At first blush, you wonder why anyone would want to own shares of a hotel company, especially one doing an initial public offering. The economy remains in recession, and, travel and business spending are sharply lower.
And when smart buyers are looking to sell, does that make you a dumb buyer?
A bit of good news for democracy in the U.S. occurred on Wednesday. Several financial industry regulators testified to a Senate committee and they continued to criticize aspects of the Obama administration’s regulatory reformation plan.
This after they were famously dressed down, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal, last week by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, for being too worried about their regulatory turf.
In today’s New York Times, Geithner is quoted as saying: “I have told them, ‘Don’t let your effort to defend your turf add to the complexity of getting legislation done.’ I said, ‘You all have a large amount of credibility at stake.’”
A couple of years ago, you weren’t hip and with-it if you dind’t have a Facebook or My Space account. So naturally, I got one for myself. I loved it – couldn’t get enough of it – for a few days. Then I forgot about it. I still get Facebook-related emails – will-you-be-my-friend types of messages. I ignore them. Every few months I go into my site, race through the Inbox responding to queries, and exit as fast as I can. Life’s too short. As for Twitter, when that got big I felt un-hip and non-with-it and was poised to sign up – when I remembered Facebook. Why Twitter if I can’t even be bothered to Facebook? Oddly, someone seems to have signed me up to Twitter and every so often I receive an email from a friend or colleague saying they’re “following” me on Twitter. Maybe so. But I’m not Twittering at them. Today, these and other social networking sites have suffered temporary outages. Frumpy throwback that I am, I couldn’t care less. Actually, I’m delighted – if it means my 13-year-old daughter might read a book rather than pinching or poking her pals via Facebook.
Today’s lousy July retail sales results are being blamed largely on clunkers and houses. Specifically, people who are paid to have opinions – including investment bank analysts and academics – are saying Americans bought cars via the Cash for Clunkers program in July, or splurged on new homes, or both, rather than going to the store. Huh? I buy another explantion: empty store shelves. Since the economic crisis hit, the country’s retailers have slashed inventories. If you manage a store, there’s just no upside to keeping shelves brimming with stuff when your gut tells you it won’t get sold. Problem is, when customers do show up looking for a new toaster or microwave only to find one or two (or no) choices – they’re outta there. This was our experience after moving back to the U.S. in June after many years abroad; we couldn’t find what we needed so we didn’t buy. We waited. Or we ordered online from Amazon. Back-to-school sales will be similarly stricken if retailers similarly refrain to stock up on pens, pencils, notebooks, bookbags and tween fashions for middle school girls. As for Christmas sales – let’s not go there. It’s still summer, for Pete’s sake. Here’s what DJN colleague Karen Talley writes:”Retailers said they felt impacts from tax-free holiday shifts to August from July, which crimped year-over-year spending. They also had less inventory, which meant less clearance selling. Among categories, apparel, home and garden and electronics were cited most as seeing soft demand.” By the way, my skepticism about clunkers and houses (I just don’t believe people are buying cars and houses and not going to Wal-Mart) is matched by a disbelief about another explanation being proffered by retailers – that cooler weather kept people out of their stores. This makes little sense. Weather cuts both ways in the retailing biz: If it’s hot, people take refuge in air-conditioned shops. But if it’s cool, people don’t go to their community swimming pool – and with time on their hands, they head to the store.
Tell It To Al – A Newswires Blog
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