Wal-Mart wants to be your stock broker

Discount brokerages play an important role, but sometimes there’s nothing quite like the services and knowledge of an old-fashioned brokerage house stock broker.

Google Answers had an interesting research project on the numbers of professional stock brokers registered around the country, and their qualifications and licenses.

You can see the research results here:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=533677
Stock Broker Licenses

Worth a look!

if these people were supposed to invest they would of done so already…now what happens when they start losing money? jesus, the ramifications of it all…

First,and foremost;this,story is not about Liberal vs. Conservative. Nor is it about Educated vs. Non-Educated.

Quite simply,it(the story)is about how people(the KEY word being,”people”)now have another option on how to do business,in regards to their own household.

I personally like the ideal,since I shop at Wal-Mart;and,have an account with Sharebuilder.

This combination has saved me a ton of money over the years(which I use to reduce my debt,and put money in my Sharebuilder Account to build assets,in the form of quality stocks);therefore,I don’t have a problem with the joint venture.

Of course,there will be those,for whatever reason,will state the minuses over pluses in regards to this story. And that’s fine. We all have a right to do that. It’s what makes America great.

However,I just wish that those who have a problem with these two companies(or for that matter,any other subject)to back up their statements with cold,hard facts;and,not just simple-minded,emotional,dribble that one tries to pass off as fact.

My wife and I are college educated and now retired. We have rolex watches, a 350z Roadster, a 32 foot class A motor home, a large extended family and have income of about triple the 40,000 most people list as average walmart shoppers. I shop at walmart for food, electronics, and everyday goods.

I skoff at these mostly californians type attitudes that look down their noses if you aren’t after the mighty dollor. You must be a not to swift at investing, etc if you shop at walmart. BULL.

The fact is, smart people, smart shoppers get the most bang for their buck. There are a lot of smart shoppers that shop Sams.

The way to success is education and a life time of hard work, not avoiding walmart.

It seems to be more the LIBERAL thing to bash SAMS, an American company that is successful.

They, the liberals are good at that

walmart as a stockbroker?

the average wal-marter has a household income of $40000 and 20% dont have bank accounts

target is affluent to them

Wal-Mart, ShareBuilder storefronts would make an excellent combination, because the duo would provide much needed stock market accessibility and savy to everyday America discount shoppers.

I worked for wal_mart for 15 years and have constantly seen them slandered in the press. The unions which oppose them are not offering any job future. The truth about the unions is that the only problem withthe big three autos are they want us to buy American so thewy can line their pockets but the only thing really American is the name of the company. The American companies started outsourcing the jobs overseas before Sam Walton ever had his first billion dollar sales year. I bought an American Car my Toyota part of it was built in West Virginia and part of it was built in Ohio. The auto unions use to be the strongest union in the world if they can not protect their unions jobs why should Wal-Mart workers want to unionize.When Sams Club recently restructured store management they got beat up by the unions and the workers were told that this would not happen if they were unionized. Tell this to the Auto Workers.
Workinng at Wal-Mart put me through college. I started with them as a cart-pusher and worked my way up into management. The peopl who complain about what Wal-Mart pays need to look at McDonalds Target and others. These are the companies Wal-Mart competes against for its workers. This company while very large operates on razor thin margins. While the sales aare over 300 Billion the markup is only 4-4.5 % if Target or other companies were able to pull these sales their profit would be much higher because they charge more for relatively the same items. The profit for Microsoft was 12.6 billion on sales of under 50 billion.
Sam Walton use to say that people vote with their dollars. So if you do not vote for Wal-Mart do not shop there but get off their backs. This is still America and the dream is still alive . You just have to make the sacrifices to get it.

There’s a lot of Wal-Mart bashers on this thread. Beyond my curiosities as to why Capitalism and well run supply chains are a bad thing - I’m more interested in why this is shocking to anyone.

Wal-Mart makes its money on charging low margins for commodities. Financial services have become commoditized. It’s not an issue changing banks for a good majority of people and low cost brokerage businesses have been around for awhile (e*trade to freetrade (Ameritrade’s izone now) to zecco.com.)

The more amazing point is that Wal-Mart partnered with Sharebuilder rather than roll their own.

