Continue reading Day After Christmas Tops All but Black Friday for Retailers

Day After Christmas Tops All but Black Friday for Retailers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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.

Continue reading Trade update: GameStop down today -- sell out?

Trade update: GameStop down today -- sell out? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Target's Black Friday prices are leaked

Target's Black Friday prices are leaked originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wal-Mart (WMT) won't close Thanksgiving weekend -- not at all. The world's largest retailer is going to keep its stores open 24 hours in an attempt to manage demand for entry during the busiest shopping days of the year. The company has announced it will also implement other crowd-control measures. The festivities start at 5 AM on November 27, 2009. Of course, this doesn't involve any change fro the Wal-Mart Supercenters which already remain open 24 hours a day, but it does address the 800 stores that aren't.

The 24-hour access alone won't do much to alleviate the pressure from thrill-seekers and the bargain-crazed who will want to push through immediately. To help with this problem, Wal-Mart is allowing people to gather in different parts of the store when waiting for the deals to kick off. According to Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar, "If you've got a 200,000-square-foot store, people will be dispersed throughout the store instead of lined up outside the store." Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

As the old infomercial guys love to say ... "But wait, there's more!"

Continue reading Wal-Mart amps up hours, crowd control for Black Friday

Wal-Mart amps up hours, crowd control for Black Friday originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is in mortal competition with Sony (NYSE: SNE). The Xbox 360 wants to destroy the PlayStation 3. Of course, both would like to take out the Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) Wii, but that's a pipe dream at this point. Microsoft mainly wants to claim victory over Sony because the systems of those two companies are more comparable to each other than they are to the Wii. And it looks like the most recent Black Friday may have been a win for Microsoft.

According to this source, the Xbox 360 outsold the PlayStation 3 by a margin of three-to-one. Also, Microsoft increased its console sales on Black Friday by 25% on a year-over-year basis. This data comes from Microsoft itself. Assuming it is close to accurate, Sony continues to find itself in a terrible position. Really, this current console cycle has been difficult for the PlayStation franchise. But while Microsoft won bragging rights, I can't help but wonder if the real winner from this increase in Xbox 360's installed user base is actually Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI). It's currently my favorite publisher, and I own it in my portfolio. And given that the article I cited mentions the fact that the Xbox 360 enjoys a healthy game attach rate (the game attach rate is an indicator of how many software titles are purchased per console for a particular system), I figure that a lot of the new Xbox 360 owners will be attaching titles such as Call of Duty and Guitar Hero to their systems. These two brands play very well on the powerful console, and they are must-own games for a lot of users.

Admittedly, I'm sure other publishers will benefit from all the new Xbox 360 owners. Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), THQ (NASDAQ: THQI), and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) are all obviously happy over Microsoft's Black Friday performance. But I believe Activision Blizzard to be the best positioned of the group. Its portfolio should rock over the holidays, and I think the company will take full advantage of all the console sales from now until the new year.

Disclosure: I own Activision Blizzard; positions can change at any time.

Microsoft beats Sony on Black Friday (real winner: Activision Blizzard) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hewlett-Packard beats Dell in weekend sales at Best Buy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Black Friday consumerism: The lure of the draw not worth it originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Is dealing with Apple always so difficult?

Is dealing with Apple always so difficult? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It looks like we may have talked ourselves into an overly gloomy outlook for this year's holiday sales. Maybe that was the plan all along -- to depress expectations so much that it would be much easier to exceed them. And it looks like that's what happened -- analysts expected sales to rise 1% in the November/December 2008 shopping season -- and actual Black Friday results were up 3%.

Granted that's not an apples to apples comparison but the International Council of Shopping Centers predicted a 1% rise in same store sales this November/December shopping season and it has already revised its forecast upwards to 2%. For Black Friday, the 3% sales increase amounted to $10.6 billion in sales.

And there were some significant differences across different regions. The South gained the most, 3.4%, over 2007 while in the Northeast sales rose the least, 2.6%.

Nevertheless, other analysts remain gloomy. ShopperTrak has estimated that 9.9% fewer shoppers will descend on stores this November/December shopping season, producing a sales gain of 0.1%. And Gallup suggests that the average individual will spend 29% less, or $616, compared to 2007.

Continue reading Will stocks climb Monday on better than expected Black Friday results?

Will stocks climb Monday on better than expected Black Friday results? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Welcome to the 87th installment of The Wal-Mart Weekly, a column dedicated to bringing you insight, wit, facts, results, opinions, and just a bit of everything else when it comes to a very hot topic these days: Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was set to, as usual, be one of the most aggressive discounters this holiday season in order to move as much inventory as possible. Nowhere is there a better yardstick for just how aggressive one could be than by looking at the deals offered on Black Friday.

