retail sales

Markets are coiled in a tight sideways trading range after several weeks of consolidation.  While the uptrend remains intact, prices could experience some additional volatility during the historically weak month of September.  Here are the key ETFs to watch for the week of Monday,...

Traders looking for a sure bet on the bullish or bearish side for an individual stock might want to stay far away from J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP). Only one short year ago, J.C. Penney was often put in the same destined-for-death basket as Sears. Analysts argued J.C. Penney was overvalued because...

U.S. stocks rose for the third time in four days bringing the Dow back into positive territory for the year. Investors appeared to brush up poor retail sales from Macy's while focusing on business inventories that rose in June. On the international front, Ukraine said it would not allow...

Time is a wonderful thing. Having plenty of it pass since the Q1 2014 final U.S. GDP report of negative 2.9 percent has helped the Street to forget that weather was the laughable excuse for the poor economic data. Thursday morning, meanwhile, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) was out with a note...

U.S. stocks were mixed with the NASDAQ index declining after the Fed's Chief Janet Yellen suggested that some sectors are characterized by "stretched" valuations. In prepared remarks to the Senate Banking Committee, Yellen also claimed that interest rates could rise sooner and at...

A popular debate, currently brewing in social media, is the comparison of the luxury brand retailers Michael Kors Holdings (NYSE: KORS) and Coach (NYSE: COH). Historically Kors has been satisfying its shareholders with hefty returns since the company's IPO back in 2011, while Coach has been...

U.S. stocks declined as investors demonstrated concerns over recent escalations of violence in Iraq. Crude oil rose as a wave of violence has seen Mosul and Tikrit (two cities key to Iraq's oil industry) fall to insurgent forces. The Senate confirmed former Bank of Israel government...

Following May Auto figures, a closer look at the stock action on six automakers reveas clear winners and losers year-to-date. While 2014 is not quite halfway over just yet, it will be interesting to see how these automakers perform in the second half of the year. Can The “Winners...

While the pre-summer doldrums have seen stocks slowly grind higher, many investors are looking ahead to key economic data that may provide clues as to the next move in equities.  The relative dearth of major releases this week has everyone’s sights set on May retail sales data, which...

U.S. stocks were mixed as a positive measurement of small business sentiment offset a disappointing retail data set. Following Monday's action, the S&P 500 and Dow indices not only traded at new historical-all time highs, but closed at record highs. In fact, the S&P 500 briefly traded...

U.S. economic data, Eurozone sovereign rates, and safe haven buying will drive the bond market this week. These factors may lead to a retest of short term support in 10 year yields. The yield has been in a narrow trading range between 2.83 percent and 2.59 percent since February, and a broader...

Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) is wrapping up the consolidation of its merger last year with OfficeMax by closing at least 400 stores. That announcement came in alongside the company's first quarter earnings results on Tuesday, which pleasantly surprised both analysts and Office Depot officials. “...

After an “unusual series of problems,” Tauriga Sciences (OTC: TAUG) was able to “reinvent themselves” with the help of newly-appointed CEO Dr. Stella Sung. When an exclusive license agreement went wrong, Immunovative Inc. (Tauriga’s predecessor company) had a very uncertain future....

U.S. stocks rose to start off the holiday-filled shortened trading week on a positive note as investors found plenty of reason to be optimistic on retail sales which jumped the most since 2012. Investors were also encouraged by Citigroup's better than expected earnings which eased investor...

U.S. stocks fell as worries piled up over China's economy and further tension in Ukraine. China's combined industrial output growth slowed to 8.6 percent on year in January and February, below a forecast for a 9.5 percent rise and a previous reading of 9.7 percent. The New York Times reported...