The readers of this thread may also be interested in knowing that Wal-Mart has a mortgage business and was working on a banking license in the US but recently withdrew the applications. The state of Colorado worked really hard to not allow Wal-Mart a license…
Further, Wal-Mart has received a banking license in Mexico and will start offering checking/savings to Mexicans.

Wal-Mart is a smart company with big aspirations. Whether you love them or hate them - I think it is best for businesses to do what they are best at. For the mom & pops - concentrate on great service and product knowledge. You won’t find that at Big boxes like Wal-Mart or Home Depot…

I can’t help but think Wal-Mart’s strategy here is flawed. Specifically, if we look at Wal Mart’s primary target markets, they aren’t the most financially saavy people in the first place. I guess it begs the question- how do you get members of lower socio-economic ranks, who for obvious reasons don’t possess general financial knowledge, to invest?

Hey Mary: Although your mop story is cute, the fact that you used the same nasty mop head for 5 years doesn’t say much for your knowledge of custodial work. Same for Wallyworld and its lack of understanding of history….it tends to repeat. Walmart will find that, like Sears, it just can’t make it in the financial world.

Wal Mart is BRILLIANT…..

Just how many of their shoppers are going to read the fine-print on their Sharebuilder stock purchases that discloses to them the risks?

What’s next???? Nationwide slot machines?

In the end, America, the undereducated Sheeple nation gets what it deserves.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=592357
looks just like WMT branded sharebuilder, except for a focus on MM accounts.

Was it necessary to say the Beast of Bentonville? I thought Fortune was a first class magazine but I guess not.

I say great for Wal-Mart if they think that they can make a profit doing it or they think that it adds value for their shoppers.
I personally feel that Wal-Mart is not treated fairly in the press. There are a small number of extremely vocal people engaging in a smear campaign not because they have the interest of the American people at heart, but they have there own interest at heart. The biggest of these groups is the unions, who are really concerned not about the workers whom they claim to represent but about their declining membership which has been taking place since the 70’s. There are countless small towns in America where a Wal-Mart job is sought after and difficult to get. Wal-Mart pays more than minimum wage for a job that does not even require a high school diploma. Stop complaining about Wal-Mart’s wages and go back to school if you want a better job. It should be noted that Wal-Mart extensively promotes from within if someone works hard to develop the needed qualifications. I am tired of everyone saying they hate Wal-Mart because that has become the only socially acceptable thing to say about Wal-Mart and then secretly shopping there. If you say you hate Wal-Mart then don’t shop there, otherwise drop the hypocrisy. Wal-Mart has done more for the low income and middle income family in the United States than the Democrats in our current congress could ever accomplish. I like Wal-Mart, despite sometimes being annoyed by the lines. I shop there not because I have to but because I like the savings. I would be considered upper middle class, and although I would never use Wal-Mart banking services they could prove valuable to the lower class that are often taken advantage of in the financial services industry.

Let me tell you the story of my mop, or why I hate WalMart. See, you can go to WalMart and buy a mop for $5, and it isn’t heavy enough to actually do a very good job cleaning your floors, so you can make up for this by pushing harder on it. It makes mopping a pain, but the floors are clean. Or they are, until the mop breaks, which will happen in less than 6 months. So you throw that one in the trash and go buy a new mop, which takes time and gasoline, but it is only another $5. A couple years of this, and I’m in tired of the entire thing: I went to a janitor’s supply store, (I had to look it up in the yellow pages,) and bought a real mop, for $75 including the rolling bucket and everything. (I skipped the wet floor sign.) I’ve had that thing for 5 years, I replaced the head ($5) on it last year, but the thing is perfect: It cleans the floor with almost no effort on my part, and while I haven’t made back the $75 on the actual purchase yet, it is the little things, like the fact that my back doesn’t hurt, the gas stays in my car, and my free time isn’t spent at WalMart that more than make up for it.

And this is why I don’t see the average WalMart customer wanting to buy stocks: if they had any money to invest, the best investment they could make would be on buying things that didn’t break every time you use them.

