A recap of the October 8 earnings announcement from Costco, which is proving to be relatively immune to North American economic woes.

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You're not helpless. These 5 steps can get you back on the horse.

In disasters lie opportunities. Even this disaster.

Gotta tell you (and long time readers can attest) we were very frustrated throughout the 1st half of the year as we were screamed at by pundits about the "2nd half 2008 recovery" - I think at least 5x a week for months on end I used that line along with the term "Kool Aid thinking"during late winter and spring. After that thesis proved to fail, the Kool Aid pundits turned to "as gas drops 50 cents the consumer will be back" - hedge funds ran into retail stocks to run them up on "that thesis" - I said that one will be proven to be wrong but we looked foolish those weeks/months as we held none of the stocks that people were running into on false pretenses. Remember, in the stock market - perception is reality. It does not matter if reality is wrong as long as enough people believe it. As I think how the stock market can turn so suddenly, one must step out of one's own shoes and realize so many people were drinking the[More...]

"America can always be counted on to do the right thing, after it has exhausted all other possibilities." - Winston Churchill The recently passed $700 billion bailout bill does contain the authority for the Government to buy new preferred stock in troubled financial institutions. At yesterday's news conference, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson indicated that he might just do that. This would be following the lead of the U.K., which yesterday indicated that they are buying major stakes in its most troubled banks. This is exactly the approach that will do the most good. The core problem right now is that we have an overleveraged financial system which is trying desperately to de-leverage. When all try to deleverage at the same time, it drives down asset prices, which pushes down equity even further, which actually causes leverage to go up. Simply buying troubled assets is likely[More...]

Schaeffer's analyst Colleen S. King takes a look at news on the Street before the market open.

Wal-Mart, the supermarket chain, was profiled by Tickermine this week. Our researchers asked respondents at 33 locations about how they would describe business, is excess inventory going on sale any time soon, how does the world economy impact business and which brand of women’s clothes sells best? We learned that 19 respondents, 58%, describe business as “above average.” Seven people, 21%, say its “average.” Five people, 15%, say it is “very strong,” and two people, 6%, say it’s “below average.” 19 people, 58%, have excess inventory going on sale soon. Hannah Montana stuff and Wrangler jeans were among those items cites, 14 people, 42%, have nothing going on sale. 14 people, 42%, say the economy and housing crisis have no bearing on business, 9 people, 27%, say sales hurt as a result and 10 people, 30%, weren’t sure. And Faded Glory sells best among women’s fashion brands (6 mentions or 18%), followed by George and Jodache, each with 4 mentions (12%).

Schaeffer's Andrea Kramer takes a look at unusual option activity on the Street

Tom Dorsey and Tammy DeRosier - May We Live In Interesting Times

Schaeffer's Andrea Kramer takes a look at unusual option activity on the Street