Clues from Christmas

Retail sales rise for sixth month in December
Sales rose 0.6 percent last month to $381 billion, the Commerce Department said Friday. The gain boosted Retail Sales 13.5 percent above the Recession low hit in December 2008. The string of increases pushed sales for all of 2010 up 6.7 percent, the largest annual increase since 1999. Separately, the Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.5 percent in December, the largest increase in 18 months and a reflection of rising Gas Prices. But outside of energy costs, there was little sign of wid...

The Worst Combo: Consumer Spending Is Mediocre, Gas Prices Rising, And Retailers Have No Pricing Power (XRT, SHLD, JCP, M, BBY)
Email Sent! You have successfully emailed the post. Retail Sales came in weaker than expected this morning, largely driven by disappointing sales of general merchandise in the month of December. The really bad news may be that, when combined with the CPI data, things are starting to look a little stagflationary. CPI came in hot, rising to its highest level since 2009. But retail sales are clearly slowing down. Consumers may be starting to feel the Inflation, particularly in the sharp increase i...

Holiday spending record not as good as it looks
Holiday spending reached the highest level on record last year, but that news isn’t as good as it sounds. The $462 billion in holiday spending reported by a trade group on Friday handily tops the $453 billion peak reached in 2007, before The Economy took a nosedive. Take a closer look, though, and you’ll find these figures don’t tell the whole story. Just because Americans spent more this Holiday Season doesn’t mean they bought more. That button-down shirt you bought your...

Holiday spending "record" not as good as it looks
FILE - In this Dec. 26, 2010 file photo, shoppers make their way in the snow in Union Square, in New York. The population of the U.S. has grown by 8 million people since the previous record was set. That means there were millions more shoppers in stores this Christmas, driving up the sales total. But the average amount of spending per person was down from a few years ago, suggesting consumers are still slower to pull out their wallets. Holiday spending reached the highest level on record last y...

Annual Retail Sales Hit 11-Year High
Sales rose 0.6 percent last month to a level of $381 billion, the Commerce Department said Friday. The gain boosted Retail Sales 13.5 percent above the Recession low hit in December 2008. The string of increases pushed sales for all of 2010 up 6.7 percent, the largest annual increase since 1999. Gains in Retail Sales are evidence that consumers, who fuel 70 percent of economic activity, are spending more money. Economists point to the trend as a sign that Economic Growth will be strong this ye...

Retail Sales mixed relative to est but not fresh news
Dec Retail Sales ex auto’s and Gasoline were up .4%, .1% above expectations but Nov was revised down .2% to a gain of .6%, thus taken together, it was a touch light. Both headline sales and ex auto’s were .2% below forecasts. Looking at true core Retail Sales which also takes out building materials, sales rose just .2% but comes after an .8% gain in Nov. Electronics sales fell for a 3rd month and clothing sales fell .2% (but after 2% rise in Nov). Furniture, sporting goods, restaur...

December's Retail Sales Numbers Are Another Post-Holiday Letdown
Even though U.S. shoppers piled up the presents under their Christmas Trees, Retailers are finding themselves a bit disappointed by their holiday haul, a government report revealed Friday. The Commerce Department's retail and food services sales tally for December rose to $380.9 billion, up 7.9% from December 2009, but only up 0.6% from November. Excluding auto sales, totals were up 6.7% from 2009 and 0.5% from the month before, slightly less than analysts had expected. The Commerce Departmen...

Retail sales increase reflect improving economic outlook
Retail Sales rose for the sixth straight month in December, boosting yearly sales by the largest amount in more than a decade.  Retailers saw purchases increase 0.6 percent to $381 billion after increasing 0.8 percent in November, 13.5 percent ahead of the low during the Recession in December 2008, according to a Commerce Department report released Friday.  Sales gained 6.7 percent in 2010, the most since an 8.2 percent increase in 1999, a positive sign for the recovering economy that needs ...

