Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Hi,

I'd like to start researching financials and annual reports regarding some of the more significant vacuum makers -- both corporate and private. Surely there's a way for private individuals to do this but I need some advice and ideas as to how to go about it without the process becoming expensive.

Thanks,

Venson

You knew it was not a new and unproven 'test' model!  You knew when you made the purchase that BMW's like all other cars require frequent maintenance, despite what the sales people say, and with BMW these come at a higher cost than most, unless you can fend for yourself.

Perhaps catlady is reading too.  She hopes to get 8-10 years out of the MIELE Salsa.  At $100 per year for just the bags, not counting the other items that MOLE pointed out will go bad during this time, she's looking down the road at some hefty out of pocket costs.  

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:
True Carmine but I take the event last week as one more of life's little surprises. If anything is painful it's expensive repairs that are required at not necessarily opportune times. I had the car checked out by a very experienced mechanic before I bought it and, overall, it has been running well. (He said one speeding ticket later.) Bad roads as opposed to bad car were more my problem.

I also wouldn't have been half as irritated if this had not happened after I'd just had an oil change and the mechanic informed me that he'd, "looked the car over" and everything seemed fine. Most fortunately, the car started right up for the trip home from the shop and I wasn't aware of any problems until I went down to the garage to take it out again. I could have been stranded on the road as I am told that fuel pumps die right out of the blue. Imagine that! She refused to die until she got me home.

There are great things under the hood like a chain instead of a belt for timing plus lots of sensors to keep you aware of possible problems. I am told that 100,000 miles on my car may be considered just the beginning. However . . .

I think Melanie's got a good chance. If the only problem she's had after many months of daily use is needing a hose repair -- that ain't bad. Most of the repair people here get plenty of demand for the replacement of stretch hoses on all brands I'm sure. They endure a lot of stress. In any event, Melanie appears to be a conscientious user and, if she continues to keep tabs on bag fill and the brush roll she should do well with the brand new one.

So far my S7 and he old BMW make me happy.

Venson

Venson wrote:

That's all that matters!  You can't put on price on that!

BTW, my sister owned a 1984 BMW for 20 years only to trade in for a new Mercedes in 2004.  She still has the Mercedes but, like you, due to unexpected repairs is looking to trade up.  Of course, while hers was being repaired, she was 'loaned' a new 2009 Mercedes, which of course she loves.  The BMW had over 200,000 miles and the body was beginning to decay after 20 years of hard NJ weather [never garaged].  The 2004 Mercedes is garaged.  She'll probably get a 2009/10.  Obviously she likes German made cars. 

Carmine D.

Sligthly askew of vacuums directly but an insight into how our neighbors across the pond perceive the leadership of the UK Prime Minister in the world of goernment and business.  Much is made of currency value/translations on "perceived wealth."  The british pound is down 30 percent in the last 12 months and it cost a number of UK "billionaires" their claim to fame on the Forbes list while still others are tettering on the brink of falling off.

Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94lW6Y4tBXs

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:
Hi Carmine,

My biggest lesson while I was away was the matter of shrinking money and that big numbers did not always add up to real worth. (Ever paid 60,000 drachma for a 12 ounce Coke?)

I'd never been anywhere before so when I landed in Munich, I thought two Deutschmarks for one American dollar was way cool but gave no thought to the actual value at the time. When I hit Denmark a couple of months later, I went to a bank to change about 40 of our dollars and came out with several hundred Krona. Feeling rich, I stopped at a shop where I saw a really nice pair of slacks in the window and that's when I got it. The price of the slacks in Danish money was almost as much as I had in my pocket.

That lesson learned, when I got to Turkey a good while later I followed an example I was taught by people more economically savvy than I. I would buy either more stable American dollars or Deutschmarks with the Turkish lira I was being paid and then hold onto them as long as I could. When I arrived in Turkey, 2,000 lira equalled one dollar. By the time I left the exchange rate was 7,000 lira against one dollar.

Vacuum cleaners there could average around 400,000 TL, for nothing particularly special, which was more than a lot people got paid for a month of work. I did not see a lot of new machines in private homes. In Istanbul people often went to a large bazaar at the bus station in Topkapi and bargained for "pre-owned" household goods and furniture.

Venson

I happened to be in Germany in 1971 when President Nixon [my dear Wife is a German Fraulein] closed the gold window for the dollar.  Mark went from 4 to the dollar to 1 in a few short weeks.  Talk about getting a reality check! 

Carmine D.

While only on the peripheral of vacuums, I suspect much of the Quarter 1 financial reports for WP and AB Electrolux can be extrapolated to the vacuum industry during the same timeframe.

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre53q1uv-us-whirlpool/

Carmine D.

WRT economic times of the current recession and big box retailers, TARGET is left with a huge bull's eye on its back according to Bill Ackman who says TARGET isn't measuring up to Wal*Mart's financial results [the new standard for the retail industry? ].

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124199670678804803.html

I've posted the article here since the above site will not show the entire article to non-WSJ subscribers.  Enjoy!

Carmine D.

By ANN ZIMMERMAN and LESLIE EATON

One of Wall Street's most high-profile investors is focusing his firepower on Target Corp., whose flailing performance in the recession has left it with a big bull's eye on its back.

