US retailers are reporting December same-store sales today, and here’s a wrap-up of the results as of about 10 a.m. this morning. Reports were in from Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST), Target Corp. (NYSE:…
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is getting hit pretty hard this morning. While current investors will not appreciate the drop, this is actually great news for those investors who wanted to get…
The long slow death march at Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is turning into a case study of what not do. Putting a hedge fund manager in charge of a huge retailer, and then letting…
It was not that long ago that Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) was removed from our 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio. Our take was that the metrics of the domestic tobacco industry were changing to…
The conventional wisdom is that the surge in consumer spending that drove retail sales higher by nearly 4% over the holidays will end in the first quarter. These consumers again have taken on too…
The Conference Board has released its Leading Economic Index for November showing a 0.5% rise 118.0. This was above a 0.3% consensus reading and the ‘leading’ bias to this reports suggests the expectation of…
The continued rise in tobacco stocks is certainly cheered by tobacco stock investors who own the stocks for the high dividends. The problem is that there seems to be a phantom premium now being built…
Canaccord Genuity and other brokerage firms have been publishing their best ideas lists in 2012 for equity investors. The picks from consumer analyst Camilo Lyon show that the top picks for 2012 are Under…
Bankrate.com has shown today in its December Financial Security Index that Americans are feeling more financial security now compared to any point in the last six months. This reported index has risen by 3.3…
courtesy of RiteAidRite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) may be set for a decent day as the perpetually troubled drug store chain managed to post a loss that was about half of expectations: revenues were…
Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) is now finally off of its post-IPO quiet period and the analyst community, whether a part of the underwriting syndicate or not, is now free to cover the social coupon…
Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) is acting as though it is set to have a full accounting resolution with almost no impact at all from its ongoing review. This may be a bit of…
A reading of sentiment in America from the University of Michigan is out this Friday, and frankly it may be indicating that perhaps Americans are just starting to care less and less about the…
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is a company which many investors and outsiders expect to be in a transformation. The first such addition under new management is a stake and investment in Martha…
Michael Kors Holdings Limited has filed its paperwork with the SEC to conduct a U.S. initial public offering. The luxury goods and apparel maker sells to the jet-set crowd. The IPO paperwork (F-1) shows…