Wake up and smell the coffee, Mike. How many manufacturing jobs has WalMart eliminated and sent to China? It’s a great store for people who want cheap plastic junk. But if you support them, you are voting for an American future with low paying jobs and bare bones medical coverage for your kids and grandkids. Keep your money in your community, don’t send it directly to Benton, Arkansas.

Ugh. I don’t want Wal-Mart meddling with Sharebuilder. If it buys Sharebuilder, I move my account. It’s that simple–and I LIKE my Sharebuilder account a LOT.

But then, I don’t fit the Wal-Mart demographic, nor do I shop there. Okay, so I don’t shop much of anywhere: that’s how I got free of the Wal-Mart demographic.

I’ll stay with Sharebuilder as long as I can, though.

Perhaps there is a hidden competitive advantage that ShareBuilder is trying to learn or copy from Walmart. ShareBuilder charges a minimal fee, with a low margin, intending to make profit on volume. Walmart’s pricing structure is similar. Low markup, high volume.
I just would not want to be ShareBuilder and have Walmart as a key revenue component. It may be a good money maker in the short term, but Walmart will eventually “squeeze” the little margin out of ShareBuilder. See Proctor & Gamble, Nestle’s, and all the other companies that have to buckle with Walmart comes calling.

I find it perplexing that people bash WalMart (mostly Dems parroting some rich politican). WalMart is the single greatest money saver for millions of Americans…period. Customers accept the full parking lots, the traffic and the crowded checkouts for the saving inside.
WalMart sells prescription drugs for four bucks…incredible! (Thanks Sam).
WarMart is great for America greater for America’s real people. If WalMart wants to broker stocks or other investment products, so what. What is there to complain about? What is sinister about it? WalMart could not possibly siphon as much cash as established and respected Wall Street firms do today from IRA, 401’s, mutual funds, etc…
As far as WallyWorld ( my nickname for Sam’s dream ) strangling Mom and Pop stores…grow up, Mom and Pop’s died when McDonald’s open in the 50’s. Why not bash K-Mart or Target. Why not bash Kroger or Safeway, Lowes or HomeDepot, Olive Garden or Friday’s. Why not bash any corporate retail outlet that has more than a single store because life as it was in 1948 has changed.
The American dream is still very much alive. Here’s how it works. You get a low paying job at you local WalMart. You learn the retail business from the ground up from the greatest retailer the world has ever known. You go to school at night and make something of yourself. You take your education and your experience from WalMart and get a better job. From there you get some more education and land a great job. Then shop somewhere else and complain how WalMart customers are trash.

You have got to be kidding me. Can anyone say “Modern Day Dictatorship?”

Debbie you are right, Gary in Columbus cannot spell. However, Financial Advisors in general are notoriously poor writers. Their grammar sucks and their spelling is even worse. Many justify it by implying that it is because they are so busy and they are writing in a rush. Not the fact that the majority are B-School drop outs or are otherwise unqualified for institutional investing, which is mainly why resort to placing trade orders and hocking retail financial products. At least some of them (more likely the successful ones with high net worth clients) get pretty decent at golf. On top of that he is probably not even an FA and is probably a client relationship manager or investment advisor. FYI, I work in the mailroom.

To me, this really does not matter. If someone wants to rely on a discount broker at Wal Mart to help them with their finances, then so be it. Hopefully, with the Wal Mart name behind it, it will be bale to help a lot of people that may not be able to get the services elsewhere. And hopefully they will be regulating it above and beyond what the SEC & NASD already do. This is no worse than a shark setting up a shop and throwing out a shingle to offer financial services or tax advice. And goodness knows, we all have those around.

What problem is Wal-Mart trying to solve? That it is currently too hard to open an account online, or that they needed to start a new selling division to convince stockholders that revenue would increase a little?

This sounds like one of the lamest ideas in history. I would never trust or rely on financial services from a company who specializes in hiring minimum wage workers to sell bulk cheap consumer products. Ever. What’s next? -Discount re-constructive surgery?

I don’t think it works for all of WalMarts customers, but it certainly makes sense for a large part of em and its a nice service. Their walmart.com website does a great business, so the customers use the internet. Plus, the Sharebuilder business has been around for years and is a proven model.

