| MARKET ROUNDUP | |
| Dow | +61.78 to 16,713.58 |
| S&P 500 | +8.46 to 1,955.18 |
| Nasdaq | +18.87 to 4,453 |
| 10-YR Yield | -0.013 to 2.4% |
| Gold | -$0.50 to $1,314 |
| Crude Oil | -$2.21 to $95.38 |
You know the old saying: “What’s good for General Motors is good for America”?
Today, investors are phrasing things in a slightly different way. They’re asking: “As goes Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, Weiss Ratings: B), so goes the American economy?”
I say that because the giant retailer’s lousy second-quarter report has Wall Street concerned. The company managed to eke out a 0.6 percent year-over-year rise in profit, to $4.09 billion from $4.07 billion. That matched estimates for $1.21 on a per-share basis.
But sales inched up just 2.8 percent to $119.3 billion, and on a “same store” basis (meaning, only looking at stores that have been open at least a year) they were flat as a pancake. Overall traffic fell for the seventh quarter in a row.
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| Wal-Mart’s lousy second-quarter report has Wall Street concerned |
On top of that, Wal-Mart slashed its full-year EPS forecast to a range of $4.90 to $5.15 from up to $5.45 previously. Wal-Mart not only cited lackluster sales, but also rising health care costs. The firm said its health care bill jumped $500 million from a year ago. That only underscores further how the Obamacare program and health care inflation in general is causing real problems for American businesses and consumers alike!
It’s not like Wal-Mart is alone, either. As I mentioned yesterday, the department store giant Macy’s (M, Weiss Ratings: B+) failed to live up to expectations in its most recent quarter. As a result, the company lowered its forecast for full-year, same-store sales growth forecast to 1.5 percent to 2 percent from a previous range of 2.5 percent to 3 percent. Overall U.S. retail sales also flat-lined last month.
So what’s the lesson here? While the job market is improving in the U.S., wages aren’t picking up at a rate that everyday Americans would like to see. What extra money they’re earning in their paychecks is being swallowed up by rising prices, leaving lower- and middle-income consumers with less ability to spend.
| “The solution sure as heck isn’t more easy money from the Federal Reserve.” |
The solution sure as heck isn’t more easy money from the Federal Reserve. That’s making the 1 percent happy as pigs at a trough, but doing jack squat for the other 99 percent. What we really need is less burdensome regulation, lower inflation, tax policies that encourage job creation, and more, not the kind of garbage that’s coming out of Washington!
So what do you think about Wal-Mart’s lousy numbers? Do they tell us something important about the U.S. economy? Or is it Wal-Mart’s own company-specific problems with keeping inventory on the shelves, its unattractive mega-stores, and more at fault here? How about wage growth — is it set to ramp up soon or not? Share your thoughts at the Money and Markets website!
| OUR READERS SPEAK |
Speaking of the website, there are lots of great comments on a variety of topics there right now.
Reader H. Craig B. chimed in on the “Fad Investing” piece from yesterday, asking the following: “Are social media, categorically, and stocks like Facebook (FB, Weiss Ratings: B-) to a large extent “Fad Stocks” too? Facebook has less than $1.00/share in earnings, is a multimillion-dollar company, and sports a hefty P/E ratio of about 80. It’s really hard to see this as an essential product or service people cannot live without in a recession, like Apple products currently are.”
Craig, I use Facebook in my daily life and find it a good way to keep intouch with family members and old friends. I like to see updates that I wouldn’t otherwise get by phone or email. But I agree that the stock is richly valued for what it offers. I’m not recommending it as a buy, but given its dominant market share, I don’t think it’s a great “short” either.
On the subject of losing money from fad stocks, Reader Jack T. has a simple bit of advice: “William O’Neil’s rule of ‘Never take more than a 7 percent loss prevents the kind of disaster you describe. Sure, you’ll sell stocks that drop 7 percent and more and then double or triple, but you’ll never suffer the losses of an Enron, Worldcom, Global Crossing, etc.”
Good point Jack, and something investors in names like Zynga (ZNGA, Weiss Ratings: D) or King Digital Entertainment (KING,Weiss Ratings: C) should keep in mind!
Finally, with regards to fracking activity, Reader George C. said: “The national press is so anti-corporate and anti-fracking that if there was even an inkling of a real problem with what is going on all over the place, it would be all over the national news and the pro-environmental newspapers.
