ebndr

Kroger Supermarket Disappoints and Lowers Guidance

some dangers in KR latest quarterly earning conference

company notes of slow end of month sales which starting to look like a trend. management tried to explain this by saying something about lower prices which does not correspond well with the strong unit volume. my idea is that competitors are taking customer away at end of months.

Co note that loyal customers recently added are those who are value seekers and price sensitive. I'd say this does not bode well for the sustainability of KR market share and performance trends over the long term. taking market share from WMT when you are 80% unionized is not something you willingly want to do. and those "loyals" will disappear later on.

there for it appears that SWY which is trying to differentiate using customer service and shopping experience is the better way to go.

disclosure: long SWY

Wells Fargo: Rumor Mill Churns on Another Secondary Offering

I have no knowledge if they will or will not do a secondary. (although I have my own idea of the probability of this to happen). All I know is that if I was betting against WFC I would have bought lots of puts (so people could see the activity picking up clearly) and then I would run a rumor exclusively to one or two people one of them preferably would be a market commentator about some problem.

I would certainly do that if my livelihood was depended on my trading activities and I was a trader at a financial institution that makes most of its money from trading operations.

I would like to remind everyone how a only year ago each person in china started eating two meals a day instead of one and there was not enough oil in the world to satisfy the demand...oil spiked to 120 only to find out it was heavily manipulated by trading activities of the largest financial institutions.

the kind o' stories planted in the individual investors are always logical and supported by factual facts but they often serve the traders who as we ponder about placement establishing their counter position against you.

don't be fooled. look at the fundamentals of the business, (great business, cheap raw material i.e funds), what the company says in their filings and what management is saying as they were often honest to date. be patint.

this time it looks to me like a desperate effort by a short bettor who aimed at strike 25 and saw the shares trounce the 28 inflicting huge losses for him.

disclosure: long WFC

The $650 Billion Leasing Industry Has Dramatically Changed

all this just to make a point those days are gone?

How Will Losing Wal-Mart Exclusivity Impact Cott Corp?

In the conference call an analyst asked if WMT will want a mix of flavors on their shelves for the same drink and the company did not answer that clearly but that is a point to think of before concluding that WMT will switch immediately.

Also, it is possible that under current US economic condition the volume that is getting off of WMT system can be sold at higher prices to other clients and be more profitable. (see WMT policies regarding suppliers in Alice1 comment).

Its hard to see though where can they do 500M USD business elsewhere w/ higher prices.

its not good news for COT but implications remain to be seen, hopefully, if management is any good, they can turn this into their advantage.

The Magic Formula's Top 20 Low P/S Ratio Stocks

i know of no person who got to be rich buying stocks w/ low price-sales

Next Generation Semiconductor Design

very good work

Blue Nile’s Blues

and your disclosure would be...

What Would Buffett Do? 3 Safe Financial Picks

The comment Mr. Buffett made about banks not making new highs was referring to some other banks who by the virtue of their misconduct will not be able to top recent earnings. He did not said that statement while referring to WFC.