 Hot Tickets From the Alliance
Each week Alliance members submit "Hot Tickets" as a way of presenting new observations and ideas on investable opportunities to ChangeWave.
* Note: These Hot Tickets are for informational purposes only. They do not represent recommendations from ChangeWave.
(1) Local Competitors Hurting
CHU53498 writes: "Wal-Mart (WMT) is a leader in low-cost clothing, but one of their local competitors, Goody's Family Clothing, is liquidating. So this is temporarily pulling sales from Wal-Mart, as everyone is buying clothes at cheap prices from Goody's. I see Wal-Mart driving its local competition out of business during this recession, and its sales in the second half of 2009 should rebound because the competition is gone."
(2) Consumer Credit Crunch
GRE1314 writes: "Consumer credit cards could be the next area for write-offs after real estate. I've received two cancellation letters from credit card companies -- Capital One (COF) and Washington Mutual. In my 20-plus years of having credit cards, I have never had one of my accounts closed by a bank. I suspect companies that have more risk in the consumer lending area are doing whatever they can to reduce their exposure, which includes closing accounts. Things are likely to get very difficult for those with marginal credit histories."
(3) Macworld vs. CES
WIL13938 writes: "Before Macworld, the Applesphere buzzed with chatter about an impending 'iPhone Pro' or 'iPhone Elite' upgrade. The wonderful improvement would, according to this vision, include a physical keyboard that would fold or slide out. The other major expectation was that Apple (AAPL) would enter the thriving netbook market.
"Surprisingly, an 'iPhone Elite' and a 'MacBook Nano' were both announced -- but not at Macworld, and not by Apple. They were unveiled at the CES by Palm (PALM) and Sony (SNE) -- two industry laggards written off as has-beens."
(4) Better in Texas
RLT93271 writes: "Within the past two weeks, we had two birthdays that were celebrated at two different restaurants. At Red Lobster, which is owned by Darden Restaurants (DRI), the service was poor and the staff seemed to be rushed. At Texas Roadhouse (TXRH), the service was very good considering that the place was full, and when we left every employee that we went by thanked us for coming in. Our next dinner will be at Texas Roadhouse."
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