Markets

Macy's (M) CEO Terry Lundgren said he's "encouraged" by the level of buying activity at the company's Herald Square store in New York City Friday.

The day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. is nicknamed Black Friday because it's the day when many retailers become profitable for the year. Macy's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lundgren told DailyFinance that Macy's sales were strong Friday because of the number of people he saw in the store walking around with purchases.

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No Thanksgiving for investors: Dubai's debt woes rattle stocks around the globe

By Peter Cohan | Nov 26th 2009, 9:27AM EST Filed Under: Economy, Investing, Earnings, Real Estate

Thursday is one of those days when I wish I could be reincarnated as Jon Stewart. I am certainly hoping that when he returns to live broadcasts, he can find the funny in the media's obsessive coverage of the State Dinner crashers. And if he does this, he should note that while the media salivated over the Salahis, it ignored a far more important story -- Middle Eastern petro-state, Dubai, was defaulting on its debt.

Problems with Dubai's finances are not a big surprise. As I posted in February, I first got wind of the potential for a huge collapse there back in 2005 when I read an article in the New Yorker which discussed Dubai's world record breaking pace of commercial real estate development as its government sought to diversify...

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Sterling results from Tiffany and J. Crew could signal high-end holiday boom

By Vishesh Kumar | Nov 25th 2009, 7:00PM EST Filed Under: Company News, Earnings, Tiffany & Co., J. Crew

For the luxury retailers lucky enough to make it through the steep recession, business is looking good again. And investors should consider taking a look at their stocks ahead of what might turn out to be an unexpectedly strong holiday season for high-priced goods.

On Wednesday, jeweler Tiffany & Co. (TIF) breezed by third quarter earnings expectations and issued a bullish outlook for the year ahead. Shares of the company rallied about 5% in trading, and lifted other jewelry sellers like Zales (ZLC) and online merchant Blue Nile (NILE) along with them....

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Is Dollar Tree's stock as cheap as its prices?

By Dan Burrows | Nov 25th 2009, 5:00PM EST Filed Under: Investing, Earnings, Stock Picks

It's no secret that cash-strapped consumers have been flocking to discounters and dollar stores for more than a year. A bit more surprising is that even after a 50% rally off their 52-week low, shares in Dollar Tree Stores (DLTR) still look as cheap as the retailer's wares.

The company posted yet another impressive quarter of profit, sales and operating margin growth Tuesday. Dollar Tree's third-quarter earnings rose 58%, beating Street estimates by an almost embarrassing (for the analysts) 10 cents a share. Sales rose 12%, exceeding expectations by more than $4 million and same-store sales -- a key retailer metric -- grew 6.5%. The company has a nice habit of exceeding analysts' average...

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Daily Blogwatch: What does turkey consumption say about the recession?

By James Altucher | Nov 25th 2009, 8:30AM EST Filed Under: Company News, Technology, Columns, Economy, Earnings

Interesting to know that the Taylor Swift stock index has been outperforming the U.S. stock market indexes.

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Does an increase in turkey consumption signal the recession is over?

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A merger arb anecdote from Kid Dynamite.

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Luxury jeweler Tiffany profit dips as domestic sales fall

By AP | Nov 25th 2009, 7:23AM EST Filed Under: Company News, Earnings, Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany & Co.'s (TIF) third-quarter profit dipped 1 percent, partly on weaker U.S. sales as shoppers continued to curb their discretionary spending, the company said Wednesday.

Still, the luxury-goods seller known for its signature blue box lifted its full-year earnings and sales outlooks as it continued to tighten inventory and cut costs. It said U.S. sales declines are slowing and overseas sales are coming in better than expected.

The luxury sector has seen sales drop sharply during the recession, with shoppers cutting back on big-ticket items like expensive jewelry. But with signs that the economy is improving, Tiffany's quarterly performance bodes well, as...

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As AOL stock begins limited trading, analyst takes a look at potential value

By Dan Burrows | Nov 24th 2009, 5:00PM EST Filed Under: Company News, Technology, Investing, Earnings, Time Warner

AOL, or "Aol.," as DailyFinance's corporate parent shall soon be known, won't be spun off from Time Warner (TWX) until Dec. 9, but Wall Street is already forecasting its (or should we say, "our") business prospects.

Barclays Capital analyst Douglas Anmuth laid out his earnings estimates for soon-to-be-independent AOL on Tuesday, coinciding with the stock trading on a "when-issued" basis on the New York Stock Exchange. (A when-issued listing is standard practice ahead of a spin-off in order to ensure a smooth transition for market participants.)

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Big box bookstores don't see a happy ending ahead for holiday sales

By Sarah Weinman | Nov 24th 2009, 12:00PM EST Filed Under: Company News, Earnings, Media

Retailers in general aren't expecting to do boffo business on Black Friday, but big box bookstores Barnes & Noble (BKS) and Borders (BGP) might be excused for their more intense states of anxiety. Both companies issued quarterly reports Tuesday morning, and based on earnings and sales, both have good reason to be nervous that the holidays won't deliver for them.

Barnes & Noble reported that store sales for its fiscal second quarter, which ended Oct. 31, fell 2% to $950 million, with same store sales falling 3.2%. The total...

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Hewlett-Packard posts a 14% earnings rise, but investors aren't impressed

By Sam Gustin | Nov 23rd 2009, 6:00PM EST Filed Under: Company News, Technology, Earnings, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, IBM

Hewlett Packard (HPQ), the Silicon Valley pioneer, reported a 14% jump in profit Monday night, thanks to cost-cutting measures that more than offset an 8% reduction in revenue. The results weren't a surprise: HP provided guidance earlier this month, when it announced plans to acquire 3Com, the networking giant.

"We believe that HP will outperform the market," HP CEO Mark Hurd said in an upbeat appearance on CNBC. "Spending will continue to be prudent in 2010, but it will be better than 2009."

Despite the profit growth, investors weren't that impressed. HP shares were trading down over half a percent late Monday in after-hours trading.

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Campbell Soup's stock looks m'm, m'm good

By Dan Burrows | Nov 23rd 2009, 4:45PM EST Filed Under: Investing, Earnings, Campbell Soup Company, Stock Picks

When you're the world's biggest soup maker, it's important to have good stock.

Campbell Soup (CPB) reported Monday that its fiscal-first quarter earnings rose 17%, beating Wall Street's view by a hearty 6 cents a share. True, revenue dipped slightly, but that was more due to difficult year-over-year comparisons and the fact that Campbell rolled out its major soup-season marketing campaign a couple of months early this year.

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