Ken Perkins
Ken Perkins
companies earnings gas handful hearing instead nice raise saw
Instead of hearing about gas woes, we actually saw a handful of companies raise their earnings estimates. That was a nice surprise.
arrival boost clearly consumer cooler falling gas gave last late october prices weather weeks
Clearly falling gas prices coupled with the late arrival of cooler weather in the last two weeks of October gave a boost to consumer spending.
appear consumers economic energy future growth high hurting job prices regarding situation
High energy prices coupled with uncertainty regarding future economic growth and the job situation appear to be disproportionately impacting low-end consumers and hurting sales.
beat broader came companies concerned low miss surprised
I'm concerned that Wal-Mart could be the harbinger of some broader weakness. With everything they had going for them, Wal-Mart still came in at the low end of a not-very-aggressive plan. I wouldn't be surprised if we'll see more companies miss expectations than beat expectations.
cold consumer experience good likely oil price prices remains sign spending winter
If the price of oil remains between $45 to $50 a barrel, that's not a good sign especially if we experience a very cold winter. Heating oil prices will go up and that's likely to dampen consumer spending during the winter months.
disaster either line mean results season sort
If results are in line with expectations, that would mean the season was okay. It wouldn't be a blowout, but it wouldn't be a disaster either -- just sort of ho-hum. So, we'll see what happens.
opinion thrilled vote
We don't have an opinion or more importantly a vote one way or another. We're not thrilled with it ... but it's essentially up to the analysts.
happening housing levels market seems spending
If the housing market just levels off, which seems to be happening right now, we'll be OK. But if there's a precipitous drop, then spending could really fall.
cheaper discount hurting impact marginal products stores
Is Wal-Mart also hurting its business? I think cheaper products at the discount stores did have a marginal impact on the company's sales.
below earnings expected further grow growth last plenty retail
Fourth-quarter retail earnings are expected to grow 13.5 percent. That's below last year's growth and could come down further if we see plenty of promotions.
began compared couple department group improving november percent performance positive profits quarters rise rose sales seen since stores tracking year
We haven't seen this kind of positive sales performance since we began tracking the group in November 2000. Fourth-quarter profits for department stores rose 5 percent compared to a 1 percent rise a year ago. We've now has a couple of quarters of improving trends.
bad far january numbers surprise turning
January is turning out to be a real surprise to the positive. So far the same-store numbers that we're getting aren't bad at all.
finally gains great month numbers sales seen
We've finally got a great February. The first set of numbers indicates that this was a blowout month with the kind of sales gains that we haven't seen in a while.
consumer finding last resilient ways year
The American consumer has been particularly resilient over the last year plus, ... They're finding ways to spend.