Walmart Earnings Disaster Exposes a Collapsing Economy

[Annie]

Walmart (WMT) reported earnings of $1.24 a share this morning on revenues of $116.2 billion. Analysts had been expecting $1.25 on $118.5 billion. Sales in stores open morethan a year declined 0.3%. Walmart also guided lower for the full year citing a "challenging sales and operating environment." The stock is off sharply and at risk of going negative for the last 52 weeks. Those are the numbers, but not the whole story.

Walmart is the thermometer of the American economy. Disregard the government data. Jobs and GDP and all the rest are at best inaccurate measures of the economy and at worst flat out corrupt.

Walmart Earnings Disaster Exposes a Collapsing Economy: Davidowitz | Breakout - Yahoo! Finance

Even those that have managed to get through the past decade without losing much, are aware of those that haven't been as fortunate. Retirements have been postponed or even relegated to 'someday.' Big vacations cut to every 3 years, with some in country 5-7 days a couple times in between. One couple I knew gave up a long planned European vacation in favor of adding hot tub and sauna to their home. Choices. They saved money and have something they enjoy. Their choices cost losses to airlines, hotels, restaurants, etc. The gain was for the makers of spas, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and the guys that poured the cement.

That's what retailers are facing, whether high or low end. One of the most popular sites I found off of pinterest was on making Febreeze at home. Cost is less than .35 v $3-4 at store. Cooking at home has become more popular, including for social events. So it's not only retailers, but restaurants too.

This economy has changed consumers in ways that aren't always evident either. Without knowing that the others were doing this, it seems all of us have been. What? No longer buying 'packaged seasonings.' Not Italian, not 'Taco', 'Chili', none of them. Some was for health reasons--cutting down on sodium, the rest because of reading how to use spices on hand to make to personal taste and much less expensive seasonings on your own. Best of all, because we are using a teaspoon or more of many of the spices they are used up before expiration date--saving $$ again.

I'm pretty certain Schilling is feeling that. Retail grocers too. It's become a regular feature in cooking magazines and our local paper to run special sections on how to prepare farmer's market specials into frozen or canned goods for months to come. 'Cooking on weekends to make a week's worth of meals' is a regular column.

I don't have kids at home or grandchildren yet, but will share something I overheard the other evening at work, between a mother with 3 daughters picking up school supplies. The 'girls' wanted the fancy notebooks, the expensive barrettes/headbands ($8 ea), etc. You could see the stress on the mom's face. She was flipping through her phone, half-listening, suddenly you could see an 'Aha' moment. She said, "Get the .29 notebooks" and she picked up several 'Goody' packages of headbands, clips, and barrettes. She looked at the girls and said, 'Let's go, we'll go to Michael's and you can each pick out some stickers and things to decorate the hair stuff.' The girls were thrilled. She saved a bundle. One of the girls even said, 'How about some things to decorate our shoes?'

These are only a few ways things are changing everyday. Those changes are choices, combined with practicality. Some lose, some win.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

IMO - Walmarts golden years are ending.
Target/Costco and other big box retailers have since improved their own logistics and practices and can compete with WalMart prices, but have enormously better service and product choices.
We can only hope the decline of Walmart is of a permanent nature.

Costco is a piss ant compared to Wal-mart.

• As of April 18, 2013, Costco has 626 warehouses

Wal-mart?

• Total retail units on June 30, 2013: 10,928

Target, according to the article also has declining profits.

Yes...and in 1970 GM market share was 47%, in 2013 18%.
Microsoft's market share is averaging -4% per year.
Look at AOL...3Com...etc. etc. etc. Giants can and do fall.

 

[R.C. Christian]

It is just not about Wal-Mart.
Cisco is laying off 4,000 workers AND those are good jobs.
Uncertainty in demand is a bitch!

Let me guess: They all went to target heads in India didn't they?

 

[R.C. Christian]

IMO - Walmarts golden years are ending.
Target/Costco and other big box retailers have since improved their own logistics and practices and can compete with WalMart prices, but have enormously better service and product choices.
We can only hope the decline of Walmart is of a permanent nature.

Costco is a piss ant compared to Wal-mart.

• As of April 18, 2013, Costco has 626 warehouses

Wal-mart?

• Total retail units on June 30, 2013: 10,928

Target, according to the article also has declining profits.

There are 7 Distribution centers alone in this city. Wal-Mart has no equal in this country. In the UK however, it's a bit different even though Wally owns the ASDA brand name in the UK.

 

[Katzndogz]

I have been in a Costco one time on a free pass. I did not buy anything. While peaches might be 89 cents a pound, you have to buy a case to get that price and they do not sell smaller units. Costco is way too expensive for one or two people.

Also, WalMart looks like a store. Costco looks like what it is, a warehouse. I did not sign up for a Costco membership. Why would I pay $60.00 a year for a Costco membership when I could go to WalMart for free?

