The first week of 2016 was harsh for the 30 stocks that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Only one has posted a gain over the first five trading days, and that one is Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).
Reports on retail sales for the past holiday season have been mixed, with some retailers performing well (for instance, J.C. Penney) and some not so well (Macy’s and Gap leap to mind here). Wal-Mart was the worst-performing DJIA stock in 2015, so in some ways it had nowhere to go but up.
And since October, when the company said it expected that additional investment in its Internet strategy and a pay hike for its 1.4 million U.S. employees would hamper profits for at least the next couple of years, Wal-Mart has essentially had no news.
On Friday the families of three murder victims filed suit against Wal-Mart for selling ammo to a drunk, underage man who gave them to a friend who then shot and killed the three victims.
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