Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy • Hacker News Board

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#131

Post by dragontamer » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 5:32 PM UTC

BaseballPhysics wrote: post #129

dragontamer wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. It makes you a gambler. And gamblers don't usually make money, because they're in it for entertainment rather than making money, saving money, or providing for their families. Believe it or not, investing is an activity that, under the correct circumstances, leads to the benefit of the investor, the company, and the economy in general. I personally seek this behavior that's beneficial to society in general (and i…

> Believe it or not, investing is an activity that, under the correct circumstances, leads to the benefit of the investor, the company, and the economy in general. I personally seek this behavior that's beneficial to society in general That sounds very noble. Of course, the reality is the vast majority of people trading financial instruments do it for one reason: to enrich themselves (or, in this case, to entertain t…

> to enrich themselves

Yes. Because the underlying 5% to 15% gains due to general economic growth is one of the most reliable ways at building wealth in this country. It provides a service to companies who need money today for their expansion (through the IPO and secondary-offerings mechanisms). It provides steady, long-term growth to investors looking for a place to park their money.

Its not only good for the country, it is also a relatively reliable way to grow money for everyone.

Betting beyond this is unreasonable, and unlikely to make yourself any money. The $700,000,000+ sunk into BBBY this past 6 months is proof of that. (600-million shares at a bit over $1 per share, as BBBY's board of directors printed 600-million new shares to profit over the Ape's stupidity / gambling behavior). Throwing good money at a company that failed to make its bond payments in Dec 2022, while the Board of Directors is printing stock like no tomorrow is... well... its pretty bad.

-------------

Look, if you're going to pretend that you were gambling on good odds or pretending to enrich yourself... at least choose a stock that wasn't so obviously eating the Apes alive for months. We literally can measure the amount of money that they lost by multiplying the secondary-offering prices with the number of shares printed.

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#132

Post by Etheryte » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 5:35 PM UTC

neurobama wrote: post #52

humanlion87 wrote: post #8

I find the whole situation fascinating. Bed Bath continued to sell hundreds of millions of shares while they were preparing for bankruptcy and retail investors (or meme stock investors) continued to buy them. I assume Bed Bath did all the paperwork that is necessary (like calling out risks, that the raised capital will go to creditors first, etc) for such a stock sale. But it is clear they were doing it out of bad-fa…

The whole stock market in 2023 makes no sense to me, not just Bed Bath and Beyond. So many companies no longer pay dividends. So many classes of stock are now non-voting shares. Common stock shareholders usually get nothing if a company goes bankrupt and liquidates. So if I don't get dividends, can't vote, and am not entitled to a share of the company's assets, what is the actual value in owning stock? Do I just wait…

Stockholders are not supposed to get anything if the company they're holding goes to zero, that's not a bug, that's literally how stocks work.

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#133

Post by andrewmcwatters » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 5:36 PM UTC

Anecdotally, the last time I went to Bed Bath and Beyond, it was an absolute ghost town.

No one was there, the prices were absolutely garbage, and the inventory was no better than anything you'd find literally anywhere else.

I looked around and thought to myself, "Wow, I bet their corporate rent costs a fortune to just be here, and they're probably burning cash hand over fist."

I'm not surprised in the slightest. Constantly amazed by businesses who seem to "still be in business," but the writing is on the wall and they're clearly zombie companies[1] or two feet in the grave.

[1]: https://www.google.com/search?q=is+bed+bath+and+beyond+a+zom...

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#134

Post by rvba » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 5:39 PM UTC

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #118

neurobama wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole stock market in 2023 makes no sense to me, not just Bed Bath and Beyond. So many companies no longer pay dividends. So many classes of stock are now non-voting shares. Common stock shareholders usually get nothing if a company goes bankrupt and liquidates. So if I don't get dividends, can't vote, and am not entitled to a share of the company's assets, what is the actual value in owning stock? Do I just wait…

Everything has been fundamentally detached from reality, from stocks to housing. Houses can sit empty without tenants for years but they’ll only go up. Companies can be unprofitable for literal decades but they’ll keep finding funding and buyers. Commercial properties can bleed tenant but the prices will only be up. In a world of shrinking growth , stalling productivity, and dying demographics, the market behaves lik…

Markets dont follow logic because central banks pump incredible amounts of dollars via money creation.

Quantitative easing, 0% interest, massive inflation - are all just facets of the same problem - that central banks dont work for the common people.

Market looks irrational, but it is rational - money is "free" - so zombie companies can exist. Inflation just ruins the low and middle class, but who cares - it is convenient for governments.

Market was artificially pumped by quantitive easing. Also money is not free for normal people, banks earn interest and that interest comes back as inflafion.

Licence to create money out of thin air is like license to steal.

