Remember a good weekend was already priced into the market....they were already expecting this. The Walmart news is not good and that will be priced in this week for sure.
BS. They're talking about November sales, not Friday's alone, and they had already stated that sales would be flat. Note the highlighted lines in the story: "Wal-Mart reports sales decline By MarketWatch Last Update: 12:13 PM ET Nov 25, 2006 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. on Saturday said that U.S. same-store sales in November fell 0.1% from a year ago -- the retail giant's first monthly same-store sales drop since 1996. WMT(47.90, -0.13, -0.3%) had predicted same-store sales would be flat compared with the same period last year. Wal-Mart's four-week November sales period ended on Friday -- the first day of the traditional holiday shopping season. Along with other major retailers, Wal-Mart is scheduled to issue it final sales report for the month on Thursday. Almost $28 billion in retail sales are expected for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation. Consumers are expected to spend an estimated $457 billion this season on sweaters, digital cameras, home entertainment theaters and even Christmas trees. Online sales in the November-to-December period are projected to leap 22% above last year to $138 billion, according to the National Retail Federation."
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aCcp4l7BNzZM&refer=home U.S. Shoppers Spend 19% More on Thanksgiving Weekend(Update2) By Mary Jane Credeur Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. shoppers spent 18.9 percent more over the Thanksgiving weekend than last year, kicking off holiday gift buying with purchases of discounted wide-screen televisions and clothes, the National Retail Federation said. Consumers spent an average $360.15 each over the weekend, up from $302.81 a year earlier, the NRF said today in a statement. Fewer people shopped, with about 140 million visiting stores during the four days including Thanksgiving, down from 145 million last year. Shoppers limited much of their spending to sale items such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s $997 37-inch LCD TV and Sears Holding Corp.'s discounted jewelry and toys, said consultant Howard Davidowitz. Retailers count on the last quarter of the year to generate one-third of their annual profits. ``It was shocking because people were only buying doorbusters,'' said Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates. Employees with his New York-based consulting and investment-banking firm visited 50 retailers over the weekend. ``You can't have people just come in and buy doorbusters and leave.'' Sales on Nov. 24, called Black Friday because retailers once considered it the day they turned profitable for the year, rose 6 percent from last year to $8.96 billion, according to estimates by Chicago-based research firm ShopperTrak RCT Corp. `Gift to Me' The NRF said sales during November and December may rise 5 percent to $457.4 billion. U.S. consumer confidence is close to a 15-month high as gasoline prices decline and unemployment remains at its lowest in five years. About 33 percent of shoppers bought electronics over the weekend, including flat-panel television sets, Microsoft Corp.'s Zune digital music player and video-game consoles such as Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3, the NRF said.
This may be the worst thing that has happened to the market in a while. Consider the fact that most of the money spend was just plastic money. Come January deadlines on people's credit bills more and more people will need to sell their things or default on their credit cards. Or hit the bottle. This is not good news. Anything from 0-2% increase would have been fine. Remember that most people are already complaining about not having any real money. So all this is plastic. Which later will have to be paid with real money. Money people don't have.
No you missed the point, the market had good retail sales in general (many retailers....not walmart) already priced into the retail sector for this weekend. The retail figures needed to be high just to met the overall expectation.......but the market will tell the truth on Monday. btw, are you buried in some retail stocks you need to get out of this week?
Yes increased sales do not always equate to increased profits (ask GM and Ford when they do their "lot busters"......LOL!) :eek:
"The Walmart news is not good and that will be priced in this week for sure." Those are your exact words. Perhaps you have trouble understanding your own statement? Regarding priced in expectations, there's a base level of consumption that the market wants to see. If we don't get it the market is likely to sell off and if we exceed it the market may continue higher. Therefore, it's like any other unknown economic number and is not as baked in to the market as you say it is. I don't care if the market goes higher or lower. One reason I think it might continue higher is the high number of posts on this forum that are looking for a worst case, almost doomsday, scenario. Being cynical and being realistic are not the same thing. You have to consider possible positives for the economy and the stock market as well as the possible negatives.