I've mentioned that the 12 1/2 year base that WMT stock built before breaking above the Dec. 31, 1999 all-time closing high ($70.25) implied something on the order of a ten-fold up-move over the next decade.
I've also mentioned that I have no clue what kind of corporate developments could justify a $2.5 trillion market cap, although I guessed selling produce in the stores wouldn't be enough.
This may be part of the answer.
From Reuters:
Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is about to add the biggest retail players to his list of friends.
Zuckerberg and his senior management team will spend two days at Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Bentonville, Arkansas home office this week, meeting with executives of the world's largest retailer and discussing ways to "deepen" their relationship.
The Facebook team will meet with Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke and his lieutenants on Friday, in the first such meeting between the two corporations' senior management teams. Zuckerberg and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg will then speak to hundreds of Wal-Mart employees on Saturday at the retailer's monthly meeting.
Representatives at both companies declined to discuss the specific agenda for Friday's meeting other than noting that the summit is intended to bolster the relationship between the world's No. 1 social network and the world's largest retailer.
The meeting comes two months after Facebook's initial public offering, which was marred by technical glitches on the Nasdaq exchange as well as by concerns about the company's long-term money-making prospects.
Facebook, which reports its second-quarter earnings on July 26, makes most of its money from advertising sales. Many investors and analysts believe the company could tap into a new source of revenue by playing a bigger role in online retail sales, perhaps taking a cut of transactions generated on its social network.
In a statement, Facebook said it was looking forward to working to "deepen" its relationship with Wal-Mart, and noted that Facebook can learn from the retailer's "experience and management team about building a strong, durable and valuable company for the long term."
Wal-Mart's Facebook page has more than 17 million fans and the company also pays to advertise on Facebook. Expanding its reach online is key for Wal-Mart as shoppers increasingly shop on their computers, tablets and smartphones....MORE
Meanwhile, on another front:
Wal-Mart Pushes Web Sales Tax as Washington Clout Grows: Retail
Previously:
How Amazon’s Ambitious New Push for Same-day Delivery will Destroy Local Retail (AMZN)
Columbia Journalism Review: "The Goldman Sachs of online retail" (Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap)
Amazon: The Company Built on Tax Avoidance (the Columbia Journalism Review spanks the Wall Street Journal)
Jeff Bezos Invests in Nuclear Fusion. (AMZN)
