Is UGG's really that uggly???

Is Ugg losing some of its brand cachet?

Discounts on flash-sale site sparks concerns for parent Deckers

By Andria Cheng, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Deckers Outdoor Corp., known best for selling sheepskin boots, has seen its shares lose more than three-fifths of their value since reaching an all-time high of $118 last October, and the stock slumped another 8.7% Tuesday.

At issue are growing concerns about the company’s flagship Ugg brand losing its appeal while grappling with increased sheepskin and labor costs. The brand is crucial for Deckers because it alone generated $1.2 billion of sales, or 87% of Deckers’ total revenue last year.

Ugg classic boots

Goleta, Calif.-based Deckers DECK -8.38%  also has other brands, including Teva and Sanuk sandals.

Yet the red flag over Ugg boots was raised again on Tuesday, after Sterne Agee analyst Sam Poser reported receiving an email alerting him to limited-time sales of in-season, classic Ugg styles in basic neutral colors from flash-sale site BeyondtheRack.com. The analyst added that was the first time he’s seen the boots on sale at such a discount site, and that he called Beyond the Rack to verify the authenticity of the shoes and learned the stock didn’t come from Deckers itself.

“It means some retailers have excess inventory,” Poser said in an interview, noting there were discounts of 15% to 50% off regular prices — including one discounted to $179 from $210. Those shoes are the “stuff people think of when they think of Ugg. This is the first sign of the prices starting to break. It means demand has gone down. Early reads on Ugg sales are not promising [and] bodes poorly for fall sales.”

Deckers didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking comment. The stock was last at $43.82, down 41% so far this year.

Poser already cut his rating on Deckers stock in July to underperform from neutral, citing concerns that the shoe company’s Asian and European sales won’t improve this year and that sales will likely be hurt by higher prices and little innovation in its Ugg Classic category. He said then that he expected inventory to far outpace demand, leading to discounts. Poser also cautioned Deckers could lose its fashion customers to brands such as Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. KORS -2.50%  

“It’s clear to us that the Ugg ‘fashion trend’ has faded,” Poser wrote in a note Tuesday about the brand, which has been worn by celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker. “The question remains as to how much of the Ugg business is weather-related and how much is fashion-related.”

“We continue to believe that there are material risks to both guidance and the overall health of the Ugg brand,” he added. “If prices on Classics break down, we believe that the future of the Ugg brand may be at risk.”

Deckers has said the bulk of Ugg business is done in the third and fourth quarters, and that weather has had a greater impact on its business in the past two years.

Retailers’ concerns about demand for Uggs and not being stuck with excess inventory has led to a change in wholesale orders for Ugg, Poser said. Whereas in the past retailers would buy about 70% of their fourth-quarter orders in October and November, because they didn’t want to be short of Uggs to meet demand, this year retailers are only buying 30% to 40% of their orders during the same period, according to the analyst.

Uggs are sold at chains including Nordstrom Inc. JWN -1.97%  and Saks Inc. SKS -1.68%  Wholesale sales have surged to $915.2 million last year from $291.9 million in 2007, the company said in a regulatory filing.

DECK 43.95, -4.02, -8.38%

At a Goldman Sachs presentation earlier this month, Deckers Chief Operating Officer Zohar Ziv said the company is dealing with what he described as a “perfect storm,” where sheepskin prices the past two years rose about 80%, hurting this year’s profit by about $1.40 a share; and by a European downturn that’s hurt retailers across the board. He also cited weather as a concern.

Ziv pointed out that Deckers is broadening its product assortment and decreasing classic styles as a percentage of its total, and that he expects sheepskin prices to come down. Other brands such as Teva and Sanuk are trending well, according to the executive.

Deckers also is still cautious about not overdistributing the brand, he said, and consumer surveys show there’s continued demand for Uggs. “We still think there are significant growth opportunities both domestically and clearly many more internationally,” Ziv commented.

