Trader Talk
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- Have Retailers Reached Their Limits?
- The Retail Mind Game
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CNBC Reporter
Next week, more from retailers. October Retail sales on Monday, along with more retail earnings from companies like Saks [SKS
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] and Target [TGT
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].
Key retail takeaway: many key retail stocks continue to trade near 52-week highs because gross margins are improving due to lower inventories (so there are less promotions), and costs are much lower.
Another factor helping some companies: private label brands. Both Kohl's and JC Penney reported strong private label sales, which carry a higher gross margin.
Bonuses are up, and that's a good thing. Both JC Penney [JCP
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] and Nordstrom [JWN
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] reported higher Selling, General & Administrative (SG&A) expenses—this is the middle part of the income statement, which is the cost of sales employees and other expenses.
It is going up because managment is rewarding employees for beating expectations. This goes all the way down to the level of store managers and associates. It is a good sign.
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POPULAR TRADER TALK POSTS
- 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
- Light Volume Has Traders Complaining
- Gold Shatters Another Record
- Have Retailers Reached Their Limits?
- The Retail Mind Game
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