Fortune: The Unending Woes Of Lee Scott

well… getting rid of layaway seemed to piss off a lot of customers so that doesn’t help.  And as a long time associate, I feel like they are trying to get rid of long time employees and replace them with punky teenagers in insane clown posse shirts and ripped jeans that seem to be ok to wear in the store I work out.  The greed is showing....

Mr. Scott has issues.
Mr Scott listens to the wrong people.  Mr. Scott now wants to slam more customers and piss them off by eliminating Fabrics and Crafts.  Mr. Scott has issues.  Poor managers Poor Market Managers and the moral of the company is in the toilet.
Think Big think he will get it right.  If Mr. Scott loves Wal-Mart he should step down because he has been taking the company down with himself. 
The people and the customers are sick and tired of the abuse. It is time for Change.

Agami,

“Mr. Scott now wants to slam more customers and piss them off by eliminating Fabrics and Crafts.”

But, this should make the anti Wal-Marters HAPPY, now the mom & pops can pick up this business again. 

“the customers are sick and tired of the abuse.”

160 million customers a week, say you are wrong!!

He needs to be gone, ever since he came in the company has gone down hill, i used to love this company, i bought lots of stock in it before he came and still did for about a two years after, then seeing he didnt care for the associates and was going against the culture i quit buying the stock and sold it when it was up. the associates are tired of this company and the customers are tired of it two. just look at the sales, insurance and the treatment of us. We used to have insurance and better than average choices in the insurance. now if you have something done, walmart administers the plan and they decide if you can have it or not. and they want a bank, oh my god, if they get a bank they will have more ways to take your money and take control of the communities. enough is enough. I dont even get my medicene there, i dont trust them even though of HIPPA. customers and associates can decide their fate and its headed the way it needs to be going. i used to go above and beyond the call for them, now its just a “paycheck”. they capped the pay for the ones like me and lets computer tell me what my schedule is. so with all the care for me. they can have my payroll in 30 days to spend on the bad public relations, because my notice started jan 1. mom and pop stores just need to hang in there awhile longer, you got my business.

happier than ever in the USA

I don’t understand this focus with stock. Certainly Wal-Mart’s flat share price has pissed off the brokers who love to churn and burn-and charge you no matter which way the stock moves. It pisses off mutual funds, fund managers, day traders and speculators because they make their money through manipulation of stock price. The allocation of capital is important and I have a lot of respect for many financial people. But they don’t seem to understand or care that a company is worth more than its stock price. The underlying value counts. Now, in a true free market, you could say that Wal-Mart’s yearly success in sales and profit growth would be enough to enjoy a higher stock price. In reality, that is not how it works. It is not that Wal-Mart’s stock is a bad investment; it’s that there is not enough movement in the short term to benefit fund managers and brokers who constantly lose their asses and are rewarded greatly for their dismal performance.

Let’s give an example. Company X has sales of $5 billion, profits of $1 billion and a market cap of $10 billion spread over 1 billion shares. It trades at $10 per share and earns $1.00 per share. This gives it a 20/1 P/E ratio. Company Y has sales of $10 billion, profits of $2 billion, market cap of $50 billion spread over 1 billion shares. It trades at $50 and has earnings of $1 per share, putting its’ P/E ratio at 50. Though it has the same profit margain as Company X, investors seem more willing to pay a higher premium for the stock of Company Y over Company X. This really has nothing to do with the underlying value of either company nor does it mean that either company will have access to any additional capital through the market (unless it holds shares in treasury or issues additional shares). All this means is investors have more confidence in the future growth rate of Company Y. Company X is unaffected and is in fact a cash cow.

Get your facts straight, everyone. Wal-Mart turns a very nice profit for retail. Each year they set new records in sales and profits. But because of their size, investors are no longer willing to bet that their stock will grow at the same rate it did in the past.

walmart associate,

“i quit buying the stock and sold it when it was up.”

If I am not mistaken, Wal-Mart stock pays dividends.  If those dividends are reinvested, your stock value can grow, as the number of shares you own increases, even if the price doesn’t go up much.

WM gives us 15% on top of the stock we buy, up to $1800 a year I think it is.

Is that just a shadow under Lee Scott’s nose in the picture or has he grown a Hitler mustache?

Nobody in noplace

That would explain those ZAZI t-shirts, and why they still haven’t taken them out of the stores. Lets keep our eyes out for GOOSE stepping along with the WM cheer!

DAVE SMITH
PROUD UNION IRONWORKER

The T-shirts are actually just a new test logo WM put out to see how people like it. The smiley-face just does not seem to be a good fit these days.

So, are the new uniforms, vintage WWII, SS uniforms that survived the war?

DAVE SMITH
PROUD UNION IRONWORKER

Ellis wrote: “Get your facts straight, everyone.”

Ummm, let’s see. Should I accept your “facts” or those of a recognised market analyst?

“How can Wal-Mart turn things around? First, it has to acknowledge that the wheels have fallen off the Bentonville Bus. Then it has to bring in some savvy merchants from the outside and give them a real chance to improve the quality of the stores—the atmosphere, the merchandise, the service, everything—without raising prices. (And it wouldn’t hurt if Wal-Mart would create, if not a Starbucks pro-labor feel, at least something that makes shoppers feel that it’s not a global retailing bully and its workers aren’t all desperate retired folks.)

We are nowhere near that now. Wal-Mart’s still thinking that all is well, and that only Wall Street doesn’t understand the greatness of the chain. Funny, Wall Street actually respects Wal-Mart more than it should—it’s Main Street that’s deserting the place in droves. And while Wal-Mart might have just given us a “good” earnings report, the reality is that the numbers only looked good given how low Wal-Mart had set the bar. Until Wal-Mart gets new management, I don’t see its fortunes improving. To me, the company’s stock is a sell, at least until it gets down to the sort of rock-bottom price that Wal-Mart prides itself on offering.” ~ Jim Cramer