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NEW YORK - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. posted a 17 percent increase in second-quarter profit Thursday and raised its full-year earnings forecast, helped by cost cuts and a renewed focus on low prices that is attracting financially squeezed shoppers around the world. But the world’s largest retailer predicted slower sales growth at its established stores for the current quarter, saying it is seeing some volatility as customers find it difficult to stretch their paycheck to the next payday. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer said it earned $3.45 billion, or 87 cents per share, in the quarter ended July 31, up from $2.95...

WASHINGTON - The government said Wednesday that U.S. retail sales fell in July, the weakest performance in five months. The Commerce Department reported retail sales dipped 0.1 percent last month, as a variety of economic woes combined to blunt the impact of billions of dollars in government stimulus payments to U.S. households. It’s the first decline since sales had fallen by 0.5 percent in February. And it’s a worse showing than the flat reading economists had been expecting.

I don't know how to classify this as far as being "newsworthy" but it's certainly interesting how Left Coast companies and individuals are acting in regards to the debacle Nancy Pelosi's book has become from a sales standpoint and PR disaster. Amazon.com has deleted hundreds of posts and reviews and caused numerous "Amazon Prime" cancellations due to their heavy handed censorship of their buying community. Now I've read the consumer reviews of this book on and off since Friday and while obviously many didn't read the book, just like the Ann Coulter "reviews", the anti-Ann reviews remain while those critical...

Wal-Mart bans bulk sales of rice By Our Foreign Staff Last Updated: 2:42am BST 24/04/2008 The American supermarket chain Wal-Mart yesterday banned bulk sales of rice at its cash-and-carry businesses, as the global food shortage and soaring price of food began to make an impact in the largest consumer nation. The company's bulk supply division, Sam's Club, announced that it would sell a maximum of four bags of rice to each customer, after Costco, a rival chain, said it would place caps on some rice and flour sales in California. The limits were imposed after some customers, apparently alarmed by...

Most of us recognize brands we use everyday. Picking coffee at Starbucks, visiting Trader Joe's for groceries or stopping by Home Depot for materials for the weekend home improvement project are things we often do without thinking. Yet the reason we buy something, visit a store or contribute to a particular effort is based on how we know about it, how we understand it, and how we value it - its brand. Even paying attention to something we know nothing about is a conscious decision and could be a rejection of known brands. Most brands we easily identify and use...

Sales of new homes plunged by a record amount in 2007 while prices posted the weakest showing in 16 years, demonstrating the troubles builders are facing with a huge backlog of unsold homes. The Commerce Department reported Monday that sales of new homes dropped by 26.4 percent last year to 774,000. That marked the worst sales year on record, surpassing the old mark of a 23.1 percent plunge in 1980. The government reported that the median price of a new home barely budged last year, edging up a slight 0.2 percent to $246,900, the poorest showing since prices fell by...

NEW YORK - The economic outlook became more uncertain Thursday after many of the nation's big retailers reported weaker than expected holiday sales, the result of consumers cutting their spending due to higher energy prices and the ongoing housing slump. Many merchants failed to meet their already lowered sales projections during December, and their performance during this critical sales period led some stores to reduce earnings outlooks for the fourth quarter. The weak results crossed all retail categories. Particularly hard hit were apparel sellers including Limited Brands Inc. and AnnTaylor Stores Corp., as well as department stores including Macy's Inc....

"This is for these guys," bellowed Goldie Hawn, directing the crowd's attention to the giant fibre-glass elephant she was standing on, "these wonderful creatures in Asia that need our help." Below her, on the pavements of Knightsbridge, people nodded thoughtfully. "We are the highest of the animal kingdom," she continued. "We have a mind and heart and a conscience and this is what this is all about. We know how to help and this is what we're doing today." But at that moment the clock struck nine, Captain Peacock unbolted the door, and the mob stampeded past Goldie and her...

