Wal-Mart Goes Down, Alice Goes Shopping

Yesterday, Wal-Mart, Inc. received “the worst negative reaction in recent memory” upon its announcement that first-quarter earnings fell well below Wall Street expectations and that its profits for the second quarter would be no better. CEO Lee Scott blamed high gas prices. But we know otherwise – and so does Wall Street.

Stock analysts up and down Wall Street are commenting on how Wal-Mart’s recent public relations “disaster” has them against the ropes. In other words – our strategy is working.

Meanwhile, also in New York, Alice Walton, the daughter of founder Sam Walton and the company’s 4th largest stock holder, comforted herself with a little shopping – including a $35 million dollar art purchase at Sotheby’s setting a new price record for an American painting. Read more here from the New York Times.

This is about greed. We’re on-watch for the rights of millions of Wal-Mart employees and their families, for our environment, for our national security and our economic futures. But, above it all, we’re on-watch against breathtaking and unprecedented personal and corporate greed.

Introduce your friends to Walwatch.com and help keep Wal-Mart in the news.

In just a few weeks since our launch, we’ve pushed Wal-Mart into the headlines – and we’re keeping them there! With your help, we’re shining the spotlight on their corruption and greed. We’re in the paper, on TV, on the radio and, through our growing partnerships with national and community organizations, on the ground across the country.

We celebrated yesterday along with a growing coalition, and the timing couldn’t have been better. Yesterday was the closing day of the Good Jobs First conference in Baltimore which brought together hundreds of leaders of the fight against Wal-Mart from around the country. Community organizers, church groups, labor unions, environmentalists, liberals and conservatives, each came to discuss their strategies, critical resources needs and exciting plans for the months ahead.

The fight is on – it’s working – and you are part of it. Below, please find some of the many articles that our team’s research has appeared in and prompted.

“From my visits to hundreds of stores, I sense that’s not sitting well with employees making minimum wage and struggling to make ends meet,” Buchanan said. [CNNMoney.com, 5/12/05]

“This stock is subject to considerable headline risk,” [Patrick McKeever, an analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey] says, referring to the almost weekly bouts of bad news surrounding the company’s community and worker relations. [The Street.com, 5/11/05]

UBS analyst Gary Balter had other concerns, given what he called “strangely low” guidance for quarterly same-store sales. “While gas is a convenient excuse right now, is there something deeper that should concern us,” he asked in a note to clients. [CBS MarketWatch, 5/12/05]

Read more news and join the discussion on the blog.

Thank you for all you do – and will do.

Andrew Grossman
Executive Director
WalmartWatch.com

PS. Check out new news about Wal-Mart using Nazi propaganda to fight a community group in Arizona. Will they stop at nothing to grow? Read more here.