The Neo-Market Report

By Stereolab

Once again it's time to welcome Neopia's leading financial analysts, Neil Kauvuto and Maria Blumaroono. In this week's Neo-Market Report they'll be joined by Jacko the Scorchio, President of Jacko and Sons Painting Ltd., one of the few companies that has been able to avoid the market's recent downturn.

KAUVUTO: Hello and welcome to another edition of The Neo-Market Report. I am your host Neil Kauvuto, and as always I am joined by my co-host Maria Blumaroono, who is at the News Desk with the latest word from the floor of the Exchange. Maria…

BLUMAROONO: Thank you, Neil. Well, just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, the market has taken yet another dive. In the past week, the Neodaq has dropped from 358 to where it sits now at 192. Just about every company on the exchange has suffered losses this week, and Techrobatics Fitness Videos is the only company left whose value is still above a thousand points a share. Even one of last week's top stories, Silly Squirrel Incorporated, has not been spared. According to a leak from a top insider at Silly Squirrel, the company's overestimated reports of a Neopian "Baby Boom" have left them with warehouses full of overstock, resulting in an astounding 716 NP drop in share value. Another miraculous story is the near-total collapse of Chiatech Password Security; this week's 524 point decline is just the latest chapter in the company's demise since the Insider Trading Scandal which sent it's value plummeting during the holidays. And then there is Neggwork Commerce, whose value has gone from 4,000 NP a share to 311 NP a share in less than a month.

KAUVUTO: However, not all the news from the floor is bad. One of the bright spots on the exchange has been the story of Jacko and Sons Painting Ltd., which was one of the few companies that actually saw their stock value rise this week. We are lucky enough to be joined today by the President of Jacko and Sons, the one and only Jacko the Scorchio. Jacko, thanks for dropping in to pay us a visit…

JACKO: Oh sure, Neil. I'm glad to be here…

KAUVUTO: Now as you know, most of the market has taken a horrific beating this past month. And yet, it appears that your business has managed to pick up recently. Could you give us your views on why you think your company is succeeding when so many others aren't?

JACKO: Well Neil, I think the key is that we offer a valuable product that Neopians are willing to pay for. We have proven the viability of paintbrushes not just as a seasonal item, but as a year-round commodity.

BLUMAROONO: You mentioned seasonal paintbrushes…I'd like to talk about that for a minute. Your last line was the Christmas Collection, right?

JACKO: That is correct…A collection which, I might add, did extremely well. In fact, our recent quarterly report, which reflected sales of the Christmas paintbrushes, showed that business was up seven percent over last year. Not to mention, I was really happy with some of the looks that we came up with for that line.

KAUVUTO: Would you care to discuss any upcoming collections that we should look for in the near future?

JACKO: Well, as far as seasonal, we're probably won't be doing anything until early April. But I guess one thing to keep an eye out for would be more Disco and Electric paintbrushes. The limited edition Kau series that we did was really popular, so I think you'll be seeing a lot more of those in the weeks to come.

BLUMAROONO: Well, that's going to have to do it for us this week. But please join us next time. For Neil Kauvuto and Jacko the Scorchio, this is Maria Blumaroono saying thank you and so long.