The Commerce Department’s retail sales figures came in relatively decent, with total retail sales coming in up 0.1 percent at $419 billion. The second most quoted figure related to the monthly retail sales report is retail sales less the automobile sector, and this indicator coming in down 0.1 percent over the prior month, or $340 billion. Retail Sales Figures Encouraging? The market generally considered the today’s retail sales figures as encouraging, in that the...
Read More »
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT), the world’s largest retailer, announced the return of its popular Great Gas Rollback program. The discount retail giant announced to cut gas prices by 15 cents per gallon in 21 U.S. states to attract customers. To get discounts at Walmart store-based gas stations, shoppers will have to use a Walmart MoneyCard or a credit card. Starting on April 1, the program will run through July 7. If you use Walmart gift card,...
Read More »
Gas Prices Pegged to Risk On Trade As long as gas prices are pegged to the market rally in equities and the currencies in the Risk On Trade then this rally is nearing its end. Gas prices are up 35 cents and climbing, oil is up $13 and climbing and because of congress consumers are being taxed more in 2013, and as a result have less take home pay to apply towards discretionary spending....
Read More »
It looks like the world economy is on the verge of slipping back into recession. Deadlock in the United States Congress is pushing the world’s largest economy towards the so-called fiscal cliff. The Eurozone remains unstable. Asia is showing mixed results with some economies surging while others are falling behind. Latin America is stagnating and Africa is a mess. Perfect time to sit back and drink a beer, right? A number of people seem...
Read More »
Consumer spending for the holiday season could be affected by Hurricane Sandy. The effects of the storm are clear in this week’s latest spending numbers for October. Spending in the U.S. declined unexpectedly, and many economists believe it was because many people in the Northeast couldn’t go to work or visit retailers to make purchases toward the end of the month. Economists predict that the loss in wages will slow holiday sales a bit....
Read More »
The White House issued another warning to the members of the Congress regarding the negative effects of automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to take effect by January next year. The White House projected that consumer spending could slow down during the rest of the holiday season, and it might decline by approximately $200 billion in 2013 if the Congress fails to resolve the problem. Based on the report released by the White...
Read More »
The U.S. economy grew two percent in the third quarter, arousing hopes and beating forecasts. The Gross Domestic Product, which represents the value of aggregate goods and services produced, rose at an annual rate of 2 percent. This marked an impressive increase from 1.3 percent in the preceding quarter. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had averaged a 1.8 percent gain estimate for the third quarter. CIBC notes it was the US government, rather than the consumer,...
Read More »
The University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment jumped from 78.3 to 83.1 in its preliminary October print, exceeding consensus expectations. This was the best reading on the headline index since September 2007. The rise of the consumer confidence index is a good sign for the upcoming Holiday shopping season. The survey underlying the index showed improvement in most respects. The current conditions gauge rose to 88.6, reversing its September decline and coming just short of its best...
Read More »
Prada’s Patrizio Bertelli, CEO, was present during the Q&A on the conference call this morning in order to reassure investors that there was “no huge disaster occurring in the luxury goods sector”. The company is “confident about the near future” and appears comfortable with around mid-teens SSS for the full year – which implies around 10% SSS for 1H and well above guidance for some of its peers. The company is on track to open 80 stores this year...
Read More »
The U.S economy had slowed down over the last two quarters, but according to the latest statistics, things are about to change for the third quarter, as consumer spending rose to a five month high, after stagating over the last three months. Reuters brought us this report. According to the report, consumer spending was up 0.4 percent in July, after having recorded a near, null growth in June. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of the U.S economy and the recent...
Read More »
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has just released earning reports for the first quarter of 2012. Expected earnings, according to analysts, were to be at about $1.35 per share, an increase of approximately 0.7%, but the final report came in at $1.41 up from $1.25 a year earlier. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) , the age old company has seen many ups and downs over the years, but all-in-all has been a...
Read More »
