America's Economic Future – A Discussion By Ted Kavadas
On September 28 the Business Roundtable’s CEO Economic Outlook Survey was released for Q3. The Duke/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey was released on September 15. Both surveys are well worth looking at, and in general highlight a weakening outlook among executives. In the CEO survey, of particular interest is the CEO Economic Outlook Index, …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
My analyses indicate that, unfortunately, businesses will continue to face very challenging conditions. Many already find themselves in rather perilous circumstances, as witnessed by the number and breadth (across industries) of companies experiencing double-digit revenue declines, not to mention innumerable other statistics. On a couple of occasions I have written about the conditions that businesses face during …
One phrase that I have heard mentioned a few times is that the economic and market declines of 2008-early2009 created a “Opportunity of a Lifetime” to buy stocks, businesses, and other assets. I am not sure what reasoning is used to justify the “Opportunity of a Lifetime” phrase (and no reasoning has been provided). It would …