Tomcat101

Employment Lags the Stock Market

Nowhere near any military bases. The only major employers in my county are GKN and Eaton factories. I don't know where all these rednecks are getting their money. The movie theater/bowling alley is packed every night. Same for the restaurants.

I'm just not seeing anything here that makes me think of gloom and doom.


On Nov 09 03:01 AM JMBishop wrote:

> You must live near a military base.

Employment Lags the Stock Market

I'm a Human Resource Mgr. in North Carolina. We've been under a hiring freeze for about a year, only filling the most critically needed positions. Within the last couple of months we have started hiring again, enough so that it is stressing me out with all of it hitting at once. I'm not gonna say it's a flood of new hiring, but they have defintely turned on the faucet, whereas before it was only an occasional drip.

Also, my family wanted to eat out on Friday. We wanted Mexican. The first restaurant had people lined up out the door waiting for a table. We went to the other Mexican restaurant in our city. Business was booming there too, but we were able to get a table. Looking around at all the people spending $30-$40 on their meals really made me start wondering if things were getting better. We live in a very blue collar, factory worker, Wal-Mart kind of a county. This is the kind of a place you'd expect people to really be hurting. I'm just not seeing it though. We ate at the same place six months or so ago and it was like a ghost town in there.

Also, my teenage son just got a job at Pizza Hut. My mom, who was laid off in Virginia, just got another job.

When the economy starts to improve, no one is going to hang some huge sign in the sky for us all to know it. It'll start slow and gradually pick up steam. Only later will we start to "feel" like the economy is recovering.

So, I agree with the author. We are recovering now. Maybe next year we'll start to "feel" it and see it in the numbers.

Now We're Really Due for a Pullback

If you say the market is going down and keep saying it, eventually you will be right, but that doesn't make you Nostradamus.

Major Correction or Renewed Bull?

You using a Ouijji Board or a Magic 8 Ball for these predictions?

Ten Reasons for an Imminent Stock Market Crash

11. Barak Hussein Obama.

Is October the Month that Markets Crash?

No crash this year. We'll be lucky if we even get a decent 10% pullback.

Is Another October Surprise in the Works?

We will trend down through October 9th, then rally through the end of the year with a dip here or there.

It'll be early next year before people wake up and realize that "Change You Can Believe In" means high taxes, high gas, high unemployment, high utility bills, high inflation, a screwed up health care system, riots, just enough money to get essentials at Wal-Mart or Family Dollar, and so on.

2010 will be a bad year. Count on it. That's change you can believe in.

Gone Nowhere in 8 Years

Stocks flucuate.

What Does Massive Insider Selling Really Tell Us?

Is it possible that the smart insiders are simply taking some off the table after the huge rally and going into Sept./Oct. where we normally get a pullback?

Gone Nowhere in 8 Years

I heard Larry Kudlow make the same comment last night- "Stocks have gone NOWHERE in the last 8 years".

Has everyone forgotten that stocks FLUCUATE?

They did indeed go somewhere. They went down alot from 2000-2003. Then they went up hard in 2003. Sort of flat 2004-2005 or so. Then nice long rally up to October of 2007. Then another long decline until the bottom fell out in fall 2008 and spring 2009. Then a rally of major proportions from March 2009 until now.

I'd say that is what you call "going somewhere" instead of going nowhere. You just need to know when to be in and when to take some off the table. If you have the time to visit websites like this one then you should have the time to keep an eye on your stocks and take necessary action as needed.

I'll go ahead and tell you what to do next for free. Get bearish in 2010 until Obama gets booted out of office in the next election. I can't imagine any sort of good scenario for stocks with high taxes, high inflation, and high gas prices. Maybe some gun stocks and Dollar General might be ok. Otherwise, we're screwed.

Kiosks Could Take 30% of U.S. DVD Rentals in 2010

Anybody know how much Blockbuster is going to charge for their kiosks? Because if it's more than $1, they might as well not waste their time setting the things up. More than $1 would just be one more gigantic failure to add to the long list of screw ups.