Hedge-fund mogul Bill Ackman has called a meeting in Manhattan Monday to introduce his slate of five dissident directors -- including himself -- that he is asking shareholders to elect May 28.

Mr. Ackman says his candidates will bring new ideas to the discount retailer and relevant expertise to a board he describes as slow to make critical decisions. "We're not talking about revolution, but evolution," he said in an interview. "We think we can make the company better."

Not long ago, the challenge would have drawn little interest; Minneapolis-based Target was a darling of investors, out-selling rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which struggled to copy Target's cheap-chic clothing and eye-catching ads.

A 58% plunge in Target's stock from September to March might make it easier for Mr. Ackman and his Pershing Square Capital Management to grab the attention of unhappy shareholders eager for change. Despite a recent rebound that has lifted the stock of most retailers, Target shares remain down more than 39% from their peak of about $70 in July 2007.

One weapon Mr. Ackman is deploying in the proxy battle is Wal-Mart, which has managed to post relatively robust growth despite the recession.

In past downturns, Target's sales gains have trailed Wal-Mart by a percentage point or two, but since autumn that spread has widened to up to six percentage points. Some retail analysts have pointed out that Target's business began to slow before the recession, evidence that, among other things, some competitors that copied its low-priced designer strategy might be stealing its thunder.

"Since the fourth quarter of 2007, Wal-Mart has outperformed Target on key operating metrics, including growth in retail revenues, same-store sales, and earnings per share," Mr. Ackman wrote in a May 1 letter to Target shareholders promoting his board slate. On Thursday, Wal-Mart announced its U.S. discount-store sales in April shot up by 5.9%, while Target reported an anemic 0.3% rise.

Mr. Ackman has had some success in previous board battles. In 2006, he helped convince Wendy's International Inc. to sell off its Tim Horton's doughnut and coffee chain. In 2007 he tried to oust the entire board of Ceridian Corp., a payroll company, and replace it with an alternative slate. Pershing Square agreed to a compromise that gave it four seats on the board; Ceridian later was sold to buyout firm Thomas H. Lee Partners and insurer Fidelity National Financial Inc.

Target is taking Mr. Ackman's proxy battle seriously. It has slammed him in a flurry of news releases and letters to shareholders, and defended its board, which includes former executives of General Mills Inc., Quaker Oats Co. and the current chair of Wells Fargo & Co., as having all the right experience to guide the company.

Target Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel contends Mr. Ackman's bid for board seats is a ploy for short-term stock gains. The activist's proxy fight in Target, he wrote in a May 6 letter to shareholders, "is not aligned with our other shareholders."

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services recently described the battle, which Target figures will cost it more than $11 million, as "a distraction" for the retailer's management and board.

Mr. Steinhafel argues a turnaround is already under way. Target is expanding its grocery offerings to more stores, and retooling its advertising campaign to emphasize low prices. "Getting better at what we do is our No. 1 priority," Mr. Steinhafel said in an interview.

The Target strategy seems to be too little, too late to satisfy Mr. Ackman. He dedicated one of his hedge funds to Target's stock, and lost $1.6 billion of investors' money, forcing him in February to apologize for the fund's "dreadful" performance over the previous two years. Today, according to his proxy material, his funds own about 3.3% of the company's 752.3 million shares outstanding, and call options on an additional 4.5%.

After two years of prodding Target to change its business strategy, Mr. Ackman in March launched his proxy battle. His nominees include Jim Donald, former chief executive of Starbucks Corp. and a longtime supermarket executive; Richard Vague, who has run major credit-card firms; Michael Ashner, chairman of Winthrop Realty Trust, and Ronald Gilson, an expert in corporate governance who teaches at the law schools of Stanford University and Columbia University.

Last year, Mr. Ackman successfully pushed Target management to sell a stake in its credit-card portfolio, and he's still insisting it unload the rest. Target has signaled it is willing to do so when the time is right. But he wasn't able to convince Target management to spin off land it owns under its stores to create a publicly traded real-estate investment trust. Target deemed the move too costly, and said it could undermine the company's credit ratings.

How investors will respond to Mr. Ackman's proxy challenge remains to be seen. The two major firms that advise institutional investors on proxy votes, Risk Metrics Group and Proxy Governance Inc., said they will issue recommendations later this week.

But some shareholders are receptive. Wayne Kozun, manager of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which has assets of $85 billion (Canadian) and a small holding in Target, says he thinks Mr. Ackman's board candidates have a shot at succeeding.

"I just think it is good to see shareholders have more choice," said Mr. Kozun, who added that his fund has not yet decided how it will vote.

Write to Ann Zimmerman at ann.zimmerman@wsj.com and Leslie Eaton at leslie.eaton@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications: One of Bill Ackman's nominees to the Target board is Richard Vague, who has run major credit-card firms. He was incorrectly called Richard Vargas in the original version of this article.

Wow! Thanks much Carmine.

Venson

You're welcome Venson.  TARGET stores has embarked on a huge expansion effort here in Las Vegas with new stores scheduled to open almost each year into the near future, including he one here just recently in North Las vegas.

But , surely it is a sign of the times, that some big box retailers which can't cut mustard [Circuit City; Linens-n-Things] will go away and others will get taken over either operationally and/or with changes in management [like TARGET with Bill Ackman and his band of hand picked Board members].

Carmine D.