Best Buy (BBY), an electronics chain whose competitors include Target (TGT) and Wal-Mart (WMT), saw a bid yesterday after it released results for the fiscal fourth quarter. Indeed, the numbers displayed a lot of improvement, making the buying interest, as well as the incredible conviction indicated by the quantity of shares traded, more than understandable.

Net sales increased 12%, and earnings per diluted share, on an adjusted basis, rose 13% to $1.82. The estimate at Earnings.com was for $1.79 per diluted share. Same-store sales jumped 7%; in the comparable year-ago period, they had dropped nearly 5%.

Sears Holdings Coproation (SHLD) is a fascinating stock. It's done very well over the last year. Yet, who out there can claim that they'd be willing to buy the story without any trepidation whatsoever? Well, there are obviously many who would make such a claim, I suppose. I know I'm not one of them.

Our summary of retail quarterly reports tells us that Sears Holdings, which competes with Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY), Target Corporation (TGT), and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT), delivered an earnings-beating performance. Adjusted profit of $3.69 per share in Q4 represented a solid increase over the $2.94 per share booked in the comparable period.

RadioShack (RSH), an electronics chain in competition with Best Buy (BBY) and Wal-Mart (WMT), posted fourth-quarter results on Monday after the bell. Sales increased well over 4%. Same-store sales at company-operated locations and kiosks in the United States expanded by over 6%. The bottom line jumped 25% to 60 cents per share.

RadioShack had a relatively strong quarter. Gross margin improved, as did the cash and cash equivalents line on the balance sheet (long-term debt went down, too). Cash from operations for the full year did contract by 10%; it would have been nice to see an increase in cash flow to go along with the rest of the data set, but at least the bottom line was ahead of estimates (if only by a penny).

Target Corporation (TGT), a retailer that competes with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY), had some good news today for its shareholders. Management has decided to reinstate its stock buyback program. According to the press release, the company believes the economic environment has improved to the point where reducing some of its float could be a worthwhile investment.

This buyback is a continuation of a $10 billion program begun back in November 2007. About half of that sum has already been spent; the remainder of the allocation is expected to be used up in two to three years. So, this isn't an aggressive move, certainly. And, as always, evolving market conditions can affect the intended schedule.

Best Buy (BBY - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company announced this morning that its same-store sales rose 8.2 percent in December, topping analysts' forecasts of a 7.9 percent rise. However, shares of the stock are falling this morning after the company said it would not lift its earnings forecast, raising questions among some analysts about the strength of BBY's margins. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on BBY.

This morning, BBY opened at $40.64. So far today the stock has hit a high of $40.86 and a low of $40.02. As of 12:05, BBY is trading at $40.09, down $1.45 (-3.5%). The chart for BBY looks neutral and S&P gives BBY a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Best Buy (BBY) was the big winner in this year's fourth quarter. It took the lion's share of consumer electronics sales after competitors Circuit City and CompUSA shut down earlier in the year.

No doubt, there was enhanced competition from mega-retailer Wal-Mart (WMT) and online behemoth Amazon.com (AMZN). But Best Buy managed to nip at customer heels with deep discounts on flat-panel televisions and laptop PCs that just weren't seen at the competition (yes, I looked). Laptops for $299 and 32" flat-panel TVs for $249 are probably loss leaders by a big margin -- but those prices make a dent on consumer psychology.

On Tuesday, electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY) released third-quarter results, topping the Street's forecast along with raising guidance for the current fourth quarter. As a result, the stock fell more than 8%. Wait, what? Best Buy crushed the Street's estimate, reporting earnings of 53 cents per share when 43 cents per share was expected; reported increased sales of $12.02 billion, topping expectations for $11.98 billion; and upped its full-year earnings and revenue guidance to a range of $49 billion to $49.5 billion from $48 billion to $49 billion -- so why did the stock plunge?

