Ken Perkins
Ken Perkins
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.
among blamed expected gas good last missed nice numbers prices retailers seeing surprises trend upside
The numbers look pretty good so far. We are seeing more surprises to the upside and this is a nice reversal of the trend that we had expected last month. Even among those retailers who missed our forecast, not many of them blamed gas prices for it.
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.
baked cake expected good news numbers quarter rally results second
If numbers are better than expected and the news is good for second quarter outlooks, then we could rally on that. But I think the results are pretty much baked into the cake here.
analyst nightmare numbers october
These numbers are not good. As one analyst put it, October will be the nightmare before Christmas.
earnings less order strong tech
Earnings are going to have to really go up in order for valuations to look attractive. Tech earnings are going to be strong but it's already more or less priced into the stocks,
christmas concern deep goes hitting
There's a deep concern that if this thing goes on, a lot of Christmas merchandise hitting the docks can't be transferred.
came carried marketing retailers sales strength
Sales really carried through at the end of the season, particularly for the mall-based stores. Some of the strength probably came from retailers really aggressively marketing and being really promotional.
apparel casual clothes frequently men sales shop
Sales of men's apparel has been lagging for some time. Men usually don't shop as frequently as women. When they do, there's only so much of casual clothes men really need.
bubble business extent given hang hat pickup previous profits rebound recovery spending
Profits are on the rebound but is it sustainable? Given the extent of the previous bubble in tech, the recovery should be slower. There's a whiff of a pickup in business spending but not enough to hang your hat on just yet.
aggressive best buy circuit city held holiday looks moving player players primary share taking tried
Best Buy traditionally has been the primary player here and taking share very aggressively from some of the other players in the space, but Circuit City looks to have held their own here this holiday season. The discounters have tried to get into the space. Wal-Mart's been very aggressive in moving in there.
decent definitely head march tough winds
The tough head winds are definitely there but March was still a decent month,
above average beating falling percent short term
That's well above the long term average of 54 percent beating and 42 percent falling short of expectations.
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.