“Where is the beef? All generalities, no specifics. Fracking is going on in rural and semi-urban areas, while making people happy with no or low apparent problems.”
I tend to agree that the benefits of the domestic energy boom and fracking are substantial, George. Any type of energy extraction activity — domestic or international, at sea or on land — brings with it certain risks. The key is to minimize those as much as possible, and weigh those risks against the possible rewards!
If you’d like to weigh in on fracking, fad stocks, or anything else, remember: You just have to go here!
| OTHER DEVELOPMENTS OF THE DAY |
 The fascinating story of Atlantic City’s decline as a gambling mecca continues to play out. AC and Las Vegas used to be the only game in town, so to speak, for gambling in the U.S. But with several adjoining states legalizing casinos, four major casinos in AC have either closed or announced they will do so soon, including the Revel this week. Read more here to understand the causes and consequences.
Reminder: You can let me know what you think by putting your comments here.
Until next time,
Mike Larson
P.S. The Weiss Million-Dollar Ratings Portfolio uses the Weiss Ratings model to hunt for safe, profitable stocks to invest in. Several stocks in the portfolio have double-digit percentage gains, including National Oilwell Varco Inc., which is up more than 28 percent since being added to the portfolio. To learn more about the service and see what other investment opportunities there are through the Ratings model, click here.
Mike Larson graduated from Boston University with a B.S. degree in Journalism and a B.A. degree in English in 1998, and went to work for Bankrate.com. There, he learned the mortgage and interest rates markets inside and out. Mike then joined Weiss Research in 2001. He is the editor of Safe Money Report. He is often quoted by the Washington Post, Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post and Sun-Sentinel, and he has appeared on CNN, Bloomberg Television and CNBC.
{ 37 comments }
Searching the internet I was able ato find poll after poll where Wal-Mart ranked worst in customer service in the past 2 years. To me, that says everything. Once there was a time when my best friend and I could spend 3 hours cruising the store, enjoy our time and spend several hundred dollars. As a newlywed, I couldn’t have stocked my home wiithout their layaway dept. (which they no longer have!). Even 10 years ago I seldom went straight home from work but made almost daily stops getting those few essential items I needed for dinner. Now however, I avoid Wal-Mart like the plague!!! Due to poor customer service, long lines (which Sam Walton would never tolerate), merchandise lacking in quality and variety, and just an overall unpleasant environment, my time and money is now spent elsewhere.
You said it perfectly I tried WalMart again today and walked out and went to Best Buynot only was the service very POOR but the restroom was to dirty to use and the rest of the store looked like it was a slum area I don ‘t think I will ever go back and I use to buy almost everything there but I have gotten to much junk there to even mention there are better places to shop
Walmart’s image in the eyes of many consumers has suffered from the stark realities that their workers are abused by low wages, necessity of food stamp assistance and the deaf ears of Walmart management. Low prices are in general good, but once the images go to shabby, consumers get a creepy feeling and avoid the store. Why take a trip to skid row when all you want to do is shop? This is what’s happening at Walmart. It’s curious that you on the one hand suggest that employers increase wages to boost the economy, but on the other reduce benefits and wages to boost profits & returns per share. My sense is boosting wages will raise all boats. What’s yours?
I go to Wall Mart mostly to buy food items. Regardless of how you put them down try comparing their prices with those at Publics or Buy Low. All I can say about low wages of the workers at Wall Mart is they do not have to work there. I seldom hear anyone complaining about retired people on Social Security not getting COLA increases. Why not let the economy and the CPI determine the wages of workers instead of picking and choosing selectively who’s wages to increase?
I think federal reserve policies have limited consumers ability to spend. The walmart story is the canary in the coal mine.
Being that Walmart owners are in that top 1% of the population, I don’t feel sorry that their profit line is lower than they want because they actually have to take care of the employees they hire.What I think is the problem is that profit only has become the only goal for business with no concern for customers or employees. Take the example of Market Basket supemarkets in New Hamsphire, the new people in power are concerned with profit and are willing to lose loyal customers and long term employees to gain a higher profits. With consumers having less money to spend if i was a business owner my priority would be to increase my customer sales with the right product and employees. One can’t make money without spending money.