WASHINGTON -- Sales of new homes in the United States plunged last month to their lowest level in more than 12 years, a grim testament to the problems plaguing the housing sector. The Commerce Department reported Friday that new-home sales tumbled by 9% in November from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 647,000. That was the worst showing since April 1995, when the pace of sales was 621,000.

U.S. retail sales surged during November, making a surprisingly strong, broad-based climb that suggests the economy might not be as weak as feared. Meanwhile, U.S. wholesale prices soared last month at their fastest pace since the Nixon Administration, spurred by record gains in energy prices. In a worrisome sign for Federal Reserve officials, price pressures appeared to seep beyond just energy and risk becoming embedded deeper in the production pipeline. Retail sales increased by 1.2%, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Sales went up an unrevised 0.2% in October. The median estimate of 10 economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires was...

Led Zeppelin sales soar after concert success Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 11/12/2007 Sales of Led Zeppelin’s back catalogue soared today after the spectacular success of their one-off reunion concert. The group’s best-of album, Mothership, have already gone Platinum, meaning it has sold more than 300,000 copies, but Gennaro Castaldo, a spokesman for HMV, said it was on track to become one of the biggest best-sellers. Robert Plant and Jimmy Page perform in Istanbul in March Sales of the album at the company’s 240 stores leapfrogged those of Westlife and the Spice Girls to become the chain’s number one seller. “Sales...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- After getting off to a fast start last month, holiday sales at some of the nation's largest retailers have slowed to an excruciatingly slow pace and mall traffic has dropped dramatically. The results, coming two weeks before Christmas, jeopardize an already weak holiday sales period. Chain-store sales rose a mere 0.2 percent for the week ended Dec. 8, following a disappointing 2 percent sales decline in the prior week, according to a report released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers. "Consumers continue to be slow in finishing their holiday shopping," said Michael Niemira, the...

NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's retailers had a robust start to the holiday shopping season, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that tracks sales at retail outlets across the country. According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets, total sales rose 8.3 percent to about $10.3 billion on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, compared with $9.5 billion on the same day a year ago. ShopperTrak had expected an increase of no more than 4 percent to 5 percent. "This is a really strong number. ... You can't have a...

18 retailers are having their Online Black Friday Sales today! Walmart's sale starts at 5:00am EST, while Staples starts at 6:00am EST and Amazon's starts at 3:00am EST, all other sales are either going on right now or will start very shortly

If you want to be a savvy shopper on Black Friday, you may want to do your buying the day before.This year, many retailers will offer deals traditionally reserved for the day after Thanksgiving on Turkey Day via their Web sites, consumer experts say."I will be on the computer shopping on Thanksgiving Day," said Edgar Dworsky, founder of ConsumerWorld.org, a leading consumer Web site. "Last year, I sat at home on Black Friday and felt so smug not having to go out and fight the crowds."You will, indeed, find crowds if you venture out the day after Thanksgiving to shop....

There was good news and bad news Friday about the proposed new taxes in Michigan. Democratic House Speaker Andy Dillon said Friday some of the planned taxes on services could be eliminated -- if the state's sales tax is increased. Dillon said lawmakers are debating the idea of putting the sales tax increase on the ballot next year so that voters can decide their own financial fate. The proposal, according to lawmakers, is to raise the state's sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent and to reduce the number of services that would be taxed. Critics of the service...

China threatens 'nuclear option' of dollar sales By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Last Updated: 6:00pm BST 07/08/2007 The Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation. Two officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning - for the first time - that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress. Shifts in Chinese policy are often announced...

GUN, AMMO SALES UP 14 PERCENT; $70 MILLION FOR CONSERVATION . . . Sales by gun and ammunition manufacturers grew by 14 percent in the first quarter of 2007 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to one of the firearm industry's best economic indicators. The statistics are taken from the latest Pittman-Robertson federal excise tax collection report. Excise taxes are calculated as a percentage of wholesale receipts, paid quarterly by firearm and ammunition manufacturers, and earmarked for state wildlife conservation and habitat restoration programs. From January through March, $70 million was generated for conservation, compared to $61...

