More evidence of a strong economy in latest retail sales report–I’m sure the Fed is paying attention
U.S. retail sales in January jumped by 3% in January from December, the Commerce Department reported today, February 15. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected a 2% increase. Retail sales had dropped in December and November. Together with the strong job gains...
3 Retail Stocks Say Bah, Humbug to Christmas Sales
Disappointing holiday sales and margin pressures. Not a good combination for any stock. And today shares of Macy’s (M), down 6.39% as of 2 p.m. New York time; Lululemon (LULU, down 9.01%, and Chico’s FAS (CHS) down 9.41% are paying the price for...
Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week Watch Credit Card Debt After Christmas
Today I posted my two-hundred-and-twenty-first YouTube video: Trend of the Week Watch Credit Card Debt After Christmas This week’s Trend of the Week: Watch Credit Card Debt After Christmas. Christmas is a huge anomaly when it comes to the stock market and...
Retail sales growth disappoints in November
Retail sales rose a scant 0.3% in November from October. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a 0.8% gain. And the November growth was a huge drop froth 1.7% month to month growth in September. On a year to year basis retail sales are up 18.2% from the...
October retail sales come in with 1.7% increase from September, most in 7 months
U.S. retail sales rose in October for a third month. The value of overall retail purchases increased 1.7% last month, the most in seven months, the Commerce Department said today, November 16. Excluding gas and motor vehicles, sales gained 1.4% in October. The figures...
Surprising growth in retail June retail sales not enough to keep stocks from falling
U.S. retail sales surged 18.0% in June from June 2020, the Commerce Department reported today. Demand for goods remained strong but spending is clearly shifting back to services. Stocks fell despite the good news with economic recovery and post-vaccine recovery stocks...
Soaring retail sales add to the day’s gains for stocks
Retail sales rose a stunning 9.8% in March from February’s pace, the Commerce Department reported today, April 15. In the earlier month retail sales fell 2.7%. You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows or a Nobel-prize-winning economists...
Retail sales soar in May; Wall Street decides it’s a sign of a V-shaped recovery for the economy
May retail sales surged 17.7% from April. The pickup was a record month over month gain in data going back to 1992, the Commerce Department reported this morning. Stocks jumped on the news–as well as a trial balloon testing the waters on yet another attempt at a...
Retail sales plunge 16.4% in April
U.S. retail sales fell 16.4% in April from March levels, the Commerce Department reported today. March itself had seen an 8.3% month to month drop. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were looking for a 12% decline. In a separate report from the Federal Reserve today...
Today the market is in “Give back some of those gains” mode on a disappointing retail sales report
It would be an overstatement, in my opinion, to say the market is trendless. I think there’s a definite and but unspectacular bias to the upside in the short-term–four weeks, say. It would be accurate, however, to say, there’s not much conviction to...
Retail sales stronger than expected–there’s hope yet of fending off a recession
Retail sales in July climbed 0.7% from June. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had predicted a 0.3% climb. Retail sales excluding autos were up 1.0% month over month. Economists had projected a 03% gain. Nonstore retail sales (that is the Internet) were up 2.8%...
Wal-Mart’s earnings report reassures stocks
Remember last week when the Commerce Department released figures showing that U.S. retail sales fell 1.2% in December from the previous month, the most since 2009. The drop was so big that she Wall Street analysts argued that the data were in error. Today Was-Mart...Markets talk themselves out of belief in brutal retail numbers
Overall retail sales fell 1.2% in December from November, according to the Commerce Department. That’s the worst drop in nine years. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had projected a 0.1% gain in retail sales. Out of the gate stocks fell today on the news with...
News flow a net negative this morning and stocks retreat
I recently noted that I thought stocks wanted to climb, and would through the end of the year–if news let them. Well, this morning, the news has put a big downward thumb on the scale. First off, November retail sales grew 8.1% year over year, China’s...
Tomorrow morning’s retail sales report for November: really tough comparisons
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com are expecting the 8:30 a.m. New York time report on November retail sales to show month to month growth of 0.2%. That wouldn’t be quite so likely to disappoint the market except that retail sales climbed 0.8% month to month in...
U.S. stocks gently slide but VIX “fear index” continues retreat
If the market were inclined to sell off today, it could have found plenty of reasons. Under the heading of one-off scary stuff, I’d put:Â Continued tensions between the Saudis and just about everyone else over allegations–which look to be true–that...
Decent retail sales in April point to likely rebound in consumer spending from first quarter weakness
Not great numbers but strong enough. For April it looks like a strong job market and higher take-home pay more than balanced out higher gasoline prices. Gas prices are now at their highest level since 2014. (Typically when gas prices climb, consumers cut back spending...
Retail sales fall in February raising possibility that fourth quarter GDP growth was lower than initially reported
U.S. retail sales fell for a third straight month in February–down 0.1%. The Commerce Department revised January sales higher than the initially reported 0.3% decline. But that still left January sales down 0.1%. That means that February marks a third...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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