There are a million chart chasing lunatics out there that are completely illiterate.
dailynews.yahoo.com
Year-End Sales Look Bleak
By Monica Summers
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Retail sales showed little promise of a pickup this week, threatening a grim end for a glum year that has been marred by a slowing economy, higher interest rates and deflated consumer sentiment.
While many merchants had hoped to see a bit more foot traffic in the days after the Christmas holiday -- the last week of the holiday shopping season -- business proved to be sparse on Tuesday and Wednesday in department stores and shopping malls across the country, with few shoppers braving the cold weather to skim through myriad markdowns.
As the hopes for a slight swell in sales dwindled, a handful of Wall Street analysts predicted that even some of the country's top retailers would fail to meet December sales forecasts, and may also see fourth-quarter earnings below expectations.
But despite the dismal outlook, retail stocks rose on the idea that the worst may well be over for retail stocks. The Standard & Poor's retail index rose 35.39 points, or about 4.4 percent, at 838.46 late on Wednesday afternoon.
Among the top gainers were Kohl's Corp. (NYSE:KSS - news), whose shares were up 7 percent at $59-3/4, and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF - news), which saw an 18 percent jump to trade at $19-7/8. AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (NYSE:ANN - news) also saw its shares rise 12.5 percent to trade at $24-7/8, and Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE:JWN - news) shares were up 11 percent at $18-1/8 on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites).
Even No. 1 retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT - news), which on Tuesday warned that its December same-store sales would come in below its previously expected 3 to 5 percent rise, saw its share price surge more than 5 percent, or $2-5/8, to trade at $53-1/4.
``Based on our anecdotal observations of mall traffic... December sales will not meet even our reduced expectations,'' said Todd Slater, retail analyst at Lazard Freres & Co., referring to his outlook for monthly sales at stores open at least one year.
Slater, who lowered his fourth-quarter earnings estimates for men's and women's apparel retailers Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS - news), Intimate Brands Inc. (NYSE:IBI - news), Limited Inc. (NYSE:LTD - news) and regional warehouse chain BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. (NYSE:BJ - news), said he expects Lazard's Retail Index to rise a modest 2.3 percent for December, down from his original projection of 3.8 percent.
Also on Wednesday, Goldman Sachs retail analyst Barbara Miller cut her earnings per share estimates on a handful of specialty apparel retailers, including Gap and Intimate Brands, due to poor holiday sales as discounts and promotions have taken their toll on bottom lines.
Gap shares were up 8.8 percent at $25-1/2, while shares of Intimate Brands, the parent of Victoria's Secret, were up 6 percent at $14-3/4. |
