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WARREN BUFFETT LOSES ANOTHER $700 MILLION TODAY

Poor uncle Warren. He better drink a lot more Coke Classic. He owns 400 million shares of Coke. He lost $1 billion yesterday on his 70 million shares of IBM. What a genius. The doddering old fool doesn’t see the death of consumer spending. He is so rich and disconnected from the real world, despite portraying a folksy uncle, that he hasn’t grasped that the middle class has been gutted by his buddies at the Federal Reserve and on Wall Street. They are the people drinking Coke and eating Big Macs. The average family is so stretched after seeing their real household income not grow since 1989, while their debt load has skyrocketed, they can no longer afford a lousy McDonald’s Happy Meal.

Coke and McDonalds were the poster children for the American consumer society. These are mega-corporations who generated $50 billion and $30 billion in revenues annually. They are in decline. They will not be revived, because the consumer is gutted and dead on the side of the financial superhighway. Keep believing the economic recovery storyline as companies selling stuff to consumers keep reporting shitty results. Only a blithering idiot, Warren Buffett or a CNBC bimbo would believe it.

Buffett the genius also owns millions of shares of Wal-Mart. Simply brilliant!!!

 

Coke profit falls as soda volumes remain flat

By Michael Calia

Published: Oct 21, 2014 7:50 a.m. ET

Coca-Cola Co. said its soda volumes were flat in the third quarter, while earnings and revenue both declined, hit by currency fluctuations.

The beverage unveiled a new cost-cutting plan, aiming to reduce $3 billion a year in costs by 2019, while also saying it intends to proceed with plans to refranchise the majority of its North American bottling territories by the end of 2017. The company had unveiled a three-year plan in February with the goal of cutting $1 billion in costs.

Shares declined nearly 4% premarket as revenue unexpectedly declined.

The company said its worldwide beverage volumes grew 1%, while soda volume was flat. Coke posted higher soda volumes in the second quarter after reporting its first decline since 1999 earlier this year.

Coke has pursued aggressive marketing tactics, along with restructuring, to lessen the impact of dwindling soda demand on its results. The company has also had to contend with headwinds from foreign currencies.

In further moves to fight the shrinking soda market, Coke has also sought partnerships with purveyors of other kinds of beverages. In August, the company said it would by a 16.7% stake in energy-drink producer Monster Beverage Corp. for $2.15 billion as part of an asset swap. It is also working on developing a cold beverage system with Keurig Green Mountain Inc.

Overall, the company posted earnings of $2.11 billion, or 48 cents a share, down from $2.45 billion, or 54 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items, per-share earnings were flat at 53 cents.

Revenue declined to $11.98 billion. Currency-neutral net revenue rose 1%.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected 53 cents a share in earnings, with $12.12 billion in revenue.

 

McDonald’s shares drop after disappointing sales results

By Tomi Kilgore

Published: Oct 21, 2014 8:13 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Shares of McDonald’s MCD, +0.60% dropped 2% in premarket trade after the fast-food restaurant giant reported disappointing third-quarter revenue and same-store sales, and provided a downbeat outlook. Revenue fell to $6.99 billion from $7.32 billion a year ago, missing the average analyst estimate compiled by FactSet of $7.19 billion. Global same-store sales declined 3.3%, amid a 3.3% drop in U.S. sales, while analysts were projecting declines of 2.8% and 2.5%, respectively. Profit for the quarter fell to $1.07 billion, or $1.09 a share, from last year’s $1.52 billion, or $1.52 a share. The company said non-recurring items reduced net earnings per share by 42 cents. The FactSet consensus adjusted EPS forecast was $1.37. The internal and external challenges it faced during the third quarter “will continue into the fourth quarter, with global comparable sales for October expected to be negative,” said Chief Executive Dan Thompson. The stock has lost 5.6% year to date through Monday, compared with a 3% gain in the S&P 500.