The tri-city area of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and Highpoint has been hit with foreign competition and the reduction of smoking and tobacco use. Real estate buyers move in, but they don't move out easily. Cigarettes, furniture and textiles provided the majority of jobs in the area, and all three have been hit hard. Hanes brands (Hanesbrands Inc., HBI) is headquartered in Winston-Salem, but it sees a necessity to close plants and relocate them to Asia, laying off thousands of workers in the textile business.

Restructuring costs and competition have made what we consider the high-quality products of Hanes not so profitable for the company. Yet another example of a company with a good product but a not-so-good stock is seen. We were rather surprised to see several holes in the financial structure of Hanes, which could limit any near-term stock advances but might make the company stock a good range trading vehicle.

Our chauvinist traders have always associated Hanes with men's underwear, but women's bras appear to be the mainstay of the company's product lines contributing the most to earnings.

Our article on Hanesbrands Inc. is in the Archives Section, below.

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