One could argue that the U.S. equity market is getting a little frothy at current levels and that bullish sentiment is getting ahead of the fundamentals. The preponderance of the evidence, however, seems to suggest that this may continue for some time. If it does, it may be time to take some shots with high risk/high reward speculative stocks.

One of these names is recent Chinese IPO E-Commerce China Dangdang (DANG), which has been promoted as the "Amazon.com of China."

Continue reading Follow Fidelity into China's Online Retailer Dangdang

Follow Fidelity into China's Online Retailer Dangdang originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Amazon's (AMZN) 52-week low is $91.70 and its 52-week high is $166.13. It closed yesterday's regular session at $164.97. It ran into some trouble during the after-hours period that followed, falling 4% at one point to $158.30. Is it time to panic and send in the sell order?

I don't think so. Quite frankly, I've learned that this online retailer has the kind of brand equity that will allow it to generate growth for years to come. Consumers love and trust the experience they get from using the site. Not only is this company useful for the long-term, it's also been a pretty good bet for traders as well.

Continue reading Amazon Still Looks Good After Q3 Earnings

Amazon Still Looks Good After Q3 Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Oct 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Three Tech Game Changers You Don't Want to Miss Out On

Three Tech Game Changers You Don't Want to Miss Out On originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) was down earlier this afternoon by over 4% to a price of $115.15, which is well below the 52-week high of $151.09. That might make the stock look unappealing in some sense, but I'll tell you what: the latest earnings report shows that the company is doing very well with its operational strategies.

The following chart illustrates the stock's recent struggles. After peaking in April, the bias has been toward the downside. But is this pullback attractive for those who were considering adding the name to a portfolio?

Continue reading Amazon Down After Q2 Release

Amazon Down After Q2 Release originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Amazon Receives a Positive Initiation: Time to Buy?

Amazon Receives a Positive Initiation: Time to Buy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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?

Continue reading Why would Amazon open physical stores?

Why would Amazon open physical stores? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Online retail sales are expected to increase 3% to $28.8 billion for this year's holiday season. The analysts at comScore include traditional retailers, like Macy's (M) in this estimate, but don't count auction sites like eBay (EBAY), travel or corporate sales. The estimate compares favorably against the National Retail Federation's forecast of a 1% year-over-year drop for all retail sales and exceeds the industry's most aggressive holiday season sales estimates of 2%.

Last year, online retail sales fell 3% for the holiday season, the first decline since the industry started keeping score in 2001. Even if we don't hit the 3% growth level this year, 2009 is still expected to be better than 2008, now that the economy has stabilized (at least relative to last year).

Continue reading Online sales to be darling of holiday season

Online sales to be darling of holiday season originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Traditional retailers haven't exactly embraced online sales channels. Sure, they all have websites, and they sell varying amounts of merchandise through them, but they've been slow to tap into the potential. When I was watching the space as an analyst at a major consulting firm (admittedly, back in 2007), many retailers equated a website to a new store opening. Finally, however, this industry is starting to see the potential of this venue, particularly when it comes to tracking consumer behavior.

When the CEO of Macy's (NYSE: M), Terry Lundgren, says that online sales are only good for 6% of last year's total sales, it's a hint. The translation: "We focus on where the revenue is" is much different from "We focus on where the revenue could be." Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO), on the other hand, sees the upside of playing in the online space, which is where it saw revenues spike 85% last year. Aeropostale has seen increases in traditional venues too, but nothing like what it's realized on the web.

So, maybe there's something to this internet, after all.

Continue reading Consumers dislike web tracking, but not enough to change behavior

Consumers dislike web tracking, but not enough to change behavior originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After the closing bell on Thursday, internet retailer Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) will step into the earnings spotlight. Experts believe that Amazon will report third-quarter earnings of 33 cents per share with revenue of $5.03 billion. Amazon forecast third-quarter revenue of $4.75 billion to $5.25 billion. In last year's third quarter, Amazon earned 27 cents per share with revenue of $4.26 billion.

With the economy struggling, what should we expect from Amazon? Reportedly, ThinkEquity saw traffic data that implies Amazon's unique visitors rose 23% in the latest quarter. If this is the case, the retailer's sales should have received a bit of a push in the quarter, which could lead to higher earnings. In fact, the ThinkEquity analyst (Ed Weller) told the Associated Press that he expects Amazon to report earnings of 35 cents per share on revenue of $5.13 billion.

Continue reading Amazon.com earnings preview: Expectations too high for Q3?

Amazon.com earnings preview: Expectations too high for Q3? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Amazon gets big upgrade

Amazon gets big upgrade originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Want to stock up on Hershey's tasty treats? Get in while the getting is good.

Stating that its "current business model is not sustainable," Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) is closing its online store -- HerseysGifts.com -- as of July 31. After that, consumers with a sweet tooth for products such as chocolate-covered Macadamia nuts or a five-bound Hershey bar will have to visit local stores. Products can be customized for special occasions and run from $10 to $150.

Continue reading Hershey to eliminate online business

Hershey to eliminate online business originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Amazon had a great Q4, but don't buy just yet

Amazon had a great Q4, but don't buy just yet originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The good news this holiday season is that online spending for gifts is up. Depending on the source, the rise is somewhere between 4% and 9%.

