Premium Pricing Strategies And The Economy

(This is my second blog post that solely discusses pricing issues.  My first was on April 23, 2010) Firms in general have enjoyed the economic “tailwind” of rising sales for decades.  While this can be seen in a variety of measures, one of particular note is that of Retail Sales.  As seen in the following …

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2Q 2010 Corporate Revenues

For the last few quarters, I have been commenting upon the general lack of revenue growth in corporate results.  I have focused on a variety of diversified manufacturers and distributors, all of them well-respected S&P500 firms.    My last comment on this issue was on May 5. For the recently released 2Q 2010 financial results, …

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The Business Environment

Frequently, one hears of the high profits and large (from a historical perspective) cash positions of companies.  While this may be true more or less, especially among larger companies, I believe that it depicts the current overall business environment in an overly positive light. As I have written of previously, there are significant problem areas …

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Cost Cutting – A Few Comments

McKinsey Quarterly had an interesting May 2010 article on cost cutting. I have many thoughts on the issue of cost cutting.  The issue is complex and  particularly challenging as detailed data and analyses on the subject seem to be lacking, despite cost cutting’s widespread popularity over many years. While prudent management of costs is of …

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Rising Costs And Inflation

“And long before this recession hit — for a decade — middle-class families had already been expensing — experiencing a sense of declining economic security.  Their paychecks were flat-lining even though the cost of everything from groceries to college educations to health care were all going up.” President Obama, during an April 2, 2010 speech …

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1Q 2010 Corporate Revenues

For the last few quarters, I have been commenting upon the general lack of revenue growth in corporate results.  I have focused on a variety of diversified manufacturers and distributors, all of them well-respected S&P500 firms.    My last comment on this issue was on January 29. For the recently released 1Q2010 financial results, it …

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Pricing In Our Current Environment

Pricing is a very complex discipline even during periods of economic growth and stability.  With the onset of increased economic uncertainty and volatility over the last few years, pricing’s complexity has significantly grown. Of course, it is impossible to characterize all firms as having the same pricing issues, as each industry and firm has a …

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Inventories

One of the key questions with regard to economic activity is the extent to which it is being driven by inventory replacement.   As seen in the CalculatedRisk blog of March 12, “the contribution to GDP in Q4 from ‘Change in private inventories’ was 3.88 of the 5.9 percent annualized increase in GDP.” Here are …

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NFIB Small Business Optimism – A Few Comments

On April 13, the NFIB put out a notable press release. Although the entire press release is worth reading, here are some notable excerpts: “The March reading is very low and headed in the wrong direction,” said Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB chief economist. “Something isn’t sitting well with small business owners. Poor sales and uncertainty continue …

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Productivity – A Few Comments

Over the years, the topic of productivity has often been mentioned. I’ve had thoughts on the matter for years.  An example is this “Letter To The Editor” I wrote concerning a BusinessWeek story back in 1995 (3rd letter down). Here is a March 31 Washington Post story on productivity. As the article says, “One of …

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