Archive for the ‘Accounts Receivable’ Category

I knew it. I knew Macy’s wasn’t going to be only one. Less than 24 hours since my last post, we find that more retailers will be closing stores and cutting back. Many stores are cutting back their specialty lines, and some, like Home Depot are cutting back on their square-footage growth plans.

U.S. retailers will close stores and reduce square-footage growth plans this year to offset slowing sales, slumping stock prices, a saturated market and a penny conscious shopper, analysts said on Sunday.

“We’ve seen about 25,000 new stores open in our universe — publicly traded specialty retailers — between 2000 and 2007,” said Brian Tunick, a J.P. Morgan analyst who covers specialty retailers, speaking at the National Retail Federation’s annual conference.

“There’s a lot of (retailers) out there that are over-stored right now,” he said.

So, is it the economy? Is it the negative mall experience? Or could it be the price of gas? That’s what one person actually said. She said for retailers to do better, people need to unconsolidate their shopping trips.

Wow. Did she just say that people would buy more if prices were lower? Oh sure, she said they would if gas prices were lower. Notice how she shifted the blame for poor sales.

I don’t think it has anything to do with the economy. I don’t think it has anything to do with the malls. I think it has to do with the fact people want something for their money, and if you ain’t got it, they aren’t spending their money at your store. It’s as simple as that.

I, for one, support the purchase of American made products first. But, when a product does not meet your expectations, or you feel the product is not made as well as another, I can understand why people would look elsewhere to make a such a large purchase.

Toyota Motor Corp. overtook Ford Motor Co. to become the No. 2 automaker by U.S. sales in 2007, using new products and relentless strategy to break Ford’s 75-year lock on the position.

Toyota sold 48,226 more cars and trucks than Ford, according to sales figures released Thursday. Toyota’s sales were up 3 percent for the year, buoyed by new products like the Toyota Tundra pickup, which saw sales jump 57 percent.

Maybe Ford should concentrate on making cars and trucks that people want to drive, or better yet, want to be seen driving. I drive a GMC, but I would drive a Ford if they actually made something I thought was more reliable than my GMC, and looked good driving down the road.

It could be the housing market, or it could be the fact that La-Z-Boy furniture just isn’t what it used to be.

My mom bought two La-Z-Boy recliners and a sleeper sofa over a decade ago. She just moved across country and that furniture is still in excellent condition, they are comfortable, and they are great.

We purchased a sofa, a couple recliners and another chair from them about 5 years ago, and the sofa is on it’s last legs, springs are popping in it, one of the chairs is more uncomfortable than sitting on a concrete pad, one recliner broke ages ago, and we are seriously contemplating if we want to spend money at La-Z-Boy ever again. We spent almost $4,000 on that furniture, why would I toss more money down that hole?

Furniture maker and retailer La-Z-Boy Inc (LZB.N) reported a quarterly loss on Tuesday and the company said it would not meet its fiscal 2008 outlook, hurt by a depressed housing market and disappointing sales.

The company cited continued weak overall demand for furniture and said it was delaying plans for new stores in southeastern Florida due to the depressed housing market there.

A net loss in the fiscal second quarter came to $9.9 million, or 19 cents per share, on charges related to write-downs, restructuring and discontinued operations, compared with a year-ago profit of $1.95 million, or 4 cents per share .

And don’t even get me started on their delivery staff. Maybe this loss will force them to finally look at the big picture and realize they are making crappy furniture.

Ouch. Their net income dropped from $5.01 billion to $3.72 billion. How ever will they survive with only $3.72 billion in net income?

Chevron Corp’s (CVX.N) third-quarter earnings fell more than 25 percent, missing analyst estimates on sharply lower profits from gasoline production.

Margins to produce gasoline and other refined products plummeted during the quarter as prices for the fuel did not keep pace with surging crude oil prices, dragging down earnings across the industry.

Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), BP Plc (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L), and ConocoPhillips (COP.N) all posted lower third-quarter earnings despite the sky-high oil prices.

Chevron, the No. 2 U.S. oil company, said on Friday its net income dropped to $3.72 billion, or $1.75 a share, from $5.01 billion, or $2.29 a share, a year earlier.

Excluding about $400 million of one-time items, it posted earnings of about $1.94 a share, coming in behind the average analyst estimate of $2.07 a share.

Revenue in the quarter rose to $55.17 billion from $54.21 billion.

Maybe, just maybe, if they weren’t gouging the customers so bad before the price of oil went through the roof, they wouldn’t be crying about the lower earnings now.