More cars than light trucks were sold in the United States last month, reports from the automobile companies showed Friday, as gasoline prices nationwide soared to more than $3 a gallon. Toyota, Nissan, General Motors and the Chrysler Group all said their sales rose in May compared with 2006, primarily because of stronger car sales. Toyota, which has benefited most among the major companies from the rise in gas prices, said its May sales set a monthly record, up 9.7 percent from a year ago. The Ford Motor Company was the only major player to be left out: its sales...

Wal-Mart investors waiting to hear strategy for growth SALES AT U.S. STORES HAVE BEEN TRAILING TARGET, OTHER RIVALS By Marcus Kabel Associated Press Article Launched: 05/29/2007 01:36:22 AM PDT Thousands of Wal-Mart investors and employees will pack a northwest Arkansas sports arena Friday for the giant retailer's annual shareholder meeting, a mix of music celebrity flash and serious business with a pinch of criticism from dissident shareholders. Investors will be closely watching the presentations by Chief Executive Lee Scott and top executives for word on growth strategies after the company warned second-quarter profit may miss Wall Street expectations. The global...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. posted its worst monthly same-store sales results in at least 28 years, tallying a 3.5% decline in April due to this year's early Easter as well as generally challenging economic conditions for consumers. Wal-Mart's 3.5% drop in the four-week period ending May 4 at U.S. stores fell below its earlier forecast of "flat" sales to a 2% decline. In a recorded phone message Thursday, Wal-Mart blamed bad weather last month in most U.S. regions and the early Easter on April 8, which pushed many Easter sales into March. [Snip] Aside from scheduling changes, several economic factors likely...

A large retail chain had a problem. It sold three similar power drills: one for about $90, a purportedly better one at $120 and a top-tier one at $130. The higher the price, the more the store profited. But while drill know-it-alls flocked to the $130 model and price-fretters grabbed its $90 cousin, shoppers often ignored the middle one. So the store sought advice from a new breed of "price-optimization" software from DemandTec Inc. What followed offers us a clue about important shifts that technology is bringing to retail shopping. After analyzing an array of variables, including sales history and...

WASHINGTON -- Existing-home sales took the biggest tumble in 18 years during March as poor weather struck demand. Meanwhile, U.S. consumer confidence fell significantly in April, with a reverse in consumer optimism about present conditions leading the decline, according to a report released Tuesday. Home resales fell to a 6.12 million annual rate, a 8.4% decrease from February's revised 6.68 million annual pace, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. February's rate was originally estimated at 6.69 million. The median home price was $217,000 in March, compared with $213,600 in February. The March price was 0.3% below $217,600 in March...

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. homes fell 3.9 percent in February to the lowest rate in nearly seven years while the number of new homes on the market grew, according to a government report on Monday that showed more signs of weakness in the housing sector. The monthly decline was the second straight and the volume of sales fell to their lowest level since June 2000, when they hit 793,000. New single-family home sales fell to an annual rate of 848,000 units from a downwardly revised rate of 882,000 in January, the Commerce Department said. Analysts...

HARLINGEN, Texas - Asked by a federal judge why she sold her birth certificate, Rosie Medellin said she needed a few bucks and didn't really think it through. Bobby Joe Flores said he sold his ID documents to buy drugs. Margarita Moya and her son did it to raise money for medicine for a loved one. Their documents were destined for illegal immigrants. In all, seven defendants pleaded guilty in Corpus Christi this past week to charges of selling their birth certificates and Social Security cards for $100 each. Seven other defendants pleaded guilty to buying or reselling those documents...

Just doing my Taxes through Turbo Tax and the thing says I can get a standard deduction on State Sales Tax plus a $30 deduction for Telephone long distance use. I don't have to provide reciepts on the State Sales Tax refund. Texas is at %6.25: Do I qualify for the sales tax deduction? Eligibility requirements To qualify for this deduction, you must: - Itemize deductions on Schedule A. - Have records for the actual amount of sales tax you paid. Note: If you don't have records of the sales tax you paid, you can enter your combined state and...