Why is Walmart responsible for taking care of it’s employees?Aren’t they at the age where they should be taking care of themselves?If you feel sorry for Walmart employees,why not tip them when you shop at a Walmart.Maybe if enough people gave them tips they could stay at Walmart forever and not bother to better themselves and move on.If all the Walmart employees are mentally retarded and incapable of learning new skills maybe you are right and they should become wards of the state.
If it was just Walmart, I’d agree with Tom & Rayna, but this is systemic. The consumer at the middle and bottom end is getting squeezed. The policies of President Obama are killing them. Just the jump in Gasoline prices from when he took office ($1.86/gal) to $3.85 today & food skyrocketing is stifling discretionary spending by working class Americans. And yes the 1% are making more than ever. If Dr. Weiss is right, and he usually is, we are going to see the Mideast ignite and perhaps China take on many of its Asian neighbors over oil and perhaps the Euro split, casting the US into a severe recession. The increased regulations, increased immigration (and therefore competition for jobs which is driving down wages), crony capitalism, and persecution of small businesses and fossil energy production by the administration is the cause.
Gas prices were above $3 a gallon under the Bush administration at one time, so I doubt that high gas prices are on Obama. Sorry but that’s just history getting politicized. I wouldn’t give any one President that much blame. Many things lead to higher prices.
Hi MIke como estan?
I think is a Nation wide problem thanks to ACA which is a Tax on America and a hand out to health insurance companies, therefore the country ‘econmy will stay most likely FLAT the Fat Cats will get Filthy Cats and Middle class will be shrinking … less spending from Middle to poor classes since the EVIL GREEDY CROOKS are taking all the money .. it wont change for a long time and fracking is CONTAMINATING our WATER and is making a lot of American people Sick until they die or move out of their properties or both .. Not good for American citizens ! Greedy Evil people will bring down this country to its Knees….
God bless
Won’t go there and never have. Disgusting corporate image. In state after state, the largest group of Medicaid recipients is Walmart employees. I’m sure that the same thing is true of food stamp recipients. Each Walmart ‘associate’ costs the taxpayers an average of more than $1,000 in public assistance. Can’t look after their people but did spend $800 million do build an art museum. Sam Walton would be horrified
When a store is dirty, it’s on the skids. WalMart shoppers are back to buying staples only. They’re making do with that cheap set of fraying, made-in-china, GMO cotton towels. Job growth is mostly part-time and minimum wage, and the decent wage of 2008 doesn’t cover necessities in 2014 (thank you! to the Fed). The Dollar Stores that sprang up like mushrooms in 2009 are closing. When gas prices start reflecting the state of actual petroleum reserves, those close-to-home Dollar Stores will be missed. Empty promises of “Health Care” (Americans are sicker than ever) and “Job Creation”(25% unemployment per Shadowstats – and anyone who isn’t inside the beltline or on Wall St or writing/editing/reporting the news knows) and “Government Transparency” (hey NSA! where’d I leave my phone?) have created an economic and cultural black hole. Americans, for the most part, are uneasy. When the streets and parks and schools are dirty, when the bridges and roads are falling apart, when royalty tells the rest to eat cake, your country is on the skids. But TIF is up!
Wow, I have almost never read anything so right-wing biased as blaming the ACA for forcing large corporations such as wal-mart to contribute to the healthcare costs of their employees, instead of shoving it off onto the taxpayers by forcing employees onto medicaid and food stamps, which they are eligible for due to the low wages they pay. Of course this will eat into their profits! Frankly, it’s about time we taxpayers got a break from subsidizing them. This has been part of the reason tax rates are so high. If more people were working for decent wages, that would solve the problem with the economy, and taxes might even be able to be lowered! Trickle down economics was called Voodoo economics in it’s last incarnation. Didn’t work then, doesn’t work now,
I stopped patronizing wal-mart after they were fined for locking their illegal immigrant cleaning crews into their stores a few years ago.
I have personally twice owned small businesses, paid my employees well enough that they did not have to rely on public assistance to eat and for healthcare, and still had a decent profit. . .
