Weak retail sales may spur more warnings

NEW YORK (Reuters) - If there was any question of how much an early Easter would hurt sales at already-struggling U.S. retailers, J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP.N) gave a resounding answer last month with a quarterly profit warning.The mid-tier department store operator, which counts half of American families as its customers, said earnings for its first quarter, which began on February 3, could miss initial forecasts by as much as 38 percent after sales through Easter came in well below expectations.
Investors are now bracing for more profit warnings on Thursday, when major U.S. retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), Gap Inc (GPS.N) and Kohl's Corp (KSS.N), report their final sales figures for March.
"We think it's possible that Nordstrom (JWN.N), Macy's (M.N) and Kohl's (KSS.N) could confess and warn of softer first-quarter earnings per share on Thursday," JPMorgan analyst Charles Grom wrote in a research note.A Macy's spokesman declined to comment. The company no longer reports monthly sales and said in February that it would stop providing quarterly earnings forecasts.
Officials at Kohl's and Nordstrom were not immediately available for comment.

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It is already apparent that stores have not been meeting a desired number of sales and J.C. Penny, among several others, claims that the predicted quarterly sales have already been off by 38 percent. Last year, J.C. Penney said March sales at department stores open at least a year, or same-store sales, rose 10.6 percent on strong demand for clothing. Specialists claim that shoppers have spent less due to "high gasoline prices, soaring food costs, dropping home values, a credit market crunch and a weakening job market". Some say that the declining sales record is being caused by the colder weather and low demand for warmer weather clothing and if so, then the sales record for March 2008 could be the worst in 23 years.

Mega Brands Plummets After Recalling Magnetic Toys

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Mega Brands Inc., the world's second-biggest maker of snap-together blocks for children, fell as much as 14 percent in Toronto trading after recalling about 2.4 million magnetic toys.
Mega Brands lost 66 cents to C$4.45 as of 2:05 p.m. in Toronto Stock Exchange trading, the lowest intraday price since Nov. 22. The shares lost 18 percent this year before today.
The MagnaMan Action Figures and Magtastik and Magnetix Jr. Pre-School Magnetic Toys contain magnets that can detach and be swallowed by children, Mega Brands said today in a statement. The company said it is cooperating with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in the voluntary recall.

Read more at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=a24kWKe3mGDI&refer=canada.

Mega Brand Incorporated fell about 14 percent after recalling 2.4 million magnetic toys causing Mega Brands to lose 66 cents to C$4.45 in the Toronto Stock Exchange trading. The toys were recalled because of more than 44 reports filed about the magnets coming detached and harming children. The consumers were allowed to return the magnetic play toys for a replacement resulting in over $7 million in merchandise- a major fallback for the second largest producer of childrens snap-together toys.

Talbots reports loss, plans more store closures

The Talbots Inc. said Wednesday it has slowed its growth plans for this year and will close about 20 underperforming Talbots brand stores in light of the economic challenges to the company.
The news comes on the heels of Talbots' previous announcement that it will shut 78 Talbots kids and men's stores, and the company's preliminary year-end and fourth-quarter earnings.
The Hingham, Mass.-based specialty retailer (NYSE: TLB) of women's classic fashions reported a $171 million loss in sales for the fourth quarter in 2007, which ended Feb. 2, 2008. Sales for the full year 2007, however, increased 2.5 percent to $2.289 billion, up from $2.231 billion in 2006.
Talbots operates a Wichita store, in Bradley Fair at 21st St. North and Rock Road.

Read more at http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/stories/2008/03/10/daily17.html

Talbots Incorporated plans to close 20 of their stores that have been doing poorly with sales-- a lesser amount than they previously announced. The CEO claims that 2007 was a difficult year for Talbots financially and that the company will focus on transitioning and repairing in 2008 as part of a 3 year project. In 2008, they plan to open only 48 stores versus the 75 stores opened in 2007.

Dollar's Fed-inspired rally gives way

The euro broke above the $1.55 level for the first time in early North American trading, and peaked at $1.5524 -- its highest level since the European unit began trading in January 1999.
The dollar also sank inversely to crude-oil futures, which hit a record high of $110.20 a barrel Wednesday. See Futures Movers.
Crude oil is traded in dollars. As the dollar declines in value, so does the price of oil in non-dollar terms, making it more appealing to speculators.
The Fed's announcement Tuesday of a coordinated plan with other central banks aimed at keeping prices of illiquid securities from plunging gave the dollar a lift Tuesday, and boosted the stock market as well.

Read more at http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/dollars-fed-inspired-gains-fade-euro/story.aspx?guid=%7BA107DF34-4456-4713-9D90-45926494B4C6%7D

This article is about how the dollar is dropping against the euro and the actions that the Fed is taking in order to help the problem. They devised a plan along with the central banks to keep illiquid security prices from falling in order to "give a boost" to the dollar and in return, the stock market benefitted as well. The influence on the stock market carried through Wednesday, however the dollar dropped again proving the plan insufficient.

