Monday Report
State of the Rockies Report Card - Income June 30th, 2008


Bonneville Research Website

ECONOMIC NOTES:


 

SCORECARD

The Rocky Mountain West is growing!

Utah is Growing!

Utah income - both household and family is not!

Only Colorado has seen a larger decline!

Household Income - Rocky Mountain States

RankArea2006 Median Household Income% Change Since 20002006 Median Family Income% Change Since 2000
US$65,527 -1% $76,1300%
1Colorado $69,334-6% $81,751-1%
2Utah $63,807-4% $70,802-3%
3Idaho $54,659-2% $62,6241%
Rockies $63,464-1% $72,7441%
4Arizona $64,0210% $72,9742%
5Nevada $68,2772% $76,2133%
6New Mexico$54,2732% $62,5814%

Source: State of the Rockies Report Card, 2008

THIS WEEKS LEADS:

  • Frank & Stein Dogs & Drafts, U.S. Bistro and Baja Bistro Fresh Mex Grill
  • Caldwell Enterprises, Inc. trades as Frank & Stein Dogs & Drafts, U.S. Bistro and Baja Bistro Fresh Mex Grill at 27 locations throughout the southeast region of the U.S.
  • The restaurants occupy spaces of 600 sq.ft. to 2,400 sq.ft. in airports, freestanding locations, malls and lifestyle, power and strip centers.
  • Growth opportunities are sought nationwide for the Baja Bistro Fresh Mex Grill concept, during the coming 18 months.
  • For more information, contact
    • Greg Caldwell,
    • Caldwell Enterprises, Inc.,
    • P.O. Box 20608,
    • Roanoke, VA 24018.
  • Carter's Childrenswear and OshKosh B'Gosh
  • Carter's Retail, Inc. trades as Carter's Childrenswear and OshKosh B'Gosh at 393 locations nationwide.
  • The stores, offering baby and young children's apparel, occupy spaces of 4,000 sq.ft. to 4,500 sq.ft. in outlet, power and tourist centers.
  • Growth opportunities are sought throughout the existing market during the coming 18 months.
  • Typical leases run 10 years with two, five-year options.
  • A vanilla shell is required.
  • Preferred cotenants include DSW, Marshalls, Bed Bath & Beyond, Justice, Famous Footwear, Kohl's, Old Navy, Target and T.J. Maxx.
  • Preferred demographics include a population of 150,000 within five miles earning $75,000 as the average household income.
  • Major competitors include Children's Place, Gap Kids, Baby Gap and Gymboree.
  • For more information, contact
    • Mark Hoffman,
    • Carter's Retail, Inc.,
    • 1170 Peachtree Street Northeast, Suite 900,
    • Atlanta, GA 30309;
    • Web site: www.carters.com.

U.S. Retail Store Closures Flirting With Six- Year High

  • Bankrupt home furnishing retailer's Linens 'n Things disclosure this week that it plans to dispose of 120 locations is the latest burst in the retail sector's growing flood of store closings this year that has industry's real estate disposition firms scrambling.
  • On Monday, Linens Holding Corp. announced it had hired DJM Realty, LLC, a New York-based real estate consulting firm, to dispose of its under- performing stores located in 31 states. Also, the Clifton, N.J.-based chain telegraphed it was preparing to shutter as many as 80 more of its 589 stores in the near future, says Andy Graiser, co-CEO of DJM Realty.
  • The disclosure comes as the sector struggles with retailers' jettisoned expansion plans amid a seemingly unending string of store closing announcements. Home Depot recently said it would shut 15 existing stores this year and reduce the number of new store openings by almost half to 55. Then the Hilco Organization and Gordon Brothers Group, new owners of Sharper Image, announced that they will close all 86 of the chain's remaining stores. And, Gap Inc. plans to close an unspecified number of stores while downsizing many of it remaining locations.