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Comment:

Interesting how the analyst from Stern Agee is critical about Deckers being sold at Beyondtherack.com but then praises Michael Kors.  Look below, Michael Kors watches being sold at Beyondtherack.com on 09/18/2012.   Since I do have an account with beyondtherack.com and I have seen plenty of Michael Kors products offered in the past besides watches, I'll post future Kors sales as they come up in Beyondtherack.com.

Michael Kors

The "Room to Read" of profitable corporations

Apple 2011 Annual Report

The "Apple" of Non-Profit organization

Room to Read 2011 Annual Report

Incomplete information leading to a misleading article by Mark Hulbert

How can you compare present day Apple to Cisco of 2000 without more information??  (another grandstanding, useless, and misleading article by your so called "market expert" who sells information to unsuspecting investors)

See article below:

By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (MarketWatch) – Apple will not have the world’s largest market cap forever.

That’s hardly an earth-shattering insight, of course. No company — not even Apple — can remain at the head of the pack in perpetuity.

But Apple AAPL -0.93%  fans nevertheless should pay close attention: The average company that rises to the top of the market-cap rankings proceeds thereafter to lag the overall market.

Consider an analysis I conducted of a list provided me by Standard & Poor’s that showed, as of the beginning of each year since 1980, the stock within the S&P 500 index SPX -0.81%   that had the largest market cap. For each of these stocks, I calculated its dividend-adjusted return over the subsequent 12 months, and compared that to the total return of the S&P 500 itself.

These stocks lagged the index by an average of 5.0 percentage points per year. And note carefully that even this number — large as it is — understates the true magnitude of underperformance, since the stocks with the largest market caps have a disproportionate impact on the performance of the S&P 500 itself.

One other data point should also give Apple investors pause: The average company at the top of the market-cap rankings is no longer in the top spot two years later.  

Remember Cisco Systems CSCO -0.49%  ? That company rose to the top of the market-cap list in early 2000, at the height of the Internet bubble. As we know now, of course, Cisco would remain at the top for only a short time. Its stock today is trading at around a quarter of its March 2000 all-time high.

Surprised by these findings? You shouldn’t be. Companies at the top of the market-cap rankings are, by definition, those that are riding a wave of popularity among investors. There’s therefore a good chance that they are overvalued.

In other words, bigger isn’t always better.

This notion isn’t new, of course. On the contrary, it is the core insight behind so-called fundamental indexes, market benchmarks that don’t weight stocks according to their market caps and focus on instead on any of a number of fundamental criteria such as sales, earnings, book value, and so forth. Fundamental indexes regularly outperform cap-weighted ones like the S&P 500.

One way of gauging Apple’s potential overvaluation is to see where the company would rank according to these fundamental criteria rather than market cap. One answer comes from the FTSE RAFI All-Caps US 1000 index: As of July 31, Apple was the 23rd largest company in that index.

 Mark Hulbert is the founder of Hulbert Financial Digest in Annandale, Va. He has been tracking the advice of more than 160 financial newsletters since 1980.

===================================================

Missing information that I will provide here:

In 2000, CSCO earned 36 cents per share for Fiscal 2000.

                                                     Range                 Annual

                                                   stock price      .36 per share annual

07/30/99 to 10/30/99:  .06 eps   37.00 / 29.38        103 to 82

11/01/99 to 01/29/00:  .11 eps   57.63 / 35.00         160 to 97

01/30/00 to 04/29/00:  .08 eps   80.06 / 54.75         222 to 152

04/30/00 to 07/29/00:  .11 eps   71.44 / 50.55         198 to 140

Fiscal 2001                                                         (.14) per share annual

07/30/00 to 10/28/00:  .11 eps   68.62 / 49.81      negative PE

10/29/00 to 01/27/01:  .12 eps   56.75 / 33.31      negative PE

01/28/01 to 04/28/01: (.37)eps  38.25 / 13.62      negative PE

04/29/01 to 07/28/01:  .00 eps     23.48 / 16.20    negative PE

(CSCO Data extracted from Fiscal 2000 and Fiscal 2001 10K reports filed with the SEC.)

