Replies to post #104258 on ajtj99's Market Pulse

[ajtj99]

jd, the BBBY situation should be a real easy piece of coding. I can't imagine why the 2013 date can't be changed to 2020 or so. There are lots of programs that can crawl through code, find the problem, and compile.

As for DOS, we actually still run DOS shells in some of our proprietary file, print, and reporting operations. It's legacy code that's lean and fast. Windows actually slows it down. The 4GL language we use is also used by many Fortune 1000 companies still, including Coca Cola.

However, there's no reason why a top tier retailer isn't using a state of the art POS (point of sale) system from a strong vendor like NCR. It's possible that 40-store division was acquired at some point and has not been fully integrated. However, this does not bode well for that subsidiary if they can't take care of something simple like that.

As for Pep Boys, that's a pretty interesting scam. Leave it to New Jersey folks to get creative on insurance scams. That's better than the ones they were doing in California with the folks forcing a rear end collision for whiplash money.

I've got nothing against the service at Pep Boys, but the management is pretty corrupt. Their stock's going to take a hit when real estate prices re-set, as much of their current valuation is based upon their real estate value rather than their operational value.

As an aside, I recommend people follow their owners manuals and not the dealer service intervals when servicing their cars. Typically the dealers will have service intervals twice as frequent as the vehicle manufacturer recommends. This not only wastes consumer time and money, but it's also harder on the environment when you change your oil every 3,000 miles instead of the recommended 7,500 miles in the manual. Same for anti-freeze, etc.

Also, those check-ups at 15,000 miles, 30,000 miles, etc are a license to print money. The actual work performed is about 1/3 or 1/2 of what they charge. If it says change the oil and filter and air filter at 30,000 miles, do that, not check 100 different things they list that have nothing wrong with them anyway, and they'll usually check anyway if you just have the regular stuff you specify done.