Domestic sales at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) have edged lower recently. To combat the slippage, Walmart is cutting prices on roughly 10,000 items.

Walmart wants to reinforce its reputation as the nation's leading discounter. During the economic downturn Walmart enjoyed a sweet spot. Bargain hunters flocked to the chain, especially its supercenters and specialty clothing stores.

Continue reading Walmart Cuts Prices to 'Increase Customer Excitement'

Walmart Cuts Prices to 'Increase Customer Excitement' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In almost every raw materials industry there is a tug of war between miners of the raw materials and manufacturers who refine their materials.

Today's struggle is between Chinese and Japanese steelmakers and iron ore miners. Steelmakers want a 40% cut in iron ore prices, while miners are holding out for a cut of 20% or less. China's leading steelmaker said that iron ore prices will fall by at least 40-50% in 2009.

China is threatening to cancel contracts with the three main iron ore companies, VALE (NYSE: RIO), Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) and BH Billiton (NYSE: BHP) if their demands for price cuts are not met.

Iron ore prices reached a high of $200 a ton in 2008 and then fell to $55 a ton. Prices have since rallied back to $72 a ton.

Do you think these price cuts will help our infrastructure projects?

Tug of war between miners and steelmakers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This week at an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) event and a follow-up press release Steve Jobs masterfully filled shareholder and consumer psyche with un-quelled anticipation about new iPhone and iPod product developments. Not to disappoint anyone, he did release information about a totally unanticipated huge development, a $200 price cut in the high-end 8 gigabyte iPhone. This reduces the retail price from $599 to $399 after only two months.

The screams from the "beta testers" that had to be the first ones on their block to own an iPhone were so loud that the actual discussion about the products themselves took a back seat. Surprised (maybe) and embarrassed marketing genius Jobs decided to announce a $100 rebate redeemable for merchandise at Apple stores to those angry customers who felt foolish and betrayed. In addition the stock took a hit, although in the long run the one day movement is irrelevant, in my opinion.

Continue reading Sunday Funnies: Apple (AAPL) iPhone price drops but Fed rate holds firm

Sunday Funnies: Apple (AAPL) iPhone price drops but Fed rate holds firm originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 09 Sep 2007 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Weak semiconductor market foils Novellus' plans originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 Jun 2007 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.