The most controllable determinants of investment returns are the level of valuation at which investors choose to initiate their investment and the level of valuation at which they choose to terminate their investment. Once you choose to initiate your investment at a rich level of valuation, you require a rich terminal valuation at some point … Read more
Wal-Mart is down almost 8% on heavy trading volume since Monday morning. Over the weekend, a New York Times article accused Wal-Mart’s Mexican subsidiary of covering up years of bribes to Mexican government officials. The Times said that Wal-Mart investigated the situation starting in 2005, but when it found substantial evidence of illegal activity, it … Read more
Over the past several months, Wal-Mart’s stock has lagged far behind many of its retail peers. Wal-Mart, which closed around $56 per share on February 7, is up 12.3% since the end of August. That performance pales in comparison to the S&P Retail Index’s 37.1% jump during the same period. Sluggish U.S. results certainly play … Read more
Wal-Mart announced last Thursday that its board voted to raise the retailer’s dividend by 11%. Wal-Mart said it will pay a dividend of $1.21 a share over the course of the current fiscal year, up from $1.09 a share paid during fiscal 2010. For the company’s fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2011, the annual dividend … Read more
Wal-Mart held its third quarter conference call yesterday. From the call, we quote Eduardo Castro-Wright, who heads the Wal-Mart US division: “We continue to build on the momentum of the business to attract even more customers, improve their experience and strengthen our price leadership position across the country. Our underlying business remains strong and we … Read more