"I am pleased our associates achieved record quarterly sales and earnings,"
said company president and chief executive Lee Scott.



....except in Rochester, right Doug?



Hehehe.

"NOYB" wrote in message
news
"I am pleased our associates achieved record quarterly sales and
earnings,"
said company president and chief executive Lee Scott.



...except in Rochester, right Doug?

Hehehe.


The sales figure doesn't break apart categories. The only thing I've bought
repeatedly at WM, on an experimental basis, was groceries. With that in
mind, I can only tell you what I see:

1) I track grocery prices for my own shopping, using about 50 items I buy
repeatedly. Wegman's, a locally owned, high-quality behemoth of a chain, is
consistently cheaper on 3/4 of the items. For the other 25% of the items,
they're so close that it's not worth bothering with Wal Mart, with its
aisles littered with empty boxes, spotty unit pricing (a trick, by the way),
30 minute lines at the registers and annoying "don't give a damn" employees.
Further, I won't buy meat at WM because it's tainted with some sort of crap
to tenderize it. (Read the labels). And, the produce looks like the stuff I
leave for the squirrels in my garden, laying under the good stuff.

2) On any busy weekend, the Wegman's (4 blocks from WM) is packed with
customers. No matter: At any register, I'm out in 5-8 minutes.

3) Tops, another chain (owned by Ahold) is now being serviced by one of the
two largest wholesalers East of the Mississippi. This particular wholesaler
buys at better prices than WM most of the time. It's reflected in the Tops
stores, whose prices are suddenly giving WM and Wegman's a run for their
money.

Don't question #3. It's the business I'm in. I know how WM buys groceries.

"JohnH" wrote in message
...


Yet WM is going crazy, as are many other retailers. Is it because only the
'rich' shop at WM? After all, they are the only ones to have received any
benefits from a tax cut. Right?


Perhaps many of us have given up trying to find clothing made in this
country. Once you've accepted the situation, you may as well buy it where
it's price reflects its true quality.

"NOYB" wrote in message
news
"I am pleased our associates achieved record quarterly sales and
earnings,"
said company president and chief executive Lee Scott.


Uh oh. Wallmarts numbers ain't gonna be so good next quarter if the
mortgage refinancings that've put $ in people's pockets keep dropping
precipitously.

By Richard Leong
Reuters
Wednesday, August 13, 2003; 9:23 AM


NEW YORK - The number of applications Americans filed for mortgage loans
dropped last week to its lowest level in more than a year, even as mortgage
rates subsided from their recent spike, according to an industry survey.

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America said on Wednesday its seasonally
adjusted gauge of overall mortgage requests fell to 824.6 for the week ended
Aug. 8, down 16.1 percent from the previous week's 983.2.

The group's weekly barometer of mortgage demand fell to its lowest level
since 815.2 for the week of July 19, 2002.

Although overall mortgage demand remains high on a historical basis, the
previously red-hot level of refinancing, which has put money into consumers'
pockets, has cooled rapidly. Applications for refinancing made up 55.8
percent of all new requests filed last week, down from 72.1 percent a month
ago.

"We are on the downside, but it (refinancing) has not gone away completely,"
Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist Douglas Duncan told Reuters.

Duncan estimated that the refinancing boom will be over when the weekly
share of refinancing applications falls to about 20 percent to 25 percent of
all new applications.

The recent rise in mortgage rates has hit refinancing -- down 67.5 percent
since its peak in May -- much harder than demand for loans to buy homes,
down around 10 percent.

"JohnH" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 19:20:26 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

Yet WM is going crazy, as are many other retailers. Is it because only the
'rich' shop at WM? After all, they are the only ones to have received any
benefits from a tax cut. Right?

Have I just gotten more stupid in my old age?

Chance are good. You may want to wait and find out if Target, K-mart and
other retailers are seeing the same spike. Wallymart may be enjoying more
business because they're selling more cheap goods manufactured in China.

Also, as you may know, mortgage refinancings have been driving a lot of
liquidity into the economy. That's now trailing off and I expect the free
flow of money will follow.

"JohnH" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 21:12:46 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

Doug, the question referred to the fact that people are spending more
money, not
where they are spending it.

How can you assert that when the news simply reflected Walmart and not the
general state of discount retailers?

How are Walmart's competition doing? If they're doing well, then you may
have a case. If not, money may simply be shifting from one retail outfit to
another, potentially based on price.

See, there's more of the conservative vs. liberal thinking. Our lot is
willing to be patient and make a judgement when all the data is in. You
folks want to make a case on one month, one day, one report.

Sorry bud, that dog won't hunt.

On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 16:34:59 -0700, "jps" wrote:

"JohnH" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 21:12:46 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

Doug, the question referred to the fact that people are spending more
money, not
where they are spending it.

How can you assert that when the news simply reflected Walmart and not the
general state of discount retailers?

How are Walmart's competition doing? If they're doing well, then you may
have a case. If not, money may simply be shifting from one retail outfit to
another, potentially based on price.

See, there's more of the conservative vs. liberal thinking. Our lot is
willing to be patient and make a judgement when all the data is in. You
folks want to make a case on one month, one day, one report.

