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Reporter
Most of the large retailers have reported, and the results are better than expected, at least on the bottom line.
Remember desperate efforts to clear merchandise over Christmas? Remember Macy's infamous 50 PERCENT OFF EVERYTHING sale? That is gone.
Companies are beating earnings on:
-cost cutting, and
-much better inventory management.
That's fine, and it's good news...but what about the topline? When will sales stabilize? Look at this comparable store guidance for the full year from these companies:
- Saks: down low double-digits
- Home Depot: down 9%
- Lowe's: down 4%-8%
- Dick's Sporting Goods: down 6-9%
- Nordstrom: down 10-15%
- JC Penney: down 9%
Pretty poor, eh? But traders keep saying it's better than down 20 percent that a lot were expecting earlier in the year.
Bottom line: most professional traders in retail stocks are not worried about the lack of topline growth. The position of the bulls is:
1) The most important story is that companies are SURVIVING
2) Topline growth is a 2010 story
3) 2009 is the trough year for earnings
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POPULAR TRADER TALK POSTS
- The Risk Trade Has Not Gone Away—Yet
- Black Friday No Disaster, But Retail May Be Dead For A Bit
- Traders Focus On The Homefront
- Despite Dubai, U.S. Markets Calm
- Stocks Lurking Near New Highs Again
- Risk Trade Is Back On
- This Week's Biggest Story: The Dollar
- Corporate Issuance Continues at Torrid Pace
- The Bernanke Dollar Bounce & Gross Says Forget About Rate Hike
- Colgate Really Sparkles After Hours
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