Fed Watch: A Mixed Bag of Data
Tim Duy: A Mixed Bag of Data, by Tim Duy: Today's data flow suggests ongoing expansion, but should also send a note of caution. Industrial activity continues to respond to firming demand, but capacity has yet to show solid gains. Firms are still not sufficiently confident, or lack sufficient demand, to justify widespread investment. Similarly, Consumer Spending continues along its upward trend, although the increase in energy costs are likely constraining the pace of that growth and keepin...

UK confidence in online shopping rattled by snow: poll
Consumer research specialist Intersperience said a poll of 1,000 shoppers showed 17 percent did not receive at least one online purchase by Christmas Day as Bad Weather hit deliveries, while 11 percent got a wrong item or something they were not expecting. Although 81 percent of those surveyed shopped online, around a quarter spent less than they planned as a result of problems. "Overall, online retailing failed to live up to people's expectations and the problems they faced receiving orders pu...

Economic data
In contrast to the improvement seen in the ABC confidence poll this week, the 1st look at Jan UoM was light at 72.7 vs expectations of 75.5 and down from 74.5 in Dec. The drop was solely led by a decline in the Current Conditions component which fell 5.5 pts to a 3 month low but the Economic Outlook rose .7 pts to the best since June ’10. Of particular interest, one year Inflation expectations rose to 3.3% from 3.0% to the highest since Oct ’08. Dec IP was stronger than expected, u...

OcToPoNZi HiDeOuT
01-14 10:14: National Retail Federation says US holiday sales rose 5.7% vs. Exp. 3.3% ads [ at ] zerohedge [ dot ] org - Advertising Inquiries. It would be very wise of you to study our disclaimer, our Privacy policy and our (non)policy on conflicts / full disclosure. Mr. Durden retains sole power to bind Zero Hedge. No other person shall have actual or apparent authority to bind Zero Hedge to any contract. For any questions regarding this policy, or any other policy, contact legal [at] zer...

Gap opening Athleta SF flagship in Pacific Heights
One of the bright spots for Gap Inc. during the economic slump was Yoga pants. Sales of its Athleta active wear for women - marketed on the Web - grew at least 10 percent in 2009, while Gap's overall sales fell 2 percent. Now the company seeks to build on demand by bringing the e-commerce brand into brick-and-mortar stores. Gap, the largest U.S. clothing chain, is set to open a flagship Athleta store today in San Francisco, where the company is based. The 5,000-square-foot shop in Pacific Heig...

Etsy Bans "Congrats, You Got Raped" Cards and Other Mean Things
Etsy is changing its prohibited items policy after a Public Relations crisis erupted over some offensive items listed in the handmade goods marketplace. Etsy is a warm, fuzzy, generally adorable brand. The knick knacks they sell are cute. Their name is cute. The DUMBO office where they host their cutesy craft nights is cute. When users browse Etsy they do not expect to find snark about Rape and Breast Cancer. Yet one Australian woman stumbled across some greeting cards for sale on Etsy from Yo...

U.S. Retail Sales Climbed in December for Sixth Month
Source: Bloomberg Sales at U.S. Retailers rose in December for a sixth consecutive month, capping the biggest one- year gain in more than a decade. Purchases increased 0.6 percent after climbing 0.8 percent in November, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 0.8 percent rise. Sales advanced 6.7 percent in 2010, the most since an 8.2 percent jump in 1999. Analysts this month boosted 2011 forecasts for hou...

S&P Equity Research Issues Consumer Staples Sector Predictions for 2011
Looking to 2011, the consumer staples equity analysts at S&P expect the following to happen. 1. We anticipate a modest increase in overall U.S. Consumer Spending on food, with prices moving up more in the second half than they do in the first six months.  We think that somewhat improved economic conditions could support a modest shift toward consumers eating more of their meals outside the home. 2. We expect a further shift toward consumers buying food at non-traditional Retailers, incl...

