,787.35 (+4.26% YTD)

NYSE: 13,298.69 (+3.82% YTD)

Keep in mind that that stock market jumped 52% in 1954.  Back when the top income tax rate was 90% and the corporate rate was 45%. 

Even with those great index returns, I've kicked the crap out this market. I've withdrawn $20,000 from my portfolio in the last couple of months and my portfolio has actually increased in value.

Good grief:

 

DOW: 26,115.65 (+5.65% YTD)

NASDAQ: 7,298.28 (+ 5.68% YTD)

S&P 500: 2,800.14 (+4.79% YTD)

NYSE: 13,359.60 (+4.28% YTD)

Good grief:

 

DOW: 26,115.65 (+5.65% YTD)

NASDAQ: 7,298.28 (+ 5.68% YTD)

S&P 500: 2,800.14 (+4.79% YTD)

NYSE: 13,359.60 (+4.28% YTD)

 

Love it!

 

Of the 26 primary industrialized nations, our primary stock exchange is #18 of 26. So, while I'm happy, I wish we'd get to the front of that  line.

^ so wait a minute - this isn't Trump's magic at work?

The annual drops in the famous crash years aren't as dramatic as you'd expect because there were huge run-ups in the early part of those years. 

DOW: 26,214.67 (+6.05% YTD)

NASDAQ: 7,408.03 (+7.19% YTD)

S&P 500: 2,830.88 (+5.88% YTD)

NYSE: 13,457.54 (+5.06% YTD)

Kimberly-Clark to Cut 5,000 Jobs, Close 10 Factories

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/kimberly-clark-to-cut-5-000-jobs-close-10-factories-1516710600

 

Jerome Powell was confirmed yesterday to replace Janet Yellen as head of the Federal Reserve.

 

A thread on the sexism that Yellen has faced as the first woman to be Chair of the Fed.

^ I don;t understand why Yellin was let go to begin with.  If the economy is on fire, then she must've been doing something right.  Powell doesn't seem to be departing from Yellin's policies either.

She's a woman and our POTUS won't stand for that.

He actually gave an interview (a surprisingly lucid one for him) early in the primary campaign in which he said he'd do exactly this--replace Yellen with someone of his own choosing just to put his mark on the agency, but that he was actually a loose-money kind of guy and wouldn't look to radically change Yellen's course.

 

Found at least an article that talks about the article describing the interview (how meta ...) I was talking about.

 

https://newrepublic.com/minutes/144549/janet-yellen-just-picked-big-fight-donald-trump

Here's an interesting memo from Dan Gilbert related to Detroit's Amazon bid.  I think he does a good job of really nailing down what likely caused Amazon's rejection.  He refers to it as the elephant in the room.  I think it applies to Cleveland too in some ways.

 

http://1md1ifcdgpn3hahxo2l2bzt6.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/The-Elephant-in-the-Room.pdf

That's pretty impressive - that memo might make up for the comic sans lebron memo haha.

That letter equally applies to dozens and dozens of cities that had submitted RFP bids. With only minor, and I mean very minor, alterations, you could easily substitute Cleveland, Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Gary, Youngstown, St Louis, Memphis, Tucson, Kansas City, and on and on and on. It does seem a little too... consoling, handholding, pointless.

 

Still surprised about Charlotte, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City, but they all have strong economics with educated population growth and reasonable costs of living.

^ True comment but I think Gilbert touches on something important especially for rust belt cities. Perception matters.

Here's an interesting memo from Dan Gilbert related to Detroit's Amazon bid.  I think he does a good job of really nailing down what likely caused Amazon's rejection.  He refers to it as the elephant in the room.  I think it applies to Cleveland too in some ways.

 

http://1md1ifcdgpn3hahxo2l2bzt6.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/The-Elephant-in-the-Room.pdf

 

Perception is reality. They still have a long way to go before the average American has positive connotations when they hear the word Detroit.

Not too shabby:

 

DOW: 26,616.71 (+7.68% YTD)

NASDAQ: 7,505.77 (+8.73% YTD)

S&P: 2,872.87 (+7.45% YTD)

NYSE: 13,637.01 (+6.46% YTD)

Good thing I sold off all of my Apple stock a few days ago. Even though APPL was already under-performing, I'll probably still get a phone call from the SEC wondering if I had some insider knowledge of what would be a 10 percent drop in share price!

Good thing I sold off all of my Apple stock a few days ago. Even though APPL was already under-performing, I'll probably still get a phone call from the SEC wondering if I had some insider knowledge of what would be a 10 percent drop in share price!

 

Did you sell it to put it in some crypto that's lost 40% value?

Did you sell it to put it in some crypto that's lost 40% value?

 

Nope. I put it in Amazon (up 3.5 percent today). You mean the crypto ELF that gains 50 percent one day, loses 20 percent the next and gains 30 percent another day?

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/03/stealing-from-self-checkout/550940/

 

Eliminating cashiers has led to widespread theft, and people feel justified doing it.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/03/stealing-from-self-checkout/550940/

 

Eliminating cashiers has led to widespread theft, and people feel justified doing it.

 

Thank god.  I hope they get rid of all of them.  If I want a part time job, I'll apply thanks.  And I certainly don't want to wait in line behind a bunch of amateur cashiers.

So that's why the U-Scan says "bananas" so loudly when I buy bananas but doesn't say the name of more money-dense produce I buy.

I always go to self checkout haha. I find I can do the job better and I enjoy not having to make small talk.

It's usually the customers that initiate small talk nowadays

Oh I always do but I feel bad if I don't. Self checkout I don't have to worry about it. It's just a personal preference.

You don't have to feel bad. Most cashiers have had enough small talk to last them the rest of their lives. Except maybe in a small town where people want to hear the latest gossip.

“There’s this way in which Amazon’s warehouses are perceived to be a good thing for a community, but that’s only because the context in which they are being proposed and built is so devoid of better opportunities”

 

What Amazon Does to Poor Cities

The debate over Amazon’s HQ2 obscures the company’s rapid expansion of warehouses in low-income areas.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/02/amazon-warehouses-poor-cities/552020/

Not too shabby:

 

DOW: 26,616.71 (+7.68% YTD)

NASDAQ: 7,505.77 (+8.73% YTD)

S&P: 2,872.87 (+7.45% YTD)

NYSE: 13,637.01 (+6.46% YTD)

 

These all might be ~0% YTD by EOD.

Lol you ain't kidding

^ It was a rough week last week and looking bad today already.  Time to buy more stocks.

Markets in free fall.