Ooh la la! Fans of the old-school Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) catalog have something to giggle about. After seven long years, the risque quarterly featuring scantily clad young adults is being reinstated. And even though the catalog is ostensibly just marketing itself -- advertising the clothes that the models are barely wearing -- it will cost you $10 (it is available for pre-order now at the Abercrombie website and will hit shelves July 17).

When the recession hit and allowances dried up, ANF suffered even more than most of its peers as teens and young adults offered for similarly trendy fashion at cheaper prices, turning to the Gap's (GPS) Old Navy, Aeropostale (ARO), and American Eagle (AEO) as substitutes. After months of resistance (or denial), ANF finally cut the prices on some items, but it is still facing lackluster sales and revenue numbers. The shares, meanwhile, are down 50% over the last two years.

Retail sales declined 1.2% in May to the lowest level in eight months. This surprised analysts, who had expected sales to remain in positive territory.

Here are some specifics:

• Auto sales dropped 1.7%, after a 0.6% increase in April.
• Sales at hardware stores plunged 9.3%. This may be because the first-time home buyer tax credit expired.
• Department store sales fell 1.8%. Large retainers were down 1.1%.
• Gasoline station sales were down 3.3%.

The Federal Reserve's next Beige Book report is scheduled to be released this week. This report is a compilation of anecdotal information on current economic conditions from each of the 12 Federal Reserve Bank districts, and it is released eight times a year. The data comes from interviews with business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The June report is expected to show strengthening signs of expansion, though results could be mixed across the 12 districts.

Economic data due out this week include:

Overall April retail sales numbers were better than expected, and last week's quarterly results from Kohl's (KSS), Macy's (M), Nordstrom (JWN) and Urban Outfitters (URBN) were strong. This week, the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is scheduled to report earnings, along with big-box store operators Target Corp. (TGT) and Home Depot Inc. (HD). Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting strong results from these mega retailers as well, and from many others reporting this week.

Unlike the other companies featured in this post, Walmart isn't expected to post double-digit earnings growth, but strong earnings growth nonetheless. The empire that founder Sam Walton built announced a collaboration with Procter & Gamble (PG), acquired a digital entertainment provider, and increased its annual dividend during its first quarter. Earnings for that period are expected to total $0.85 per share, a increase of 9.4% from the same period of the previous year. Revenue for the three months that ended in April is expected to have risen 4.5% in the past year to $98.5 billion. And analysts so far expect to see sequential and year-over-year earnings and revenue growth in the second quarter. Walmart's per-share earnings met or beat consensus estimates in the past five quarters, beating by four cents per share in the fourth quarter.

Call it Christmas come early: Last week we learned that stocks posted an average gain of about 9% for March retail sales. We also learned consumer spending in the U.S. rose in March by the most in five months, and many economists are predicting continued spending acceleration as the economy adds more jobs and gets back into the groove.

Already we've seen some red hot runs in the retail sector in anticipation of the consumer's return. Several consumer-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been tearing things up on Wall Street lately -- lapping the broader market at least four times over!

There are lots of great individual retail stocks out there -- and no shortage of reasons to buy Walmart (WMT). But the fact is that blue chip retailers can often lag the broader sector, and small-cap retailers can sometimes be too volatile for many investors.

When you think Levi Strauss & Co., the first number that probably pops into your head is "501." After all, that is its signature blue jeans line. But there's a new number dominating talk about Levi's right now: $198. That's how much Levis thinks it can command for a new line of high-end jeans at retailers in the U.S.

Whether Levi Strauss & Co. can rebrand itself as a premium clothing company and cash in on this lucrative segment of the clothing market is a complicated question. But if it does so successfully, will Levis be dressed up for another reinvention -- this time as a publicly traded company via an IPO?

It's a shopaholic's dream and a privacy advocate's nightmare -- a credit card that knows what you've been buying and can make recommendations on what to splurge on next.