Why not just charge $1 per day at their stores too? No late fee, just keep the movie as long as you want for $1 each day. I drive right by a Blockbuster on the way home from work. I'd be in there a lot for $1 per day.

Why Christmas Will Kill Retail

As Vinny said in "My Cousin Vinny",

everything that guy just said is bullshit.

Protesting Toyota's California Plant Closing

I bought a Toyota recently. There were about 15 Corollas at the dealership. I went through all of the VIN's to see which ones were made in Japan. There were 3. I bought one of those 3. No way in hell I will ever buy an American car as long as I can get one made in Japan instead. Toyota has had quality issues with their American plants so it is no wonder they want to close some. You cannot polish a turd. American workers, for the most part, are lazy and more concerned about when their next break will be than doing a good job.

Blockbuster Still Lacks a Digital Media Strategy, Ten Years Later

And BBI's customer service sucks too. Let's not forget that.

At a time when they had HUGE signs all over every window on the store saying "NO LATE FEES", they hit me with a $1.25 late fee. They called it something like a "restocking fee".

I asked the Asst. Mgr. for a refund. She said no. Asked the Store Mgr., she said no. Then I sent an email to the corp. office. Within a day or two the Regional Mgr. called me and refunded my money. All this over $1.25.

If they go belly-up like Circuit City they have no one to blame but themselves.

Blockbuster Still Lacks a Digital Media Strategy, Ten Years Later

Sounds like someone is desperately wanting his BBI stock to go from 60 cents back up to a dollar.


On Jul 16 01:04 PM sl62 wrote:

> mr rayburn...
>
> My response is a response to your rambling, redundant article. I
> have nothing against you, but that's what your article does. It rambles
> about how BBI's digital strategy progress doesn't conform to your
> standards to-date. Whether or not you even present facts in this
> case is irrelevant because that is strictly your opinion. The truth
> is, just by the Samsung deal alone, it is proven they have a digital
> strategy. But again, not far advanced enough for your liking. Ok.
> I can accept your opinion but not over and over and over. Your article
> should have been half as long and I don't feel like you proved your
> case, because your case was weak to begin with. Again. THE FACTS
> are that BBI has proven they have "some" strategy in place RIGHT
> NOW and are developing it. Facts about current deals that you yourself
> present, that I reiterated, and which are common knowledge to anyone
> familiar with this company. Finally, the fact that you ended with
> pure conjecture bothers me. Again, it's your opinion, but nowhere
> near necessarily accurate. And..you yourself admitted the online
> delivery industry is still in its infancy. I don't know what kind
> of businessman you are but my experience supports that being a leader
> in anything that is still in its infancy, means very little and doesn't
> ensure longevity nor long-term profitablity. Did you ever stop to
> think it IS BBI's strategy to be a little late to a party that is
> no where near ramped up? What you are doing is not allowing for how
> the company is currently gauging their own consumer base. Did you
> ever also think that their current loyal base which now dates back
> to 1985, are of certain demographics that don't even freaking know
> what the word digital means? The transition they are making is tricky
> because of the heavy legacy they still must successfully manage...retaining
> current loyal muscle-memory consumers used to the B&M space,
> while at the same time showing both that contingent AND new and future
> contingents the new directions in which they are heading. You think
> this is easy??? They have little choice but to transition slower
> from their heavy B&M legacy. Or would you say I'm just dreaming
> this?? But you can only make apples to oranges comparisons to their
> newer age start-up model competitors who have no connection whatsoever
> to B&M nor what it means to have to navigate and ween away from
> such a model. All you can say is "look at how cool Netflix is..they
> don't use any B&M..they leave BBI in the dust!" Apples and oranges
> my friend.
>
> For you to just rant on about how they are not digital enough for
> your taste is not much of an argument. Sorry. In my humble opinion,
> BBI is still a viable player in the space and will continue to be
> so for many years to come as they change with the industry. Not at
> the pace you want them to change, but at the pace that makes sense
> for the business as a whole. As said, come back in another year and
> I want to hear what you have to say then as to how the company is
> doing. Thank you.