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Forget one-day shipping: same-day is the ‘real battleground’ where Amazon, Walmart, and Target, are sparring

“Everyone that follows Amazon is jumping up and down about how exciting this is,” Zolidis told Business Insider. “But this was expected.”

Same-day shipping, not one-day shipping, is the “real battleground” for retailers, and Walmart and Target are well positioned to win that war, he said.

In conversations last October with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, McMillon characterized same-day shipping as the “final frontier” that “everyone is racing to develop,” Zolidis said. Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

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Target, Walmart Shares Take Hit After Amazon’s Move to One-Day Shipping

ome analysts said large retailers won’t have much difficulty competing. In a research note on Friday, John Zolidis, president of Quo Vadis Capital, said it would be a mistake for investors to sell shares of large retailers such as Target and Walmart on Amazon’s announcement.
“They have anticipated this for some time and are already rolling-out corresponding services,” he said. “The losers here are going to be retailers that are already behind the curve and don’t have the financial strength to make the investments to develop these capabilities.”

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April Newsletter: V is for Victory

Summary: The U.S. economy and the corporate earnings continued to grow in the first quarter, fueling the ongoing rally. The fourth quarter of 2018 saw investors sell stocks on the assumption that the Federal Reserve’s intention to raise interest rates would hamstring an already fatigued U.S. and global economy, probably sparking a recession. The year-to-date reversal, on the other hand, reflects the Fed’s pivot away from raising rates, ongoing growth in the economy and corporate earnings, and lately, investors chasing rising stock prices. At least that’s how we see the market’s action in the last few weeks. Our view: the opportunity to buy has passed but we remain bullish.

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RED ROBIN’S LESSON: CUT LABOR AT YOUR OWN RISK

John Zolidis, president of Quovadis Capital, in a note Thursday blamed the deterioration on those cuts to labor.

“We attribute the weakness to the competitive environment but also the company’s decision, starting in the first quarter last year, to significantly reduce labor hours in the stores, which we believe directly impacted service and, subsequently, traffic,” he wrote.

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Apple’s Cash Could Crush Netflix

“We believe a Disney streaming offer could easily become a must-have subscription, perhaps even more successful than Netflix (which currently has access to much Disney content),” says equity analyst John Zolidis.

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Dollar Tree says it will test charging more and shutter hundreds of Family Dollar stores

John Zolidis, president of Quo Vadis Capital, said that because of its Family Dollar acquisition, Dollar Tree believes it now has the expertise to try to boost prices at its namesake stores. But it’s a risky proposition.

“The $1-only proposition is what makes people love Dollar Tree so much,” Zolidis said. “Moving away from that brand equity does present a pretty significant risk to the concept on a long-term basis if it becomes just another store. Right now, it’s unique.”

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March Newsletter: After Recession Scare, Bull Market Remains

Summary:  Big rebound in stocks to start 2019 leaves professional worriers behind.  Stocks tanked in the last quarter of 2018.  Essentially, many investors had become convinced that a recession was on the horizon and competed with each other to sell stocks ahead of the expected bad corporate and economic news.  Why were investors convinced that things were turning south?  The most significant factor (but not the only one) was the Federal Reserve’s insistence on tightening monetary policy and apparent lack of sensitivity to markets.  Unfortunately for those who sold positions, the Fed subsequently completely changed its posturing and adopted a friendlier stance for stocks.  Simultaneously, economic data remained fairly robust, thus spurring a 12% rise in the S&P500 to start 2019. 

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