The missing piece of the story not reflected in those numbers is that people are spending much less per transaction. While activity may be up, retailer profitability may be down, way down.

According to The New York Times, the Chase Paymentech's Cyber Holiday Pulse Index tells a depressing story. "Chase's index, which surveys 25 of the largest 150 retailers on its Internet payment processing network, showed that the average shopper spent $7.19 less per transaction on Cyber Monday this year over last."

Online spending is not likely to be the only place where this is happening. Consumers, under financial pressure due to lack of credit and concerns about their jobs, are probably spending less everywhere they go. That would make sense. Getting overextended financially is much more risky this year than at any time in the recent past, perhaps going back decades. Why shell out a lot of money? Who knows how bad 2009 will be.

Retailers work on narrow margins, sometimes as low as 2%. Discounts can wipe that out. Comparisons with last year's shopping activity can be very deceiving.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Online spending not really up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Online retail grows a measly 1% in October as the economy stalls originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Those who cannot drive are going online. Cruising to the mall, if it is 20 or 30 miles away, is no longer a cheap trip. With gas at $4 a gallon, some potential shoppers may not go to the mall at all.

Thank goodness for the internet. More and more people are getting online to buy the things they need. In an economy where many people feel poor, the average online shopper may not be spending big, but he is spending.

According to The New York Times, retailers "are experiencing double-digit sales growth at their shopping Web sites, creating a surprising bright spot during an otherwise gloomy time for sales in brick-and-mortar stores." The paper adds that Gap (NYSE: GPS) "had an 11 percent decline in same-store sales in the first quarter, but a 21 percent increase in online sales."

While the news is a silver lining, it probably does little to save the earnings of large retailers. Internet sales are still a relatively small portion of total revenue for companies that have to support the real estate and personnel costs at significant numbers of large stores. E-commerce traffic may lift numbers a bit, but they do not bring down the expense base that represents most of the problem for retail profitability.

Until the internet sales are 15% or 20% of total sales for a company like Gap, investors should not look at online revenue as a reason to buy retail stocks.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

High gas prices fuel e-commerce originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

ChannelAdvisor is an online retailing facilitator, meaning that it fills in the gaps and provides powerful tools that lighten the burden for sellers of larger inventories to place and manage their items for sale. ChannelAdvisor has just bolstered its total received in venture capital to $60 million. CEO Scot Wingo indicates that the intent of this increase in venture capital is to underwrite continued growth. Wingo states that, "Our revenues are growing more than 65% year-over-year so our valuation has reflected that." You may read his insightful commentary regarding the course of retail internet merchandising in this excellent interview on Business 2.0 Beta.

So what has this got to do with eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY)? Quite a lot actually, and the connections are something less than subtle. eBay is a major stakeholder in ChannelAdvisor. You could safely say that the two entities are closely aligned. What poses an odd scenario to me is, wouldn't it appear to the casual observer that eBay is therefore underwriting the success of their closest competitor, especially in light of the fact that ChannelAdvisor is ratcheting the performance of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) above that of rival eBay? I don't get it. Do you?

What occurs to me is that eBay has a vision for itself that it's just not telling us about yet. Does it see itself basing future operations on a different retailing tier than Amazon? Does it plan to make an overture for Amazon at some point down the road? Or does it see itself and Amazon as co-existing within the retail realm with the expectation that there is enough revenue to go around? The fact of the matter is that this is a very strange internet love triangle, and one that could play out in several different ways. I'm open for theories on what this is, why it is, and where it will go. Please share your opinions, won't you?

ChannelAdvisor is doing well out of eBay's shadow, and in it also originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 06 May 2007 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) got some help from Santa Claus this year.

Fourth quarter net income was $98 million in the fourth quarter, or 23 cents per share, compared with $199 million, or 47 cents, because of an increase in income tax expenses. Revenue rose 34 percent to $3.99 billion, the Seattle-based company said in a statement.

Analysts had expected earnings of 21 cents on sales of $3.77 billion, according to Thomson Financial. Sales rose in after-hours trading. It also gave bullish guidance.

The company said first quarter sales will be between $2.85 billion to $3 billion, below the $3.77 billion analysts had anticipated. Revenue for the year will be $13 billion to $13.7 billion, above the $10.5 billion forecast by Wall Street.

Amazon's results were surprising considering the poor performance at Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE:BKS) and Borders Group Inc. (NYSE:BGP). The company credited Amazon Prime, a program which allows customers to get free two-day shipping for a yearly fee of $75, for helping to drive sales.

Bloomberg News reported that U.S. holiday shoppers spent more money online at Seattle-based Amazon than other retailers, citing data from comScore Networks.

Still, this stock makes investors uneasy. The company has spent lots of money on new initiatives such as Amazon Unbox, an online video download service. Plus, the company has some pretty tough competitors for price-conscious consumers.

That had an impact in the quarter as the company offered deals to help move more digital equipment and popular toys. Gross margins -- always a worry for analysts -- fell to 21.3 percent from 24 percent a year earlier.

Also check out some other earnings reports that we're following, and let us know what you're expecting.

Amazon got a visit from Santa originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.