Source: Retail Traffic, 2008


Grants:

  • Expand the Workforce Through High- Tech Job Training!
    • Technology-Based Learning Initiative
    • POSTED: 6/20/2008
    • FUNDING SOURCE: Dept. of Labor
    • ELIGIBILITY: A nonprofit or public agency partnered with a Workforce Investment Board or One- Stop Center
    • $ AVAILABLE: $10,000,000
    • GRANTS AVAILABLE: 20
    • MAX GRANT SIZE: $500,000
    • DEADLINE: 8/19/08
    • CONTACT INFORMATION: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-13967.htm
    • DESCRIPTION: Funds to expand access to technology-based training approaches to increase the number of workers trained, particularly in high-growth, high-demand occupations.

  • Improve Childhood Health!
    • Faith-Based Advocacy Program to End Childhood Obesity
    • POSTED: 7/25/2008
    • FUNDING SOURCE: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
    • ELIGIBILITY: Nonprofit and public agencies
    • $ AVAILABLE: N.A.
    • GRANTS AVAILABLE: 25
    • MAX GRANT SIZE: $225,000
    • DEADLINE: 7/25/08
    • CONTACT INFORMATION: http://www.rwjf.org/applications/solicited/cfp.jsp? ID=20381
    • DESCRIPTION: Funds to advance community policies or environmental changes that improve access to healthy foods and/or opportunities for physical activities among children.

  • Improve Juvenile Drug Courts!
    • Juvenile Drug Court Training and Technical Assistance Program
    • POSTED: 6/9/2008
    • FUNDING SOURCE: DOJ
    • ELIGIBILITY: Nonprofit, for-profit, and public agencies
    • $ AVAILABLE: $600,000
    • GRANTS AVAILABLE: 1
    • MAX GRANT SIZE: $600,000
    • DEADLINE: 7/3/08
    • CONTACT INFORMATION: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/grants/solicitations/FY2008/DrugC ourtsTTA.pdf
    • DESCRIPTION: Funds to build the capacity of states, state courts, local courts, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to develop, maintain, and enhance drug courts for substance- abusing juvenile offenders.

Greetings!

State of the Rockies Report Card - Income

  • Where do we stand?
  • Who is doing better?
  • Who is ranked lower?

Bob Springmeyer

Bonneville Research


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  • Check out our Bonneville Research Website!