Basically, when CSCO had a market cap of over $500 billion during the 3rd quarter of Fiscal 2000, its PE ratio was trading between 222 and 152.

Today, AAPL's pe ratio is about 15. 5 with a market cap over $620 billion.

The takeaway:  Quoting Jim Cramer:  "Do your research" 

George W Bush versus Barack Obama, from a stock market perspective (first term)

George W. Bush:
                                            DJIA      NDX       S&P 500
01/20/2001  Inauguration:  10,588    2,656        109
08/08/2004                          9,815     1,315          91  
% change                            -7.3%     -50.5%    -16.5%

========================================

Barack Obama

01/20/2009   Inauguration:   7,949      1,137          75           
08/08/2012                         13,176      2,714         140
% change                             65.8%     138.7%      86.7%

Is it time to YAHOO??

More Yahoo departures, Mayer expected to pull from Google

Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal

Date: Friday, August 3, 2012, 6:29am PDT

Enlarge Image

All Things Digital's Kara Swisher predicts that Yahoo's leader and former Googler Marissa Mayer is likely to pull talent from Google to build her team at Yahoo. 

With Yahoo Inc. former interim CEO Ross Levinsohn's departure from the company, additional exits have followed, All Things Digital's Kara Swisher reports.

They include Adam Bechtel, the VP of infrastructure at Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO), reportedly taking an unspecified job at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). And Jonathan Katzman, a product specialist who was part of the social efforts across Yahoo, taking a chief product officer position at the Minerva Project.

In addition, sales executive Marc Grabowski left the Sunnyvale-based digital media company without other plans, Swisher reports.

She predicts that the company's new leader and former Googler Marissa Mayer will continue to pull from talent from Mountain View-based Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). Mayer has already hired former Google PR executive Anne Espiritu, who will work in corporate communications at Yahoo.

==========================================================================

To put this in perspective:  When your sports team has been consistently losing for a decade plus and the causes are not due to uncontrollable events (Oakland Raiders for example), losing those starting players couldn't come soon enough! :-) 

AAPL earnings announcement on 07/24....

He doesn't look worry at all!

The real reason behind PF Chang's decision to go private

P.F. Chang's to go private in $1.1 billion deal

P.F. Chang's Chief Executive Rick Federico said going private would give his company greater flexibility to pursue its long-term strategy to increase traffic and improve performance....

let me now finish Mr. Federico's complete thought process....

"so that I don't have to deal with those f__khead analysts who can't even boil an egg let alone tell me how to run a billion dollar restaurant industry." :-)

Benefits of being a Localize It! member

 My Localize It! card

Got me this, a Passport to the commissioning of the USCGC Stratton at Coast Guard Island

Which gave me a chance to use my Nikon D5100 and behave like a paparazzi to take the following close-up pictures.....

of First Lady Michelle Obama!

Prediction by Carter Worth (less) of Oppenheinmer

On Feb. 16, here is a quote from Chief Market Technician (impressive title) of Oppenheinmer during an interview by Susie Gharib of the Nightly Business Report:

GHARIB: And talking about euphoria, there has been a lot of euphoria about shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). You have a “sell” on the stock. Let’s take a look at this chart too which closed above the $500 level today but it has been hovering back and forth in that area. What’s your technical analysis on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)?

WORTH: All right, so we went out with that yesterday, after the close which is to say when you have what’s called a key reversal day, where a stock has been in a long-term up trend, that then on the day in question has yet euphoric new highs, almost incredibly so where people cannot believe it’s not stopping, it’s not stopping. And then in that very day that session it closes on the absolute low which is also the case yesterday, down on the day and very, very heavy turnover. Volume at or near a record, it reflects an intermediate top that is likely to stand for many, many months. So that high of $526 yesterday and we closed down at $490 or thereabouts. That should set the top for months. 


Soooooo, "$526 should set the top for months"


=========================================================================


On March 19, CNBC interviews Carter Worth

CNBC: i know how you pay for the apple ipad, you sell a stock and use the money left over. we are talking numbers today. stock up 80% in the last year, up another 2% this day after the company compared the dividend of 65 a share for each quarter and $10 billion buy back as well over the next three years. but, is it time to buy this stock or is it time to take profits here? joining us in talking numbers, lucky guy that he is, carter worth, chief market technician at oppenheimer.  

