What happens when you keep blowing up a balloon? It becomes too big to handle and it pops. That is where CVS is. We are to big to handle the downward pressures and inherent inefficiencies of retail pharmacy. We are in a cost cutting cycle that is having the opposite desired affect. We cut payroll and raise prices to off set the customers fleeing, but in turn cut more payroll and raise prices more. This is where all retailers who have failed go wrong and it will drive us into bankruptcy sooner or later. They know they are in trouble because their precious Pharmacy business will not provide them with margin they have built their entire business model relying upon. The Aetna merger cost more money to integrate then it will generate, and as we know the retail side is dying. But it’s not dying because of Amazon. It is dying because we are pushing customers away.
To put this in perspective . Toys R Us failed with $5 billion debt. We are $70 billion in debt just from the merger. That is before we have even touched the integration. Buckle up everyone. It’s going to be an interesting five years .