I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering. — Steven Wright
Wal-Mart Post 1985 Analysis
http://www.scribd.com/doc/79123757/WalMart-Competitive-Analysis-Post-1985-EOS
My Greenwald notes on Wal-Mart should help you understand how regional economies of scale work. You see returns on capital decline as Wal-Mart grows larger in assets and sales but into areas with less regional economies of scale and more competition.
Money and Credit
A short synopsis on The Theory of Money and Credit http://mises.org/rothbard/money.pdf
A reader suggested this financial blog on short selling and focus on financial statement analysis: http://www.thefinancialinvestigator.com/
Opportunity?
How does Kyocera (KYO) http://americas.kyocera.com/ir/index.html earn high operating profits on its core business of ceramics? You will have to separate out non-operating assets like cash and investment in other companies to peel away the onion. Are there economies of scale in R&D here? Not a recommendation but some of you may want to have a current example to work on.