No Whispers of Wal-Mart on Wall Street

“And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.”

– Luke 4:24, English Standard Version, The Bible

Written by Bryan Lutz, Editor at Dollarcollapse.com:

In the early days, Wal-Mart was not even a whisper on Wall Street.

In fact, investors in the company’s home State of Arkansas hardly thought to ask, “Is this something worth investing in?”

The only ones who really made an investment in the company during the early days of expansion were the company’s own employees.

Wal-Mart’s founder, Sam Walton wrote in his memoirs,

“It was always interesting to me that, except for those folks who worked in our company, our stock got very little support early on from the folks right here in the northwest Arkansas… 

I think it must be human nature that when somebody homegrown gets on to something, the folks around them sometimes are the last to recognize it.” 

Those employees that invested in the company from just after the IPO would’ve had an 1800% return over twenty years.

Not to shabby for a smiling Wal-Mart greeter that showed up consistently with a good attitude.

That was an example from ‘Chapter 1: You’re Here, and They’re Not’  in John Rubino’s, Main Street, Not Wall Street.

Today, despite being on Wall Street’s radar, and despite being the world’s largest revenue generator, it is still ripe for a profitable recession investment.

While some companies are losing ground from rising interest rates…

suffering from inflation…

and having to lay-off workers because of AI.

Wal-Mart is continuing to expand.

Axios reports:

“Walmart will open over 150 stores in the U.S. over the next five years while remodeling 650 existing ones across 47 states and Puerto Rico — “creating tens of thousands of jobs,” the retailer announced Wednesday.”

And just over one week ago, Wal-Mart revealed a 3:1 stock split as a major part of their plan to allow employees to continue to purchase their shares.

The last time Wal-Mart issued a stock split was on April 20, 1999, and that was a 2:1 split.

After the split, the stock dropped $4 from $46 down to $42, and then shot up another 60% to $70.24.

This 3:1 split will issue much more shares.

So the coming dip may be more than some realize, and the following rise may also be more than some realize.

It isn’t only an opportune time for Wal-Mart employees…

This is a sound plan for Main Street investors.

If you are looking for a solid recession stock to prop up your portfolio with healthy dividends while protecting yourself against inflation you may want to look at Wal-Mart as soon as shares split on February.22, 2024.

Even right now, Wal-Mart pays out an annual dividend of $2.28, which has risen every year for the past 51 years.

I can only imagine how good the grandchildren of that one faithful Arkansas employee who saw what no one else did is feeling…

Safe, secure, and with the hope of a future…

Of that, I am sure.

I am also sure that very few are whispering the name of Wal-Mart on Wall Street.

It lacks the quick money-making dopamine rush that lights up eyes on Wall Street and gets the blood flowing to all extremities…

Instead, it shouts Main Street and the real economy all the way to the bank.