About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 20, 2018)
ED BUSINESS Jeff Gill | Business reporter 770-718-3408 | jgill@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Thursday, December 20, 2018 Selling the treasure hunt Investment in electric cars fuels SUZETTE PARMLEY I Tribune News Service Tabitha Dardes tries on a marked down designer coat at the TJMAXX in Langhorne, Pa. TJX Cos. entices consumers to search for brand-name apparel, furnishings and other home goods at heavily discounted prices BY JAMES F. PELTZ Tribune News Service It’s all about the treasure hunt. That’s the shopping experience at the core of TJX Cos., which owns T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and other off-price retailers, where consumers search for a constantly changing assortment of brand-name apparel, furnishings and other goods at discount prices. Shoppers love the hunt, especially during the busy holiday season, and it’s a key reason why TJX is thriving with its thou sands of bricks-and-mortar stores while many other chains have struggled with the huge shift to online shopping. “You can’t beat the prices, they have a good assortment and they carry designer brands,” said Maria Raygoza, 40, of El Monte as she left a Mar shalls store in Monrovia recently with two large bags full of pottery, towels and jeans. “It’s kind of hit or miss sometimes at Mar shalls, but when you do find those items, it’s worth it.” Retailers such as Macy’s Inc. and J.C. Penney Inc. have closed stores and otherwise restructured to survive the onslaught of e-commerce, and Sears Holdings Corp. recently filed for bankruptcy. Yet TJX — with annual sales of $36 billion, more than Penney and Kohl’s Corp. combined — has kept growing steadily with only a small online pres ence. About 2 percent of TJX’s sales come from e-commerce, analysts estimate. TJX also has expanded largely under the radar, in part because the company, led by Chief Executive Ernie Herrman, prefers to keep its strategic plans and operating methods close to the vest. Its executives seldom give media inter views, and they declined to comment for this article. But TJX’s appeal to cus tomers and Wall Street is clear. “This is one of the best management teams that I’ve come across,” said John D. Morris, senior brand apparel analyst at the investment firm D.A. Davidson & Co. “They really know what they’re doing.” The company has posted positive annual same-store sales gains — that is, sales at stores open at least one year — for 22 consecutive years amid rapid expan sion. Dividends have risen for 21 straight years. While other retailers were shut tering thousands of stores in the last two years, TJX’s store count rose 13 percent in that span to 4,070 loca tions worldwide. The result: TJX’s stock price has soared nine fold over the last decade (after adjusting for its lat est 2-for-l split Nov. 6), compared with a threefold increase in the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index. The stock closed Tuesday at $44.07 a share. Ross Stores Inc., a Dub lin, Calif.