The "problem" is... well, judge for yourself:
Hint: the first deviation from the spec is that none of these... young ladies own a bass boat one. I bet that they can make a sweet "clock" though.
Posted on 10/18/2015 6:56:45 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Edited on 10/18/2015 8:36:26 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Now that a major global recession has begun, you would expect major retailers like Wal-Mart to run into trouble as consumer spending dries up, and that is precisely what is happening. On Wednesday, shares of Wal-Mart experienced their largest single day decline in 27 years after an extremely disappointing earnings projection was released. The stock was down about 10 percent, which represented the biggest plunge since January 1988. Over 21 billion dollars in shareholder wealth was wiped out on Wednesday, and this was just the continuation of a very bad year for Wal-Mart stockholders. Overall, shares had already declined by 22 percent so far in 2015 before we even got to Wednesday. Here is more on this stunning turn of events from Bloomberg…
See link for Bloomberg text.
If it was just Wal-Mart that was having trouble, that would be bad enough. But the truth is that signs that the U.S. economy has entered another major downturn are popping up all around us. Just consider the following list of economic indicators that Graham Summers recently put out…
The Fed has now kept interest rates at zero for 81 months.
This is the longest period in the history of the Fed’s existence, lasting longer than even the 1938-1942 period of ZIRP.
And the US economy is moving back into recession. Consider that…
1) Industrial production fell five months straight in the first half of 2015. This has never happened outside of a recession.
2) Merchant Wholesalers’ Sales are in recession territory.
3) The Empire Manufacturing Survey is in recession territory.
4) All four of the Fed’s September Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) readings (Philadelphia, New York, Richmond, and Kansas City) came in at readings of sub-zero. This usually happens when you are already 4-5 months into a recession. (H/T Bill Hester)
Another huge red flag is the fact that month after month fewer products are being shipped around the country compared to last year.
If less stuff is being shipped around by truck, rail and air, is it a sign that the economy is getting better or is it a sign that the economy is getting worse?
The answer, of course, is self-evident. With that in mind, please read the following excerpt which comes from a recent article by Wolf Richter…
It has been crummy all year: With the exception of January and February, the shipping volume has been lower year-over-year every month!
The index is broad. It tracks data from shippers, no matter what carrier they choose, whether truck, rail, or air, and includes carriers like FedEx and UPS.
Evidence keeps piling up in the most unpleasant manner that something isn’t quite right in the real economy. The world is now in an inexplicable slowdown – “inexplicable” for central bankers who’ve cut interest rates to zero or below zero years ago, and who’re still dousing some economies with QE even as governments are running up big deficits. And yet, despite seven years of this huge monetary and fiscal stimulus, the global economy is deteriorating.
Okay, so is there anyone out there that still believes that the U.S. economy is in good shape?
The Obama administration will probably not admit it for a very long time, but the truth is that the numbers very clearly tell us that we are in a recession.
Anybody out there, whether an “expert” or just someone you happen to know, that tells you that everything is just fine is either completely ignorant or they are purposely lying to you.
And just like in 2008, state and local governments are starting to get into tremendous financial trouble as the real economy sputters. For example, the governor of Illinois has told reporters that “we are out of money now” and that pension fund payments will be delayed as a result…
See link for Bloomberg text.
When these sorts of things started happening in 2008, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the Bush administration went into full-blown denial mode. They kept telling all of us not to worry and that everything would be okay, and that just made things worse in the end.
The same thing is happening now. The Obama administration and the mainstream media keep talking about an “economic recovery” even in the face of numbers such as I have discussed in this article.
Perhaps things are going well for you personally at the moment, and that is great. But now is not the time to buy lots of new toys. Nor is it the time to accumulate more debt.
Instead, now is a time to position yourself for a period of difficulty that could stretch on for years.
The next recession is here, and it is going to grow progressively worse.
The wise will take heed and make preparations, but the foolish will just keep on doing what they have been doing until it is far too late.
Your 99c store has a wider selection than many. I’ve found that the produce had better be eaten quickly because most of its shelf life is gone once the 99c store gets it. But I shop there too and it’s a good place if you know your prices.