Forbes says Gates is no longer the world's richest man

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world, according to Forbes magazine's rankings.
In fact, he's not even in the top two anymore.
Warren Buffet, helped by a rising price of his Berkshire Hathaway shares, is atop the list at $62 billion. It's the first time in 13 years that Gates didn't top the magazine's list.
At No. 2 is Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helú, with an estimated net worth of $60 billion.

Gates isn't struggling at No. 3 with $58 billion, according to the magazine's list, and is worth $2 billion more than last year. Paul Allen, who co-founded the Redmond computer giant (NASDAQ: MSFT) with Gates, is No. 41 on the list at $16 billion. And Microsoft's current CEO, Steve Ballmer, is No. 43 on the list at $15 billion.

Read more at http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2008/03/03/daily29.html

This article explains that Forbes magazine rankings claims that Bill Gates is not the richest man in the world anymore. Warren Buffet is number one followed by Carlos Slim Helu- both worth around $60 billion each. Gates sits at number three, worth around $58 billion and the article ranks the other men closely affiliated with Gates.

Bush Refuses to Promise More Troop Returns From Iraq Before He Leaves Office

Decisions about troop cuts beyond those planned through July would be based on generals' recommendations for what levels are necessary to ensure success in Iraq, the president said.
"There is going to be enormous speculation," he said in a joint appearance at his ranch with Denmark's prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Bush strongly suggested Iraq's provincial elections in October may mean that bringing more troops home would have to wait until after the voting.
"I think our generals ought to be concerned about making sure there's enough of a presence so that the provincial elections can be carried out in such a way that democracy advances," he said. "I'll wait and hear what they have to say. But yes, that ought to be a factor in their recommendation to me."
On Friday, a senior administration official told reporters during a briefing at the White House, "I fully expect there to be more reductions this year — and so does the president."

Read more at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334333,00.html

Bush implied that Iraq's provincial election would cause a postponement of troops returning to their homes. He explained that there should be enough troops there to secure that the process is carried out in the correct manner however, by July, there will be about 15 brigades in Iraq for a total of 140,000 men. A senior administration official reports that both he and the President plan to see a considerable reduction in the numer of troops in Iraq in 2008.

Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry e-mail phone, climbed the most in four months after saying subscriber gains in the current quarter will exceed its original projection by as much as 20 percent.
Customer gains will amount to as much as 2.18 million instead of the 1.82 million the company predicted in December. Total subscribers will climb to about 14 million by the end of the quarter, Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion said today in a statement.
The BlackBerry sold better than expected over the holidays, winning corporate and consumer clients, Co-Chief Executive Officer Jim Balsillie said in the statement. New models with video and music players fended off competition from Apple Inc.'s iPhone and e-mail devices from Nokia Oyj and Motorola Inc.

Read more at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=as7lKuWooZT4&refer=us.

Motion Ltd., makers of the BlackBerry phone claim that the phone sold better than they had expected and predict that subscribers will reach 14 million by the end of the quarter. The BlackBerry had the most United States shipments with 41 percent market share, while Apple's iPhone had 28 percent and Palm Inc., maker of the Treo, had 9 percent. As the testaments about the company's good services grow, so are their buyers. This article relates to economics because it deals with supply and demand and expansion of a company.

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Wal-Mart Profit Rises, Revenue Up

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said Tuesday its renewed focus on low prices paid off with a 4 percent rise in profit for its fourth quarter as holiday shoppers bought discounted groceries and home electronics as well as health and wellness products.

International growth also helped boost profit and sales. Stores in 13 countries outside the U.S. accounted for about 25 percent of total company sales in the quarter, up from 23 percent a year earlier.

Wal-Mart said net income in the quarter ended Jan. 31 rose to $4.096 billion, or $1.02 per share, compared to $3.94 billion, or 95 cents a share, a year earlier.

Net sales grew 8.3 percent to $106.27 billion, helped by 18.8 percent international growth and 5.0 percent growth at U.S. Wal-Mart stores. Overall revenue including membership fees rose to $107.43 billion from $99.078 billion a year earlier.

Read more at http://news.aol.com/business/story/_a/wal-mart-profit-rises-revenue-up/n20080219100309990029

This article is about Wal-Mart's rising profits and international growth. The net income has risen from $3.94 billion to $4.096 billion this year (recorded at the end of January) from the previous year and net sales have increased 8.3 percent. Wal-Mart's growth relates to economics because their "price leadership" strategy of selling products at lower prices paid off in the long run while the economy was low. (The picture is Sam Walton's original "five and dime" store before it grew into what Wal-Mart is now).

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