Bill Gross: Welcome To The New Normal
If you are a child of the bull market, it’s time to grow up and become a chastened adult; it’s time to recognize that things have changed and that they will continue to change for the next – yes, the…
Excellent Steve Pearlstein Article On The Commercial Property Problem
Local and regional banks have so many souring commercial real estate loans that they have begun to fail at a rate not seen since . . . well, you know. The latest was Colonial Bank of Alabama, which was rescued…
Interesting Excerpts From Bernanke’s Jackson Hole Speech
Bernanke gave a speech this morning in Jackson Hole, Wyoming: “Reflections on a Year of Crisis”. Here are some interesting excerpts with my commentary: TOO BIG TO FAIL: The Federal Reserve has consistently maintained the view that the disorderly failure…
Judging Bernanke
We mustn’t assume that all problems are solvable in the short period. There are problems that we cannot solve or which trying to solve them quickly may do more harm than good. – Friedrich von Hayek on “Meet The Press”,…
Big Drop In Video Game Sales At GameStop
Due to the effects of the recession and strong prior year comparisons, the video game industry experienced a sharp decline in consumer spending during the quarter. – GameStop CEO Daniel DeMatteo GameStop (GME), the world’s largest video game retailer with…
Front Page WSJ Article Highlights Weak Retail Results
The Wall Street Journal really has to stop relying on my Client Notes for their front page stories. Following on yesterday’s “Top Gun FP Client Note: No Retail Sales”, The Wall Street Journal had a front page article in today’s…
EDS Acquisition Still Masking Weakness In Core HP Divisions
Earnings from operation in Hewlett Packard’s (HPQ) Services division grew 227% to $1,289 million from $567 million in the year ago period driven by the EDS acquisition completed on August 26, 2008. The year ago quarter ended July 31, 2008…
Top Gun FP Client Note: No Retail Sales
NOTE: Every week I write a Client Note for my clients. For a limited time, I am allowing non-clients to sign up and receive the Client Note. You can sign up at the top right hand corner of the website. …
Weak Quarter At Lowe’s
9.5% same store sales drop and 19% drop in net income at home improvement retailer Lowe’s (LOW) for the quarter ended July 31, 2009. Stock is down 11% on the news. The report isn’t really all that different from many…
Aeropostale Thriving In The Recession
Rather than get one top at a Hollister, they can get two or three at Aeropostale. – Brian Tunick, Retail Analyst, JP Morgan The last three months, like the ten consecutive quarters that preceded it, was a period of record…