Retailers are calling it the Coat Crisis of 2006, a fashion fiasco measured in racks of unsold fur-lined shearlings at Saks Fifth Avenue and down puffer jackets at Bloomingdale’s. Balmy temperatures on the East Coast, with average highs this holiday season 15 degrees warmer than last year, have been disastrous for sales of all kinds of cold-weather clothing, from cashmere caps to wool scarves. What seemed like a meteorological aberration — the coatless, hatless, gloveless morning commute in Washington, New York and Boston — is starting to feel like the new normal, encouraging consumers to splurge on a flat-screen television...

DETROIT — Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) leads the auto industry in retaining new vehicle buyers, according to a study released by JD Power and Associates on Wednesday. The automaker's Toyota brand replaced the Lexus in the annual survey, which measures the percentage of new vehicle buyers and lessees who replace a vehicle with another from the same brand. [Snip] Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s Honda brand retained third place, with 60.3 percent retention. GM's Cadillac ranks highest among American brands and sixth overall, with a 55.5 percent retention rate. GM earlier this year said the way its vehicles were perceived...

Musharraf pledges to end bride sales By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad Last Updated: 1:42am GMT 06/12/2006 The president of Pakistan pledged yesterday to ban the sale of brides along with other controversial customs that deny women basic human rights. Gen Pervez Musharraf announced that his government would shortly push through legislation that would also ensure women's rights to their inheritance. "A Bill is being considered to remove unjust social practices against women and it should be passed by the parliament," Gen Musharraf told a women's convention in the capital, Islamabad. He said that the legislation would ban the sale of...

DETROIT, Dec. 1 — Sales by the Ford Motor Company declined even more last month than its management had expected. The company fell into fourth place in November for the first time in its history, behind Toyota Motor of Japan and the German-American automaker DaimlerChrysler, figures released Friday show. Ford sold 10 percent fewer vehicles than it did a year ago, sending its market share in the United States down to 14.8 percent from 16.9 percent last November, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank. By contrast, Toyota’s sales increased 16 percent, giving it a market share of 16.5 percent, while DaimlerChrysler, which...

DETROIT Dec 1, 2006 (AP)— With a slump in U.S. vehicle sales by Ford Motor Co. last month, the No. 2 domestic automaker was beaten out not only by Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. for the second time ever but by DaimlerChrysler AG as well. Ford, which also detailed planned production cuts, said Friday that sales dropped 9.7 percent in November compared with the same period a year ago. The drop to No. 4 in monthly sales a first, according to Autodata Corp. came as industry sales rose a modest 2.9 percent to nearly 1.2 million vehicles.

No, spending was not up 19%. A survey of shoppers DONE 11/23-11/25 found that people said they expected to spend 19% more. These were not actual spent dollars, but rather, were expctations of spending. There's an enormous difference, especailly when we consider that people tend to be very poor judges of their own behavior. Note that this error is endemic to this group, and last year saw the same issue: for 2005, the NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION said holdiay Retail sales rose 22% (it didn’t). Its hard to imagine a 19% increase in spending would lead to triple digit loss for...

The bottom line is that consumers are jumping online early and often during this holiday season, says Rob Goldman, general manager for Shopping.com's U.S. operations. "It looks like a great year for online retailers," he said. He might be right. U.S. consumers spent $6.35 billion online during the first 19 days of November, up 23% from the same period a year ago, says market tracker comScore Networks. Total online sales could reach $32 billion in November and December, up 18% from a year ago, says Jupiter Research. Goldman says the early returns show that more consumers like the idea of...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Black Friday" conjures up images of crowded malls, long lines and cranky shoppers, but the day after Thanksgiving did not even rank as one of the top five busiest holiday shopping days last year, according to a report released by MasterCard Worldwide on Monday. The report also found that, contrary to popular belief, there will not be a huge surge in online shopping on the Monday after Thanksgiving -- which has been called "Cyber Monday." Instead, the report predicts that most people will likely put off their holiday shopping until right before Christmas.

WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. homes unexpectedly rose for a second straight month in September as builders slashed prices by the biggest annual margin in nearly 36 years and the supply of homes for sale shrank, a government report showed on Thursday. New single-family home sales increased 5.3 percent in September to an annualized rate of 1.075 million from a downwardly revised rate of 1.021 million in August, the Commerce Department said. Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting September sales to ease to a 1.045 million rate from an originally reported August rate of 1.050 million....

Dark times ahead for chocolate By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor (Filed: 14/10/2006) Britain's taste for chocolate is growing more sophisticated, figures out yesterday suggest. Sales of dark chocolate have trebled in a year, while the number of dark mainstream brands has risen tenfold. Confectionary analysts say the figures reflect a more discerning palate. They also follow several studies — some funded by chocolate makers — indicating that dark chocolate can have health benefits. Antioxidants in dark chocolate can help lower cholesterol and blood pressure, say researchers. However, dark and milk contain the same amount of fat and sugar. Although...

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela's president has a new public enemy: beer trucks. President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday he is fed up with seeing beer trucks sell alcohol directly on the streets of poor neighborhoods. "It's the degeneration of society. It's one of the causes of public drunkenness in the slums," he said as he declared he was putting a ban on the beer runs. "As of today, I want the National Guard to stop the beer trucks and take them to the nearest command post. No more trucks," he said in a televised speech. Chavez was speaking before participants in...

GRAND RAPIDS -- Spectrum Health and Saint Mary's Health Care will require all their employees to not use tobacco at any time during their work shift beginning January 1. The staffs of both hospitals will need to arrive without smelling of smoke, and they can't use any tobacco products until they leave hospital property after their shift. Metro Health is also joining in the Smoke-Free Work Day Every Day campaign. In 2003, the Grand Rapids hospitals became the first in the country to jointly declare their hospital campuses smoke-free. Today, more than 30 Michigan hospitals have smoke-free campuses. This...

SEATTLE -- Non-tribal casinos have already lost tens of millions of dollars because of Washington’s new indoor smoking ban. A new financial study, conducted by our own KIRO Team 7 Investigators, discovers taxpayers could loose millions as well. Card-rooms, charity bingo halls, and some bars and restaurants are required to report financial information to the state every year. The state hasn't had a chance to look at the figures since the smoking ban took effect. I have. It looks like "no smoking" means economic devastation for the non-tribal gaming industry. If there was ever any doubt that gamblers are also...

Following are actual statistics reflecting examples of the negative impact upon individual businesses following the recently instituted smoking ban ordinances, effective in Springfield, Illinois and surrounding unincorporated Sangamon County this September 15, 2006 (less than two weeks ago). When small businesses account for about two-thirds of our country's economic growth and new jobs, it is difficult to comprehend elected officials' reasoning in voting to implement an intrusive ordinance which will hurt those same business owners. A restaurant owner who does not permit smoking will see it as a violation of his property rights if a coalition uses the political...

Delaware County's ban on smoking in most work places has become a problem for some nursing homes, which are both work places for employees and homes for the residents. The smoking ordinance does not prevent people from smoking in their homes, but it does ban smoking in most public buildings and work spaces. If a nursing home bans smoking, they could lose federal funding for failing to comply with regulations, but if they allow smoking they could face fines or a lawsuit from the county health department, officials said. Federal regulations state that if a nursing home changes its...

Churchill Downs could be hurt financially if it is forced to go completely smoke free, a company official said Wednesday. Kevin Flanery, Churchill Downs Inc.’s vice president for national public affairs, told a Louisville Metro Council committee considering a new, tougher smoking ban, that the race track is already facing heavy competition from Indiana and from computer and telephone betting services.And he said the company’s experience at a Florida track shows some people will stop betting when a smoking ban takes effect. But the former head of the Greater Louisville Medical Society testified that his group favors a complete...

