Economy: Who Will Lead Us To Recovery? | Newsweek Business

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Yahoo! is probably still the leader in display advertising revenue among US websites. It runs a distant second to Google in the much more profitable search ad business. Google may do fairly well through a bad economic patch because its system is considered to be the most efficient way to reach customers. The display advertising business has started to shrink as companies cut marketing budgets to preserve capital. Yahoo! has about 20% of the US search market to Google's 66%. As the online ad industry begins to recover, Yahoo! will be able to tell shareholders that its search revenue has become more robust. If display advertising begins to recover a few months later, marketers across a number of sections of the economy will be returning cautiously back into the market. Advertising gets cut in a recession and put back into budgets as conditions recover.

E*Trade is the weakest member of the three big discount brokerage firms which includes Schwab and TDAmeritrade. Commissions, fees, and service charges, indications of revenue health, all dropped in E*Trade's fourth quarter. The company added over 76,000 new customers in the last three months of last year, but assets per customer dropped 23% to under $35,000 because of the falling market. When that asset per customer number begins to rise, even modestly, more investors will be starting to make money in the market or put more money into their accounts in the hope of catching a recovery in stocks.

Staples is where small businesses go to buy inexpensive office supplies. The US Census Bureau says there are just over 5.9 million "employer firms" in the US. About 3.8 million of those have fewer than 10 employees. When Staples reported its most recent quarter early in December, the company said "the worsening economy both in the U.S. and Europe have led both Staples' business and retail customers to postpone purchases that are deemed not urgent.." With 2,000 stores worldwide, Staples is a near-perfect proxy for small business spending. The day the firm says it expects a rebound in sales and earnings is the day economists will believe that the millions of companies no one sees or talks about are contributing to improving GDP.

Electronic Arts, the largest maker of video games, has fallen on hard times. Video game consoles and the games themselves were supposed to be "recession proof" because of their low cost and entertainment value. That theory has fallen apart as Sony and Nintendo have reported that sales of products like Playstation and Wii are slowing down. EA recently laid off more than 1,000 people after missing quarterly sales targets. The firm ships games, including "Need for Speed Undercover" and "LITTLEST PET SHOP", which sell millions of copies and make EA a very good barometer for consumer electronics spending. The company expects revenue for its fiscal year ending March 2010 to be flat with this year. When that figure starts to grow again, it will be a significant sign that consumer electronics discretionary spending is improving.

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So Wal-Mart is the leading stock to invest in.
WalMart finds nothing wrong with importing and sellling toxic merchandise from China. Infact, they import so many toxic products that the FDA and CPA, which WalMart would like to eliminate, can't keep up with them. . Their health insurance is so overpriced and so loaded with deductible that most employees resort to the local emergency wards increasing the tax burdens on everybody. Their massive asphalt parking lots mess up the water table and contribute to water pollution. they drive small mom-and-pop enterprises out of business. In fact, Wal-Mart is small business' greatest enemy.
Worse, Al profit from overseas sweatshop and child labor. They cheat their employees. Wal-Mart is notorious for off-clock time. And Wal-Mart finds nothing wrong with hiring undoucmented immigrants or so-called "guest" workers whom they treat like sliaves. I'd suggest that McIntyre try living on a Wal-Mart salary and investigate housing options. Barbara Ehrenreich tried it . Maybe McIntyre should read her book Nickel and Dimed to find out what working for Wal-Mart is like. We now have a serious problem with the housing market. How many Wal-Mart workers will ever be able to afford the array of over-priced McMansions that have become toxic assets for the banking industry? Bear in mind the slave labor wages Wal-Mart pays its workers both in the US and abroad also destroy our economy's customer base. You can't sell a computer to some one who doesn't earn enough to buy food. That's the big reason we're in a recession and a dimey little tax cut won't help.
McIntyre's article represents the stupdity of traditional economic thinking, which also fuels the GOP. That's the one reason I voted for change.
P.S. I do own stock. Wal-Mart and is exploitative labor practices are screwing my portfolio.

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Posted By: didimau @ 02/14/2009 12:19:03 PM

One of the best things that has bee implemented so far is the limiting of bankers and CEO's pay and bonus's while the rest of the country is suffering. These guys are just plain greedy. We Americans have no pity on these morons who rip off the system that makes them a living while they skim big bucks off of the little guy.

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/politics_pop/index.html
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Posted By: didimau @ 02/14/2009 12:16:45 PM

GM will lead the country out of the recession by the second half of this year. This company has taken its "hits" and is now ready to move forward. Next weeks announcements will be the "right thing" that is going to move the company forward faster than people actually believe.
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Posted By: Mwalimu @ 02/14/2009 10:01:20 AM

So Wal-Mart is the leading stock to invest in.
WalMart finds nothing wrong with importing and sellling toxic merchandise from China. Infact, they import so many toxic products that the FDA and CPA, which WalMart would like to eliminate, can't keep up with them. . Their health insurance is so overpriced and so loaded with deductible that most employees resort to the local emergency wards increasing the tax burdens on everybody. Their massive asphalt parking lots mess up the water table and contribute to water pollution. they drive small mom-and-pop enterprises out of business. In fact, Wal-Mart is small business' greatest enemy.
Worse, Al profit from overseas sweatshop and child labor. They cheat their employees. Wal-Mart is notorious for off-clock time. And Wal-Mart finds nothing wrong with hiring undoucmented immigrants or so-called "guest" workers whom they treat like sliaves. I'd suggest that McIntyre try living on a Wal-Mart salary and investigate housing options. Barbara Ehrenreich tried it . Maybe McIntyre should read her book Nickel and Dimed to find out what working for Wal-Mart is like. We now have a serious problem with the housing market. How many Wal-Mart workers will ever be able to afford the array of over-priced McMansions that have become toxic assets for the banking industry? Bear in mind the slave labor wages Wal-Mart pays its workers both in the US and abroad also destroy our economy's customer base. You can't sell a computer to some one who doesn't earn enough to buy food. That's the big reason we're in a recession and a dimey little tax cut won't help.
McIntyre's article represents the stupdity of traditional economic thinking, which also fuels the GOP. That's the one reason I voted for change.
P.S. I do own stock. Wal-Mart and is exploitative labor practices are screwing my portfolio.