-based rival in the off-price, branded- merchandise segment, has enjoyed similar suc cess. Ross operates 1,483 Ross Dress for Less stores, including about 380 in California. Its sales hit a record $14.1 billion last year, and its stock price has surged 11-fold over the last decade. TJX is based in Fram ingham, Mass., but its larg est market is California, where it operated 143 Mar shalls stores, 117 T.J. Maxx outlets and 78 HomeGoods stores as of Feb. 3, accord ing to the most recent fig ures TJX makes available. TJX’s buyers garner items from 20,000 ven dors worldwide, many of them familiar brand-name sources such as Nike, Steve Madden and Ralph Lau ren. The firm’s logistics team rushes to get the prod ucts to the stores to keep up with the outlets’ rapid turn over of inventory. Store managers hustle to quickly change their floor space for the seasons and to pro mote the most popular and relevant items. Norway’s growth BY MARK LEWIS Associated Press OSLO, Norway — A silent revolution has transformed driving in Norway. Eerily quiet vehicles are ubiquitous on the fjord-side roads and mountain passes of this wealthy European nation of 5.3 million. Some 30 percent of all new cars sport plug-in cables rather than gasoline tanks, compared with 2 percent across Europe overall and 1-2 percent in the U.S. As countries around the world — including China, the world’s biggest auto market — try to encourage more people to buy electric cars to fight climate change, Norway’s success has one key driver: the government. It offered big subsidies and perks that it is now due to phase out, but only so long as electric cars remain attractive to buy compared with tradi tional ones. “It should always be cheaper to have a zero emissions car than a regular car,” says Climate and Environment Minister Ola Elvestuen, who helped push through a commitment to have only sell zero-emissions cars sold in Norway by 2025. The plan supports Norway’s C02 reduction targets under the 2015 Paris climate accord, which nations last agreed rig orous rules for to ensure emis sions goals are met. To help sales, the Norwegian government waived hefty vehi cle import duties and registra tion and sales taxes for buyers of electric cars. Owners don’t have to pay road tolls, and get free use of ferries and bus lanes in congested city centers. These perks, which are cost ing the government almost $1 billion this year, are being phased out in 2021, though any road tolls and fees would be limited to half of what gasoline car owners must pay. Gradually, subsidies for electric cars will be replaced by higher taxes on traditional cars. Registration tax on new cars is paid on a sliding scale with a premium for the amount of emissions produced. Elves tuen pledges that the incentives for electric vehicles will be adjusted in such a way that it does not scupper the 2025 target. “What is important is that our aim is not just to give incen tives,” he says. “It is that we are taxing emissions from regu lar cars.” Using taxes to encourage consumers to shift to cleaner energy can be tricky for a government — protests erupted in France this autumn over a fuel tax that hurt the livelihood of poorer families, especially in rural areas where driving is often the only means of transportation. In this sense, Norway is an outlier. The country is very wealthy after exporting for decades the kind of fossil fuels the world is trying to wean itself off of. Incomes are higher than the rest of Europe, as are prices. Some 36 percent of all new cars sold are SUVs, which pro vide safety in the country’s tough winters. Tesla’s SUV, the Model X - the motor of choice for well-to-do environmentally- minded Norwegians - costs around 900,000 Norwegian kronor ($106,000). “Buying a Tesla Model X is not much more expensive than buying a standard premium Volvo because gasoline cars are taxed heavily. That is also the reason Teslas sell