Sorry bud, that dog won't hunt.

Gosh, jps, I'd have expected you to do this:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Economy shows further signs of recovering

By Patrice Hill
THE WASHINGTON TIMES



More signs that the economy is gathering strength emerged yesterday as big
retailers like Wal-Mart reported their best sales in a year while productivity
boomed and unemployment claims dropped for a third straight week.
The increase in same-store sales last month, at 4.3 percent, was nearly
double the pace set in May and June in a survey of big department stores by the
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd.
Wal-Mart, the biggest retailer, said better-than-expected sales were partly
the result of tax rebate checks. With consumer momentum building, the retailer
boosted its profit outlook for the rest of the year.
"It was a good month, and it may be a good omen for the second half," said
Michael P. Niemira, vice president of the Tokyo bank. Although warm weather and
heavy discounting by retailers accounted for some of the gains, "this could be
the start of a much better trend," he said.
Some analysts said consumers seem to be spending more on clothing, furniture
and other discretionary items because sharply higher interest rates since June
have dampened interest in buying cars and houses.
While consumers were shifting into a higher gear, the number of people
filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped for a third straight week to
390,000 last week, a sign that the stagnant job market may be improving. The
four-week average of new jobless claims compiled by the Labor Department dropped
below 400,000 for the first time since February.
Businesses so far during the economic recovery have met growing demand with
the same or fewer workers because of strong productivity gains. That continued
during the second quarter, with a stunning 5.7 percent jump in productivity
reported by the Labor Department yesterday.
Analysts said the acceleration in consumer spending seen last month may
force businesses to start adding workers soon.
The "amazing" productivity gains eked out by businesses and workers in the
last few years have been "the silver lining in the jobless recovery," said Bill
Cheney, chief economist for John Hancock Financial Services. But "based on
today's jobless claims report, this recovery may not be jobless that much
longer." ....
(Continued)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

But you didn't.

Most respectfully,


John
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD

On 13 Aug 2003 23:26:02 GMT, ospam (F330 GT) wrote:

"NOYB" wrote in message
news "I am pleased our associates achieved record quarterly sales and
earnings,"
said company president and chief executive Lee Scott.
Lots Snipped

How can this be? The economic news, according to most libs, is absolutely
atrocious. Millions upon millions are out of work and looking hard for jobs.
(Many more millions just draw their welfare checks.) The USA is sinking
rapidly.
And, its all George's fault.

Yet WM is going crazy, as are many other retailers. Is it because only the
'rich' shop at WM? After all, they are the only ones to have received any
benefits from a tax cut. Right?

Have I just gotten more stupid in my old age?

Respectfully,

John
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD


Things are not always as they seem in the stock market. That's why Walmart
stock went down upon releasing it's earnings.

Looking farther into it:

"A turnaround in the Sam's Club division helped Wal-Mart overcome disappointing
results at its namesake stores and post a 20 percent jump in quarterly profit,
the company said Wednesday.
Sales at the company's namesake and core unit, however, missed sales
expectations amid a challenging retail environment and deeper discounting than
anticipated.

Scott noted too that sales in the last two weeks of the quarter were driven by
smaller tax withholdings and the child-credit rebate. He added that consumer
spending could not continue to hold up the economy without job growth."


The press release also noted that international sales were up 18.8% which
accounted for much of the increase in sales.

Barry

I wasn't referring to the price of Wal-Mart stock. I was referring to the same
events referred to above, to wit: "Scott noted too that sales in the last two
weeks of the quarter were driven by smaller tax withholdings and the
child-credit rebate. He added that consumer spending could not continue to hold
up the economy without job growth."

I had heard so much BSR to the effect that the tax breaks were going only to the
'rich'. I honestly don't think it's the 'rich' folks who are doing the spending
at Wal-Mart.


John
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD

"JohnH" wrote in message
...

I had heard so much BSR to the effect that the tax breaks were going only
to the
'rich'. I honestly don't think it's the 'rich' folks who are doing the
spending
at Wal-Mart.

No, stupid Americans with Child tax credits in a spendy mood. They bought
several six packs and some new underwear and called it a day. BTW, most of
those sales were at Sam's Club, not Wallymart.

Is the proverbial glass always half empty for you Gene?


"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 16:55:16 -0400, JohnH
wrote:


Lots Snipped


Lots more snipped...

How can this be? The economic news, according to most libs, is absolutely
atrocious. Millions upon millions are out of work and looking hard for jobs.

Most of those people will keep on looking for those jobs, too, unless
they look for that job where your dollar ended up in that third world
country.


(Many more millions just draw their welfare checks.) The USA is sinking rapidly.
And, its all George's fault.


More likely the culprit is ditech.com and similar businesses. When
the slowdown in mortgage activity shows its effect, the truth of how
bad things *really* are will hit home.

Yet WM is going crazy, as are many other retailers. Right?


Wrong.... re-read the news on WM. Sam's Club saved their bacon.....


Have I just gotten more stupid in my old age?


No, just more cynical... and less willing to see the fallibility of
those you see as leading the charge toward more prosperity.


--



Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Southport, NC.

http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/cavern/ Homepage
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Yeaton's Bayguide