Hints and tips:
...Yet to judge by much of blue-collar Sam’s Club America (named after Wal-Mart’s discount cards), there are other, more distracting, things to worry about....
...Admittedly, August retail sales figures showed unexpected strength at Wal-Mart, Macy’s and a host of other retailers....
...She cited Mr Scott’s relationship with Irwin Jacobs, an entrepreneur who runs Genmar Holdings, the largest US maker of recreational boats....
...This beneficial effect is at its most evident in a company such as Wal-Mart....
...“There’s nothing out there that floats [our] boat right now,” he said. DR Horton’s net profit for the December quarter fell from $310.1m to $109.7m, including $78m in write-downs....
...This time round large corporations, such as Wal-Mart, have signed up to reform....
...Brunswick, maker of recreational boats, dropped 7.2 per cent to $29.55 after it said earnings for the second quarter and for 2006 would be less than forecast....
...Retail was badly hit, with Wal-Mart shedding 6.4 per cent to $43.05 after Merrill Lynch cut its rating on the stock from “buy” to “neutral”....
...The fact that everyone in the industry is in the same boat is one reason it has been accepted....
...Members of the middle class do not have to worry about falling off $250,000 sailing boats, because they do not have $250,000 sailing boats off which to fall....
...Many of Brinkley’s heroes are those who cut through the bureaucracy, including the US Coast Guard, the only government agency to emerge from Katrina with credit; Wal-Mart, which moved supplies into the region...
...If, according to an old traders’ saying, a rising tide lifts all boats, then America’s corporate captains have been riding high on the crest of the long bull market....
...But when he and other sceptics realised that containers allowed boats to be turned round in hours rather than days, the tide turned decisively....
...“If we have a floating inflatable ring for towing behind a boat, it will be the biggest there is . . . and it will be 10ft across . . . and it will only cost $49.99,” Mr Galanti says, speaking with rapid...
...The city's Audubon zoo and the Wal-Mart car park have been converted into command centres....
...They make it by being Wal-Mart....
International Edition