Worth:  sure. it is an icon. an icon, juggernaut. just how steep the appreciation is in relation it trend and context is very important. we look at angles of the lines right now in the context.  

CNBC:  any time you have a stock that goes hyper bolic like that, you know it can't last forever but it is still going on.  

Worth:  it is a question of timing. this average, we have gone from 425 to 600, up 40% above the average. so we went back and looked, for fun, how does apple do once reaching 40% above the average. that's happened only 12 times since the ipo in 1982. here it is -- here it is going back five years. bounces, bounces, bounces, bounces. yet again, odds favor, and it does go higher. only two times of the 12 where it goes lower. we are taking the contrarian view better that this is one of the times. one of the very things that you referred to. long-term is -- go ahead. long-term is quite interesting. this is going back since the -- since 2002. right. ten years. and it shows you quite precisely this channel that we have been in. and how basically, we're moving out of that channel for the first time in quite sometime. and that's also border line too far too fast. now if you are bold and want to go against the odds, sell short. 

CNBC: okay, so let me get this straight here though. the point of technical analysis, look at the chart, look at -- fly air lanes. everything says it is overbought. everything says it's too expensive. crowded trade. but we have goldman today issuing another price increase, going to $700. and you're still not convinced it is time to take profit share.  

Worth: stats argue for higher prices. if you look at one in three months, every time this circumstances happen, 40% of that 12 times that happened since the ipo, nine out of 12 and 10 of 12 in the other, this is higher. this is make the bet where this is one of the rare times it is not sustained.  

(for clarification purpose:  Worth indicates that the stats show that Apple will continue the run higher, however he is telling people to take the other side of the bet predicting the price will go lower)

CNBC:  we will see. we will see. carter, thank you for your bravery in trying to deal with that. when we do trade the close a little bit later this hour, we will get another view. in that case we will find out why you should be buying the stock right now.

Conclusion regarding Carter Worth:  On the one hand, when the charts and stats indicate the stock won't go any higher, he agrees (Feb 16 interview).  On the other hand, when the charts and stats indicate the stock will go higher, he advises people to take the opposite approach (March 19 interview).  According to Mr. Worth, charts and stats are used to take the emotions out of decision making, yet he clearly demonstrates that he lets emotions play into his decision making.  Hmmmmm???

I wonder if Apple shareholders gave a round of applause to H-P?

Apple can thank H-P for firing Mark Hurd in 2010 and hiring that ex-SAP looney to replace him.  As a result, I believe many of the corporate PC sales that belonged to H-P were switched over to Apple.  As if Apple needed anymore assistance!!!

Jeremy Siegel vs. Harry Dent

Confused?

Jeremy Siegel, a noted Professor of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, says a Dow 15000 to even 17000 is a good possibility.  On the other hand, Harry Dent predicts a Dow 6000 down to even 3800 is a strong possibility.

Here are some past predictions by Harry Dent:  In 2000, based on his forecast that economic growth would continue throughout the 2000s, Dent predicted that the DOW would reach 40k, a prediction which was repeated in his 2004 book. In his book, he also predicted the NASDAQ would reach 13-20k. In late 2006 he revised his forecasts to much lower levels, estimating the Dow would reach 16-18k and the NASDAQ 3-4k. In January 2006, he predicted that the DOW would reach 14-15k by the end of the year. It ended 2006 at 12,463, 11% below the lower end of his prediction. It ended 2007 at 13,264, again significantly lower than Dent's revised prediction of 15,000 by early 2008.

Here is a past prediction by Jeremy Siegel:   He predicted that "the economy will avoid a recession" in 2008. His crystal ball also revealed that "the stock market will have another winning year in 2008" and that "financial stocks, which have plummeted 18 percent so far this year, will outperform the S&P 500 index next year [2008] as the credit crises fades."  The S&P 500 lost 38.49 percent in 2008, its worst year since 1937. Financials underperformed all market sectors, losing 56.95 percent.

