CLEAN-UP IN AISLE FIVE
Unless you've been asleep in a cave, you heard that Amazon (AMZN) bought Whole Foods Markets (WFM) in a deal valued at $42 a share to Whole Foods shareholders, and $13.7 billion to Amazon. It sent waves of concern through the stock market today, as investors of retailers everywhere started looking under their skirts for a sign that something might be creeping up on them. All of those names you see above had their stocks hammered or at the very least, bitten into over this deal. So, what's going on? Are we headed toward a one-retailer world, or is this just yet another over-reaction to a short-term stimulus? Or both? One strange thing that happened is that Amazon's stock went up after the deal was announced, to a degree that equated to almost getting the Whole Foods property for free. That's odd, especially since the deal was funded from debt. Somehow, Amazon shareholders didn't care about that. So, we'll wait for that other shoe ...