U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning as traders and investors tried to sort out their reactions to the re-election of President Obama. The initial reaction is that the U.S. economy is…
thinkstockAs third quarter earnings results continue to pour in, overall earnings have been decidedly weaker. According to research firm Retail Metrics, the blended S&P 500 earnings growth rate for the third quarter…
U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning as investors seemed to prefer a little risk trading on U.S. election day. Asian markets were cautious ahead of today’s elections, while in Europe some…
In its report today on September retail sales, Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) announced that beginning in January 2013, the company would no longer report monthly sales figures, including same-store sales: This decision…
Several retailers are announcing September same-store sales today, and the reports are generally good. Gains were not as large as in August, but are providing a positive outlook for the coming holiday…
Despite the many economic headwinds still facing the U.S., much of the retail industry is anticipating a sharply improved holiday season compared to last year and is planning accordingly. Six of the…
Wikimedia CommonsMacy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) has announced that it plans to hire approximately 80,000 seasonal associates for its Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores for the 2012 holiday season. That would be an increase…
The board of Xstrata approves a merger with Glencore. (Reuters) A U.S. appeals court says a lower court should reexamine a ban of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which was part of a patent win…
Worker productivity is among the most critical measurements used when evaluating businesses and national economies. One way to measure productivity is sales per employee. Companies that can achieve the highest revenue with…
In 2010, U.S. firms hired an estimated 627,000 temporary workers to help meet demand for customer service, package handling and warehousing. Of that total, about 495,000 were hired in retail stores. Last…
According to today’s report from the U.S. Census Bureau, retail and food services sales in August rose 0.9% month-over-month and 4.7% compared with August 2011. Economists had been expecting an increase of…
Samsung beats Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) in an intellectual property case in Japan. (Reuters) The CEOs of Apple and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) meet to discuss patent issues. (Reuters) J.P. Morgan Chase…
Several retailers are announcing August same-store sales today, and the reports are generally good. The good results are pushing share prices close to or above current highs. Here’s a rundown: Macy’s Inc.…
Wikimedia CommonsBloomberg TV has been running a special this morning about the poor turnaround that Ron Johnson has engineered at JCPenney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP). Our take is that this is the…
Back in February, J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) signed a contract with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) to create Martha Stewart Living stores within Penney’s own stores. Macy’s Inc. (NYSE:…
Paul Ausick 