Reality Check IV: Go Raiders Go. After 25 years, I'm a believer again!

On Jan.06, 2012, I included a short article on new Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie with his former boss indicating that Mr. McKenzie has a talent for judging and finding player personnel.  Original Article here.  I'll go many steps further and proclaim that Mr. McKenzie has incredible insight into judging coaches and administrative staff as well.

Al Davis, the once great, but obsolete owner of the Raiders during his last 10 years, would have continued to fall victim to the loud mouth, "it's not my fault", "let's throw all the players and coaches under the bus when we lose", "I'm gonna get more involved in this organization" coach.  What did Mr. McKenzie do to that coach?  Canned him like fruit cocktail that you would see at WalMart :-)!  Then brings in Dennis Allen, a disciplinarian who doesn't talk like a politician, but will coach like a coach should, similar to Tom Coughlin of the Super Bowl winner New York Giants, Bill Belichick of prior year's Super Bowl winner of the New England Patriots. (Of course, I'll check back on Mr. Allen's progress in December).

What does Mr. McKenzie do to Stanford Routt, the $54 million cornerback, who was declared the cornerstone of the Raiders defense, better known as "Burnt Toast" (for being burned like toast by all the wide receivers)?  Shown the exit, where he belong.

My prediction:  The 2012 Raiders will make the playoffs.  Finally!!!!

Reality Check III (this is not the OMG article)

In late November of 2011, Tom Lee of JP Morgan predicted the S&P would finish above 1350 by the end of 2011.  Original Article is here.  Mr. Lee was only off by 1.5 months.  It finally went above 1350 on February 13, 2012.  Still, a very good prediction.

OMG!!! Just wait and see the next article....

Like John McEnroe would always say:

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!!!

Reality Check II

On 10/27/2010, I included an article by Reuters describing how Mindy Grossman of HSNI went on the offensive in developing sales instead of only playing defense and cutting cost during the midst of a vicious recession.  Original Article  On 10/27/2010, the stock price of HSNI was 29.89.  One year, 3 months and an economic recession later, HSNI's stock is trading at 36.23, a 21.2% increase.  What's more impressive is that this television retailer, cable channel 11 where I am, accomplished this during a period of economic contraction.  Widening its product line, signing more celebrities, and providing shoppers with free TV concerts were but a few of the success stories.  What's next?  A weekly entertainment magazine for TV shoppers placed right next to People Magazine at the grocery store :-))?  Suffice it to say, it's been a solid run.

Reality Check

On 11/16/2011, I included an article about Ron Johnson taking over as CEO of JCP and the high price superstars he brought on board.  Original Article  Well, on 11/16, the stock price of JCP was 31.94.  Today, 2 plus months later, the stock price of JCP is 41.42.  A near 30% increase.  As a result, the market cap for JCP has gone up from 6.82 billion to 8.85 billion, a whopping 2.03 billion dollar increase to shareholder value.

So far, Ron Johnson is proving that he is a rainmaker, unlike the majority of folks who are in rainmaking positions but produce drought like results. Can't get too excited just yet, because I remembered Sears had a short term bump when Eddie Lampert installed his executive team several years ago.  Currently, Sears is on it's final leg, unless something extraordinary happens.

A great start for JCP, nonetheless.

I can definitely see why!!!

Apple Macs Land on More Corporate Desks

By Kate Linebaugh | The Wall Street Journal 


General Electric Co. would seem to be the last place that Apple Inc. laptops and desktops would appear in workers' offices, but the technology is slowly seeping into daily life at the 120-year-old conglomerate.
Under a year-old pilot project, GE employees can choose Apple's Mac notebooks or Mac desktops instead of a Windows PC. It now has about 1,000 Mac users and expects their ranks to expand further as more employees become aware of the program.

It is just a toehold: GE has about 330,000 computers, most running Windows-based software on PC hardware.

