Ebay a Bargain? I Don't Think So...

With Ebay taking a hit in price this year, you have to wonder if it can get back on track. I don't think so, as their core business growth is slowing, and there is no real word on what the strategy is for the long term. It would seem that their growth is based on raising user fees for listings, and the acquisition trail hasn't yielded the results expected. What does Ebay need to do?

First and foremost, Ebay has to improve the ecommerce participation rate amongst users. Although there is growth with businesses using ecommerce, there is still a largely untapped market of individual users out there that still are wary of ecommerce. If Ebay can make the big sell to these people, then things might get better for them over the short term. For the longer term, Ebay will have to come up with a better plan to improve growth.

Maybe Meg Whitman is out of steam on this one...I don't see the stock price beating the indices any time soon.

Pier 1 - Worth a Look?

With the housing market slowing down, now might be the time to look at companies that would benefit from people deciding to spruce up their existing homes, instead of buying a new house.

I came across this today, which was interesting, courtesy of CNN Money;

PIER ONE: CEO Marvin Girouard says he is stepping down. Not a moment too soon if you ask me. He's been The Man since 1999 and during his tenure, PIR (Charts) went way up and then way down. (From $25 to $7 over the past three years.) They had Kirstie Alley as a pitch person. Then one of the "Queer Eye" guys. They also tried a catalog. Most important though, the company's strategy of importing and selling trendy home furnishings had been copied by the likes of Target (Charts), Wal-Mart (Charts) and others, especially Bombay Company. Still, I think, this one might perk up, now that the big guy is on the way out.

If they could get it together and find something that the public will like, besides wicker furniture, there may be something that can be made...