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There appears to be a lot less crony capitalism in this administration than some of the previous ones. Remember Enron ?. It would be a real improvement if congress could work to improve the lot of the people, which is what they were elected to do, but many republicans are more interested in corporate support or imposing religious standards on others. And (reality check) the increase in gas prices has nothing at all to do with Obama, but mostly with the oil traders who raise prices on the basis of their fear, not reality, as well as the greed of the oil companies. This of course affects the price of food, as the transportation to deliver it is more expensive. Too many people don’t understand how things really work. Greed governs, and is bipartisan.
I agree.
Voodoo economics is thinking govt can give you something for nothing.My estimate is that govt delivers about .50 to the economy for every $1 it takes out of the economy.Govt is the greatest destroyer of wealth.The private sector is having a hard time creating more wealth than govt destroys.Since Obama,a govt worshipper,has been elected twice,not much chance of things getting better,as people continue to believe govt is the Santa Claus for adults.
Like you I owned and operated two businesses. Much to my dismay, I found that Wal-Mart pays better than their competition. To often these jobs are positions that require little if any education or skill. Bluntly put, they are “starter” jobs-not long term positions. Wal-Mart really needs to clean up their act or they will pay a bitter price and I am not referring to the wage structure. The customer is not always right but must always be treated with respect. Lets fact it, some are the something for nothing crowd and some are obnoxious but we still put up with them because we like people and like business.
Don’t cry for WalMart just because they didn’t have tremendous growth. The company is quite strong financially. Market saturation will slow down or even reverse their growth.
Housing: It is too bad that the rest of the country is not experiencing the housing boom like we are here in Texas, and especially in the Houston Metropolitan area. Existing and new home sales are pushing records every day. I wonder why that is? Could it be because in Texas we have NO state income tax and a booming economy being driven by politicians that most stay our of the way of business or assist it. With less interference from government and lower taxes, business or all kinds, not just energy are thriving.
Oh, by the way, TEXAS is a RED state.
I’d like to see proof that Obamacare is costing WalMart so much. Most of the workers can’t afford the healthcare, so who is it going to?
Find Walmart groceries to be higher than our supermarkets, Kroger’s and whole Foods. They need to shop their areas to see for themselves.
For several years I’ve been watching ships and barges laden with fuel oil and diesel oil leave terminals on the Mississippi River and go out of the river. The U.S. soon will become the largest oil exporter in the world. I don’t like to pick on the oil companies. I know that most pensions are in oil but can’t they give us a break sometime? They’re drilling and fracking everywhere, BP messed up our coastline and fishing industries terribly and yet the price at the pump is very high and hardly ever goes down. A few days ago I read a stock market report that commented on how the world was awash with oil and prices would go down. Sure enough, the price at the pump shot up 8 cents overnight at most stations.
Timing was way off with Obamacare,in a recession?,its like buying a house and a month later my interest rates jump up5%,with wages stagnent,You cannot get out of the hole,answer,Sell the house,make a loss and go back to where you were.Now your deeper in debt.The question is,Now did the little guy do anything wrong.TIMING.He only tried to make life better for his family.but screwed again.
I don’t know about Wal Mart but business in general like the article says is in the same boat. Everyone is struggling to stay alive and all the money it seems is going everywhere except in our pockets. Taxes are at an all time high. Government regulations, unemployment insurance, on an on is killing American business. As far as the jobs sector, I was looking for help for 3 months and finally found someone by accident. It seems that with all the unemployment out there, no one is ready to work or not looking for what ever I am offering. The Obama administration has put a death grip on the country, one like I have never seen before. We need to turn things around. The article mentioned that the 1 percent of America is loving life like pigs at a trough. That is what they are, pigs. We, the working class are killing ourselves for them while they laugh all the way to the bank. Things need to change.
Tax code needs a complete overhaul. Let workers/consumers keep majority of their earnings and then tax consumption. Only fair tax there is. You can’t hide what you spend at the point of sale. I know the argument for the less fortunate being taxed more heavily than the 1% but it’s all relative. I buy a $15,000 Kia and you buy a $150,000 Mercedes, we both pay our fair share of the tax. I buy a $40,000 manufactured home and you buy a $1.5 million McMansion, we both pay our fair share of taxes. Property tax is the most egerious of all taxes because it is SO subjective. Project to Restore America’s solution is first $24,000 is exempt and then everythiing over that everyone pays 20% of in taxes. Our political leaders don’t have the backbone to impliment this even though it would work.
