Odds and ends 1/4/08

Something I need to ask about sometime:

Why are there so many branch banks around this area? There's one at 1st Street, and there's one being built on Pullman Square. In the past few years, 5/3 has added several. Go into any large food store, and you'll likely see a branch bank.

The obvious answer is that they make money. But how? And why now?

Remind me to ask a banker or other authoritative source that question sometime.

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This was on cnbc.com. It's an interview with CSX Chief Michael Ward:

“But we’re expecting great growth in the coal market especially in the export market. The value of the dollar and the ocean freight rates have made American coal very attractive in Europe. In addition we’re seeing great growth in the ethanol business.”

Okay, because of the falling dollar, American coal is cheaper. The ethanol thing bugs me, though. I can't help believe that much of what's driving ethanol is political rather than economic, at least as far as using it for a motor fuel is concerned. The fact CSX is having "great growth" in the ethanol business makes me wonder what's coming. Let me do some research and think on that one for a day or two.

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Uh-oh. Will people start looking at grocery retailers the same way they look at oil companies?

NEW YORK (AP) -- Consumers' willingness to spend more for food has been something of a pleasant surprise for supermarkets.

Although Wall Street analysts and investors worried last summer that grocers' sales and margins would shrink under the weight of food inflation, a review of the latest financial reports shows those concerns haven't played out. In many cases, supermarkets performed better toward the end of the year with profits climbing, revenues improving and share prices rising.

"Overall, it appears the supermarkets have been successful passing cost increases through" to consumers, said Morningstar analyst Mitchell Corwin.

If grocery stores posted milk prices on big signs outside the way gasoline retailers do, how would people react to changes in the price of milk, bread, eggs and breakfast cereal?

I'm serious. Granted, I can't fill the tank on my Ford Escape for less than $40 now. Granted, I buy a lot more gasoline in a week than I do milk. But I spend more each week on groceries than I do on gasoline.

Just asking. Maybe the populist John Edwards or newly minted populist Mike Huckaby can take this one one.

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One more thing about the previous item.

I pulled up the third quarter 2007 earnings statement for Marathon Oil. According to the numbers on that statement, Speedway earned about a 25.3 percent profit margin on general merchandise sales in its stores in the first nine months of 2007. In those same nine months, the company reported a profit of 11.15 cents per gallon.

11.15 cents is far, far from a 25.3 percent profit margin. Even if you add the 23.17 cent-per-gallon profit for refining and wholesaling, it's still far below 25.3 percent.