It's happening. Middle America is cutting back. Beer sales are down:

[The Backlash Cometh]

What have we been saying? You outsource the jobs and people here in America will lose their disposable income and stop buying goods in America. Here's proof that it is beginning:


Anheuser-Busch 4Q Earnings Drop to $201M By CHRISTOPHER LEONARD, AP Business Writer
Wed Feb 1, 6:43 PM ET

ST. LOUIS - Beer drinkers will have to pay more for Budweiser this year after Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., the nation's biggest brewer, said Wednesday its fourth-quarter profit plunged 39.5 percent from a year ago.

The maker of Budweiser, Bud Light and other beers earned $201 million, or 26 cents per share, for the period ending Dec. 31, down from $332 million, or 42 cents per share, a year earlier.

In the wake of those lackluster results, the company plans to boost profit by raising prices in 2006. Chief Financial Officer Randolph Baker said Wednesday price increases started in selected markets this month, with a jump of 2 percent to 3 percent to be initiated nationwide by year's end.

In an unusual move, Baker declined to predict how much beer the company will sell this year, indicating uncertainty about the industry's future performance overall.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060201/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_anheuser_busch;_ylt=AuAmwK_MM2UCzu2X0agjnoqyBhIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

[bdot]

1. Now if we can just get alcohol banned from the US.

[punpirate]

4. Gee, that would sort of go along with...

... getting the evangicals firmly entrenched in government, wouldn't it? :shrug:

[ObaMania]

19. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Why would you want that?

[Chipper Chat]

23. Joe Sixpack

would become Joe Fivepack.

[ixion]

20. tried that once... it didn't work

thanks for playing though. :evilgrin:

[Berserker]

45. That will work

just as good as banning drugs.

[rd_kent]

52. You cant be serious!!!

Tell me your joking!!!

[fishwax]

69. seriously?

I'm curious. Could you elaborate on your reasoning?

[punpirate]

2. I'd rather see this as recognition by the public...

... that Anheuser-Busch sells cat piss in a can :) , but the implications of this are obvious. When people can't afford beer, they don't buy it. Price increases won't help, either. They'll just impoverish the alcoholics amongst us.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. "Price increases won't help"

You said a mouth full. Beer is the one American product where there is lots of choices and lots of competition. Good luck Anheuser.

[Warpy]

21. You spoke sooner than I did

and I'd be interested to see what sort of profit the companies that make the cheapest vodka are turning. People are inclined to drink more, not less, when they start running out of hope, and I can't believe they're just trimming the budget by walking away from alcoholic solace.

I doubt this is good news for the temperance people.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

41. case in point...

I have had to switch from my favorite, Southern Comfort to Southern Host! Blech! One drink a day, and I can't afford the good stuff! :cry:

[Maru Kitteh]

55. As an alternative, why don't you switch to a 1/2 or 3/4 shot and

pack a little more ice in the glass? That way you can still afford the good stuff. :) That's what I did w/my Absolut and cranberry. I have one a day too, so that's what I did.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

66. ack! no ice!

I like it neat. :)

Difference in price is $19 vs $11. It's sad that $8 makes such a difference in my budget. :cry:

[SoCalDem]

60. Ripple & Thunderbird sales are probably going through the roof

:)

[The Backlash Cometh]

62. For years I thought it was correctly pronounced as, "Rippo"

[oneighty]

53. I relate this strange happening

to natural gas prices too. You ever notice no matter how much you conserve the higher the unit price climbs? Corps are going to maintain the bottom line despite a shrinking market.

IMHO and personal observation.

180

[cornermouse]

3. There it is again.

Less sales = lose money = raise prices. This cycle to be repeated into infinity or bankruptcy, whichever comes first. Sign of a lazy CEO.

That and the new Ford commercial which tells us that they're "leading the way" (hello reality?) as they continue to push SUVs, modified and hybridized but still SUVs.

[vptpt]

25. Soon, we'll be seeing a new Edsel

Even begger and uglier than the first one. They were "leading the way" back then too.

[Clark2008]

33. Well, they've sold me

My next car will be a newer Mustang than the one I already own.

I don't buy SUVs, no matter who makes 'em.

[MadHound]

5. I would like to see if overall beer sales declined

Otherwise this could finally be a recognition that Bud makes a crappy product, and now it has serious competition.

[ikojo]

9. It would be interesting that instead of going on what

one large company's profits are, comparing purchases of more expensive beers to the purchases of less expensive beers. My brother in law is an alcoholic and he drinks Milwaukees Best. He'd not have as much beer each night if he drank AB products because of the cost.

My hope is that my brother in law finds sobriety but he's 51, soon to be 52, and hasn't yet.

[MadHound]

10. You're correct, we don't have enough data here

I'm sorry to hear about you BIL. Don't give up on him however, one never knows when he'll get the burr under his saddle to straighten up and sober up. I've seen thirty year drinkers hit their fifties or sixties and almost overnight they decide to snap out of it.

