Word: retailing
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...world's most prolific opium-producing region--where Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and Laos come together. While methamphetamines had previously been sold either in powdered or crystalline form, new labs in Burma, northern Thailand and China commoditized the methamphetamine business by pressing little tablets of the substance that now retail for about 50 baht ($1.20) each. At first only bar girls like Jacky smoked it. Then some of the younger guys who hung out with the girls tried it. Soon a few of the housewives began smoking, and finally some of the dads would take a hit or two when they...
While spectacular growth for the handheld market seems certain, no one is quite sure who will be the biggest winner. A year ago, the obvious answer was Palm, which has sold more than 11 million PDAs to date and now claims some 60% of the retail market, according to tracking firm NPD Intelect. But Palm is paying for its decision, made a few years back, to license its operating system to other hardware makers. The idea was to achieve a critical mass of PDAs that would make the entire market viable and attract ever more software developers to create applications...
...Then Young decided, on a whim, to start listing the bags themselves on eBay. Her good deal and her low overhead meant she could charge less than retail stores, even after shipping costs. Soon she was doing well. Very well. That's when she decided to sell the bubble wrap itself, not just the bags. Young was already buying the stuff for her own packing needs in 750-ft. rolls. She just increased her order. By a lot. And she got a little system going. Since 250-ft. units sold best, every roll that came off the semi...
...sure, much of the lost money was the easily coined spoils of a long bull market. In that sense, all a lot of people really lost was the casino's money. Still, it's causing consumers to pull back somewhat. Retail sales went negative in February, a third drop in five months. Consumer confidence is at more than a four-year low. Any further market losses could multiply the gloom exponentially because, with the NASDAQ at a 2 1/2-year low, the casino's money is about gone. The next dollar lost for many will be money earned at work...
THAT'S NO SMALL VALUE During the tech boom, small-cap value funds were about as exciting as coin collecting. Their boring, old-world holdings--industrials, retail and the like--remain the "antitech," but these days that's a plus: low p/e ratios, slow growth and sane market caps. Now that big is bad and growth is yesterday's (or tomorrow's) news, small caps will provide some shelter from the tech storm...