September same-store sales are rolling in this Thursday morning, and the news for the teen/tween retailers may hold some hope. Leading off the clothing genre is American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), which posted perhaps the best news in the group. Of course, by best news I mean that AEO's sales didn't drop as much as people predicted.

The retailer had flat same-store sales in September, at the top end of its forecast range for a drop of 4.1% to flat sales. Thing is, these results will probably spur a bit of a rally for the stock, mainly because they weren't as bad as they could have been.

On Tuesday morning, Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) issued a cautious earnings outlook for the coming year. On a more positive not, the home-improvement giant actually expects same-store sales to increase, bringing an end to several years of same store sales declines.

LOW's announcement was accompanied by a reiteration of its expectations for the fiscal year. It expects to open 66 stores this fiscal year, and as many as 45 in the next fiscal year (which starts on January 30). For the coming year, LOW believes it will earn $1.24 to $1.34 per share with revenue growth of 3% to 4% and a same-store sales rise of roughly 1%. The current estimates from the Street call for earnings of $1.34 per share and a 3% revenue increase.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) announced on Thursday that its same-store sales plummeted 29% in August. These results were worse than the expected drop of 23.9%.

Sales in all of its divisions were worse than expected, with sales at the Abercrombie & Fitch flagship store plunging 26%. Sales dropped 32% at Hollister, 37% at Ruehl (which will close at the year's end), and 26% at the company's children's retail outlet.

This morning, discount retailer Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) announced that same-store sales dropped 2.4% during the second quarter. The company's sales were pulled lower by weakness in its home and furniture categories, but still fell in range of its earlier forecast for a decline of 1% to 3%.

While furniture and home acted as an anchor on sales, the company's consumables, hardlines, and seasonal categories performed well. Total retail sales for the quarter fell 2.3% to $1.07 billion while year-to-date same-store sales fell $2.2 billion.

Trendy retailer Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) announced Thursday that its first-quarter earnings declined compared to a year ago. The khaki king's earnings were pulled lower by poor sales due to the economic crisis. That said, the company's quarterly earnings topped the consensus estimate.

For the quarter, Gap earned 31 cents per share, down from 34 cents a year ago, but a penny better than analyst projections. Sales for the quarter dropped to $3.13 billion, matching the Street's expected $3.14 billion.

In what is becoming standard practice in retail, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reported a same-store sales increase of 2.1% in January while competitor Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) experienced a same-store sales decline of 1.6% from the year-ago period. Surprising? Not at all.

As the economic stimulus bill hangs around Capitol Hill and more and more Americans are becoming unemployed, Wal-Mart is continuing to experience an influx of business that's coming in from the competition. This will continue throughout 2009. Even though Wal-Mart won't be giving monthly same-store sales forecasts for the time being, the retailer will be one of the very few shining lights in retail this year.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF), the hip clothing store that competes with The Gap, Inc. (NYSE: GPS) and J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP), is no different than any other retailer. Christmas is going to hurt... hurt bad. Make no mistake. And as far as earnings reports goes, the pattern is in: report a decline, then issue some nasty guidance.

Abercrombie reported Q3 numbers today, and according to the press release, net sales decreased 8%, and earnings per diluted share declined 44% to $0.72. As Melly Alazraki reported this morning, that $0.72 beat analyst estimates. But the market could care less. As Melly pointed out, the full-year outlook was cut. The stock sold off upon the news. In fact, as I write this, the stock is down nearly 15%. By the way, if by the time this is published the market is up and Abercrombie's shares are trading in the green (big if, granted), don't even think it's a buy. Put that out of your mind. Did you see the same-store sales? They were down 14% for the quarter. That figure is grabbing the attention of investors, I'm sure. When you see a downturn like that, well, you know things aren't going to turn around quickly.

Abercrombie's woes will be with it for a while. Management will find it difficult to strike the right balance between staffing the stores properly and increasing marketing activities. All retailers will be in the same boat. The stock hit a new 52-week low today of $18.83. My guess is that the stock will be as volatile as the market, and that it will trend in a downward direction over the next couple months. Obviously I don't think it's a buy. Broken stock and broken fundamentals aren't a great combo. Abercrombie continues to plan for new store openings in fiscal 2008; perhaps those investments will pay off down the line. For now, the retail sector is doing horribly, competition in the sector is becoming cutthroat as consumer confidence loses value, and I continue to look at only two names -- Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT) -- as possible long-term values. Yep, Abercrombie & Fitch isn't so sexy anymore.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

Kohl's Corp (NYSE: KSS) reported Q3 earnings on Thursday after the bell. I didn't like what I saw. I couldn't find anything in there that would make me think the stock is a buy at this time. Well, there were a couple good points, but they didn't sway me.

Net revenues were pretty much flat at $3.8 billion. The bottom line came in at $0.52 per diluted share. Last year at this time, Kohl's delivered $0.61 per diluted share in net income. That's a 15% drop, and that isn't good, even if earnings beat expectations by a penny.

So, we got a flat top line and a declining bottom line. Want some more bad news? This is probably the worst metric: same-store sales decreased well over 6% for the quarter. Plus, they declined 6% for the nine-month period. As can be seen, things are getting worse for Kohl's. Same-store sales are indeed a key measure of a retailer's strength, so even though management did well in terms of gross margin and operational cash flow (the latter took a big jump, moving up 175% due to changes in working capital relating to inventories), I can't find it within me to be even remotely bullish on this business.

Kohl's (NYSE: KSS - option chain) shares are rising today after the company posted a 5.5% drop in same-store sales in September, beating analysts' estimates of a 6.1% drop. The markets were braced for bad news, so even though sales fell a significant amount and the KSS lowered its guidance, the stock is still getting a lift.