Apple has been working to get its products before corporate customers, relying mainly on the pull from employees who ask their employers to support the devices they use at home. A spokesman said the company is "excited" the Mac is helping businesses recruit.

Apple has very little of the corporate computer market but is making progress, according to market researcher Forrester Research, which estimates the Cupertino, Calif., company will sell $9 billion worth of Macs and $10 billion worth of iPads to businesses this year, up about 50% from last year.


In comparison, corporate spending on PCs and tablets not made by Apple will decline 3% this year to $69 billion, the firm projects. Expanding its presence at a large customer like GE would give a boost to Apple and could put pressure on the conglomerate's incumbent PC suppliers including Dell Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. The development echoes Apple's initial effort in smartphones that later became a real threat to companies like BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd.

GE started offering its employees the iPhone as an alternative to BlackBerrys in 2008. Now, it says about 10,000 GE employees carry the Apple smartphone, compared with 50,000 using BlackBerrys.
The Fairfield, Conn., conglomerate hasn't trumpeted the Apple option for computers and laptops internally, and as a result employee awareness is limited.  But staffers across GE businesses are eligible as long as there aren't security clearance issues, such as devices for defense work, or big compatibility problems with needed software.  "All businesses are participating at some level in making this [option] available to their employees," said Greg Simpson, GE's chief technology officer.

"To find out that we support Apple, we support iPhones, we support Macs, it does take away one question for people, 'Are they a contemporary company or not?'" Mr. Simpson said. "I think that is a recruiting-positive thing."

Apple is now the No. 3 U.S. personal computer vendor, with about 11% of the market, compared with about 23% for market-leader Hewlett Packard Co., according to Gartner and IDC.
Apple was the only one of the top five U.S. computer sellers to expand sales in the fourth quarter. Apple's corporate share is much smaller, at less than 1%, while H-P, Dell and Lenovo have about 25% apiece.

Dell declined to comment but pointed to its ranking. Lenovo didn't comment, but has launched an expensive marketing campaign to build its brand among consumers.  H-P said it is aware that Apple is making inroads into the business market and is working to make its own notebooks thinner, lighter, smaller and sleeker.
"We'll get the best of both worlds and provide a product that wins in that space," said Carol Hess, H-P's head of commercial PC. "We do focus on the corporate and enterprise customer, and I am not so sure that is the target market for an Apple-type of product."

Cost and compatibility with existing systems continues to hold Apple back at companies, said Rich Adduci, chief information officer at Boston Scientific Corp. "The reality is they make a terrific product, but there are some compatibility challenges with our corporate computing infrastructure," Mr. Adduci said.
That isn't the case for the iPad. The medical device maker worked with Apple the day after the iPad was released to use the device for sales and has rolled out about 4,500 globally.

By the end of the year, Boston Scientific expects to be able to begin shifting entirely to the iPad. "Technically, we will be able to support everything on an iPad," he said.  GE says discounts on its PC purchases have grown less generous. Mr. Simpson points out the price gap has narrowed for more advanced machines on both sides of the divide, with the Macbook Air starting at $999 and competing ultra-light laptops running $899 to $1,400.

At this month's annual leadership meeting in Boca Raton, Fl., each of GE's top 600 officers came armed with an iPad. "There is a learning curve, and we recognize that it may not work perfectly yet," Mr. Simpson said of the Apple computer project. "I think it will continue to grow on [employee] demand." —Jessica E. Vascellaro contributed to this article.

A "feel", that "it" factor

Ron Wolf (former executive for Green Bay Packers) on newly hired Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie:

"Reggie's a tremendous evaluator," Wolf told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He can tell you who can play and who can't play. That's what it's all about. Some can write reports but can't tell you who can play. Whatever that is, he has that. He has a feel."

You are not doing investors any favors by writing this article :-))

What Your Starbucks Habit Really Costs You

By Kathy Kristof | CBS MoneyWatch – Tue, Jan 3, 2012 6:30 PM EST

It's getting a little more expensive to have a Starbucks habit.