[ikojo]

67. His dad was an alcoholic and after a series of

trans ischemic attacks (TIAs) he was advised to give up the alcohol which he literally did overnight. My brother in law's father has not had a drink in almost 20 years.

[EFerrari]

13. Never give up. Took my mom six long scary years.

And she's been sober now for more than 30, healthiest one in the whole crew.

:toast:

[DanCa]

6. We cant make it here by James Mcmurtry.

We Can’t Make It Here
by James Mcmurtry CD: Childish Things.


There’s a Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on his wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing and both hands free
No one’s paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget’s just stretched so thin
And now there’s more coming back from the Mideast war
We can’t make it here anymore


That big ol’ building was the textile mill that fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
We can’t make it here anymore


See those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They’re just gonna sit there ‘til they rot
‘Cause there’s nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square
There’s a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don’t come down here unless you’re looking to score
We can’t make it here anymore

The bar’s still open but man it’s slow
The tip jar’s light and the register’s low
The bartender don’t have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day
Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won’t pay for a roof, won’t pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far $5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one your stores
Bet you can’t make it here anymore

There’s a high school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromatA woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what’ll she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? Live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it’s way too late to just say no
You can’t make it here anymore

Now I’m stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
‘ Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can’t make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I’m in
Should I hate ‘em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They’ve never known want, they’ll never know need
Their shit don’t stink and their kids won’t bleed
Their kids won’t bleed in their damn little war
And we can’t make it here anymore

Will work for food will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
So let ‘em eat jellybeans let ‘em eat cake
Let ‘em eat shit, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can’t make it here anymore

So that’s how it is, that’s what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper, read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind if you’re listening at all
Get out of that limo, look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone tell us all why

In Dayton Ohio or Portland Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That’s done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There’s rats in the alley and trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can’t make it here anymore

[PA Democrat]

24. Great song!

Here's a link for a free download of the song:

http://www.digitalvisionmedia.com/compadre/We_Cant_Band.mp3

[DanCa]

26. Thanks I 've been looking for a link (nt)

[lectrobyte]

51. Thanks.

[Theres-a]

40. Whew.

Damn. Thanks.

[0007]

7. The economy is like a big train as it takes time to come to a

stop as it took time to gain speed. The out come is inevitable.

[liberal N proud]

11. And the cycle begins, people cut back, companies raise prices

people cut back further, and prices go up more, and this goes on until the company goes broke.
Is that how trickle down economics works?

[merbex]

12. I believe I read somewhere that during the depression people

made their own beer

That is probably expensive to do now too

[sendero]

36. I looked into that..

....a few months ago. I have made beer in the past, it's not really very hard to do.

But as of then, the price for making your own beer was about the same as buying it, plus you have to invest in about $100 worth of equipment.

[killbotfactory]

70. It's not that expensive

It's just that it takes a couple weeks to make, and gets drunk in a couple days (if you do it right :9 )

[Maine-ah]

14. in the article it said that more americans

were drinking wine and cocktails. It's not that we're drinking less, we're drinking better. Bud sucks and there are plenty of micro brews and imports that are way better. I sell wine for a living, and I also sell beer. I have definitly noticed a difference in what people are drinking, and red wine has finally out-paced white wine drinking in the U.S. and more are buying wine than beer.

[bmbmd]

47. My HDL went up 26 points

by drinking a ittle glass of red wine at night.

[SoCalDem]

61. Is that good or bad?

:)

[bmbmd]

64. Very very good.

I may live another hundred years.

[salin]

15. Interesting to think of Beer as an economic indicator

wonder where the "lipstick" index is about now?

[Binka]

16. Plenty Of "Coral Reef" Selling At The 99 Cent Bin!

[salin]

17. should ask how it is selling

the theory is that when folks hit harder times the sales of lower cost "indulgences" increase; one item said to be a strong indicator of such a trend is... lipstick.

[Binka]

18. It Is Selling Like Bang Up Goes Great With Alpo

[w13rd0]

22. Anheuser has survived...

...for decades by holding Saint Louis hostage. They threaten and cajole local establishments that don't feature their products. In recent years, a lot of places have just told them to F'OFF... Perhaps this is a symptom of our city shrugging them off, I sure as hell hope so.

[hatrack]

27. Or maybe people are just tired of drinking swill

I'm the first on my block to moan and groan by how far downhill things have slid in the last few decades. But there's been one shining light above the fog of fools and debt - the MICROBREWERY!!

The Good Beer Explosion of the last 20 years has been a joy to observe and even more fun to participate in. AB had best get with the program and start making something that tastes like something, or it won't matter how many commercials they buy or how many time they trot out the Clydesdales.

Oh, and by the way - I hope I'm not the only one to be struck by how appropriate it is to have a horse as the symbol of the products of one of America's most boring breweries.

[CabalPowered]

31. Exactly. Long live the micros! nt

[leftofthedial]

28. whatever happened to the law of supply and demand

when demand goes down, isn't the price supposed to drop?