While Interstate Bakeries may be having problems getting people to buy enough Twinkies and Wonder Bread, it seems Yum Foods has had no problem getting people to eat at KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.

Restaurant operator Yum Brands Inc (YUM.N) reported a higher-than-expected 17 percent rise in quarterly earnings on strong China results and boosted its full-year outlook on Monday. Its shares rose more than 3 percent in extended trading.

The parent of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains also said it would step up share repurchases by buying back up to $4 billion of stock over the next two years, reducing its share count by up to 20 percent, and would increase debt.

Third-quarter net income rose to $270 million, or 50 cents per share, up 17 percent from $230 million, or 42 cents per share, a year ago.

I wonder if my sister, who is moving to Louisville, Kentucky knows that the parent company of her all time favorite, Taco Bell, is based there? Hmm…

They certainly didn’t make any money from me this quarter. I finally ditched my Blackberry and went with a T-Mobile Wing because I was sick of the scrollwheels dying on the Blackberry devices I used.

Smart phone maker Research In Motion Ltd. beat expectations on Thursday and predicted strong results for the rest of the year after breaking past the 10-million subscriber mark.

The Canadian company said its fiscal second-quarter profit and revenue more than doubled, boosted by strong sales of its flagship BlackBerry products.

For the quarter ended Sept. 1, the company earned $287.7 million, or 50 cents per share, up from $140.2 million, or 25 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue more than doubled to $1.37 billion from $658.5 million.

I wonder how many of those sales were from people who needed to stay connected and had to replace the whole unit because the scrollwheel was busted.

This year they are using the excuse that they expect the holiday season to be weaker because of the toy recalls.

Christmas started in September this year — at least in the toy aisles at Wal-Mart Stores Inc — even as retailers worry that parents may approach toy shopping with trepidation this holiday season after massive numbers of toys were recalled in recent months.

So to jump-start holiday shopping, the world’s largest retailer began cutting prices on toys in its stores on Sunday, September 30, and will be introducing special price cuts on hot toys each week during October.

“It’s a little bit earlier and a little bit deeper,” Laura Phillips, Wal-Mart’s chief toy officer, said of the timing of this year’s holiday toy promotions and the size of the price reductions.

Truth is, they get earlier and earlier each year when it comes to defining the “holiday sales season”. In a few more years the only “non-holiday” season will be January through March.

Is it wrong for me to think that my weekend purchases at Best Buy helped in some aspect?

Retailer Best Buy Co (BBY.N) reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Tuesday, helped by strong international results and demand for notebook computers, flat-panel televisions and video games, pushing its shares up about 5 percent.

The company also raised the low end of its full-year profit forecast.

The results were “a reversal from (the first quarter’s) disappointing results and a testament to Best Buy’s strong execution and ability to course-correct rapidly,” Sanford Bernstein analyst Colin McGranahan said in a research note.

[Source: Reuters via Yahoo News!]

I wonder what their secret it? Could it be that they are not offering sub-prime mortgages and are conducting business in a professional manner. Could they be looking out for their investors instead of taking advantage of customers and making a quick and easy buck?

Wachovia is grabbing more mortgage business as a result of the recent shakeout in the industry, Chief Executive G. Kennedy Thompson said Monday.

Five of the top 40 mortgage lenders, responsible for more than 9 percent of last year’s mortgage production, have gone out of business, according to Thompson. Other major mortgage companies, such as Washington Mutual (Charts, Fortune 500) and Countrywide (Charts, Fortune 500), have scaled back their operations.

By contrast, Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia, which last year dramatically expanded its mortgage business by acquiring Golden West Financial, has been expanding. In the first two months of the third quarter, the company’s outstanding mortgage loans have shot up about $1.2 billion, said Thompson, who was speaking at a financial-services conference.

I bet all the other CEO’s are trying to figure out Thompson’s secret, too bad they’ll never get it.

Oh boo hoo. So they lost 4 cents per share. They still made 22 cents more per share this year than last year, all because we couldn’t spend our money elsewhere.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reduced its reported second-quarter profit by $153 million due to expenses from selling its German retail operations, the world’s largest retailer reported Monday.

In a regulatory filing, Wal-Mart said the added cost reduced its earnings per share for the quarter that ended July 31 to 72 cents from the 76 cents it originally reported Aug. 14. That compares with 50 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Wal-Mart was losing money in Germany, and they lost money in South Korea too. When are we going to wake up and start supporting the mom and pop shops again? That is, if any of them are left after Wal-Mart conquers the world (except Germany and South Korea of course).

[Source: Yahoo! News]