Business inventories post modest rise in November
The rise in total business sales in November reflected strong gains at the Manufacturing, wholesale and retail levels. A separate report Friday showed that Retail Sales also rose in December, climbing 0.6 percent. Retailers enjoyed their best holiday shopping season in four years. Economists are hoping that the tax-cut package that takes effect this month will provide further support for Consumer Spending in the coming year. Regulate Me! Financial planner edition...

Retail sales rise modestly, inflation tame
By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON | Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:58am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales at U.S. Retailers rose slightly less than expected in December, while underlying Inflation remained tame, suggesting the recovery was strengthening modestly with little price pressure building. A separate report on Friday showed a surprisingly large gain of 0.8 percent in output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities in December, but cold weather was a factor. Despite the modest rise in sales in D...

Coinstar, Inc. Announces Preliminary 2010 Fourth Quarter Results and Updated Full Year 2011 Guidance
BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) today announced certain preliminary financial results for the Fourth Quarter ended December 31, 2010. The company expects revenue for the Fourth Quarter of 2010 to increase 31% year over year to $391 million, compared with previous Fourth Quarter 2010 guidance in the range of $415 million to $440 million. The company expected stronger performance from the titles scheduled for release during the 2010 Fourth Quarter holi...

First Bubble To Pop? Coinstar Slashes Guidance On "Weak Video Title Performance"
- News) today announced certain preliminary financial results for the Fourth Quarter ended December 31, 2010. The company expects revenue for the Fourth Quarter of 2010 to increase 31% year over year to $391 million, compared with previous Fourth Quarter 2010 guidance in the range of $415 million to $440 million. The company expected stronger performance from the titles scheduled for release during the 2010 Fourth Quarter Holiday Season, particularly from the slate of 28-day delay and higher-p...

U.S. Retail Sales Hit All-Time High in December
December's sales tally slightly eclipsed the previous high set in November 2007 of $380.0 billion. This chart leaves no doubt that there has been a fairly steep upward trend in sales that began in mid-2010. Since June, monthly sales have increased by $19.7 billion, or 5.5%. In 2010, total retail and food services sales reached $4.51 Trillion. As you can see, 2010 was much stronger than 2009; sales rose by 6.6%. Last year was nearly as strong as 2008, but more clearly lower than 2007. This was m...

Microsoft Xbox Sold Out in December, Shortages May Run Through February
Microsoft (MSFT) sold out of its Xbox video-game console in late December thanks to strong holiday-season demand, and may have product shortages in January and February as well, as the company's Kinect motion-sensor device has boosted the popularity of the system, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. Video-game Retailers sold 1.9 million Microsoft Xbox 360s in December, a record month for the company's consoles, the newspaper said, citing the Microsoft and NPD Group statistics. The Xbox wa...

Feds Lacker Sees Re-Evaluation of Bond Purchase Program
Yahoo! Buzz Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker Friday said he expects the U.S. Central Bank to reconsider its program to buy billions of dollars in Treasurys as The Economy improves. “While the outlook may not have improved enough yet to warrant adjusting our purchase plans in the near- term, I anticipate earnest re-evaluation as Economic Developments unfold in the months ahead,” Lacker said in a Speech. Lacker has been one among a minority of officials at the ...

U.S. sales, prices edge up
WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Industrial production, sales and consumer prices climbed modestly in December, U.S. government reports indicated Friday. U.S. Retail Sales and food service sales rose 6.6 percent in 2010 from the previous year, the Commerce Department said. For December, sales rose 0.6 percent over the previous month, shy of the 0.8 percent figure Economists expected. Consumer prices climbed 1.5 percent in 2010 with prices rising 0.5 percent in December compared with November, the U....

Industrial Output Strongest In Months
Industrial production rose in December by the largest amount in five months, providing The Economy with solid momentum heading into the new year. Activity at the nation's factories, mines and utilities increased 0.8 percent and was up in every month but one in 2010. Overall industrial activity has risen 11 percent since hitting its Recession low in June 2009. But it is still 6 percent below its peak reached in September 2007. Factory production, the biggest slice of Industrial Output, rose 0.4 p...