Posted Jun 12th 2009 1:00PM by Daleela Farina
Filed under: Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG), Wal-Mart (WMT), Starbucks (SBUX), Mutual funds, Citigroup Inc. (C), Bank of America (BAC), Federal Natl Mtge (FNM)
Has your broker repeatedly sold you on the "safe" investment vehicle, the mutual fund? Investing in a wide variety of prominent companies, with solid, long-term track records, mutual funds have been an easy-to-understand and popular investment choice for decades.
Mutual funds are hugely diversified, holding large stakes in recognizable names such as Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Walmart (NYSE: WMT), Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), and Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM).
Continue reading How do hedge funds differ from mutual funds?
Posted Jun 3rd 2009 9:40AM by Mark Fightmaster
Filed under: Starbucks (SBUX), McDonald's (MCD)

If it's Wednesday, that means another change at
Starbucks (NASDAQ:
SBUX), right? Reuters is reporting that SBUX is "
reworking 90 percent of its baked goods." The latest move by the caffeine king is to start selling baked goods without high-fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors and dyes. The company will also introduce salads and other items -- nothing like a coffee and some salad, right?
According to Michelle Gass, SBUX's executive vice president of marketing, "Food has been the Achilles' heel of the company. [...] That statement will be long buried after we launch this program." The new campaign from SBUX will be promoted as "Real Food. Simply Delicious." and is an extension of last year's healthy campaign.
Continue reading Starbucks: Another day, another change
Posted May 14th 2009 7:00AM by Mark Fightmaster
Filed under: Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Starbucks (SBUX), McDonald's (MCD)
It has been a while since I have had the pleasure of discussing Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and its business issues. That changes today, as Moody's Investors Service downgraded Starbucks' $550 million senior unsecured notes to 'Baa3' from Baa2.'
The move takes into account what the ratings house sees as challenges lying ahead for the coffee company. In addition, Moody's cut Starbucks' short-term commercial paper rating.
An analyst with Moody's stated that the "downgrade reflects Starbucks challenge of refocusing the business without significantly damaging its brand, as well as weaker than anticipated operating performance" over the intermediate term. The biggest problem facing Starbucks is seen as weakness in consumer spending and increased competitive pressures.
Continue reading Moody's lowers Starbucks' rating
Posted May 5th 2009 7:00PM by Sarah Gilbert
Filed under: Consumer experience, Starbucks (SBUX), Eastern Europe

Starbucks, were the company to own up to the history of coffee, owes its origins -- not to the cafes of Italy where Howard Schultz drank the future -- but the coffeehouse culture of Central Europe. It wasn't as glamorous in the 80s and 90s to admit it, perhaps, and certainly there was no culture, coffeeshop or otherwise, to be had until McDonald's opened in Warsaw in the early 1990s.
Ironically, then, the Polish youth are embracing the newly-opened Starbucks cafes.
Washington Post op-ed columnist Anne Applebaum is in Warsaw, and says that the new Starbucks there are met with open wallets and customers eager to buy the expensive brew and flaunt it, with "the famous green label facing outward."
Continue reading Starbucks in Warsaw: It's ironic, but it's working
Posted May 4th 2009 5:00PM by Alex Salkever
Filed under: Starbucks (SBUX)
On the back page of my Sunday New York Times I found a full-page four-color ad from
Starbucks Corporation (NYS:
SBUX). The big, bold type at the top of the ad said "They Want You To Think Coffee is Coffee. Well, It's Not Just Coffee. It's Starbucks." No, actually its just coffee. Really, really expensive coffee that was perfect for the frothy past three decades but far less so now. And when these types of pathetic bleats for help issue forth from massive lifestyle corporations, its best to start the Doomsday Clock.
Continue reading Full page ad in NYT proves it: Starbucks is in real trouble
Posted May 2nd 2009 9:40AM by Trey Thoelcke
Filed under: Earnings reports, Time Warner (TWX), Pfizer (PFE), Starbucks (SBUX), Motorola (MOT), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Verizon Communications (VZ), Office Depot (ODP), Eastman Kodak (EK), QUALCOMM Inc (QCOM), Dow Chemical (DOW), Burger King Hldgs (BKC), Goodyear Tire and Rubber (GT), MetLife Inc. (MET), Visa Inc. (V)
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:
Continue reading Earnings highlights: Starbucks, Kodak, Verizon, Visa, Office Depot, Baidu and more
Posted Apr 30th 2009 3:20PM by Steven Mallas
Filed under: Earnings reports, Starbucks (SBUX)
Starbucks (NASDAQ:
SBUX) reported earnings after the bell on Wednesday. Today, shares are up almost 10% on active volume in early afternoon trading as I write this. What does the market see in the numbers that is making it so happy?
Well, it's difficult to say precisely. As we all know, Starbucks has been having its problems, and data in Q2 indicate that the status quo essentially remains. Sales: down almost 8%. Operating income: down 77%. Adjusted earnings per share: down two pennies to $0.16. Cash from operations: down 6%. Same-store sales: down 8%. See what I mean? I hate using the word "down" so many times.
Continue reading Starbucks perks up on Q2 beat, but I'm not convinced
Posted Apr 16th 2009 4:20PM by Jon Ogg
Filed under: Starbucks (SBUX), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Regions Financial (RF), Southwest Airlines (LUV)