As I sat down Thanksgiving Day to a little football and a slew of Black Friday ads to study, it became pretty clear that Wal-Mart was aggressive in its pricing, but by no means the most aggressive. Since it seems consumer electronics continue to be a focus area when it comes to holiday retailing, I focused in on that product segment. So, let's delve deeper and really see who was the most aggressive, shall we?

Continue reading Wal-Mart Weekly: Taking stock of Wal-Mart's Black Friday offerings

Wal-Mart Weekly: Taking stock of Wal-Mart's Black Friday offerings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Consumers are delaying big purchases -- big time.

A ChangeWave consumer spending survey reveals a massive breakdown in the willingness of consumers to buy big-ticket items.

In the survey of 2,763 U.S. consumers, completed Nov. 3, 21% of respondents said they have delayed or canceled a major planned purchase in the past 90 days.

What are the top big ticket items consumers have put on hold?

Here's the not-so-fab five:

It's no surprise that autos top the list.

As one respondent said, "Both of my cars have 80K miles. Usually I would be replacing one of them, but I'm delaying that decision due to the state of the economy."

Continue reading 5 big things consumers aren't buying

5 big things consumers aren't buying originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A sneak peak into Black Friday deals for next week originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Do you like shopping at Target (NYSE: TGT)? Many people do. In fact, investors are hoping that so many people like buying things at the bullseye retailer that the company will beat earnings expectations for the third quarter. Target will be reporting on Monday, November 17. What should we expect?

Shareholders should expect a drop in the bottom line. Now, did we need a source to tell us this? Probably not. The consumer is starting to feel scared, there's no doubt about it. I'm sure everyone has anecdotal evidence concerning the fear that is out there. Consumers are afraid that the job cuts being reported in the papers will eventually reach their cubicle, so they're scaling back on spending. So, if Target merely meets the expectation for $0.49 per share next Monday, I'm sure many shareholders will breathe a sigh of relief, even though that will represent about a 12% drop in per-share profit.

I'm not so sure Target will beat, though. For one thing, Brent Archer recently reported on Target's lousy October sales data. They missed Wall Street's mark. Since Target beat the last two quarters; I figure we're due for a miss considering everything that's been going on. We shall see. I'll be interested to see how the margins are doing and what kind of position the company may be in going into Black Friday. And I'll be looking at the comps, of course.

Continue reading Earnings preview: How will Target do in Q3?

Earnings preview: How will Target do in Q3? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Circuit City (CC) offers same prices in store as on website originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Retailers in for some hurt this holiday season? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading November retail numbers raised by early Thanksgiving

November retail numbers raised by early Thanksgiving originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Welcome to the 38th installment of The Wal-Mart Weekly, a column dedicated to bringing you insight, wit, facts, results, opinions and just a bit of everything else when it comes down to a very hot topic these days: Wal-Mart.

Last week, I suggested a plan of action to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) for the marketing event that should rule all others: Black Friday. While Wal-Mart was busy this year threatening websites and online entities with lawsuits in order to plug leaks, the retailer could have used some innovation in its marketing message and actually driven a whole wave of curious buyers to its front doors.

Wal-Mart needs to be more innovate and far more proactive. Business as usual, especially during the busy holiday shopping season, should be an action of the past.

Today, I'll tear down some sections of Wal-Mart's Black Friday specials and we'll see how competitive it is with the other big retailers in town. I'll specifically look at consumer electronics retailers Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) and Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE: CC) (since electronics is the hot category this shopping season), and discount retailer Target as well.

Continue reading The Wal-Mart Weekly: Black Friday and Cyber Monday recap

The Wal-Mart Weekly: Black Friday and Cyber Monday recap originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hitwise recorded a 26% increase to the Hitwise 100 Retail Index this year (the top 100 retail websites) compared to November 27, 2006 levels. The largest growth areas this year on Cyber Monday were the electronics and video games categories.

Continue reading Cyber Monday traffic up 26% over 2006

Cyber Monday traffic up 26% over 2006 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Did possible record sales come after heavy price chopping, or was the Cyber Monday sales push more customer-driven? Heavy discounting already is being looked at as the cause, and although legit, it could cause a large dip in profits to those retailers overexercising the strategy.

Continue reading Holiday internet sales may hit record

Holiday internet sales may hit record originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 11:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Retail discounts to erode profits this week? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.