 

[Missourian]

IMO - Walmarts golden years are ending.
Target/Costco and other big box retailers have since improved their own logistics and practices and can compete with WalMart prices, but have enormously better service and product choices.
We can only hope the decline of Walmart is of a permanent nature.

Costco is a piss ant compared to Wal-mart.

• As of April 18, 2013, Costco has 626 warehouses

Wal-mart?

• Total retail units on June 30, 2013: 10,928

Target, according to the article also has declining profits.

Yes...and in 1970 GM market share was 47%, in 2013 18%.
Microsoft's market share is averaging -4% per year.
Look at AOL...3Com...etc. etc. etc. Giants can and do fall.

Not arguing that.

Today, Costco is a piss ant compared to Wal-mart.

Costco isn't expanding into Wal-mart's market share.

There were five Costco's in Missouri.

Now, there are only three...St Peters and St Louis locations permanently closed.

That's market contraction...they just couldn't make it.

 

[Wyatt earp]

IMO - Walmarts golden years are ending.
Target/Costco and other big box retailers have since improved their own logistics and practices and can compete with WalMart prices, but have enormously better service and product choices.
We can only hope the decline of Walmart is of a permanent nature.

Costco is a piss ant compared to Wal-mart.

• As of April 18, 2013, Costco has 626 warehouses

Wal-mart?

• Total retail units on June 30, 2013: 10,928

Target, according to the article also has declining profits.

Yes...and in 1970 GM market share was 47%, in 2013 18%.
Microsoft's market share is averaging -4% per year.
Look at AOL...3Com...etc. etc. etc. Giants can and do fall.

Be fair Gm had 47% of the market despite making the biggest pieces of crap known to man in the 70's and early 80's and I never shop at Wally world but like the aritcle said those 3 are down along with Amazon as another poster pointed out.

 

[R.C. Christian]

When the shit hits the fan I need no less than 100 armed volunteers to help me secure the nearest Wal-Mart food distribution center.

 

[B. Kidd]

When the shit hits the fan I need no less than 100 armed volunteers to help me secure the nearest Wal-Mart food distribution center.

I learned a very long time ago to never volunteer.........

 

[RandallFlagg]

About the only thing keeping the economy going is the massive amount of money the Fed has been pouring into it. And time. People are starting to peer out from under their bomb shelters and move around a little bit

Certainly nothing the scum of the Earth dimocraps have done.

The Markets are down today (over 200 points) based mostly on the fear that the Fed is going to chill with their QE43..... About a Trillion a year.

Bernanke has done a good job keeping us out of the shitter.

Let's see what happens when the economy has to stand on its own two feet.

One economist has speculated that we are actually 70 TRILLION dollars in debt - when taking into account all the unfunded mandates that we have (and that is BEFORE that wonderful ACA is factored in). True or not? I would guess that it is far closer to the truth.

Right now, "Uncle Sugar" is propping up the economy. Has been for the last 5 or 6 years. This is completely contrary to sound economic policies and 99% of the economists are jumping on the bandwagon that states that "we ain't seen nothing yet" in terms of a floundering economy. According to them - there are BAD things on the horizon.

Look, there is no "recovery". It's phony - created by the government to instill some small amount of confidence. It has failed. Sooner or later (and I believe that it will be SOONER) the "chickens are going to come home to roost".

It's coming. The sky hasn't fallen yet but bad things are coming. It's just a matter of time.

 

[Sunshine]

Or are people sick of Walmart?

Let's see how Amazon did, and that will tell the tale.

In many towns and small cities, it's Wal-Mart, online purchasing, or drive an hour or more to shop.

If Wal-Mart is down and Amazon isn't up to make up the difference, I'd say it is troubling.

Agreed. Wal Mart put it to the mom and pop stores. Now Amazon is putting it to Wal Mart!

 

[Sunshine]

Costco is a piss ant compared to Wal-mart.

• As of April 18, 2013, Costco has 626 warehouses

Wal-mart?

• Total retail units on June 30, 2013: 10,928

Target, according to the article also has declining profits.

Yes...and in 1970 GM market share was 47%, in 2013 18%.
Microsoft's market share is averaging -4% per year.
Look at AOL...3Com...etc. etc. etc. Giants can and do fall.

Not arguing that.

Today, Costco is a piss ant compared to Wal-mart.

Costco isn't expanding into Wal-mart's market share.

There were five Costco's in Missouri.

Now, there are only three...St Peters and St Louis locations permanently closed.

That's market contraction...they just couldn't make it.

Costco is 180 out from Sams. Costco's merchandise is high end stuff, and usually very expensive even though it is closeout stuff.

 

[francoHFW]

Time to cut taxes, deregulate and send more jobs to China.

That worked good last time, right, fellows?

You can thank Clinton for that.

Uhh...no. Clinton foolishly passed NAFTA in a deal with Republicans if they went along with the mortgage shell game the Democrats wanted...., they both got what they wanted and we got screwed on both accounts.
As usual.