If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on KSS.

KSS opened this morning at $36.95. So far today the stock has hit a low of $36.74 and a high of $40.08. As of 10:15, KSS is trading at $39.37, up $1.21 (3.2%). The chart for KSS looks neutral and S&P gives KSS a 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an October bull-put credit spread below the $35 range.

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) shares are trading higher after the company reported that May same-store sales rose 7.7%. Overseas sales were strongest, but US sales rose by 4.3%, while analysts expected only 1%. The company claims its low prices actually boosted sales during the economic slowdown as people flocked to cheaper alternatives. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on MCD.

After hitting a one-year low of $46.64 in August, the stock hit a one-year high of $63.69 in December. MCD opened this morning at $58.37. So far today the stock has hit a low of $58.00 and a high of $59.56. As of 12:45, MCD is trading at $59.19, up $2.24 (3.93%). The chart for MCD looks bullish but deteriorating, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a September bull-put credit spread below the $50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. This particular trade will make an 8.7% return in just three and a half months as long as MCD is above $50 at September expiration. McDonald's would have to fall by more than 15% before we would start to lose money.

MCD hasn't been below $50 since September and has shown support around $58 recently. This trade could be risky if the company's earnings (due out in late July or early August) disappoint, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find at its 200 day moving average, which is currently around $57 and rising.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent controls a bullish hedged position in MCD.

With recession fears, housing market worries and credit concerns, retailers have been facing tough times, especially during the holiday winter season of December and January when sales came with weak numbers. But on the heels of these disappointing results, retailers got a beam of hope as February's sales numbers showed a surprising increase.

Encouraging news for retailers showing a rebound in consumer spending during the past month came after world's largest retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) announced a rise of 2.6% for its February same-store sales. The company said that its same-store sales during the period were helped by strong gains from gas, food and flat-panel TVs. Analysts were expecting the retailer show an increase of 1.1% for its same-store sales, according to Thomson Financial.

Among other retailers that showed a rebound in February sales were Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) and Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS), both of which reported stronger-than-expected gains. Apparel retailers Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. (NASDAQ: PSUN) also reported earnings results exceeding estimates of 6% sales growth last month.

For Limited Brands Inc. (NYSE: LTD), though, February didn't come with positive results. The company stated that higher energy and food prices put pressure on consumers who focused on necessities.

Eliza Popescu is a financial writer for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.

Shares of Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) have been plunging this morning after the company posted disappointing same-store holiday sales. Based on its weak results, the retailer also cut its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings outlooks.

A look at the company's same-store sales, a key indicator of retailer performance that measures growth at existing stores, reveals a decline of 3.5%. Sears saw its domestic same-store sales fall during the holiday season, hurt by weakness in Kmart's seasonal categories and its apparel and tools. According to the retailer, Sears domestic same-store sales fell 2.8%, while Kmart same-store sales tumbled 4.2%.

Sears believes its weak holiday sales and lower profit margins were caused by strong competition, the slumping housing market and credit crisis which increased consumers' fears and made them curb their spending.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reported a December sales gain of 2.4% this morning, which topped analyst estimates and probably caused some industry pundits wonder if December holiday retail sales were all that bad after all.

Did U.S. consumers tighten their wallets and purses and pursue only the bare bones bargains in December? Wal-Mart's sales growth last month would seem to indicate that. After all, no matter what image the world's largest retailer tries to create, it's still the "Always Low Prices" moniker that customers remember when those money clips and coin purses find themselves bare.

Wal-Mart's 2.4% gain in December was driven by sales of food, prescription drugs and consumer electronics. Naturally, electronics sales in December is to be expected. The 2.4% figure did beat analyst estimated of 1.8% and fell inline with Wal-Mart's rather wide 1% to 3% sales gain projection. Although measurement firm Retail Metrics called holiday sales "listless" outside of Black Friday and the actual week before Christmas, it could be said that Wal-Mart's 15,000 item price reduction before the Thanksgiving holiday may have helped it stave off sales growth weakness during the first three weeks of December.

After all, MasterCard Advisors said that "people waiting for discounts" helped many retailer experience sales sluggishness in December, while consulting firm A.T. Kearney said "Retailers have created a bunch of procrastinators waiting for the markdowns they knew were going to come, and they ended up buying at lower margins." At Wal-Mart, those markdowns were already in place before the competition could respond -- and every day has urgency when it comes to December retail sales.

A glut of Black Friday pricing promotions, more available shopping days and colder weather has assisted U.S. retailers in bringing back some shine to November same-store retail results. This is no surprise, but it helps the market take a deep breath after weak consumer confidence, a credit crunch that's still in progress and the lack of a "must have" holiday gift item were all worrying retailer watchers a few weeks ago right before Thanksgiving.

U.S. retailers have had a tough year this year (some worse than others) on the backs of spending pullbacks from many customer groups and tightening wallets. So far, estimates are concluding that November same-store sales results will rise 2.5% for November, ahead of the YTD rate of 2.2% through October of this year -- the slowest in over four years.

It's super Thursday, when same-store sales from many of the nation's retailers hit the Street, and the outlook for the holiday-shopping season is looking less than cheerful.

Weakness in the housing sector, high prices at the pumps, and unseasonably warm weather kept consumers' wallets on a tight leash in October. Early estimates from the International Council of Shopping Centers/UBS indicate that overall U.S. same-store sales in October rose about 2%, missing analysts' previous growth target of 2.5%. Data from Thomson Financial indicates that 18 retailers have missed expectations, while 10 have exceeded.

Ken Perkins, president of research company RetailMetrics, told The New York Times that "Overall, the sales trend continues to slow . . . I think the consumer is certainly feeling the [economic] pressure heading into the holidays."