well,” says Christina Bu, General Secretary of the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association. ‘It should always be cheaper to have a zero emissions car than a regular car.’ 01a Elvestuen Norway Climate and Environment Minister Fed lifts rates for 4th time this year but predicts fewer hikes BY MARTIN CRUTSINGER Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Fed eral Reserve has raised its key interest rate for the fourth time this year to reflect the U.S. econ omy’s continued strength but sig naled that it expects to slow its rate hikes next year. Wednesday’s quarter-point increase, to a range of 2.25 per cent to 2.5 percent, lifted the Fed’s benchmark rate to its high est point since 2008. It will mean higher borrowing costs for many consumers and businesses. The Fed’s move came despite President Donald Trump’s attacks in recent weeks on its rate hikes and on Chairman Jerome Powell personally. The president has complained that the moves are threatening the economy. At a news conference after the Fed’s announcement, Powell said Trump’s tweets and statements would have no bearing on the cen tral bank’s policymaking. The statement the Fed issued Wednesday after its latest policy meeting said only “some” further gradual rate increases are likely; previously, it referred simply to “further gradual increases.” And its updated forecast projects two rate hikes next year, down from three the Fed had predicted in September. U.S. stocks had been sharply higher before the Fed’s announcement but began falling afterward — and then acceler ated into a plunge during Powell’s news conference. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down about 352 points. Investors were apparently hoping that Powell would go further than he did to signal a slowdown in interest rate increases. But bond prices surged, sending yields lower. The central bank has raised rates with steady regularity as the U.S. economy has strength ened. Wednesday’s was the Fed’s ninth hike since it began gradu ally tightening credit three years ago. But a mix of factors — a global slowdown, a U.S.-China trade war, still-mild inflation, stomach-churning drops in stock prices — has led the Fed to con sider slowing its rate hikes in 2019 to avoid weakening the economy too much. It’s now likely to suit its rate policy to the latest eco nomic data — to become more flexible or, in Fed parlance, “ data-dependent. ” Stock Exchange Highlights V NYSE 11,371.84 -130.32 B Nasdaq W 6,636.83 -147.08 Gainers (S2 Name Last OR MORE) Chg %Chg ABM 30.78 TallgELP n 23.43 Winnbgo 22.67 CivitasSolu 17.54 StoneMor 2.50 NL Inds 3.55 Maiden pfC 7.00 Teekay 3.91 PermvRoy 2.27 Jabil 23.75 +3.72 +13.7 +2.82 +13.7 +2.71 +13.6 +1.90 +12.1 +.23 +10.1 +.32 +9.9 +.60 +.33 +.17 +1.54 +9.4 +9.2 +8.1 +6.9 Losers (S2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg RngrEnS n 5.08 DxGBull rs 14.86 NCI BldSy 8.34 FTS Inti n 7.06 KeyEngy 2.56 DrGMBII rs 7.44 Circor 21.86 DxSOXBIIs 79.01 FedExCp 162.51 PrUGMin rs 28.10 -.98 -16.2 -2.83 -16.0 -1.39 -14.3 -1.17 -14.2 -.42 -14.1 -1.15 -13.4 -3.16 -12.6 -11.43 -12.6 -22.50 -12.2 -3.39 -10.8 Most Active ($1 or more) Name Vol (00) Last Chg GenElec 2191937 BkofAm 1216265 FordM 752092 EnbrdgEPt 546530 ChesEng 541168 AT&T Inc 513948 Kinross g 379683 Pfizer 349664 Oracle 343898 WellsFargo 342792 7.66 +.39 24.18 -.29 8.32 -.15 10.43 +.16 2.02 -.10 29.82 +.07 2.87 41.97 -.21 -.43 46.45 +.60 45.67 -.85 Diary Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume 762 2,056 72 2,890 5 777 5,052,179,400 Gainers ($2 Name Last OR more) Chg %Chg MarinSft rs 6.65 ChinaAuto 3.04 AdialPh n 3.64 Limbach n 4.53 AduroBio n 2.96 electCore n 5.70 Internap rs 4.67 Uxin Ltd n 9.55 GigaMda rs 2.79 RentACt 14.76 +2.93 +78.8 +.90 +42.1 +.69 +23.4 +.78 +20.8 +.49 +19.8 +.94 +19.7 +.68 +17.0 +1.26 +15.2 +.34 +13.9 +1.73 +13.3 Losers ($2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg SurfaceOn n 3.89 PhaseBio n 3.46 Chaisma n 2.84 FortySevn 17.27 Allakos n 47.17 MesaAir n 7.90 ASLAN n 3.87 InnerWkgs 3.26 GrdsmHId n 2.91 PLXPhrrs 2.25 -3.52 -47.5 -.65 -15.8 -.53 -15.7 -3.22 -15.7 -8.65 -15.5 -1.24 -13.6 -.60 -13.4 -.50 -13.3 -.44 -13.1 -.33 -12.8 Most Active ($1 or more) Name Vol (00) Last Chg AMD 1202764 MicronT 1063685 Microsoft 681070 Facebook 570979 Apple Inc 475889 Intel 393011 Cisco 345481 Comcast s 323165 SiriusXM 307832 CaesarsEnt256937 18.16 -1.34 31.41 -2.70 103.69 -.28 133.24 -10.42 160.89 -5.18 45.57 -2.17 43.14 -.92 35.19 -.46 6.02 -.13 6.55 -.45 Diary Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume 728 2,219 120 3,067 13 781 2,816,603,967 Stocks of Local Interest Name Ex Div Yld PE Last YTD Chg %Chg AFLAC S 1.04 2.4 14 43.98 -.56 0.0 HeliosM rs .02 ...-100.0 AT&T Inc 2.04 6.8 6 29.82 +.07 -23.3 Hershey 2.89 2.7 23 107.33 +2.97 -5.4 AbbottLab 1.28 1.9 29 69.00 -1.08 +20.9 HomeDp 4.12 2.5 18 167.56 -2.48 -11.6 AMD 18.16 -1.34 +76.7 Intel 1.20 2.6 17 45.57 -2.17 -1.3 Altria 3.44 6.7 16 51.40 +.51 -28.0 IBM 6.28 5.4 9 116.43 -.22 -24.1 Apple Inc 2.92 1.8 16 160.89 -5.18 -4.9 JPMorgCh 2.24 2.3 13 97.29 -1.25 -9.0 ATMOS 1.94 2.0 18 94.93 +.41 +10.5 JohnJn 3.60 2.8 18 127.61 -2.81 -8.7 AutoZone 17 835.87 21.37 +17.5 Kinross g 22 2.87 -.21 -33.6 AveryD 2.26 2.6 25 88.19 -1.41 -23.2 Lowes 1.92 2.1 20 90.33 -1.13 -2.8 BB&T Cp 1.62 3.7 13 43.30 -.86 -12.9 McDnlds 4.64 2.6 27 179.16 -.55 +4.1 BP PLC 2.38 6.3 11 37.65 -.17 -10.4 Merck 2.20 3.0 28 73.77 -.56 +31.1 BkofAm .60 2.5 11 24.18 -.29 -18.1 MicronT 3 31.41 -2.70 -23.6 BamesNob .60 9.6 6.27 -.09 -6.4 Microsoft 1.84 1.8 43 103.69 -.28 +21.2 BarrickG .28 2.2 72 12.88 -1.00 -11.0 NorflkSo 3.20 2.2 22 146.93 -1.43 +1.4 Boeing 6.84 2.1 30 319.55 -8.51 +8.4 OfficeDpt .10 3.9 7 2.55 -.06 -28.0 BrMySq 1.64 3.3 50 50.39 -1.17 -17.8 Oracle .76 1.6 50 46.45 +.60 -1.8 CSX .88 1.4 9 62.05 -1.84 +12.8 Penney 1.19 -.01 -62.3 CaesarsEnt ... 6.55 -.45 -48.2 PepsiCo 3.71 3.4 32 110.04 -1.80 -8.2 CampSp 1.40 3.6 14 38.65 +.16 -19.7 Pfizer 1.44 3.4 17 41.97 -.43 +15.9 Caterpillar 3.44 2.8 11 122.33 -1.94 -22.4 PhilipMor 4.56 6.3 17 72.04 -1.99 -31.8 ChesEng 3 2.02 -.10 -49.0 Primerica 1.00 1.0 12 98.88 -3.10 -2.6 Chevron 4.48 4.2 22 107.83 -1.91 -13.9 ProctGam 2.87 3.1 23 91.76 -.73 -.1 Cisco 1.32 3.1 19 43.14 -.92 +12.6 RegionsFn .56 4.4 11 12.84 -.39 -25.7 Citigroup 1.80 3.4 9 52.82 -1.11 -29.0 Schlmbrg 2.00 5.3 22 37.79 -.05 -43.9 CocaCola 1.56 3.3 90 47.90 -.42 +4.4 SiriusXM .05 .8 33 6.02 -.13 +12.3 Comcast s .76 2.2 17 35.19 -.46 -11.8 SouthnCo 2.40 5.3 21 45.28 -.25 -5.8 ConAgra .85 2.9 14 29.09 +.53 -22.8 SunTrst 2.00 4.0 8 49.40 -1.45 -23.5 Cummins 4.56 3.5 36 130.89 -.45 -25.9 SynrgyPh .09 -.02 -96.1 Disney 1.76 1.6 15 109.22 -.23 +1.6 SynovusFn 1.00 3.3 11 30.73 -.35 -35.9 DowDuPnt 1.52 2.9 17 52.16 -.13 -26.8 3M Co 5.44 2.9 26 189.96 -4.60 -19.3 EnbrdgEPt 1.40 13.4 12 10.43 +.16 -24.5 Torchmark .64 .9 6 74.44 -1.39 -17.9 EnCana g .06 1.1 10 5.71 +.13 -57.2 Tyson 1.20 2.3 10 52.67 +.29 -35.0 Equifax 1.56 1.7 16 94.23 -.89 -20.1 UtdCmBks .64 3.1 12 20.56 -.92 -26.9 ExxonMbl 3.28 4.6 13 70.78 -1.22 -15.4 UPS B 3.64 3.9 16 94.32 -2.96 -20.8 Facebook 25 133.24 10.42 -24.5 VerizonCm 2.41 4.3 7 55.86 +.21 +5.5 FordM .60 7.2 4 8.32 -.15 -33.4 Vodafone 1.74 8.8 19.80 -.04 -37.9 FrptMcM .20 2.0 7 10.18 -.42 -46.3 WalMart 2.08 2.3 52 90.55 -.53 -8.3 GenElec .04 .5 7.66 +.39 -56.2 Weathflntl .37 -.02 -91.2 GenuPrt 2.88 3.0 20 94.79 -1.42 -.2 WeisMk 1.24 2.7 11 46.32 +.31 +11.9 HP Inc .64 3.1 6 20.55 -.86 -2.2 WellsFargo 1.72 3.8 11 45.67 -.85 -24.7 Haverty .72 3.8 19 18.90 -.21 -16.6 YumBrnds 1.44 1.6 32 90.12 +.02 +10.4 Name Ex Div Yld PE Last YTD Chg %Chg Stock Footnotes: g = Dividends and earnings in Canadian dollars, h = Does not meet continued-listing standards. If = Late filing with SEC. n = New in past 52 weeks, pf = Preferred, rs = Stock has undergone a reverse stock split of at least 50 percent within the past year, rt = Right to buy security at a specified price, s = Stock has split by at least 20 percent within the last year, un = Units, vj = In bankruptcy or receivership, wd = When distributed, wi = When issued, wt = Warrants. Fund Footnotes: m - Multiple fees are charged, usually a marketing fee and either a sales or redemption fee. Source: The Associated Press. Sales figures are unofficial. Stock Market Indexes Dow Jones industrials Close: 23,323.66 Change:-351.98 (-1.5%) 27,000 26,000 25,000 24,000 J J A S O N D 52-Week Net YTD 12-mo High Low Name Last Chg %Chg %Chg %Chg 26,951.81 23,344.52 Dow Industrials 23,323.66 -351.98 -1.49 -5.65 -5.67 11,623.58 9,356.77 Dow Transportation 9,147.66 -297.81 -3.15 -13.80 -13.93 762.26 647.81 Dow Utilities 726.76 -1.29 -.18 +.47 -.30 13,637.02 11,449.75 NYSE Composite 11,371.84 -130.32 -1.13 -11.22 -10.79 8,133.30 6,630.67 Nasdaq Composite 6,636.83 -147.08 -2.17 -3.86 -4.66 1,309.73 1,118.69 S&P 100 1,113.55 -18.48 -1.63 -5.88 -6.15 2,940.91 2,528.71 S&P 500 2,506.96 -39.20 -1.54 -6.23 -6.43 2,053.00 1,687.27 S&P MidCap 1,665.72 -29.05 -1.71 -12.36 -12.33 30,560.54 25,997.57 Wilshire 5000 25,752.60 -405.63 -1.55 -7.35 -7.39 1,742.09 1,372.73 Russell 2000 1,349.23 -27.95 -2.03 -12.13 -12.39 Mutual Funds Name Total Assets Obj ($Mlns) NAV Total Return/Rank 4-wk 12-mo 5-year Pet Load Min Init Invt Vanguard 500ldxAdmrl LB 253,238 231.34 -6.7 -4.7/B +8.9/A NL 3,000 Vanguard TtlSMIdxAdmrl LB 203,888 62.40 -6.9 -5.4/B +8.4/A NL 3,000 Fidelity 500ldxlnsPrm LB 164,099 87.17 -6.6 -4.7/B +8.9/A NL 0 Vanguard TtlSMIdxInv LB 129,896 62.37 -6.9 -5.5/C +8.3/B NL 3,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxInv FB 128,269 15.26 -4.4 13.6/B +1.4/B NL 0 Vanguard TtlSMIdxins LB 123,279 62.42 -6.8 -5.4/B +8.4/A NL 5 000,000 Vanguard Insldxlns LB 116,738 227.45 -6.7 -4.7/B +8.9/A NL 5 ,000,000 Vanguard InsIdxinsPlus LB 104,731 227.47 -6.6 -4.7/B +8.9/A NL100,000,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxinsPlus FB 95,758 102.14 -4.4 -13.5/B +1.5/A NL100,000,000 Fidelity Contrafund LG 91,616 10.93 -4.0 -3.4/C +9.6/B NL 0 Vanguard TtBMIdxAdmrl Cl 86,606 10.43 +1.6 0.0/B +2.4/C NL 3,000 Vanguard WlngtnAdmrl MA 86,207 64.00 -4.1 -3.2/A +6.6/A NL 50,000 Cl -Intermediate-Term Bond, FB -Foreign Large Blend, IH -World Allocation, LB -Large Blend, LG -Large Growth, LV -Large Value, MA -Moderate Allocation, WS -World Stock, Total Return: Chng in NAV with dividends reinvested. Rank: How fund performed vs. others with same objective: A is in top 20%, E in bottom 20%. Min Init Invt: Minimum $ needed to invest in fund. Source: Morningstar.
