Monthly Archives

81 Articles
Mid caps

JCPenney is edging closer to trading for an actual ‘penny’

Posted on

Okay, okay… they’re still trading for $2 per share, but that is pretty frickin’ crappy for a company that was once at the top of the retail game. However, the company hit a new all-time low after releasing earnings on Thursday, as the stock dropped 25% – below $2 per share. Stores are closing, sales are dropping, and the CEO is missing-in-action (actually they don’t have one). Getting a CEO is tops on JCPenney’s to-do list because companies need one of those.

 

See what Amazon is doing… JCPenney should do more of that. Oh wait, it actually may be too late to jump on that bandwagon. Companies like Walmart and Best Buy have poured money into digital operations, and their investments are paying dividends.

 

Here’s what they will do… the company will also be focusing on women’s and children’s apparel which were the company’s top-selling categories in the second quarter. JCPenney will follow the money and purchase inventory as-needed to follow sales trends. However, the situation is dire – look at the earnings of other retailers. If JCPenney can’t make money when the economy is set to ‘easy mode’ for retailers, what will it take?

Blue Chip

Corona’s massive “growth” opportunity

Posted on

You want more than booze and beer… and Corona wants to make sure you are getting that. Constellation Brands, the maker of Corona, is dropping $4 billion to increase its stake in Canopy Growth, a marijuana company. Their stake increased from 10% to 38%, and they still have the option to purchase a controlling share of over 50%.

 

Good news for Canopy… because this news sent shares upward by 25%. And yes, this is a legit company listed on the New York Stock Exchange – not just a guy that grows in his backyard shed. However, shares of Constellation Brands were down 6% following the announcement. Nevertheless, Constellation CEO Rob Sands sees this deal as possibly the company’s “most significant growth opportunity” over the next decade (pun intended?).

 

Not just for smoking… and Constellation will be looking to launch cannabis-based alcoholic beverages. Canopy Growth CEO Bruce Linton envisions cannabis, no-calorie drinks that can fight depression – so a drink that makes you skinny and happy. Regardless, it is widely anticipated that marijuana will eventually be legalized in the United States. With this expectation, Constellation and Canopy will be getting to work now to fuel our bad habits later..

snoop dog

Blue Chip

Now you CAN have breakfast at Tiffany’s

Posted on

Tiffany’s is changing things up… and spending millions to renovate its flagship store in New York City. The purpose of this renovation is to appeal to the younger crowd of customers – mostly millennials. Getting millennials in the door is essential, of course, because many of them are at the age where people get married and can sorta, kinda, but not really, afford an engagement ring from Tiffany.

 

You can also have breakfast at Tiffany’s… because last year, the company opened up the Blue Box Café. The restaurant is on the fourth floor of the 10-story flagship store. The café has been a big hit – and probably elicits at least one IG post per visit.

 

Fitting in with the youngins… is working for Tiffany and the company’s stock is up 25% this year. Investors are enjoying the renovations, restaurant, and endorsements by young stars like A$AP Ferg. However, we’ll have to wait until 2021 for the flagship store to be ready – but the anticipation is killing us!

Mid caps

Chipotle is fixing their people

Posted on

Here is how Chipotle will fix… poisoning their customers in hoards. CEO Brian Niccol announced that the company will be retraining every Chipotle employee on food safety. If you are wondering how many people will be receiving this training, it is in the ballpark of 70,000.

 

Food safety will be on the final exam… because Chipotle will also be testing employees to make sure they know what they need to know. This is good news because in 2016 the company quietly shut down all stores for a few hours to talk about food safety. In 2018, rather than a short discussion, employees will be trained not to poison you.

 

A zero-tolerance policy… is what Niccol is instituting and that may be the company’s only option at this point. The policy means employees that do not follow food safety standards will be terminated immediately. And if you are a real risk-taker, consider visiting Chipotle once again – we hear that the company has added bacon and nachos to the menu. Also, please let us know how you are feeling

Mid caps

Nordstrom is raking in the ‘racks’

Posted on

Since everyone gets compared to Amazon… here is another Seattle-based company that can move merch online. That company is Nordstrom, and their second-quarter results beat Wall Street expectation by a long shot. Online sales led the surge and accounted for one-third of the company’s overall sales. Overall, digital sales were up 23%.

 

Everything is going great… because online sales are booming and brick-and-mortar sales are also doing well on their own. Overall revenue for the retailer jumped more than 7%. These results are worth bragging about, and the company must be happy that they decided against going private last March. After the earnings release, shares of Nordstrom were up 10% in after-hours trading.

 

Here’s how everyone else is doing… including Macy’s which had lackluster sales growth and brought Nordstrom down with them after the announcement. However, similar to Nordstrom, Walmart reported strong digital growth. Is it possible that digital sales and brick-and-mortar presence are the paths to the promise land?

