stlplaceYou don’t have to be a stock junkie to know this one. Blackstone IPO generated so much buzz lately, from Chinese State Investment Co. take a significant stake (without voting power), to its high flying CEO cashing in billions of dollars in the IPO, and some congressman talking about impose the 33% tax rate rather than the 15% capital gain tax for private equity firms.
I briefly read its S1 prospectus today. I noticed a few things kind of interesting:
The stock got another hit today as its CFO says that: meeting the high end of the coffee shop chain’s 2007 earnings forecast will be “very challenging” due to rising dairy costs and slowing sales growth in its U.S. business,…
It seems high gas prices are really hurting them, in two ways. Some customers have to choose between a $4 latte between $3 gas, you can read this Dallas Monring News article if you are into the details. From cost side, the rising diary cost was passed on from higher corn (think ethanol) price. Also, keep in mind, the capital expenditure of new stores opened recently will take some time to bring returns. So, you can say they are facing a head wind. Wallstreet gave up on them because its growth has clearly slowed down in the US.
Some interesting numbers in 1997 and 2007:
Unlead Gas per gallon: 1997: $0.80 (Rolla, MO), 2007: $2.76 (St. Louis, as of today June 21), about 250% increase.
International call to China per minute: 1997: $0.76(LCI), 2007: $0.08 (AT&T Advantage, quote from ipevo), $0.02 (Skype or phone cards). Or you can use VoIP from iTalkBB $24.99 plan which offers unlimited calls to China and a few other countries. Anyway it’s about 90% drop of price.
Mittal is the largest steel maker in the world. I happened to watch the CNBC interview of its CEO this morning. I checked the chart (Google Finance) of Arcelor Mittal (MT), it went up 2129% in 5 years. I also happened to see the Nokia (NOK), a stock I traded in 2004, it went up 132% in 5 years.
So when I paid attention to all these latest fashion, trends, gadgets and cell phones, the old boring steel stock brought great return for its investors. I need to rethink my investing strategy now 🙂
I guess they changed name to differentiate from “UPS Ground”?
I got my refurbished iPod today, from Fedex Ground (a.k.a. Home Delivery) office instead of receiving it at home. They attempted to deliver twice last week, but I was not at home in both occasions. The strange thing is they did not leave a notice. Yesterday (Monday) I received an email from Apple telling me the situation. So I went to the Fedex office because it’s close to where I work. But the Home Delivery office opens from Tuesday to Saturday. So I went there again today, and finanlly I got it.
(Update June 25) Fuwei has a news release regarding this today.
(Update June 19) The stock (FFHL) got a big lift (18%) today. Major’s rule No. 2: stock moves when Major mentions it at stlplace, e.g., EDU (mentioned in June 9) and FFHL. Some speculative Chinese stocks got big move too, e.g. EFUT is up 30% today.
Seriously I am not saying Fuwei is a bad company. Its previous owner got big problems though. Do your own research before jumping in.
(Original June 18) I’ve paid attention to Fuwei Film Holding Limited (FFHL) since its IPO, as you may notice I’ve mentioned it couple times in my blog. Obviously things have take a turn lately, if you checked its stock price. I did not follow all the details until read this Chinese news. Let me summarize it because the aricle is in Chinese and it’s a bit long. In simple words: the owners and founders of Fuwei are suspected in “transfer state owned assets to personal pockets” through a bunch of “financial engineering activities”; they are under “Shuang Gui” (arrest in a better name) right now.
This sounds a little strange: a smaller fish swallowed up a bigger one. Here is some details (Houston Chronicle):
“Finish Line operates 694 Finish Line stores in 47 states, 93 Man Alive stores in 19 states and 15 Paiva stores in 10 states.
Nashville-based Genesco sells shoes, hats and accessories in more than 2,000 retail stores in the United States and Canada under several store names, including Journeys, Johnston & Murphy, Underground Station, Hatworld and Lids.”
Last summer I wrote about this. This year’s show starts tonight, June 18 at Forest Park. Hope I can catch more shows this year.
Nice things about the MUNY:
Here is the definition from Per Dohler, a software localization guru: Localization is the process of adapting a product, in our context a software program, to a specific locale, i.e., to its language, standards and cultural norms as well as to the needs and expectations of a specific target market. A properly localized product also meets all the legal requirements in force in the user’s region. Wikipedia also has a good description. GiltWorld is a Chinese site dedicated to the software localization in China.
Mop is less cool (pacific epoch): Mop, the Chinese teen social networking web sites, became less cool because it did not turn on the Air Condition to save utility cost. Separately, Mop’s parent Co., Oak Pacific, is not going IPO very soon.
Starbucks to offer salad (Starbucks Gossip): so that they can offer a one stop shop for lunch customer? In doing so they are dumping Jones Soda from fridge. Sorry, go to Panera (St. Louis) Bread Co. if you still want Jones Soda.