Monday, August 25, 2014

Trouble at SeaWorld and Independent Business;Walmart OK

SeaWorld's ebitda,or operating cash flow,was down 14-16%,and attendance came in below estimates.This is an astounding decline,said CNBC analyst Jim Cramer.This is just an abberation.I've never seen a complete collapse of ebitda.
This thing is just in trouble.The CNN documentary on SeaWorld must have played a role.*
The CNN documentary "Blackfish" covers the killing of a trainer by an orca at the Orlando,Florida SeaWorld in 2010.California is considering legislation to ban orca shows at amusement parks following the shocking incident.The company said it believes attendance in the quarter was impacted by demand pressure related to media attention surrounding proposed legislation in the state of California.*
If you're self-employed,your deductibles are out of control,Cramer observed.The cost of health care in this country is soaring with the Affordable Care Act.It's going to cost too much to have a baby-something to think about.This is what the companies involved in health and human services for independent business organisations are telling me.I don't mean to be political.Deductibles are flying high.*
Walmart has cut its full year forecast,but Raymond James analyst Budd Bugatch isn't too concerned.I feel pretty good about the report,Mr.Bugatcher said.Sales were better than expected.I think the costs were about health care,and a little bit about the economy as well.The new US CEO will take over an operation that is a pretty good operation.Returning growth to the core will be a key objective of his.
In the electronics area,Walmart has just gone through a project reboot.Our outperform rating is that investors with a large portfolio should overweight the stock and pay attention to it.*
Greg Foran is the new Walmart US CEO,having previously headed the company's Asia division.In a conference call,he told analysts that being in stock,clean stores and the right price were among his priorities.
Wal-Mart(WMT)

Monday, August 11, 2014

Should This Market Be Trusted?

Leading investor and musician Roger McNamee,co-founder of venture capital firm Elevation Partners,doesn't think so,he told CNBC's "Squawk Alley" programme today.A plethora of worries from the Ebola outbreak,to gridlock in Washington D.C. and geopolitical crises have affected Mr.McNamee.The rate of chaos is increasing a lot,and to me,that just makes me incredibly nervous,McNamee said.It changes how much exposure to the market I want to have.I don't understand how you can have so much chaos in the world and still have prices going up every day.I think this is a really important time for people to ask themselves how confident are they in the fundamentals of things they own,and how confident are they that there's a happy ending this year for the economy and the stock market.
For his part,Mr.McNamee has moved about a third of his portfolio from stocks to US Treasury bonds.*
Roger McNamee managed the top-rated Science and Technology Fund and co-managed the New Horizons Fund at T.Rowe Price Associates before co-founding Elevation Partners,a firm that concentrates on the interesction of Media and Entertainment with consumer technology.He also plays guitar and bass with the band Moonalice.*
T.Rowe Price Group,Inc(TROW)