Best Buy executives noted that profit margins would fall, thanks to shoppers buying more low-margin items like "cheap notebook computers and entry-level flat panel digital TVs." This strategy bothers some analysts, as Anthony Chukumba with FTN Equity Capital Markets noted that, "Best Buy is managing its business for gross margin dollars not the gross margin rate."

The market is killing Best Buy (BBY) as I write this during the afternoon trading session. The stock is down 9.5%. Trading volume is extreme. You just know there has to be an earnings-report catalyst behind the carnage.

For the third quarter, Best Buy increased sales by 5% and adjusted diluted earnings per share by over 50% to 53 cents. Same-store sales jumped 1.7%. Now, a 1.7% expansion of comps isn't something to write home about necessarily. However, last year at this time, Best Buy saw a decline of 5.3% in the metric, so let's understand the perspective. According to our earnings preview, the market would have been satisfied if income had fallen somewhere close to 43 cents per share.

There has been a rumor floating around that Amazon (AMZN) plans to open physical stores. Really?! Stores?!

Amazon is a known quality in the online retail space -- it's the industry leader. That's a great place to be right now. On Black Friday, overall retail sales edged higher only 0.5%, but online action spiked 35%. Let's do the math, why the hell would anyone move from zeroes and ones to bricks and mortars?

Best Buy (BBY) and Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) are shaping up to be the big guns this holiday shopping season. I'm more convinced of that after witnessing last weeks Black Friday bonanza between the two retailing behemoths. Although Best Buy had the more enticing gadget deals for the largest retail shopping day of the year, Wal-Mart matched and even beat some of those prices in the "hot product" category like laptop PCs and gaming consoles.

Last week, I talked about my recent purchase of GameStop (GME). I put forth my reasoning on the trade, mentioning the Christmas shopping season as being a potential catalyst for capital appreciation.

Well, the trade has gone horribly wrong this bleak Monday session. In case you didn't hear the news, the video-game chain sold off in a big way. As I write this, shares are off by a buck, and are priced at $24.32. The low on the day is $23.75. Volume, while not in panic-mode, is above average, and I expect it to possibly accelerate toward the end of the day.

Imagine taking the personal connections and interactions that occur every day on the likes of Facebook and Twitter... and bringing them to bear on an education. To a large extent, this hasn't been done yet, but the potential is profound. In a new report by the Center for Community Survey for Student Engagement, two-year programs aren't taking advantage of the tools at their disposal -- plenty of growth is still possible. Kay McClenney, director of the CCSSE, says, "Colleges are not taking advantage of that particular set of tools for making connections with students to the extent that they could."

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) may be the world's largest electronics retailer, but it realizes that it faces a huge threat to a hefty chunk of its business. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is moving plenty of movies and other soon-to-be former DVD fare through iTunes, staking a claim on a business that once belonged to Best Buy. The big box store is getting ready to fight back (finally?).

Using technology it's licensing from Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), Best Buy is opening an online store for movies and television shows. Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn says this move will expand the company's presence in services and will bolster company loyalty. That's the press release version, of course. The reality is that Best Buy needed to do something to protect this portion of its revenue and probably should have made the move several years ago.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) wants to sell you everything it possibly can. Need funeral arrangements? The world's largest retailer wants to help. $4 prescription drugs? It has you covered. In fact, it's hard to think of any product category that Wal-Mart does not seem at least a little covered with. For good reason, too: Wal-Mart has tapped out much of the short-term growth by virtue of it being almost everywhere in the U.S. and selling everything you can possibly think of.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), simply put, had a quarter to die for, the kind that all shareholders have on their wish lists. The Q3 numbers, which were released on Thursday after the bell, speak for themselves. Net sales: up 28%. Operating income: up 62%. Per-share profit: up 67% to 45 cents. Free cash flow for the trailing twelve months: up 98%. Yep, Amazon's fundamentals seem to be heading in the right direction.

According to our earnings preview, Wall Street was on record as wanting to see 33 cents per share on the bottom line. Amazon's management did a fine job of supplying further evidence to the market that the company's online business model is not only here to stay, but that it should provide shareholders with a significant amount of value over time.