Wal-mart wise to offer investment services. Sharebuilder offers $4 trading costs whic is very cheap and the pure volume of everyday workers visiting Wal-mart give this opportunity success.
Keep it simple and simple people will be interested……..

Wal-Mart has a good process to take advantage of economy of scale and takes that to unseen height. That has worked well for daily consumer goods / services. Does financial service or stock brokerage fall into that category? I am not so sure. With their reach and financial resources, Wal-Mart can not be underestimated but they have yet to prove anything in this new adventure of theirs.

Why not? Costco (and others) already have similar arrangements in place with ShareBuilder.

Think of a picture bigger than a 30k net worth. In my hometown multi-million dollar, net worth families shop at Wal-Mart. That’s a bit short-sighted and ignorant on your part, RD. White trash isn’t the only thing to shop at Wal-Mart…but the common white trash demographic may be exactly who Wal-Mart is trying to cater to in this circumstance.

However, the major demographic at which Wal-Mart could push the trading will jump all over no-commission trades, but won’t take the time to notice the fees taken from dividends, capital gains and earnings distributed at the end of the year. They will see ‘hey, money!’ not realizing that the 1 - 2 % fee was taken from the distribution. I am almost certain that they would push - almost exclusively - no-commission mutual funds in Roth IRAs to the demographic for which Roth’s are intended, sub 100k annual wage earners – a major shopping demographic at Wal-Mart. Furthermore, they will push 529s and other college saving plans to the middle class whose dream for their offspring is ‘go to college!’.

I think it’s a good fit and a good call by Wal-Mart. It doesn’t seem that Wall Street is in bed with white collar USA. Wal-Mart can slip in, spin a good sales pitch and suck in the white collar workforce. It’s probably a LOT easier than you would expect. It could work well if Wal-Mart plays their cards right. Plus, it’s not just Wal-Mart. Sam’s is a big area to push as well. Seemingly smart-minded ‘buy in bulk’ people that plan for the future…hmm… Don’t be so quick to bash this step by Wal-Mart.

Before I’m labeled, I’m not a Wal-Mart lover. I hate the store…it’s a HUGE cesspool. They undermine mom and pop entrepreneurial USA, but you can’t deny that their business model has worked. It’s fun to hate the successful behemoth, but you can’t deny they’ve smartly filled a void in their existence.

Gary in columbus needs to learn how to spell…I wouldn’t trust him with my money, licensed or not…

I have been securities licenced for 25 years. The small investor is not the target for the fill service brokerage firms. Establihing an IRA, setting up a college savings plan, investing in a mutual fund are taylor made for the Wall Mart shopper. I would not underestimate Wall Marts ability to deliver quality service at a fair price. This market segment is under served and is the type of business opportunity that Wall Mart could well have sucess.

Whats the average net worth of a Wal-Mart shopper? The real money in the brokerage business is in gathering wealth, not trading $200 in stocks. Whats the profit margin for Wal-Mart for a client that has a net worth of $30,000? And I bet thats way above the average. Look at the H&R Block booths in the stores. The only people going to those are the schlubs who cant figure it out on thier own, or dont have enough sense to seek better advice elsewhere (and usually more accurate advice) Even if someone has a decent amount of cash to invest, do they really want to do it in front of every slob that comes in Wal-Mart? Some things are better left to descrete professionals, or the internet. The people that cant or wont access those sources might be better left to the likes of Wal-Mart. Possibly they should not be in the market at all. This is an example of Wal-Mart grasping at strings to turn around a declining sales graph. Whats next, in store doctors? Oh , already doing that….

well, don’t Bill Gates have a ton of interest in Sharebuilder? With Dell coming in the front door and Gates coming in the back door…….just who was the guy that put the big single “star” above the door….thats the question everyone should ask cause it was Wal-Mart with a “hyphen” when Sam Walton was alive and we all know that’s proper English!

This seems to be another one of those ‘Walmart can do it all’ themes. The only way this could possibly work (and that too, for the short term) is if Walmart can offer discounted brokerage fees, or even no trading fees at all for the first few months.
Even with extreme marketing, I don’t think this one will work. Look at what happened with the DVD rental business that Walmart tried to emulate. They should simply stick to what they’re good at doing - and improve upon it in various ways.