The government is looking at paid off houses as revenue source. The ACA is designed to access it.
Yes, not much shelf life, so only buy what you can eat in the next couple days.
Or it’s a sign that they can’t pay for their wage hikes.
The knowledge for designing and drafting patterns is being shared by people (mostly women) through the Internet and has already been collected by some on computer media and paper. That knowledge will enable a much more distributed (small shop) industry for finished clothing manufacturing, but we also need to finish open source (licensed for free distribution, no patents) designs for small scale (but scalable) material manufacturing equipment to keep the global outfits from pricing supplies too high for small buyers.
You see, with long-distance, complicated transportation being too expensive in the near future for the current regime (global firms), a more distributed, community-based economy can and probably will happen.
Wal-Mart rarely has more than 4 registers open for at least the past 10 years. It is the MAIN reason I rarely go there.
They are penny wise and pound foolish. Their cheapskate policies are costing them money.
Can some single, white, lovely, young, unattached, FReepette, let’s say around 30 years-old, contact me about a prospective “business venture”? You knit me socks, and I will help mend the fences on our farm for the sheep pasture where you get the wool to make my socks.
Send a photo of your gun, truck, and bass boat via PM.
Thanks in advance,
Rodamala
one of my local Walmart’s has those self-checkout lanes. I refuse to use those things.
I hate self checkout. They always screw up and I have to wait. I quit using them.
Actually, the low inventory is probably deliberate. Home Depot does the same thing, and it’s one of the reasons why I avoid that place whenever I can as well: fewer different items for sale and empty shelves.
Low inventory is one of those business school shibboleths all good MBA bean counters learn, namely the concept of “velocity”, that is, how long goods sit on the shelves incurring inventory “costs”. You can improve “velocity” by turning good over quickly, OR you can improve it by not putting goods on the shelf in the first place. Guess which one is easiest to pull off? Yep, no goods on shelves. Of course, no goods equals no sales, but that doesn’t matter to bean counters, just so long as they get that “velocity” number improved. So what if customers give up in disgust shopping in your empty-shelf store. After all, if they can reduce “velocity”, the company MUST be doing good, right?
I read the other day that 40% of the people in this country have saved zero for retirement. Another 40% have saved less than $100,000.
With all the opportunity to save with 401Ks, 403Bs, IRAs, and pension plans, how can that be?
The "problem" is... well, judge for yourself:
Hint: the first deviation from the spec is that none of these... young ladies own a bass boat one. I bet that they can make a sweet "clock" though.
Similarly, one of my brothers works in the back office operation of a large financial services company. Over the years, offshoring and cutbacks in personnel have led to a gradual deterioration in the quality of customer service.
As with Wal-Mart, the de facto management strategy my brother sees with his employer is to cut and pare away personnel and costs until service begins to break down, then add back enough to remedy the breakdown.
Such an approach though risks long-term damage to a company's reputation and can cause workforce quality issues. When a wave of new people have to be hired on a rush basis, employee standards tend to be relaxed, leading to new employees who are slow to learn and adapt and troublesome in their conduct.
In addition, management that is mostly intent on cost-cutting tends to miss both new opportunities for growth and the rise of competitive dangers. Moreover, the potential for useful managerial innovations is often missed in the constant scramble for squeezing every possible nickel and dime of costs out of operations.
In effect, the constant corporate struggle to run more cheaply sabotages the prospects for growth through new markets and improvements in operations and service to customers. When stock analysts and investors realize that has occurred, they tend to back away from such a company, realizing that it has abandoned the effort to excel in favor of cost-cutting. Hence Wal-Mart's stock price tumble.
LOL I guess so. It’s sad though. Sam Walton’s stores under his watch were smaller in square ft yet had more selection and items were usually either on the shelves or in the stockroom. About two years ago my local Walmart was out of 10W30 motor oil for several weeks. All brands. Walmart staying on it’s current course will be the next Kmart within a decade. Someone will see their corporate stupidity as an opportunity.
I gave up on Walmart’s ammo 8 years ago. Even if availability issues were resolved completely I don’t think they would carry much again.
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