Continue reading Masco (MAS) misses estimates and announces dividend cut

Masco (MAS) misses estimates and announces dividend cut originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading AAR February Report: Freight movement by railroads

AAR February Report: Freight movement by railroads originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Pricey Wheaties: Grain prices surging on emerging market demand

Pricey Wheaties: Grain prices surging on emerging market demand originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

A few months ago, I moved into a larger apartment and found that I would need to make numerous trips to the hardware store each week -- and sometimes twice on Saturdays. The list of projects I had in mind for my new pad was as long as a city block and I knew some choices needed to be made. The most important one: Should I go to Home Depot (NYSE: HD) or Lowe's (NYSE: LOW)?

I always go to Home Depot to get lumber or some screws for the toolbox, or to glance at the power tools that I always dream of finding a use for. I go to Lowe's to pick up a closet organizer or to look at the latest washer and dryers on sale. They're both big box home improvement stores, but each one has its own special place in the world.

When I first drive into the lot of the big orange beast, I always see construction crews hauling lumber and Sheetrock into their vans. I know these people didn't search online for what they needed here, mainly because the HD site only has 20% of their actual inventory online. If you want to know what's in Home Depot, you actually have to go to Home Depot. As I walk inside, I find this magical place where men can walk happily around sawdust filled floors, sans spouse, testing out power tools and talking shop with other men. Workers in bright orange aprons walk side-by-side with beeping forklifts that weave in and out of crowded isles, creating an atmosphere that would intimidate any novice do-it-yourselfer. This is the department store for DIY weekend warriors. This is home.

I certainly don't get the same feeling driving to Lowe's. Lowe's is more focused on the aesthetics of home improvement and the final product, compared to Home Depot, which I feel is more about tools and parts. I can search through the Lowe's website much easier than Home Depot's, and even place an order to pick-up whatever I need, which is always good for the novice fixer-upper. Walking into Lowe's, I see couples walking on perfectly swept floors down extra-bright, super-wide aisles. I walk past tons of appliances and machinery that call out to me: top-of-the-line refrigerators, washing machines, and lawn tractors; I walk past them in amazement. This is a place for the general public and the occasional fix-it-yourself team; and this place takes pride in targeting women in their stores -- officials directly aim for the female customer by placing shelves at the perfect height for the 5-foot-4-inch customer.

Continue reading Home Depot vs. Lowe's: Battle of the Brands

Home Depot vs. Lowe's: Battle of the Brands originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 14 Apr 2007 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Paper is King! Long live the wood products! Ah yes, that is the single most dependable mantra upon which my home state of Wisconsin is built. First there was the early fur trade that brought eager French entrepreneurs into the region. Then, there were profitable but short-lived mining opportunities that helped bring in the railroads. As land was cleared and transportation options increased, we became farmers and dairy providers extraordinaire. But perhaps most important of all have been our trees. Remember Chicago, we built you not once but a second time also after you burned the first efforts to the ground!

So what has this got to do with investing? Well, if you don't even feel a connection, perhaps you'd like to read further. There's a lot of activity swirling around the wood products sector and it's not all bad. For instance, did you know that recent polls have concluded that the decline in newspaper readership has stalled? Yes it's true, but the pollsters would like you to interpret that as meaning that internet (blog) readership is therefore in decline. I'm sure it makes no difference that the polls I viewed were conducted by agencies who mostly serve the televised news services (chuckle, chuckle, snort, snort). Perhaps one day they'll get wise and realize that newspapers are the apples, blogs are the oranges and televised newscasts are more like tasteless avocados, which are of little use until made into guacamole. For further input on the subject of newspaper journalism and it's future, please read the excellent article by Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine. Newspapers aren't suffering as badly as some would have you believe. I'll write more on this later.

This past week we received news that Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) is planning to cease Life Magazine publication. Then shortly after that we got word that we'd see the demise of Child Magazine. On both counts I'll plead, I'll believe it when I see it, or when I don't see it as the case may be. I'd give you even money on the possibility that both declarations of publication cessation are threats made towards advertising space clients as much as they're announcements to an affected readership. If I'm wrong, then you had better buy shares in the PC notebook manufacturers because they'll be selling a whole lot of them as our magazines drop out of existence one by one. Just remember that I don't think anyone ever got mugged on a subway for a magazine, and you may need to take you laptop along on your next visit to the doctor's or dentist's waiting room.

Continue reading Speculating on the changing grain of wood products

Speculating on the changing grain of wood products originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.