20% is too high,for those living in high tax,socialist states,like California,where you would end up paying 20+9.3=29.3% and over 31% for higher incomes.I would suggest 15% Federal,which is about what Romney and Buffet pay and max of 3% for state.But neither are going to happen,since buying votes is how politicians get elected and they will continue with our complicated tax system,that rewards some and punishes others and is never fair.
My wife and I get frustrated shopping at Wal Mart. It seems to us Wal Marts policy is that if they don’t sell one gazillion copies of an item they dis continue carrying it. Quite a few times we’be found food items we really liked only to see the item dropped. One example is the Sam’s Choice decaffeinated coffee. It was the only coffee we could find here in Jonesboro AR that is decaffeinated using the Swiss Water Method. We have started food shopping more and more at Kroger here in town. And after Kroger gets their new mega store open later this year, we will seldom ever go to Wal Mart.
One other thing, it seems Wal Mart is in the lead in the wage race to the bottom. It certainly is reflected in the quality of the help they hire.
Mike,
Eight years ago, I found myself in my mid-forties, getting ‘un-married’ and having to do things I haven’t done for a long time, like all my cooking, cleaning and shopping. I made a weekly shopping trip to Wal-Mart for most all of my needs. Over these years I’ve seen Wal-Mart’s business slowly decline and I’ve watched Krogers and Meijers pick up much of that business.
I can get better food and often at better prices than Wal-Mart. They are not the best price in town. True, they’ll price match to their competitor’s prices every day, and for some items I take advantage of their policy, but the quality of their produce and even the time left before the milk’s expiration date, can be beat just down the street.
What I see and think is: good fresh food brings the customers in, high volumes keeps the inventory turning over and that makes a business profitable. My Wal-Mart has forgotten about the quality and that left the customers searching for other options. Sure, I’ll still buy my toothpaste and deoderant from Wal-Mart, but the bulk of my weekly grocery money gets spent where I can get higher quality and ‘on-sale’ items.
It is no surprise to me that Wal-Mart’s profits are flat, in fact I’m more surprised they haven’t already begun to slide. From what I see, it’s only a matter of time.
Wal-Mart may well have its issues with the competition–Dollar General and others and on-line retailers. However, its (and others’) health care cost increases are going to continue to put pressure on their earnings unless and until they can pass along the increase to customers (indirect tax for ObamaCare). And, company and employee health care costs attributable to ObamaCare and its unintended consequences are going to continue to inhibit net wage growth. While job opportunities are improving (too many of them part-time and low paying), employees find that they have to pay much more for health care if they can get a job for more than 30 hours per week. Too many people are expectant of and dependent upon our government, the most inefficient economic entity in the US, for remedy and/or for retribution.
Wal-Mart no longer has the low prices to bring people in. They had at one time overall the lower prices but now the sales and BOGO’s far out weigh the prices from Wal-Mart. This and the fact it is not worth waiting in the long lines to justify the small differences in their pricing.
When you walk into a Wal Mart these days it’s like walking into the ghetto. The whole atmosphere is downbeat and depressing, and if you’re looking for an employee who can help you, forget it. You’re lucky to find someone you can even understand and the IQ level is about 1 1/2. Clearly, minimum wage hiring at Wal Mart is not working.
How is it that the U.S. enjoyed relatively stable & prosperous economic times from the late 1930s until Nixon took us off the gold standard and Reagan’s “trickle down” policy of low taxes and then his doubling of the national debt, followed by the Graham-Leach act which lead directly to the ‘great recession’? Look at all the currently poor performing states and ask, “What do these issues have in common?” Answer: republicans! Graham-Leach enabled a repeat of the “Robber Baron” era, and nobody has been held to account for the debacle and few have the fortitude to stare down the perpetrators!
Mike; re: fracking – in reply to Matt Insley’s “How to Claim Your SPOILS (my Caps) from Shale’s Latest Victory”, I wrote:
Matt: I deeply appreciate what horizontal drilling of the massive deposits in our country has done for our oil independence – it IS a Godsend!
However, I cringe every time you (or anyone) put pejorative labels on those who don’t agree with you. I don’t like to read such comments and will cancel if necessary to protect myself.
When a company strongly resists disclosing the contents of the fluids used to fracture PREVIOUSLY impervious stone layers, I get suspicious. When independent analysis proves toxic chemicals are present, I object.
