Comments on: Truck Shipments Continue to Confirm Consumer Slowdown

By: The Week Ahead (22 April 2007) - Stock Market Beat - Our beat: The stock market. Our job: Beat it.

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 03:37:56 +0000

[...] Arkansas Best (ABFS) – We’re staying away from truckers who own trucks. [...]

By: RIMM: Great Expectations put Research in Motion in Bleak House - Stock Market Beat - Our beat: The stock market. Our job: Beat it.

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:40:56 +0000

[...] The company is forecasting higher than expected revenue but lower than expected profits, which they blame partly on the administrative costs associated with the options investigation. However, gross margins were down 150 basis points year/year and looking at the deals available on Amazon.com (including some that you have to click to a separate page to find out they’ll give you money to take one) we suspect it has more to do with very aggressive pricing in a desperate attempt to get units out the door. If they can only “meet” estimates when giving away the phone (and then some) what can we really expect for sales and profitability with both consumer and enterprise spending slowing and the Apple (AAPL) iPhone launch on the horizon? [...]

By: UTIW: Don’t Jump to Conclusion that UTi Worldwide’s Miss is Company-Specific - Stock Market Beat - Our beat is the stock market. Our job is to beat it.

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 15:21:55 +0000

[...] However, we wouldn’t be so quick to attribute the revenue gains, more than half of which came from acquisitions, to a strong transportation environment. Recent data have shown a slowdown in trucking, a disappointment from FedEx (FDX – Annual Report), and other signs that fewer goods are being moved about. Meanwhile, the shares of companies similar to UTi such as Large Cap Watch List (Track at Marketocracy) member Expeditors International (EXPD) and Small Cap Watch List (Track at Marketocracy) and Mid Cap Watch List (Track at Marketocracy) member Landstar Systems (a href=”http://stockmarketbeat.com/blog1/category/transports/lstr/”>LSTR – Annual Report) have held up well. [...]

By: GDP: More Production, Less Consumption - Stock Market Beat - Our beat is the stock market. Our job is to beat it.

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 14:16:18 +0000

[...] What that means is that more stuff was produced (this is Gross Domestic Product, after all) but less was consumed. Instead it sat in inventory. Not that this should be a surprise, given the recent data from durable goods, transportation, and other sources. The slowdown in tech spending could reflect anticipation of the Microsoft (MSFT – Annual Report) Vista release. [...]