Today's

top partner

for CFD

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) stock didn’t have one of its better trading sessions on Monday. Like its retail industry peers, it’s staring into the face of a potentially damaging labor action, specifically a looming strike by dockworkers at ports located on the East and Gulf Coasts. Cautious investors avoided the stock, which sagged marginally in price while the S&P 500 index increased to close 0.4% higher.

A few hours away from a strike

As of late afternoon Monday, the International Longshoremen’s Association had not reached agreement with its counterpart, the United States Maritime Alliance (a grouping of container carriers, port associations, and employers).

At that point it was looking increasingly likely that roughly 45,000 members of the dockworkers’ union employed in 36 ports would strike just after midnight on Tuesday.

This would have an immediate impact on the nation’s supply chain, on which a wide variety of businesses depend. The retail sector is directly in the line of fire, as it needs to keep its shelves stocked and its storage areas packed with inventory. That goes double for large-scale general retailers that sell products in many different categories — case in point, Costco.

Preparations made

Company management recently signaled confidence in its ability to withstand the deprivations of a strike. On its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call late last week, CEO Ron Vachris said Costco had been taking a number of measures to prepare for this worst-case scenario. These include pre-shipping goods likely to be popular during the all-important holiday season.

While that’s somewhat reassuring, if a strike this widespread lasts for any significant duration, all retailers will surely have to cope with some degree of disruption to their business. Not only Costco shareholders, but investors in many businesses — not to mention this nation’s consumers — will be watching and hoping for a quick end to the labor dispute.

Should you invest $1,000 in Costco Wholesale right now?

Before you buy stock in Costco Wholesale, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Costco Wholesale wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $743,952!*

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of September 30, 2024

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Read the full story: Read More“>

Blog powered by G6

Disclaimer! A guest author has made this post. G6 has not checked the post. its content and attachments and under no circumstances will G6 be held responsible or liable in any way for any claims, damages, losses, expenses, costs or liabilities whatsoever (including, without limitation, any direct or indirect damages for loss of profits, business interruption or loss of information) resulting or arising directly or indirectly from your use of or inability to use this website or any websites linked to it, or from your reliance on the information and material on this website, even if the G6 has been advised of the possibility of such damages in advance.

For any inquiries, please contact [email protected]