Matt. have you considered that the wastewater (It takes millions of water to drill each well) is contaminating the water table. Even with mitigating capture and reuse, copious amounts of contaminated water is bound to escape, given human error and a careless attitude that has frequently characterized those who disrespectfully harvest resources for the gain of their employers.
As for evidence Matt, the link below will list a page full of research studies on the effects on infants living close to nat gas wells – though the birth defects seem to be related to AIR not water in most cases: https://www.google.com/webhp?s… You will want to read the study carried out by the Univ. of Colorado and Brown Univ. on the infants born to women who lived within TEN miles of the well heads (tho’ CO law permits drilling within 150 FEET!). Among the congenital birth defects PROVEN by this well designed research are heart and lung dysfunction, while possible links to brain and spinal cord damage are indicated.
Other health issues are cancer for adults. A Bloomberg writer suggested gas masks for them and that moving residents would be cheaper than mitigating uncontrolled backflow where much of the benzene and other toxins are released.
At a time when hospital and other medical costs are acknowledged as alarming (to say nothing of the lifelong cost to the affected child and family), PREVENTION not profit IS paramount! Or will the corporation responsible say, “We’ve made so much money, we will reimburse those ‘casualties’ if the courts wlll tell us what a normal life is worth”. Really??? What would you choose for yourself or a dearly loved child?
This thing has been building for many years now. How can you blame an administration who’s only been in power for six years? Go back to Regan’s presidency in his second term when they stopped enforcing the Sherman Anti-trust act. This transformed the small family business into a nationwide homogenous business owned by a small handful of companies.
The statement ‘Garbage out of Washington’ reflects an inability to view the latent historical trends built by predatorial politics designed to eliminate the middle class of this country.
Regarding WalMart: I sometimes wonder if the Waltons or any financial experts ever go into the stores to see what is happening to America’s biggest retailer. The stores are the most poorly designed in modern day shopping. The stupid rotating checkout bag holders which the cashiers themselves will tell you causes customers to leave goods behind at every register every day, just frustrate everybody. If you want to see efficiency go to a Wegmans market. The cashier stands at the end of the belt puts packages in bags on a shelf in front of her and places the bag in your cart, instead of standing alongside the moving belt placing the goods in bags on the turntable, spinning the turntable and allowing you to put the goods in your own cart. But what is hurting WalMart the most is that their competitors are matching them an many core prices and if the prices are even close people tend to want to leave the crowded, dirty, WalMarts with their lack of many food necessities on the shelves and shop at stores that are clean and have amenities like bags to put your produce in, ties for those bags, and produce that is not the bottom of the barrel.
As a retail industry manager(not walmart) I can tell you that some of the conditions you see are related to company cost cutting. Things like an insufficient number of employees
on duty, workload raised to unacceptable levels, Lack of pay increases or insufficient pay increases(impacts crew quality and motivation), most people on part-time status, It is as if they are operating on emergency budgets..but many of them are in good cash positions. You cannot operate that way forever without a negative impact on your business. Locally the Walmarts are not to bad…most of the time but I have yet to see a
retailer in the area that duplicates the way it used to be. (By the way, they do have produce bags). If you own stock in a retailer you do not want to hear the reality of what they are doing and they are not going to tell you. Upper management in the industry is burying their heads in the sand. It is going to catch them again and they will again blame everyone except themselves. New store openings are the only thing that is going to impact any increase for anyone in the industry. I personally proclaim it dead, it is certainly no way to make a living anymore.
Seriously, do you think the undocumented Marxist-in-Chief cares about any of this?
The solution to raise minimum wage without raising costs is simple. Get rid of the overpriced CEOs and CFOs for any company that doesn’t need them (which is at least 95%) and replace them with a single accountant and pay that person a competitive wage, Then spread the money saved to rest of the workers. For companies like Apple and Intel etc, there are new products released every quarter which may make or break that company. Their CEOs should be paid a lot if they succeed. For companies in the insurance and banking industries, there hasn’t been a single new innovation in the last 50 years, except for the ATM, which was created by a computer company. The new CEO of McDonalds gets paid somewhere around $20M and last year McDs introduced a new salad. You don’t need an MBA to do that. That sort of decision could be made by any average store employee. Only a tiny percentage of CEOs can justify their salary. The rest should be embarrassed.