In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. Friedrich Nietzsche
We now have a glut of oil, and there’s a very good chance we’ll have a glut of water in a few decades after we implement all the new technology.
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Walmart is no longer on the cutting edge of retail; it cannot even compete with bottom-feeding dollar stores. The Behemoth from Bentonville still makes a lot of money; it just cannot attract any new customers. What is going on here?
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Yes it is a bit of a dark horse, but Rite Aid does meet some of Warren Buffett’s value criteria: it is a good company that has been going through a rough patch yet still has the potential to generate a lot of cash. It also has an easy-to-understand business model in a decidedly unglamorous industry—selling shaving cream and prescriptions. Rite Aid also meets another one of Uncle Warren’s classic criteria: it is a company that an idiot could run if necessary.
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What’s more intriguing is that Uncle Warren himself seemed to confirm such speculations with a cryptic remark to MSNBC. After calling Exxon a “wonderful company,” he said, “We thought we might have other uses for the money.”
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The major reason Jack Ma will stay away from mass retail in the U.S. is that the cost of entering in the market could simply be too high. The revenue from a large-scale U.S. retail operation might not justify the cost of setting up such a venture.
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What is even stranger is you would have to sell almost four shares of Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B (NYSE: BRK.B)[3] stock to get enough money to buy one share of Google’s Class B stock (NASDAQ: GOOG). On March 10, 2015, one share of BRK.B was selling for $143.85, while one share of GOOG was selling for $559.44.[4]
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It looks as if the purveyors of digital wallets are going to have to do a lot of old fashioned marketing if they want to get the public to accept their products. That might give Current C an advantage in the digital wallet wars because some of the companies behind it, such as Kroger, are very good at marketing.
Read MoreThe writing is on the wall: today’s value shoppers want healthy, quality foods that are convenient but sold at the lowest price possible. Those trends seem to benefit Kroger, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Costco Wholesale. A potential loser here is Walmart (NYSE: WMT), which has a reputation for low quality and lousy customer service.
Read MoreCostco’s same sales increased by 7% in January, and shopper traffic increased by 5.8% indicating that the retail recovery has definitely reached its warehouse. Meanwhile Sam’s Club’s sales without fuel grew by just 1.6% in the 13 weeks that ended on Jan. 30, 2015, and .5% during the year that ended on Jan. 30, 2015.
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A very dark horse contender for an eBay acquisition would be Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BERK.B). Uncle Warren is famously technology adverse, but eBay does meet some of his criteria: it’s a good company with a strong brand that’s well respected on Main Street but undervalued by the market. It also has a business model that generates a lot of float and cash—two of Buffett’s favorite things.
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