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’A two-tiered Black Friday
By Greg Lawless
Black Friday – the day when US retailers finally turn profitable, is upon us. So what are US retailers hoping for this weekend, after two turbulent holiday seasons since the fall of Lehman in September 2008?
The early signs look relatively positive,
America’s Next Top Capitalist: Magic Johnson vs Goldman vs Wal-Mart
On Tuesday, Bloomberg scooped its rivals with a story that Goldman “cuddly squid” Sachs would be teaming up with Warren Buffett to provide assistance — ranging from counseling to help in obtaining funding — to 10,000 small US businesses.
Berkshire reveals new investments
Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway on Monday revealed new investments in Nestle and Exxon Mobil and said it has nearly doubled its investment in Wal-Mart Stores, reports Reuters. It disclosed the investments,
Wal-Mart’s Q3 earnings top consensus, but sales figures disappoint
Wal-Mart posted better-than-expected headline results on Wednesday, but its shares slipped 1 per cent in pre-market trade as investors reacted to a disappointing benchmark sales metric.
The retailer said profit for the third quarter increased 3.2 per cent to $3.2bn,
Wal-Mart’s aggressive recession strategy (UPDATED)
US readers will likely know that Wal-Mart has been actively promoting itself as the recession warrior’s grocer with a series of print and television ads promoting its discounted prices on items ranging from breakfast cereal to books to coffins (we are not making this up).
CDS report: Markets bounce back, helped by US equity strength
This CDS report was written by Markit’s Gavan Nolan
European credit spreads bounced back in the afternoon, helped by a strong US stock market. The Markit iTraxx Europe index was trading around 156bp,
CDS update: Retailers outperform in Europe, but disappoint in US
This CDS report was written by Markit’s Gavan Nolan
European credit continued to outperform equity today in a session dominated by domestic monetary policy and results across the Atlantic. Credit investors were unimpressed by the Bank of England’s decision to cut rates by 50bp to 1.5%.
US retailers see worst month this decade
US retailers experienced their worst month this decade in November, as stores such as Macy’s, Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch reported double-digit falls in comparable store sales amid the economic gloom.
Wal-Mart announces leadership change
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, surprised investors on Friday by announcing that Lee Scott, chief executive since 2000, would retire in February. The move comes as the retailer is flourishing amid the economic downturn.
Circuit City files for bankruptcy
Circuit City, the US electronics retailer, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, admitting it was struggling to persuade suppliers to keep its stores stocked for the holiday season. With more than 700 stores and 40,000 employees,
Prepping your portfolio for a consumer recession
Citigroup’s chief US equity analyst,Tobias Levkovich, is not a natural bear. Up until October 8th, he was the most bullish of 9 senior market strategists tracked by Bloomberg – he’s now the least optimistic.
Toshiba to abandon HD-DVD war
The two-year battle over which technology will become the industry standard for the next generation of high-definition DVDs could finally end this week after Toshiba gave the strongest sign yet it would exit its HD-DVD business.
Wal-Mart, Home Depot, dismay investors
The gloom surrounding the US economy intensified on Tuesday as Wal-Mart and Home Depot, the country’s two largest retailers, said they had been shunned by consumers struggling with a housing slump and higher fuel prices.
Hedge funds could be driving sell-off in US large caps
Investing in the largest, most diversified and most liquid companies is usually seen as a “safe haven” stock market strategy. But behind Thursday’s biggest single-day drop for several years in shares in some of the largest US companies,
Wal-Mart in Indian joint venture
Wal-Mart has succeeded in getting its toe in the door of the Indian market, via a long-planned joint venture with local partner Bharti Enterprises. The world’s largest retailer stressed it would “work with and develop local supplies” in an apparent effort to play down controversy over the potential disruptive effects of corporate retail in India.
US stocks surge to record highs
Wall Street stocks surged on Thursday as investors piled in and the S&P 500 and blue chips entered record territory, boosted by Rio Tinto’s $44bn bid for Alcan and better-than-expected sales at Wal-Mart in June.
Wal-Mart buys 35% of Chinese retailer
Wal-Mart has agreed to buy 35 per cent of the company that operates the Trust-Mart chain of hypermarkets in China and could eventually pay about $1bn for control of the operation. If Wal-Mart takes full control of Bounteous,