|
Once more, the time has come to drop in on Neopia’s leading financial pundits. Joining Neil and Maria this week will be Bob the Blumaroo, Founder and President of Bob’s Big Bonus Bingo, who’ll be here to give us a special look inside his company’s recent agreement with The Bingo Callers Union. And now, here are our hosts…
KAUVUTO: Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of The Neo-Market Report. I’m your host Neil Kauvuto, and as usual I’m joined in studio by my co-host, the lovely and talented Maria Blumaroono, who has all the latest news from the exchange. Maria, take it away…
BLUMAROONO: Well Neil, the big story this week has been the settlement that was reached late last night by Bob’s Big Bonus Bingo and The Bingo Callers Union. Negotiating ‘til nearly dawn, Bingo Callers Union President Bobbie Fitzpatters emerged this morning to announce that an agreement had been reached. When asked to comment on the deal, Bobbie said, “At this point I really don’t want to get into the specifics of it, but for now I’d just like to state that these were tough negotiations, with a lot of give and take on both side, and in the end we hope that the deal we struck was mutually beneficial to all parties involved.”
Rumours that an agreement might be reached soon sent shares of BBB on a slight incline. However, with news of the agreement announced before today’s opening bell, stock in Bob’s Big Bonus Bingo skyrocketed, then settled in for a fourteen point gain for the week. Another big winner this week was Chia Steel, who has built a number of Bob’s bingo parlours. With second quarter earnings for Bob’s Big Bonus Bingo up 25% and the Bingo Caller strike out of the way, many analysts feel that the time might be right to set up shop in Sakhmet, which would be a major contract for J.P. Moehogan’s Chia Steel.
KAUVUTO: One of the big losers in the wake of this agreement has been The Theme Park Guild, who saw their stock value drop five NPs a share after this morning’s announcement. With many analysts feeling that the Bingo Callers failed to come away from the bargaining table with any significant gains, these negotiations have been viewed as a preview of what the Theme Park Guild can expect in their negotiations next month.
Joining us at The Neo-Market Report today is this week’s big winner—Bob the Blumaroo, who’s got good reason to smile after this morning’s announcement. Bob, I know you had a long night… thanks for making the time to visit.
BOB: You’re right, Neil. The last twenty-four hours have been quite an experience, but now it looks like the worst is behind us.
BLUMAROONO: But from what I understand, you’re not out of the woods yet are you?
BOB: That’s correct, Maria. The rank and file members of Bingo Callers Union still have to vote to approve the agreement—but we feel optimistic about the vote. Let’s face it; these guys don’t want to walk a picket line, they want to go to work. So yeah, I’m confident that they’ll ratify the agreement, and we’ll all be able to get back to work.
KAUVUTO: However, there are those who feel that Union President Bobbie Fitzpatters, feeling the pressure to make a deal and get back to work, made too many concessions to keep from being replaced as chief negotiator. How would you view such charges?
BOB: I think that the hard-line radicals who’ve said this about Bobbie are traitors to their union. After all, they were nowhere near the actual negotiations, so how would they be in a position to make such claims? As the guy who had to sit across the table from Bobbie Fitzpatters, I’m here to tell you…these negotiations were a knock-down, drag out affair, and Bobbie did everything imaginable to get The Bingo Callers every concession possible.
BLUMAROONO: Now that the Bingo Caller agreement’s in good shape and your profits for last quarter are up 25%, is there any word as to whether Bob’s Big Bonus Bingo will be moving into The Lost Desert?
BOB: Well Maria, this has all been very sudden, but I will say that we are exploring the possibilities at this juncture.
BLUMAROONO: That’ll have to be the last word for us today. For Neil Kauvuto and our guest Bob the Blumaroo, this is Maria Blumaroono saying thank you and so long….
| 
