In January of 2011, Zellers Inc, a canadian retail superstore, was purchased by the American giant, Target Corp. Zellers will have to turnover all of its inventory within the next year and a half when the acquisition takes place. For Zellers, this means mass liquidation of all of its assets. They are cutting costs and stocking higher yielding goods such as apparel to boost profits before handing the business over to their new owner, Target. They have also decided to get rid of their television marketing campaign by replacing it with an unusual and unprecedented Facebook campaign. With the presence of a giant like Target in Canada’s market, it is only a matter of time before other superstores feel the pinch of severe competition.

Article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/zellers-ceo-rewrites-the-book-on-liquidation/article2220296/

As an owner of Apple shares…I have reason to be concerned. Two large events took place today in the world of tech : Apple unveiled the iPhone 4s and more importantly, ex-CEO Steve Jobs died. The former is not very important; the 4s was just another product in the long line of iPhone’s and there is sure to be a new update coming within a quarter or two. The interesting thing is that the news of Jobs’ death did not hit the media until after the unveiling of the iPhone 4s; mere coincidence or a cunning ploy by Apple to not hurt the release of their most innovative product? I think I’m going to hold onto my shares: a company as powerful and innovative as Apple will surely know how to turn a tragedy such as this into a profit.

As investors, brokers, analysts and economists alike fear for the default of the Greek economy and the potential of a European meltdown, the markets at home are suffering. The expectations of what will happen with Europe’s debt crisis are making investors put away their wallets and this stall is hitting the North American economy hard. The Toronto Stock Exchange dipped 372 points today; a 13 month low. Neil Matheson, a president of an investment firm in Montreal, says “It has nothing to do with Canada”.

This is just a isolated event too; markets all around the world are suffering from mere speculation of a crash. Things will get much worse before they get any better…

Article on the TSX dip:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/the-bear-market-is-back-tsx-swoon-tops-20/article2189668/