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A-J Aronstein

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  • What it Feels Like to Fly

    By A-J Aronstein - October 8, 2012 | Tickers: DAL, JBLU, LUV, UAL, LCC

    In the introduction to this series, I suggested that we should analyze the middle class as a “constellation of aspirations that are structured by influences outside of any one consumer's control.” That is, the object of my curiosity is how the middle class consumer feels with respect to the things that he or she consumes. Rather than try to define the middle class in terms of income, or by more »

  • Middle Class Blues

    By A-J Aronstein - August 23, 2012 | Tickers: KO, F, GM, MCD, SHLD, BA, WMT

    Here's a simple question, one that seems at the heart of a site built around the analysis of stocks: can we discern the well-being of the American middle class based on an analysis of, not individuals, but of companies?

    Put a different way, if we want to know about the status of middle-class identity, might we learn more from looking at, say, Wal-Mart's (NYSE: WMT) business model than more »

  • iPads and Novels

    By A-J Aronstein - March 8, 2012 | Editor's Choice

    As expected, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) released a 4G version of the iPad yesterday. During the week of an Apple product launch or update, the amount of speculation around that product's probable capacities -- its speeds, camera functionality, magic tricks, teleportation capability, etc. -- reaches an absolutely astonishing volume. As is the Internet's wont, the immense number of articles dedicated to "predictions" of Apple's decisions reaches a kind of consensus more »

  • Bombardier: Why English Majors Should Invest

    By A-J Aronstein - February 16, 2012 | Tickers: BBD.B, BA | Editor's Choice

    I want to use the case of Bombardier (TSX: BBD.B), one of my favorite stocks, to give one reason why skeptical English majors should invest. This week, a flurry of news releases demonstrated the incredible scope of Bombardier, and it got me thinking about the relationship between narratives and companies.

    In my "real life," I teach writing at the University of Chicago and work in the MA Humanities Program more »

  • Sirius: Radio is Dead. Long Live Radio.

    By A-J Aronstein - February 8, 2012 | Tickers: F, P, SIRI | Editor's Choice

    I went long on SiriusXM (NASDAQ: SIRI) when it was still just Sirius Satellite Radio--well before "the merger". Before Howard Stern. Before Mel's arrival. It was the first stock I ever bought with my own money, while I was still in college. I started reading The Motley Fool because of Rick Munarriz's coverage of Sirius. I rode Sirius all the way to sub-ten-cents-per-share, and bought more all the more »

  • Two Perspectives on Economic Recovery: GE & Chrysler

    By A-J Aronstein - February 6, 2012 | Tickers: GE

    Two commercials from last night's Super Bowl stand out among the gaggle of ads featuring B-list celebrities and CGI polar bears. They're important for both their political overtones and for the way they go about constructing narratives about current economic conditions. General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Chrysler Group (owned by Fiat ?(NASDAQOTH: FIATY.PK)present two very different ways of talking about a potential recovery, and give us more »

  • Starbucks and the Coffee Aesthetic

    By A-J Aronstein - February 1, 2012 | Tickers: SBUX

    Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) was in the news twice last week -- once for its strong quarterly earnings report, and once after announcing that it would close the first location it ever opened on the East Coast.

    As for the earnings, same-store sales were up 16% over two years, the stock is trading near its all-time high, and it's about 50% higher than last year. Despite taking hits for miscues in more »

  • Instagramming Kodak (or: What was Photography?)

    By A-J Aronstein - January 16, 2012 | Tickers: EK

    In the past few months, a lot of ink and blog ire has been spilled across the Interwebs and in print media about the shocking decline of the once-proud Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK). This week's Economist business section leads with an article that smartly compares Kodak with its longtime bete noir Fujifilm, trying to suss out why the latter has been so successful of late while Kodak fights for more »

  • Wal-Mart Tackles (Food and) Art Deserts

    By A-J Aronstein - January 4, 2012 | Tickers: WMT

    Trading near its pre-Great-Vortex high, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) recently announced that it will arrive in Chicago soon, opening a "Wal-Mart Express" on the city's South Side. Wal-mart Express stores won't have all of the offerings of their behemoth brethern, and they're intended to close a "convenience gap" with smaller grocery chains and drug stores. But they're also part of a larger strategy to drive growth in more »

  • Pfizer "Limitless" at Year's End?

    By A-J Aronstein - December 29, 2011 | Tickers: PFE, SHPG, TEVA

    With two trading days left in 2011, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) looks like it'll end up one of the Dow's biggest winners for the year. This, despite bad news at both ends of the calendar. In February came the announcement that the company planned to gut its own research funding, and the November release of a generic Lipitor cast a shadow on the future of its marquee drug. As more »

  • The Humanist

    By A-J Aronstein - December 22, 2011 | Tickers: AAPL, KO, LMT, PFE, BA

    Why "The Humanist" on a finance site?

    For one thing, books and stocks are what I know. I teach writing at the University of Chicago and did graduate work in English. But I've also been investing since I was a teenager and got a start working two summers in college on the floor of a hedge fund. The first stock I bought (in 1998, when my favorite book was more »