Blue Chip

Kroger is really going to China

Posted on

Now that they’re doing online groceries… Kroger wants to be in China’s online grocery market, too. The company will start by selling its Simple Truth-brand products on Alibaba’s Tmall Global site. FYI, Tmall is Alibaba’s e-commerce platform for foreign brands. And yes, I said ‘FYI’ like a smug douchebag – but I promise, I didn’t know what Tmall was either.

 

Expanding is excellent for Kroger… because now, not only is Kroger expanding their online presence, they will also be going overseas for the first time.  Thanks to technology, companies like Kroger no longer need a physical presence to have a presence in China or any other coveted markets. Expanding to a new market should better allow them to compete with the likes of Amazon and Walmart in the never-ending war of online groceries.

 

Joining forces with Alibaba… gives Kroger access to China’s massive markets. However, Kroger is not the first to get this idea – we have seen companies like Starbucks and Walmart do similar things. It looks like North America is old news…just kidding, we are still a huge deal to everyone who is anyone (am I right!?).

Fang

Some alternative stocks to sink your ‘FAANGs’ into

Posted on

FAANG stocks are all good bets… and they include Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google, in case you didn’t know. And although these stocks have been getting hammered lately, they will probably be okay in the long run. However, there is life outside of FAANG people…including small and mid-cap stocks which include promising future technologies like artificial intelligence and self-driving cars.

 

Also, if you can stomach crypto… maybe you should consider buying now while the price is far below its $20,000 glory days. Blockchain technology could have an impact on business for many years to come. Although cryptocurrency may be going through a rough patch, you can’t introduce a new currency and expect a seamless transition.

 

Think about Tesla… because Elon Musk doesn’t seem to be joking about taking his company private. Moreover, the $420 per share price tag seems like a good deal for whoever will ultimately provide the funding. Just a few ideas to get you out of the FAANG bandwagon.

IA

Start-up

This company is doing ‘Uber’ well

Posted on

Uber killed it… in the second quarter. The ride-share company’s quarterly revenue was up 63% compared to last year. Gross bookings also increased by 41% to nearly $12 billion. With such an impressive rate of growth, it is no wonder why this private company continues to release results when they are not even required to.

 

Investing in the future… and in case you haven’t noticed, the company is moving way beyond cars. Uber is delving into the bike-share and scooter-share markets, as well. The company also operates UberEATS and is investing heavily in the Middle East and India.

 

Pay attention closely… because Uber could be going public as soon as 2019 and begin profit-sharing for the first time. However, for everything great the company is doing, they still have their fair share of issues. These issues include regulatory hurdles, such as New York City limiting the number of ride-share vehicles allowed in the city. Why does the “man” always gotta bring us down?

International

Want to own a home in New Zealand? TOO BAD.

Posted on

The United States isn’t the only one… with a red-hot housing market. Prices in New Zealand are not much more attractive for homebuyers, comparatively. To remedy this, the country’s parliament has decided to ban foreigners from purchasing most of their residential property. However, they can still invest in apartment buildings and certain parts of the housing market.

 

Oh, it’s “our” fault… because New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is blaming foreign buyers for the crazy housing prices – although it is mostly the Chinese. The country also wants to see people that live there purchasing homes. But to buy a house, you need to be able to afford a house. Still, the effects of the new law are mostly unknown, especially considering foreign buyers only make up about 3% of total transactions.

 

Any relief would help… because housing prices have gone up nearly double over the last ten years in New Zealand. Prices are also up 5% this year alone. To give you an idea of who can afford to live in New Zealand, Peter Thiel and that guy fired from NBC’s Today Show have homes there. However, we have our housing market to complain about – so I am not sure how this story made the cut (slow news day…).

Email

Will the Bull keep charge this week?

Posted on
Will the Bull keep charge this week?

Where do you spend your paycheck… Walmart, Macy’s, or Home Depot? If none of those businesses, than probably somewhere else (most likely Amazon, am I right?). However, those three companies listed are releasing earnings this week and represent an essential indicator for how well the US economy is doing. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of our economy and how much people are spending can be uncovered in the financial health of stores.

 

We will see second-quarter earnings… and also be paying close attention to retailers’ outlooks for the rest of the year. Many moving parts go into these outlooks, such as inflation, wage growth, gas prices, and tariffs, to name a few. But in terms of consumers spending, May and June went well, and more of the same is expected for July.

 

Healthy retail sales… could give the stock market a bump this week. Some believe that the strength of the consumer and retailers has not been adequately accounted for in the market to this point. So will we break records this week – the S&P 500 currently sits 1% below its January record-high so it could happen. Stay tuned to see if the Bull keeps runnin’…

Read more