The sages say to sell the news and have started calling the market grossly overbought on the near-term, yet stock enthusiasm is at the exact opposite of how negative things were 6 weeks ago. We have 6 million on the jobless claims now, although this week showed a real
decline in new claims. The rally came on late in the day after the market was down triple-digits at one point. Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 8,125.43 +95.81 (1.19%)
S&P 500 865.29 +13.23 (1.55%)
Nasdaq 1,670.44 +43.64 (2.68%)
Top Analyst CallsContinue reading Closing Bell: An IPO, Banks & Tech, all killing the bears (JPM, RST, SBUX, LUV, RF)
Posted Apr 15th 2009 4:20PM by Jon Ogg
Filed under: Yahoo! (YHOO), Starbucks (SBUX), General Motors (GM), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), American Express (AXP)

Today's late-day rally had a common theme throughout the day: less-bad economic data. This went from
better housing data and CPI
not showing any deflation fears. The Beige Book was also showing that some of the 12 Fed regions are seeing a decline in the slowdown. Here are today's unofficial closing levels, which were essentially around the highs of the day:
Dow 8,029.62 +109.44 (1.38%)
S&P 500 852.06 +10.56 (1.25%)
Nasdaq 1,626.80 +1.08 (0.07%)
Top 10 Analyst CallsContinue reading Closing Bell: When 'less-bad' starts looking great (AXP, DNDN, GM, SIRI, SBUX, YHOO)
Posted Mar 18th 2009 3:15PM by Alex Salkever
Filed under: Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Starbucks (SBUX), McDonald's (MCD), Burger King Hldgs (BKC), S and P 500, Stocks to Buy
This is the second post in Fast Food Wars, a look at the players in this unhealthy business that has traditionally garnered healthy returns in down times as Americans tank up on fries and burgers slathered with secret sauce.
Last week we looked at Burger King (NYSE: BKC), today we turn to Mickey D's, the grand-daddy of them all. McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD ) boasts over 35,000 locations (franchised and company owned) in 100 countries.
Continue reading Fast Food Wars #2: McDonald's looks strong on global numbers, new menu, smart management
Posted Mar 17th 2009 3:00PM by Douglas McIntyre
Filed under: Management, Annual meetings, Starbucks (SBUX)
Since shares of Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) have dropped so sharply over the last year, the company keeps coming up with ways to convince its investors that it has a handle on things and can run the coffee retailer well in a harsh environment. It will make another attempt at getting its arguments across at its annual meeting Wednesday.
According to The Wall Street Journal, "executives are expected to outline a plan to weather the recession that includes an effort to make Starbucks products seem more affordable, and reassure investors that the company is on track to cut $500 million of costs by the fall."
Continue reading Starbucks (SBUX) plans to calm investors
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