Favorable economic data pushed stocks near a 100-point gain Tuesday morning. One of the positive reports came from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), which noted that its service-sector index increased to 53.2 during September. This reading easily outpaced August's reading of 51.5 and handily trumped the Street's estimate for a reading of 52.0.

This reading is good because any readings above 50 signal growth in the service sector. This sector is considered the area where the most jobs are created; ergo, growth in this sector suggests that there will be more hiring on the horizon. On a yearly basis, the index shows that service companies have expanded every month this year.

Continue reading Service Sector Growth Increases, Stocks Rally

Service Sector Growth Increases, Stocks Rally originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Few Public Services, Programs Are Safe in New Normal Era

Few Public Services, Programs Are Safe in New Normal Era originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Wal-Mart's service gets a high mark today

Wal-Mart's service gets a high mark today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Nov 2006 10:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Having posted all week about eBay and getting a tirade of in depth responses from sellers who feel mistreated, deceived, disrespected and financially punished, I feel that this issue will not go away. Not because of my continuous posts and not because sellers feel so passionate about the issues they raise.

The real reason the fire continues to burn is that eBay has not sent in the fire brigade and chooses to ignore the fire. It may be a small fire now but small fires turn into big fires if the fuel is not removed (objectionable business practices) or the fire is not overwhelmed by a fire retarding agent -- better communication, more transparency, more warning of changes and seeking seller input as to how improvements might be made for mutual benefit.

In the case of eBay they hope the fire will burn itself out. Will it? The problem is that they are bullying the "little guy", but absolute power corrupts absolutely and eventually they will meet their match. It may be Google, it may be the SEC or FTC, it may be a large law firm that identifies a class action opportunity or a foreign company. As a kid I always enjoyed Popeye the sailor man, who brought us true "everyman" perspective. One of my favorite sayings of his was "that's all I can stands and I can't stands no more!"

Well, this sums up what I have been hearing all week from sellers. I have learned a lot and I'm sure others have as well. There is some pettiness on the part of some sellers that were conveyed in the comments. And, as always is the case, a few rambled on beyond reason, but I will let readers sort that out for themselves. I am closing out the week with the following message to eBay.

EBay Clean-up Procedure:

1) Better communication: eBay must give all of their vendors proper and timely notice of changes in their policies and practices. They must also take into consideration the time it takes to make adjustments by the sellers so that if they choose to stay with eBay they are not devastated.

Continue reading Ebay - Still love you but CLEAN UP YOUR ACT!

Ebay - Still love you but CLEAN UP YOUR ACT! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Aug 2006 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.