A JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) analyst speculated that sales of the new Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5 could add “between 0.25% and 0.5% to annualized economic growth in the fourth quarter.”…
In recent days we could not help but notice how Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) made some significant reductions to its holiday layaway plans to make it more affordable and available. We…
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) are both very important barometers of the U.S. economy. Intel is for PCs and technology, and if the retail sector is gaining…
Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) reported that for August, comparable-store sales gained 6% year-over-year, and that its total sales increased 8% to $7.4 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had a consensus…
Troubled retailer Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD), which was formed by a 2005 merger of Sears and Kmart, was thrown out of the S&P 500 as of September 4. It will be replaced by specialty chemical…
More American companies are among the 20 largest in the world than at any time in the past decade. This is because earnings at U.S. companies have risen faster than the rest…
Retail sales have been soft since early summer, and August doesn’t appear to be a get-well month for retailers either. Research firm Retail Metrics projects that August sales will rise just 1.7%…
We wrote this morning about the ongoing M&A chatter about SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU). The store is seeking a buyer for the whole company, but so far most of the interest has…
Digital media research firm comScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) has released its ranking of the top 50 U.S. web properties for July and the list is topped by the usual suspects. comScore counted…
The Federal Reserve signals it may ease monetary policy as early as next month. (Reuters) HSBC China PMI estimates hit a multimonth low at 47.8, down from 49.3 in July. (Reuters) Hewlett-Packard…
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank do not think the rise in food prices will bring a global financial crisis. (Reuters) Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is the largest company by market…
Either the market does not believe that Best Buy’s (NYSE: BBY) new CEO Hubert Joly, former head of hotel operator Carlson, can turn the consumer electronics retailer around, or fears have grown…
It was revealed on Thursday that the Indiana Electrical Workers Pension Trust Fund IBEW has sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT). The Indiana union pension fund owns shares in Walmart and wants…
Trey Thoelcke The three major US stock indexes opened somewhat higher this morning following better-than-expected data on UK retail sales and an inline reading on Eurozone CPI (more coverage here). The news out of…
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reported second-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $1.18 and $113.5 billion in sales before markets opened today. In the same period a year ago, the retailing giant…
Paul Ausick 