Through a new partnership with an Internet company that specializes in personalized shopping, MasterCard (MA) just rolled out a Web shopping mall call MasterCard Marketplace on Monday. The gimmick is that it can predict what MA cardholders are likely to purchase and make suggestions. Now that consumer spending is actually above it's 2008 peak (really!), it is the perfect time for such a program.

Let the accolades begin, folks, because U.S. retail sales data show that sales increased 1.6% during March. According to the Commerce Department, strong demand for cars, new clothes, and building materials (good thing we are fixing up the kitchen on our own) pushed retail sales to their fifth gain in the past six months.

Taking auto and truck sales out of the equation, March retail sales came in at $300.5 billion -- an increase of 0.6%. The auto-included 1.6% gain was better than the 1.3% gain expected by the Street, while the ex-auto sales of 0.6% edged the Street's estimate of 0.5%.

Some investors have already made up their minds the stock market rally is over. Others are convinced there's nowhere to go but up. Both views are oversimplified market predictions, considering the complicated economic environment.

A closer look at the latest stock market news proves that while things aren't all coming up roses on Wall Street, there are plenty of reasons to be cautiously optimistic the bull market will continue. Here are three of the latest reasons we learned about in the past few days: strong retail sales, strength in one of the worst housing markets and significant increases in corporate spending and dividends.

This was a strange market day. Greece was adding more woes to sovereign debt and international markets were mostly down on the day. Yet despite a worse weekly jobless claims figure, the overall sentiment went high. Strong retail sales may have something to help, although March comparisons were very easy because of how dire March 2009 was.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,927.07 +29.55 (0.27%)
S&P 500 1,186.43 +3.99 (0.34%)
Nasdaq 2,436.81 +5.65 (0.23%)

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) announced an increase in sales for the five-week period ending April 3.

Abercrombie net sales increased 19% compared to the same five-week period a year ago. And though comparable sales results for March increased 5%, they missed the 6.6% sales growth expected by the Street.

According to Abercrombie, total domestic net sales, including direct-to-consumer net sales, increased 10%. International sales for the company increased an impressive 112%.

Most of this past week the stock market was erratic. News from Asian and American Markets was generally positive, sending the indexes higher, until unsettling news from the European Union let the air out of the tires, resulting in 100 point swings of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which ended Friday up about 50 points for the week at 10,850.36.

Each day started upbeat and then we would hear about Greek debt, bonds coming due, Germany pushing for IMF participation in any plan to help Greece. Finally when this looked to be settled, we then got news of economic turmoil in Portugal. This activity stimulated me to write the following recent commentary:

Despite harsh weather in many parts of the country, retail sales rose 0.3% in February. Sales, excluding autos, rose 0.8%. Retail sales were expected to fall 0.2%.

Ten of 13 categories showed improvement. Here are some data:

• Purchases of electronics rose 3.7%
• Receipts at bars and restaurants grew 0.9%
• Auto sales dropped 2%. Some attribute the Toyota recall to some of this drop.

Shoppers spent more time – and money – in malls last month, with many retailers posting on Thursday strong results in what tends to be the final month of their fiscal year. The rich are doing a better job of prying open their wallets, as RetailMetrics, a research firm that covers the industry, reported that luxury retailers such as Saks (SKS) enjoyed larger gains in January than bargain stores. Signs of life in financial markets have made wealthier consumers more willing to spend ... and we all know that a recovery has to start someplace.

Retailers don't like competition. As it is, they get enough of it from each other in the pursuit of razor-thin margins. It's standard practice to squeeze manufacturers for lower prices and more concessions as part of this battle.

For years, it's also been the norm for retailers to push back on manufacturers' direct-to-consumer models, as it gives consumers one less reason to enter the store, results in smaller basket sizes and greater pressure on wallet share. When a consumer product giant decides to bypass the retailers, eyebrows rise across the consumer business industry, with manufacturers thinking about new revenue possibilities while retailers worry that other product companies will follow.