Stocks eye retailers as jobless ranks swell
Nov 7, 2009 Make Money Online
By Edward Krudy
As unemployment in the United States edges above 10 percent, anxious investors will look to earnings reports from major retailers for signs of life in the beaten-up consumer.
Comments from Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), the world’s largest retailer, as well as from a host of smaller stores, will be of vital importance to investors trying to judge the recovery’s pace.
“The best way of gaining an insight into the consumer is from hearing from the companies that sell to them,” said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.
Stocks are up 50 percent since the lows in March, but the market has languished recently as investors try to determine the strength of the economic recovery.
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Tags: JC Penney's, JCP.N, Kohls Corp, KSS.N, Macy's Inc, Miller Tabak & Co, Stock Market, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, WMT.N
EBay holiday outlook disappoints, shares down
Oct 22, 2009 Make Money Online
By Alexandria Sage
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – EBay Inc (EBAY.O) forecast results for the fourth quarter at the low end of Wall Street estimates, disappointing investors who were hoping for a substantial turnaround for the holidays, and its shares down 5 percent.
But the global e-commerce and payments company’s fourth-quarter outlook only included a partial contribution from Skype, the fast-growing Web telephone unit it plans to sell in coming weeks. Analysts said that might have made its fourth-quarter forecast appear lackluster to investors.
Investors had warmed to the idea of a comeback by eBay, which is overhauling its main marketplaces division. Since January, the company’s stock had shot up 79 percent after years of languishing.
But its forecast on Wednesday put a dent in that confidence, even though executives and analysts highlighted improvements such as more fixed price sales, which helped increase volume on eBay. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Amazon.com, AMZN.O, Ebay, Ebay Inc, EBAY.O, Safeway Inc, Skype, Stock Market, SWY.N, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Wall Street, WMT.N
Stock futures point to higher Wall St open
Aug 13, 2009 Make Money Online
(Reuters) – Stock index futures pointed to a higher start on Wall Street on Thursday ahead of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) results and U.S. July retail sales data.
By 4:12 a.m. EDT, futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial average and the Nasdaq Composite were up 0.6 percent.
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is due to report earnings per share of $0.85 in the second quarter, compared with $0.86 a year earlier, according to a Reuters survey of 22 analysts. Wal-Mart shares in Frankfurt (WMT.F) were down 0.2 percent.
U.S. retail sales for July is due at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economist in a Reuters survey expect a 0.7 percent rise compared with a 0.6 percent rise in June, and excluding automobiles sales are seen up 0.1 percent compared with a 0.3 percent decline in the prior month. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Automobile sales, Dow Jones, Retail Sale, Stock, Stock Market, US, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Wall Street
