Speak of the devil (Mar 13: Beginning to Build a REIT Short Portfolio) we have a nice story front and center on Bloomberg. Any article with Howard Davidowitz in it, makes me smile - even if it's only a passing mention. To reiterate I am on a go slow approach to building these short positions since the market looks to potentially have more upside to it, which will most likely take associated poor companies with it. I am hoping to this first batch of purchases actually goes bad, which would mean I can build much larger positions at higher prices - hence more profit when the eventual next down leg comes. I will say, however,[More...]

Analysts and the media have focused plenty of attention on how overindebted and tapped out consumers are responding to deteriorating economic conditions. So far, there are clear signs that Americans are becoming more disciplined -- cutting back, saving, reusing, repairing and, overall, adjusting to a world where uncertainty is on the rise and there is much less to go around. But the reaction is not one-sided. Those on the other side of the counter are also seeing the writing on the wall -- better late than never, I guess -- and are starting to make structural adjustments of their own. In "Retailers Prepare for a New, Frugal Future," the Associated Press gives us the details. <blockquote dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT:[More...]

The markets traded in what looked like a perfect “V” shape on Friday, again erasing midday losses.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to finish up 0.84% to 8,281.22.  The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were able to climb 1.16% and 0.76% respectively to closing levels of 1,529.33 and 850.12.  After very poor earnings reports from Intel Corporation (INTC: 13.74, +0.45 (+3.39%)) and JPMorgan (JPM: 22.82, -1.52 (-6.24%)) the market was hit with more bad news on Friday but was able to shrug it off[More...]

Say goodbye to Circuit City (NYSE: CC). And to another 34,000 jobs for the U.S. Economy. Because that’s exactly how many employees the chain still has to its name in its remaining 567 store nation wide. Following in the footsteps of another big name national chain, Linens n’ Things, Circuit City is the latest to announce that it will officially be going out of business. Beginning tomorrow, January 17, the company will begin its final round of sales which will continue until March 31, pending court approval. Its Canadian branch is faring better so far, and will continue operating all 765 of those stores for the time being. That has to be a relief for the 3,000 workers who work for those locations. So what does this mean for retail? Well, don’t ask president and CEO George Whalin of Retail Mangement Consultants. Because he appears to be mixing up his messages. On the one[More...]