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Strategies & Market Trends : Can you beat 50% per month? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (6572)	11/5/2003 10:59:04 AM
From: cmgibubba	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19256

Any thoughts on holding OPTV thru earnings?

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (6572)	11/29/2003 2:49:31 PM
From: Smiling Bob	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 19256

Here we go again Headlines of record-breaking sales, but look what their selling. One loss leader after another. Television showed them lining up for $29 dvd players At least China's economy will benefit. Reuters Wal-Mart Sets Tone for Holiday Sales Saturday November 29, 12:29 pm ET By Emily Kaiser CHICAGO (Reuters) - Americans scoured the malls for bargains on Saturday as retailers tallied up what looked to be a solid, if unspectacular, start to the make-or-break holiday shopping season. If Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is any indication, the big retail weekend was living up to expectations for improvement over last year, when the holiday season generated the smallest sales gain in more than 30 years. Wal-Mart, the world's biggest company by revenues, posted a record $1.52 billion in Friday sales at its U.S. stores, up 6.3 percent from a year earlier. That works out to about $5.19 for every American. Last year, Wal-Mart's day-after-Thanksgiving sales jumped 14.4 percent from 2001. Overall, Saturday's sales looked set to slow from Friday's frenetic pace as many stores opened later and some shoppers stayed home to rest up after a busy day on Friday. The weather was expected to be dry for most of the country on Saturday, but a band of snow and ice was moving across the U.S. Northeast, and showers hit parts of northern California and the U.S. Northwest. Mall operators and retailers reported fewer shoppers camping out for early-bird specials on Saturday morning, although parking lots were beginning to fill at some East Coast shopping centers. "Today it is a little bit slower, no question," said Julie Goldman, general manager of The Falls shopping center in Miami. She said the parking lot around Macy's department store, which opened at 7:00 a.m., was about 97 percent full by 10:00 a.m.. Other parts of the shopping center -- where stores opened later -- were still relatively quiet. Analysts expect this holiday season to show a 5 percent to 7 percent increase from last year's disappointing level, but major retailers have tried to dampen expectations, noting that consumers are still restraining their spending. Retailers across the country reported bigger crowds than last year on the day after Thanksgiving -- known as Black Friday because it once marked the day when retailers got out of the red and turned a profit. The traditional start to the holiday shopping season generates as much as 40 percent of annual revenues and nearly all the year's profits for key gift destinations such as toy stores and apparel chains. Black Friday was once the biggest shopping day of the year, but in recent years that title has gone to the Saturday before Christmas. This year is likely to be no exception. Despite signs of a reviving U.S. economy, discounts were the big attraction at most stores. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Weber said Friday's big sellers were small appliances for $4.86, including a hand mixer, burger grill or even a fondue set. A $98 trampoline and a $24.88 bicycle also sold well, she said. The big holiday test is still to come as retailers try to sustain the Thanksgiving weekend pace through Christmas. Last year, sales tapered off after a strong start. biz.yahoo.com