Black Friday has come and gone and the holiday shopping season is off and running. In addition to keeping on eye on how retailers are doing, there will be plenty of other economic data for analysts and investors to peruse on this week.

• Monday: Chicago Fed's Midwest Manufacturing Index
• Tuesday: Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, S&P/Case-Schiller Home Price Index for Q3, Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index

Continue reading Week in Preview: Unemployment Rate, Fed's Beige Book, Canadian Banks

Week in Preview: Unemployment Rate, Fed's Beige Book, Canadian Banks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 28 Nov 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Retailers Lagging in Social Media Rush

Retailers Lagging in Social Media Rush originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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.

This week, the world's top retailers will tell investors how the much-discussed holiday season went. Analysts expect a year-over-year gain of 1.3% for stores open at least a year, which of course uses a dismal 2008 as a benchmark.

The holiday shopping season is the last chance retailers get to pump up their financial statements before the close of their fiscal year, which usually comes at the end of January. For some retailers, up to 40% of their revenue comes in the weeks heading into Christmas.

Continue reading Retail Results to Come this Week, but Spring Is the Test

Retail Results to Come this Week, but Spring Is the Test originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 03 Jan 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With 70% of the GDP driven by consumer spending, Wall Street wants to believe this lie so badly that it has convinced itself it's true. Even worse-than-expected Black Friday sales haven't forced the Street to give up this inane hope.

Real consumer wealth is down more than 40% in the past two years; credit is contracting and unemployment is rising. That is not exactly the recipe for increased consumer spending.

Continue reading Lie #7: Consumer Spending Is Returning to Normal

Lie #7: Consumer Spending Is Returning to Normal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 27 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sluggish retail sales in November didn't stop retailers from adding bodies. A report by outplacement consulting company Challenger, Gray & Christmas, reavealed to BloggingStocks, shows that retail sector payrolls grew to 321,300 in November, an improvement from the previous month's 233,700. This follows 54,200 retail hires in October, bringing the total number of seasonal retail employees up to 375,500. Already, that comes close to the 384,300 hired from October through December in 2008. The analysis is based on data supplied by the Department of Labor.

High expectations for the holiday season likely contributed to the up-tick in hiring. The estimated 0.5% growth from Black Friday 2008 to Black Friday 2009 was a disappointment, and November sales were off 0.3%, surprising analysts, who expected the trend to go in the other direction. Costco (COST) and Limited Brands (LTD) came out ahead, but most retailers, including Target (TGT) and Macy's (M) struggled. Saks (SKS) is also suffering from an anemic luxury goods market.

Continue reading Retail hiring up from last year, but still well below average

Retail hiring up from last year, but still well below average originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The online push from Black Friday continued into Cyber Monday. Coremetrics, a web analytics company, found that sales were up 19.6% year-over-year as of 1:00 PM Monday. Online may account for only 10% of spending during the holiday season (7% overall), but it remains the bright spot in what has been a lackluster kickoff to the holiday season.

Black Friday spending was up only 0.5% this year, though Black Friday online spending jumped 35%. For Friday and Saturday, ShopperTrak reports that retail sales were up 0.9% to $16.77 billion, while customer traffic dropped 2.7%.

Continue reading Cyber Monday a success, despite Black Friday

Cyber Monday a success, despite Black Friday originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:20:00 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 Closing Bell: Dubai sends jitters throughout the market (S, BBY)

Closing Bell: Dubai sends jitters throughout the market (S, BBY) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Before the bell: Futures sharply lower on Dubai's debt problems

Before the bell: Futures sharply lower on Dubai's debt problems originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If Thanksgiving is a bird, a beer and a football game for you, prepare to have your thinking challenged. Many retailers are looking to get a head start on Black Friday this year, opening a day early, some of them for the first time. Most Old Navy Stores (GPS) will open their doors on Thursday, along with Wal-Mart (WMT), Toys "R" Us, RadioShack (RSH) and Walgreen's (WAG). Rather than bet solely on Friday, retailers are looking to eke every last dime they can out of the holiday season this year.

The National Retail Federation expects holiday spending to drop 1% this year to $437.6 billion. "Retailers need to be competitive," says NRF spokeswoman Ellen Davis. "There's a lot riding on the success of November and December retail sales."

Continue reading Retailers can't wait for Black Friday, open Thursday

Retailers can't wait for Black Friday, open Thursday originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Retailers expect a strong turnout on Black Friday this year, but they are careful to explain that it doesn't guarantee a winning holiday shopping season.

Consumers are being lured by good deals and special promotions, and Black Friday specials have been leaked earlier than usual this year in the hopes of generating some buzz. The retail sector needs it. Last year's holiday season was the worst in decades, thanks to the financial crisis. This year, the survivors will benefit from fewer competitors chasing the same consumer dollars.

Continue reading Black Friday expected to be strong, no promises for Christmas

Black Friday expected to be strong, no promises for Christmas originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:20:00 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.

If you thought Black Friday was just for brick-and-mortar retail, think again. The official start of the online shopping rush is the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday (Cyber Monday is its name), but don't think that companies like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Blue Nile (NASDAQ: NILE) are going to wait that long. They're in the game now. And they want your attention. More importantly, they want you to use the virtual shopping carts at their respective sites early and often. It's really crucial this year, because the economy stinks, and growth in spending isn't going to be great.

According to CNBC, Amazon's strategy is to use very low prices as a way of stopping competitors like eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) dead in their electronic tracks. This Christmas season, retailers, whether online or not, may find themselves in a no-win situation. They have to lower prices to encourage people to shop. But quality growth in top-line sales is questionable. When managements see the bad news flow about the global recession, they become scared and want to become even more aggressive in terms of pricing. The strategy may work and it may not. It's a vicious circle. Don't get me wrong, the retail industry faces this problem every year at this time, but you have to agree that the current economic cycle is particularly noxious. It's times like these, however, when retailers should want to offer more than just a value proposition. They should want to offer a differentiated shopping experience, a better selection of items. They should strive to offer up a brand image that makes you want to hit their inventories first. They need to step away from trying to undercut all their competitors and instead figure out how to stock the right merchandise in the right amounts. And when it comes to a business like Amazon, I think there's great opportunity to go beyond low-pricing strategies. Quite frankly, I don't care whether Amazon has the lowest prices or not. I find it easier to do some of my holiday shopping on the site. It saves me time during this busy season, I trust the security of the platform, and I know that the supply chain is efficient and reliable. And I definitely think of Amazon first when looking to do online shopping because of its valuable brand equity.

Continue reading Will Amazon win with its pricing strategy?

Will Amazon win with its pricing strategy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.