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    Bonneville Research
  • ECONOMIC NOTES:
    • Global Business Confidence
    • Global business sentiment softened last week and remains fragile, but it is well off its late April bottom. Last week's pull-back was evident across the globe and all survey questions. As has been the case for the past year, the most pessimistic responses are to the broad-based questions regarding present conditions and the six-month outlook. There has been a worrisome increase in pricing pressures during the past month. Confidence remains weakest in the U.S. where it suggests the economy is still contracting, and it is strongest in Asia where it is consistent with an economy growing near its potential.
    • Conference Board Consumer Confidence
    • The Conference Board index of consumer confidence fell further in June to 50.4 from May's 58.1 (revised from 57.2). This puts the index at a 16-year low, and this is the fourth-lowest reading in the history of the survey, which dates back to 1969. The present situation component of the index led the decline, but expectations fell significantly as well. Assessments of labor market conditions fell severely.
    • Jobless Claims
    • Initial jobless claims were unchanged in the week ending June 21, remaining at 384,000. This is on the high end of what has been seen thus far this downturn, and suggestive that the labor market is still fragile. Nevertheless, it appears that layoffs are no longer accelerating but have reached their peak trend.
    • GDP
    • GDP growth in the first quarter was revised upward to 1% annualized in the final report, from 0.9% in the preliminary report. The 1% growth is equal to the consensus estimate. There were upward revisions to exports, consumer spending and business investment, which were largely offset by an upward revision to imports and a downward revision to inventory investment. Profits saw a downward revision, to $1.56 trillion annualized, a decline of $5.2 billion from the fourth quarter; this is the third straight quarterly decline in profits. This compares with an estimated increase in profits of $5.2 billion in the preliminary report. The U.S. economy continues to expand weakly.
    • Durable Goods (Advance)
    • New orders for manufactured durable goods rose slightly in May by 0.03%; consensus forecasts were expecting a small decline. This was the first increase in new orders since February and came on the heels of a 1% decline in April. Orders excluding transportation fell 0.9% as civilian and defense aircraft boosted the top-line number. Core capital goods orders fell 0.8%, but shipments were up 0.6%. Another large drop in overall shipments indicates that manufacturing conditions are little improved since the start of the year, though they are holding up better than during prior recessions.
    • OFHEO Purchase-Only House Price Index
    • U.S. house prices fell by 0.8% from March to April 2008, according to OFHEO's monthly purchase-only price index. Although this is a lower rate of depreciation than in December to January when prices fell by a full 1%, it is still higher than the previous two months and indicates an accelerating rate of depreciation, along with continuing worsening of demand conditions in housing markets. As usual, the rate of price depreciation was uneven between regions, with the Pacific region recording the largest decline while the East and West South Central divisions recorded price increases.
    • Monthly Home Price Index - Further Slowing!
    • House price declines slowed further in April. Both the 10-city and 20-city composite S&P/Case-Shiller house price indices declined again in April, by lesser amounts on a month-ago basis. The 10-city composite fell 1.6% and the 20-city dropped 1.4%. However, prices were down on a year-ago basis by record amounts again. The 10-city composite was down 16.4% over the past year, and the 20-city composite was down 15.3% over the past year. Prices fell in 12 of the 20 metro areas in April from a month ago.
    • New-Home Sales (C25)
    • Home sales declined in May as housing markets continue on a downward trend. Sales of new single- family homes for May came in at 512,000 after seasonal adjustment, a decrease of 2.5% below the revised April total of 525,000 sales, and 40.3% below the total for May 2007 of 857,000. The supply of new single-family homes remains high at 10.9 months, given the current rate of sales. The new sales totals correlate well with both falling home prices and fewer purchase mortgage loan applications.
    • Existing-Home Sales
    • Housing improved, with the National Association of Realtors reporting a 2% increase in existing-home sales in May to an annualized pace of 5 million. The months of inventory available for sale hit 10.8. The median existing-home price was down 6.3% y/y. Discounted home prices are helping to spur buyers back into the market.
    • MBA Mortgage Applications Survey
    • The MBA market composite indices finished lower for the week ending June 20, despite a decrease in contract rates. The market index fell by 9.3% compared with the week before. Refinancing applications continued falling, with the refinance index finishing down by 12.1% from the previous week. Purchase applications were down by 7.4%. Apparently, falling interest rates were either insufficient or too late this week to jump-start any sort of market rally, so the indices continued their downward trend.
    • Chain Store Sales
    • Chain store sales fell 0.6% in the week ending June 21, following two weeks of gains according to the ICSC. Year-over-year growth inched up to 2.2%, the strongest in seven weeks. Sales were reportedly hurt by cooler weather, but benefited from stabilization in gasoline prices and continued distribution of tax rebate checks.
    • Natural Gas Storage Report
    • Working gas in underground storage rose by 90 billion cubic feet during the week ending June 20, in line with consensus expectations. Working gas in underground storage was 2,033 bcf as of June 20, 382 bcf lower than a year ago and 56 bcf below the five-year average for this time of year.
    • Oil and Gas Inventories
    • Crude oil inventories rose by 0.8 million barrels for the week ending June 20, according to the Energy Information Administration, contradicting expectations of a 1.4 million barrel decline. Gasoline inventories fell by 0.1 million barrels, in line with expectations. Distillate supplies rose by 2.8 million barrels, higher than the expected 1.9 million barrel build. Refinery operating capacity fell to 88.6% from 89.3%. This report points downward for prices.

    Source: Economy.com 2008


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    Note from Bob Springmeyer:

    As some of you may know I am the Democratic Candidate for Utah Governor.

    I chose community activist and retired SBA official Josie Valdez to run as my lieutenant governor.

    Last week we opened our campaign Headquarters with a great party and an excellent turn- out.

    We now have a staff, lawn signs, bumper stickers available.

    It is my hope that I can continue to send out the Monday Report weekly without interruption.

    The Monday Report has always reflected my business and economic development values.

    I don't intend that the Monday Report will become a campaign tool, but if you are interested in my campaign and want to be supportive, please click on the link below.

    Thanks,

    Bob Springmeyer

    The good education, good jobs, good health and good government Candidate for Utah Governor

    Election Date: November 4th, 2008

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