Pubs refused to follow through with investment in science and tech training and education as promised, like No ChildLB. Greedy, idiotic, myopic a-holes.

 

[francoHFW]

Dollar General is HUGE! lol

 

[Sunshine]

Dollar General is HUGE! lol

I go there at least once a week. They have clay cat litter for one dollar a bag, and most anything from soup to nuts is cheaper than anywhere else. Their bread is also the softest. You can go there and buy ordinary things without having to decide amongst half an aisle of the same thing. Next time you to go Wal Mart, count how many different brands, flavors, and sizes they have of mayo. Just mayo. At Dollar Store, you can buy plain ordinary mayo. If you all you need is a little milk, the cooler is close to the door, so you don't have to walk half a mile for one item. Dollar Store rocks!

 

[hazlnut]

Walmart (WMT) reported earnings of $1.24 a share this morning on revenues of $116.2 billion. Analysts had been expecting $1.25 on $118.5 billion. Sales in stores open morethan a year declined 0.3%. Walmart also guided lower for the full year citing a "challenging sales and operating environment." The stock is off sharply and at risk of going negative for the last 52 weeks. Those are the numbers, but not the whole story.

Walmart is the thermometer of the American economy. Disregard the government data. Jobs and GDP and all the rest are at best inaccurate measures of the economy and at worst flat out corrupt.

Walmart Earnings Disaster Exposes a Collapsing Economy: Davidowitz | Breakout - Yahoo! Finance

Meanwhile Amazon is building new mega-wearhouses.

So, fail on you.

 

[Rozman]

Time to cut taxes, deregulate and send more jobs to China.

That worked good last time, right, fellows?

Or we could raise taxes give people more stuff,create more regulations and finally
crush whatever recovery we might have going now.

Liberals just love more bureaucracy and high taxes.

 

[Pennywise]

Gas has become permanently $3.50 plus per gallon. 70% plus of all jobs created under genius Obama are part time. Real wages are stagnant because employers have a bottom line and gee they are in business to make profit, not to pay a living wage to high school dropouts for flipping burgers.

This malaise is the new normal; it's the result of Kenysian "economics" and a child in the white house who couldn't run a lemonade stand for a profit. It's a society of takers quickly overrunning the doers, open borders of half breeds and half brains and more crony capitalism under this particular scumbag-in-chief than any before him, but he gets a pass because leftists are truly feeble-minded and envious little *****.

All you dick faced business haters, if WalMart falls, it's only the first domino you stupid ignorant pukes.

 

[Sunshine]

Walmart (WMT) reported earnings of $1.24 a share this morning on revenues of $116.2 billion. Analysts had been expecting $1.25 on $118.5 billion. Sales in stores open morethan a year declined 0.3%. Walmart also guided lower for the full year citing a "challenging sales and operating environment." The stock is off sharply and at risk of going negative for the last 52 weeks. Those are the numbers, but not the whole story.

Walmart is the thermometer of the American economy. Disregard the government data. Jobs and GDP and all the rest are at best inaccurate measures of the economy and at worst flat out corrupt.

Walmart Earnings Disaster Exposes a Collapsing Economy: Davidowitz | Breakout - Yahoo! Finance

Meanwhile Amazon is building new mega-wearhouses.

So, fail on you.

It's really good on UPS and Fed Ex. UPS comes to my house almost every day because I order something from Amazon almost every day. Most everything I order has free shipping, unless I decide to return it. I have only returned 2 things since I have been using them. I even ordered a lovely patio set for my deck. It was $600, and it shipped for free. If I had bought the same set here I would have paid an extra $150 for someone to deliver it out here in the woods. Amazon is a bargain all the way around for me. I'm already making plans for when I can't shop. All my food except a few fresh items will come from online. I'm tired of hateful, whiney, passive aggressive sales people. Amazon is the way to go.

 

[Sunshine]

Gas has become permanently $3.50 plus per gallon. 70% plus of all jobs created under genius Obama are part time. Real wages are stagnant because employers have a bottom line and gee they are in business to make profit, not to pay a living wage to high school dropouts for flipping burgers.

This malaise is the new normal; it's the result of Kenysian "economics" and a child in the white house who couldn't run a lemonade stand for a profit. It's a society of takers quickly overrunning the doers, open borders of half breeds and half brains and more crony capitalism under this particular scumbag-in-chief than any before him, but he gets a pass because leftists are truly feeble-minded and envious little *****.

All you dick faced business haters, if WalMart falls, it's only the first domino you stupid ignorant pukes.

If Sam Walton's progeny want to keep up, they need to change their ways. Every other business that doesn't keep up with the times tanks. There is no reason this one should be an exception. They have been so busy putting all their capital into mega one stop shopping hell holes that they have not kept up with the cyber market place. Fuck the Waltons. They don't meet my retail needs. I'll buy from people who do.