The Seattle-based coffee company (SBUX) said Tuesday that it would hike prices by an average of 1% in the Northeast and Sunbelt regions, where prices haven't been raised in roughly five years.

Starbucks is following the lead of other food companies, including McDonald's and Chipotle, which have hiked prices in the past year to cope with rising commodity costs.

The company said the average price of a "tall" -- the smallest drink -- brewed beverage will rise by 10 cents in New York. This morning the price hike was already in effect, as caffeine cravers shelled out $2.01 for a cup of coffee, up from $1.91. The coffee house allows for some regional pricing, so the actual cost of your morning habit could vary. But that could easily bump the price of a large -- "venti" -- latte over $4 a cup, not including tip.

If one of your resolutions is to cut costs this year, it might be worth noting what your coffee habit is going to cost you over time.

If you buy one $4 latte each day, that coffee habit will set you back $28 a week, about $120 a month and $1,460 per year. Keep that up for five years, and you've slurped away $7,300, not including any money you might have earned by investing your cash instead. If you account for missed investment returns, the loss amounts to roughly $9,300 (assuming a 9% average return).

After 10 years, your Starbucks habit costs you a car. After 30 years, the $239,891 that you drank away (including investment returns), could have bought a house. Over 40 years, the Starbucks habit could reduce your retirement nest-egg by an astounding $634,428 -- enough to generate an income of more than $2,600 a month.

No one is suggesting that you give up your daily jolt of joe. (This would be a particularly unlikely suggestion from me -- the person whose caffeine addiction built that impressive tower of latte cups.) But you might want to consider a cheaper way to go at it.

Costco, for example, sells a 2.5 pound bag of Starbucks French roast for $22; A couple gallons of milk will run another $7. For that $29 -- roughly the cost of a week of barista-made lattes -- you can have a pot of lattes every day for at least a month. Net savings: $91.

Invest that in a diversified basket of stocks and you could have your jolt and your retirement plan too. Based on these numbers -- and investment returns of 9% annually (about the historic average) -- the amount you save by brewing your own Starbucks coffee could be worth $481,108 at retirement 40 years from now.

Just something to think about.

(Isn't this a stupid article?  Please don't think about something like this -- until I say it is okay.  Just continue splurging, otherwise your psyche will be totally out of sync!!!!)

NO, NO, NO,.....Say it ain't SO!

What did Hue Jackson say b4 the Raiders played the Green Bay Packers on Dec. 11, 2011?

By Hue Jackson (coach of the Raiders):

On 12/10/2011: 
BACKDROP:  Rather than look at the Packers' streak as daunting, Jackson draws strength from it.

"We need to go on a run here, just like that team (referring to the Packers) did a year ago (Packers won Superbowl in 2011 for 2010 season)," Jackson said. "That team was kind of where we are right now (7-5 record for Raiders in 2011, 8-4 record for Packers in 2010, okay, let's loosely define "kind of where we are right now")  -- they went on a run, they stayed on that run. They've done a tremendous job. Why not the Raiders? Why can't we do that? Why can't that happen for us?"  


Well, if Jackson had just reviewed 2 stats, he may have been able to answer his own questions.

Total penalty yards in 2010 for the Raiders were 1276 and 617 for the 2010 Packers.
Turnover ratio in 2010 for the Raiders was minus 2 (which means they gave away the ball 2 more times to the opponents from combination interceptions and fumbles) versus a plus 10 for the 2010 Packers.

For 2011:  Penalty yards for Raiders were 1358 and 591 for the 2011 Packers.  Turnover ratio for Raiders was minus 4 versus plus 24 for the Packers.

Clear as daylight of the tell tale signs.  The trend was there for everyone to see.  Unfortunately, that "bully" mentality of the Raiders head coach (his own words) was unable to interpret something so simple before asking the world why can't the 2011 Raiders perform similarly to the 2010 Packers!

Hmmmm......The stock price of Research in Motion is now performing similarly to what Apple's stock did in the past.  Why can't Research in Motion do what Apple is now doing presently????  Quick, let's start buying RIMM, forget about doing any research!  :-)