Friday, October 12, 2012

More Love for Wal*Mart (WMT)

The stock is up 89 cents at $75.90.
We'll get to the threatened Black Friday strikes next week.

This time the lovin' is from Matt Phillips, formerly a scribbler at the Wall Street Journal and  honcho at MarketBeat, now writing for The Atlantic's Quartz:

Wal-Mart Is on a Roll—and That's Great News for the Recovery
 Shares of the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, are going nuts. Since catching fire in the middle of May, after posting strong earnings, the stock is up more than 27%. It hit an all-time high Oct. 10, closing at $75.42.

Why?

Some might think the price-conscious retailer's strength is a bad signal for the US economy, suggesting that Americans are moving to lower price points because of tight budgets. Such reasoning led many to expect that Wal-Mart would be a great bet during the great recession. Instead, the stock underperformed woefully, in part, because many American consumers were so strapped for cash that they turned to even cheaper retailers such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree. Here's a look at how Wal-Mart (blue) and Dollar Tree (yellow) performed from the end of 2008 to the end of 2011, in percentage terms...MORE
See also:
 MarketBeat's Matt Phillips Does Not Win the 2010 Bulwer-Lytton Contest
Back in May I thought Mr. Phillips was a shoe-in, I mean he won the prestigious Climateer Line O'the Day and everything..

Like the Germans in May 1940.
A Five Star, Weekend Special, hit the ATM, lock:

Climateer Line of the Day: MarketBeat does Bulwer-Lytton Edition (ACN)
MarketBeat's Matt Phillips has a walk-off home run. Game over.
From their post "Accenture for a Penny: MarketBeat’s Investigation Continues!":
Like a rottweiler on a slightly undercooked leg of lamb, MarketBeat refuses to let go of its probe of the depths of Thursday’s Flash Crash, particularly the momentary trades that priced ostensibly healthy companies such as Accenture at one cent....
That makes "It was a dark and stormy night" read like Blake in comparison...
Bulwer-Lytton.com has announced the 2010 winners. The winner was bad but the runner-up was atrocious:
Through the verdant plains of North Umbria walked Waylon Ogglethorpe and, as he walked, the clouds whispered his name, the birds of the air sang his praises, and the beasts of the fields from smallest to greatest said, "There goes the most noble among men" -- in other words, a typical stroll for a schizophrenic ventriloquist with delusions of grandeur.
Better luck next year, Matt....