[No Exit]

29. Good! Let's all buy only necessities!!

http://wakeupfromyourslumber.blogspot.com/2006/01/i-aint-buying-it.html

Finally-- a way for us to make the rich bastards hurt, to make them realize what they've done to US.

[sendero]

37. Beer...

... is a necessity!

[No Exit]

42. We need a return to home-brewing! The beers they sell are horse piss!

In fact, we need a return to making LOTS of stuff at home that we used to make. We don't all have to make our own clothes or our own food--people should start with what they're good at doing, and work from there.

We'll have plenty of time to cultivate these lost arts. There aren't many jobs out there, and a lot of people are unemployed anyway.

[sendero]

57. I heartily...

... agree with your call on self-reliance!

[No Exit]

71. Thanks! Too bad Big Agribusiness is selling seed whose offspring are

STERILE.

Gee, it's almost like they didn't want us to succeed in being self-reliant...

[Clark2008]

30. It may just be that people are watching their carbs

I know MY beer intake has been curbed because of Dr. Atkins. :evilgrin:

[dogday]

32. Well that's not good. If beer sales are down,

then who is going to spread the American Message of work hard and party harder?

[No Exit]

35. LOL! They didn't say if beer sales were down in IRAQ...

if beer sales are up in Iraq, we'll know we've successfully spread our Holy Freedom and Democracy to that once-blighted country.

[Twist_U_Up]

34. Naaaa they're fudging theyre numbers.

Budweiser is Union. This will be they're reason to start cutting benefits and lay-offs. We are seeing this every where else and this looks like the same road travel routine.

People drink more when times get tough. Thats a fact.

[Beetwasher]

38. Budweiser Is Fucking STUPID! They're Going To RAISE Prices???

More people will stop buy their shitty beer.

[catmandu57]

39. When st. ronnie was fucking things up

I drank, I drank alot, I mean I fucking drank every day, every night. If I was awake I had a beer in my hand, very seldom was it a premium brand, mostly it was the cheapest I could stomach, because cheap meant quantity.
I suspect that's what's going on now, someone should look at how much bargain beer is being sold, and compare it to bud.

[Maine-ah]

59. LOL, our best selling beer is PBR pounders.

[Roon]

68. I have been drinking beer off and on for years

I just recently realized that the cheap beer makes for a dirtier drunk.I can't drink anything less quality than Budweiser.

[tlsmith1963]

43. You Would Think...

...that with everything going on in this country, people would be drinking *more*. But I have been seeing this, too. Moviegoing is down, & I don't think it's a backlash against "liberal" films (sorry, conservatives--it just isn't true). The tickets & food are just too damn expensive! Better to wait until the DVD comes out.

Tammy

[The Backlash Cometh]

44. Maybe we should check on sales from certain indicators:

We could determine how each class of people are doing:

(1) Walmart -- up.
(2) Starbucks? Anybody know?
(3) Beer -- Anheuser Busch -- down.

[Norquist Nemesis]

46. Did the people managing these companies ever take economics?

http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/economics3.asp

They've either forgotten the laws of supply and demand, or tragically hired some pitiful airline CEO. :crazy:

Miller Lite's gone up from $12.99 to $14.99 a case just in the last couple of months around here. Sucks, because with the price of everything else going up too I hate to cut back, but...

[Freddie Stubbs]

48. People are still drinking, they are just drinking differnt kinds of booze

Anheuser-Busch beer sales lagged in 2005 because consumers were more interested in drinking wine, spirits and trendy cocktails, said Anthony Bucalo and a team of analysts with Bear, Stearns & Co.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060201/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_anheuser_busch

[The Straight Story]

49. I will do my part - let's set up a paypal account and contribute to buy

beer for a big du virtual party. Once we get enough money all who want to attend will get some beer gift certificates mailed so they can be ready for the biggest online party ever (which will make the news as well and get us more folks)

[Scout1071]

50. Actually, a slow economy usually means a sales increase for beer.

People spend less on wine and expensive liquors in favor of beer in a poor economy.

I think their decreased sales are more a result of the "Sideways" phenomenom. And college age kids are drinking much less beer in favor of drinks like Red Bull & Vodka, etc.

[rd_kent]

54. Heres the REAL reason AB's beer sales are down......

More and more people are waking up to the fact that Busch, Coors and Miller make CRAP beer. There are too many better choices out there and people are starting to realize it. Microbrews are getting huge!!!! I only hope that the companies who are really taking off dont turn out like the big 3 and worry more about quantity than quality.

[jeffrey_X]

56. They are still making a profit. There are more beers to choose from...

Domestics just aren't as popular as they once were.

I don't see anything going on here.

[MrsMatt]

58. Hockey lockout

I'd heard that their sales were down in part because of the hockey lockout.

[The Backlash Cometh]

63. We finally found a theme that resonates with the public: Beer!

[FSogol]

65. AB profits are down because

their products stink. Microbreweries and craft brewery sales are up, because they have a more diverse product line.

[jeannicot]

72. that's right

It's an indication of improving tastes of the American people.

[stepnw1f]

73. They Are Now Buying Pot! (nt)