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#135

Post by crooked-v » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 5:40 PM UTC

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #130

fumar wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this mark an end for our society's principles? Are we do for a dark age? Are we in it or will there be an enlightenment or renaissance?

I don’t know, but it’s increasingly frustrating as an average person. Apartments around me keep appreciating in value every year, rents keep going up astronomically even when the houses stay empty. My income went up, but housing in my area went up nearly 2x. I’m being priced out of areas I’ve lived in forever. I feel like a social contract has been violated. Everything, from products to housing seems to be targeted a…

Housing prices keep going up in the US because, fundamentally, there's not enough housing and hasn't been enough housing built for decades [1]. In most big cities, this is a self-inflicted problem caused by bad zoning and by planning and permitting processes that can take years and add huge amounts to home prices. (This is a big part of the reason there's so much "luxury" housing; adding a superficial high-end gloss is one of the few ways to disguise the additional bureaucratic markup.)

Unfortunately, a huge number of people like to blame this entirely on evil developers and evil corporations and think that merely adding more regulation on those will make the problem magically go away.

[1]: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/08/homes/housing-shortage/index....

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#136

Post by contingencies » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 5:40 PM UTC

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #130

fumar wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this mark an end for our society's principles? Are we do for a dark age? Are we in it or will there be an enlightenment or renaissance?

I don’t know, but it’s increasingly frustrating as an average person. Apartments around me keep appreciating in value every year, rents keep going up astronomically even when the houses stay empty. My income went up, but housing in my area went up nearly 2x. I’m being priced out of areas I’ve lived in forever. I feel like a social contract has been violated. Everything, from products to housing seems to be targeted a…

You have pretty much articulated the feeling of anyone under 50 in Australia.

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#137

Post by OoOOo » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 5:42 PM UTC

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #130

fumar wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this mark an end for our society's principles? Are we do for a dark age? Are we in it or will there be an enlightenment or renaissance?

I don’t know, but it’s increasingly frustrating as an average person. Apartments around me keep appreciating in value every year, rents keep going up astronomically even when the houses stay empty. My income went up, but housing in my area went up nearly 2x. I’m being priced out of areas I’ve lived in forever. I feel like a social contract has been violated. Everything, from products to housing seems to be targeted a…

Absolutely agree with this assessment.

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#138

Post by crooked-v » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 5:43 PM UTC

neurobama wrote: post #52

humanlion87 wrote: post #8

I find the whole situation fascinating. Bed Bath continued to sell hundreds of millions of shares while they were preparing for bankruptcy and retail investors (or meme stock investors) continued to buy them. I assume Bed Bath did all the paperwork that is necessary (like calling out risks, that the raised capital will go to creditors first, etc) for such a stock sale. But it is clear they were doing it out of bad-fa…

The whole stock market in 2023 makes no sense to me, not just Bed Bath and Beyond. So many companies no longer pay dividends. So many classes of stock are now non-voting shares. Common stock shareholders usually get nothing if a company goes bankrupt and liquidates. So if I don't get dividends, can't vote, and am not entitled to a share of the company's assets, what is the actual value in owning stock? Do I just wait…

> Common stock shareholders usually get nothing if a company goes bankrupt and liquidates.

...what else would you expect to happen? If a company is bankrupt, it pretty much definitionally has zero value beyond whatever its assets sell for, and those will generally go to cover debtors.

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#139

Post by bombcar » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 5:44 PM UTC

garyfirestorm wrote: post #86

cratermoon wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite of the moment is 'gluten free'. Seen on things that physically cannot have gluten in them, unless it's contaminated somehow.

Yes that’s because they could share same production lines where other products containing gluten could cross contaminate.

Have they changed the rules? Because I've seen "gluten-free" corn chips that also have the standard boilerplate about how they may have been packaged on equipment that also processes tree nuts, wheat, etc.

Re: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy

#140

Post by crooked-v » Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 5:44 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #102

bearjaws wrote: post #31

This is a huge loss IMO, buying kitchen supplies and bedding on Amazon is complete shit. Target isn't much better due to lack of variety and types of bedding. I've bought the same bed sheets for 5+ years, a few months ago I bought new ones since some bleach got spilt on one set, it comes in and I could tell immediately the quality was far worse. One wash later, its ripping & fraying. Thankfully I could return them. S…

No, BBB had low quality crazy overpriced items. Yes it was good to be able to see and try items before buying, but then they'd just fall apart. With Amazon, yeah it sucks I sometimes have to return things because you couldn't try it in person. But on the other hand, I wind up buying much higher quality items on Amazon, and at a cheaper price, because the top 15 reviews together usually give really solid feedback on h…

I tend to find myself extremely dubious of Amazon reviews for anything but a brand I know and more-or-less trust already. There's just too much product listing manipulation and too many fake reviews.