Good news Dave! Wal-Mart Named No. 1 on Fortune 500 List

[alchemize]

Wal-Mart Named No. 1 on Fortune 500 List
And #2 is Exxon

On the lighter side, eventually this is going to mean jobs...

``The nation's largest companies smashed existing sales records, and obliterated the dismal, accounting-damaged performance of the past two years,'' said Fortune in its cover story headlined ``The Year of the Comeback.''

By year-end, Fortune 500 companies had raked in $7.5 trillion in revenues and $445.6 billion in profits, the magazine said, aided by interest rates driven down by the Federal Reserve to the lowest levels in four decades, Bush administration tax cuts and spending increases.

Corporate profit recovery was widespread, the magazine said, noting that of the 39 industries tracked, 34 posted profit growth in 2003. [/q}

 

[burnedout]

Go Wally World!

 

[Officerdown]

XOM is a damn good company

 

[dmcowen674]

"On the lighter side, eventually this is going to mean jobs..."

Yep, more of the $6.50 hr variety with no Insurance. Somehow you, CAD & Co will continue to spin that that is the highest wages ever and going up everyday as usual.

 

[dirtboy]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Yep, more of the $6.50 hr variety with no Insurance.

You should jump on that. $6.50/hr is $6.50/hr more than you're getting now.

Typical Dave & Co response. Complain about jobs and then if a job is created, complain that it isn't good enough.

Of course this comes from a guy who can't even get a job.

 

[DealMonkey]

Now if we can just get the Fortune 500 to start spending their money instead of hoarding it, we may have a more rapidly improving economy.

 

[LordMagnusKain]

Originally posted by: dirtboy

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Yep, more of the $6.50 hr variety with no Insurance.

You should jump on that. $6.50/hr is $6.50/hr more than you're getting now.

Typical Dave & Co response. Complain about jobs and then if a job is created, complain that it isn't good enough.

Of course this comes from a guy who can't even get a job.

6.5/hour eh? no taxes, earned income tax credits, you can come up with a solid 18k a year;

sounds like a living wage to me; if it's not then you need to move or train for a better job.

 

[dirtboy]

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain

sounds like a living wage to me; if it's not then you need to move or train for a better job.

Well said.

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain

Originally posted by: dirtboy

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Yep, more of the $6.50 hr variety with no Insurance.

You should jump on that. $6.50/hr is $6.50/hr more than you're getting now.

Typical Dave & Co response. Complain about jobs and then if a job is created, complain that it isn't good enough.

Of course this comes from a guy who can't even get a job.

6.5/hour eh? no taxes, earned income tax credits, you can come up with a solid 18k a year;

sounds like a living wage to me; if it's not then you need to move or train for a better job.

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain

Originally posted by: dirtboy

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Yep, more of the $6.50 hr variety with no Insurance.

You should jump on that. $6.50/hr is $6.50/hr more than you're getting now.

Typical Dave & Co response. Complain about jobs and then if a job is created, complain that it isn't good enough.

Of course this comes from a guy who can't even get a job.

6.5/hour eh? no taxes, earned income tax credits, you can come up with a solid 18k a year;

sounds like a living wage to me; if it's not then you need to move or train for a better job.

 

[beer]

Wal-mart jobs generally pay pretty poorly. You can survive but not much else.

However, the jobs they are replacing are more or less the same. In most markets that wal-mart has achieved critical mass, they have simply replaced other low-wage jobs. With the exception of unionized supermarkets (which exist only in a few regions of the country), other supermarkets and smaller mom-and-pop time grocery stores have paid similar (if not less) wages. Wal-Mart pays $8.50 an hour in Texas as far as I know - that is $3 above minimum wage, and you have the option of health insurance after a short time. Yea, it's poor pay....

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
"On the lighter side, eventually this is going to mean jobs..."

Yep, more of the $6.50 hr variety with no Insurance. Somehow you, CAD & Co will continue to spin that that is the highest wages ever and going up everyday as usual.

Acutally, $7/hr to start on dayshift where I work. And there's insurance after...6 months is it? Of course, it costs you money every paycheck; they can't afford to pay for it all themselves I guess. I mean, they are strapped for cash, right?

And of course, the way they are able to help their profit margins is by buying everything from China, where labor is much cheaper.
Mixed feelings on that - on one hand, Walmart's contributing to the problem of overworking people in China. On the other hand, it's providing jobs to people who might otherwise have no income source. A painful step forward for progress? Or the beginning of a terrible trend? Time will tell...I only wish it'd change soon. I do support globalization; trade always seems to encourage growth in the long run. It seems though that short term costs can be fairly high sometimes.

Oh yeah, the mention of Profit reminded me - bonus checks that were passed out March 2003 were around $530 (didn't get one then; wasn't there long enough. This past year, sales were maybe 40% above 2002's (2002 dictates the March 03 bonus check), but the check was still only ~$550. Sales increase by 40%, but the bonus checks increase by less than 10%. Wha????