A private smokers club in Smiths Falls challenged Ontario's indoor smoking ban with its grand opening Friday — and Ontario officials did not brave the fumes to attend. Instead, the club's founder was charged under the province's Smoke-Free Ontario act the day before it opened. Since Ontario's indoor workplace and public smoking ban went into effect, ashtrays and cigars have been illegal in bars. The grand opening of Do' Little's pub as a club for members of a private smokers association took place at noon at the Comfort Inn on Centre Street in Smiths Falls, about 65 kilometres south of...

Park Ridge aldermen will resume discussion of the city's public smoking ban, following complaints from three restaurant owners that their businesses have been adversely affected by it.The restaurant owners spoke briefly to the City Council Monday night, prompting Mayor Howard Frimark to ask the aldermen if the smoking ban should be brought back before the Procedures and Regulations Committee. Alderman Jeannie Markech agreed that it should, and made a motion for the discussion. Eight aldermen voted in favor of the issue going back to committee and five voted against. One alderman was absent.The next meeting of the Procedures and Regulations...

There have been a bunch of books about the mistakes made after the American invasion of Baghdad, George Packer's Assassin's Gate and Thomas Ricks' Fiasco being the two best in my opinion.Yesterday, the Washington Post published an excerpt from Rajiv Chandrasekaran's effort. He was their bureau chief there for a few years and his book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, will be released tomorrow.I haven't read the book, but the excerpt is as damning as anything could be. It outlines how people were recruited to serve in the Coalition Provisional Authority, the group that ran...

DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. auto sales have been slipping as domestic automakers have struggled to boost sales amid high gas prices this year -- a trend that will continue into next year, industry executives and analysts said. Industry-wide sales are down more than 4 percent this year as U.S. automakers such as General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - news) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F - news) struggle with high labor costs, loss of market share to foreign rivals, and weakening sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles - typically their largest profit generators.Both GM and Ford are trying to stem billions...

Jobs are being eliminated by special interest activist organizations Now that air quality test results by the likes of the American Cancer Society are proving that the secondhand smoke kills argument is completely fabricated. http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2004/04/american-cancer-society-test-results.html It's time for lawmakers to investigate why this fallacy has permeated the local government debate.....and specifically who is funding and spreading that false information. http://www.rwjf.org/about/founder.jhtml The "who" is in large part the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. And since RWJF is an affiliate of the Johnson & Johnson Company (the manufacturer of competing nicotine product interests Nicoderm & Nicoderm CQ), it stands to reason that the...

Robin Brayman, a 44-year-old Greenfield resident, thought she had saved quite a bit of money buying cigarettes online, until she received a bill from the state demanding more than $2,000 in unpaid sales and cigarette taxes. "I had no idea. When I first started buying, the Web site said the cigarettes were tax-free, duty-free. You assumed you didn't have to pay anything," Brayman said. Brayman, like many other smokers, purchases cigarettes online because they are offered at a deep discount. A carton of Marlboro Full Flavor 100s costs $29.45 plus shipping from BuyCheapCigarettes.com, the site Brayman patronized. The same...

BATON ROUGE, La. -- A state law that would ban sales of violent video games to minors violates free speech rights and cannot be enforced, a judge ruled. U.S. District Judge James Brady said the state had no right to bar distribution of materials simply because they show violent behavior. Brady issued an injunction, calling the law an "invasion of First Amendment rights" of producers, retailers and the minors who play the games. ----snip----

ROCKTON -- Rockton leaders snuff out an idea to ban smoking at public places. Tuesday night at their meeting, a motion to draft an ordinance banning smoking in public places failed to get anywhere. Rockton Village Trustee Dennis Meade put the issue before board members, but no one seconded the motion. The proposal would've kept people from lighting up on streets, sidewalks, parks and in businesses. Several community members including business owners spoke out at the meeting against a ban saying it would hurt their business. Others claimed it a ban would go against their rights. One person at...