The chart below is something you need to see to have some medium to long term perspective on the economy and the job market. It comes under the heading of something you won’t see in the mainstream media. I have finally been doing this long enough to know that people don’t always like it when […]
A Medium to Long Term Perspective on the Job Market Read More »
Billabong’s annual report and associated documents released around it contain a wealth of information. Some of the questions asked by the analysts in the conference call, and the answers provided, were particularly interesting. But equally important, there are some insights into general market conditions, the evolution of the retail environment and issues with Chinese production. It’s a lot
Orange 21 turned a profit of $408,000 in the quarter ended June 30 after losing $254,000 in the same quarter last year. For six months, a loss of $1.058 million was reduced to $529,000. For the quarter, they did it by increasing sales 4.5% and increasing their gross profit margin from 45.9% to 57.8%. And they did it
Orange 21’s (Spy Optics) June 30 Quarter; What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Strong Read More »
Just for a moment, hypothetically, let’s think about PacSun’s turnaround strategy, whether it might make sense for them to start carrying hard goods, and how other companies might react. PacSun’s Strategy That PacSun is in the middle of a turnaround is hardly disputable, if only because their management has characterized it that way. And in my
I Wonder if PacSun Might Carry Hard Goods; And What Would Zumiez Think? Read More »
Nike came out with their 10K annual report maybe 10 days ago. Because we’re in the habit of focusing on the press release and the conference call which happens much sooner, nobody seems to have paid any attention to this 145 page document. But never fear, I’m a glutton for punishment and there were a few interesting
Nike’s Annual Report- A Few Interesting Facts Read More »
I swear I wrote as fast as I possibly could during the conference call and hope I got all the good stuff. The press release was pretty much lacking in detailed management discussion and there were no footnotes to the financial statements. I know probably nobody will care by the time the actual quarterly report is filed
How’s Volcom Doing? Their Quarterly Results Read More »
VF Corporation, the owner of Vans, Nautica, North Face, Reef and a whole lot of other brands released their results last week for the quarter ended June 30. They also held a conference call I listened to. They had a strong quarter and we’ll get to the numbers. Oh hell, let’s start with a summary
VF’s Quarter Ended June 30- Good Numbers, China, and Retail Strategy Read More »
I stole the chart below from Clusterstock (It’s not stealing if you confess, is it?) and wanted to share it with you. Look at the unemployment rate for our prime customers; the young workers aged 16-24. It’s close to 20% as of May. Now, if you’re in skate you go younger than 16 and if you’re in apparel,
How is Our Customers Buying Power? A Chart That Should Make You Think Read More »
Somewhere in the area of 75 AD the silver content of the Roman Denarius was about 100%. It was solid silver. Somewhere before 300 AD that content had fallen to around 10% or less. The value of the currency fell and the empire’s debt rose as Rome fell apart. I thought that was an interesting fact, so I
Jeff’s First Book Report (at least since the 10th grade) Read More »
Or Maybe Zumiez is Going to Buy Them Oh, and Billabong Bought RVCA Okay, Zumiez is Out of the Picture Anyway, This is All Really Interesting- and Related As you know, Billabong made an offer on June 30 to acquire the Canadian action sports retailer West 49. Only July 9th, Zumiez said
Billabong Acquiring West 49 Read More »