Reviews

The U.S. consumer remains under the microscope today after Thursday’s tepid retail sales data, with a key inflation reading coming in higher than expected. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August came out early Friday and surpassed expectations at 0.2%, compared with the consensus among...

BMO Capital Markets has reduced its price objective on Express, Inc. (NYSE: EXPR) shares from $14 to $13 to reflect its EPS estimate for the fiscal year 2017. However, the brokerage maintains its Market Perform rating on the stock. The analysis comes on the heels of the company reporting below the...

The retail earnings parade continued Friday, but there was also some news from the fields, as Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) reported stronger-than-expected results. Deere's strong earnings continued a string of vigorous quarterly results this week, including from huge companies like Wal-...

Like an Olympic gymnast sticking a landing, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) delivered on quarterly earnings early Thursday, beating expectations on top- and bottom-lines. The better-than-expected WMT earnings came one day after another huge retailer, Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT), reported...

When Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reports Q2 earnings ahead of the market open on Thursday, analysts and investors already will be braced for a decline in profit amid top-line sales that are expected to be relatively flat compared to last year. What they’ll really want to know about is...

Another day, another venture into record stock-market territory, right? Not so fast. It looked like the three major benchmarks might hit a hurdle in the early going after the markets slumped in Asia and Europe. That could change, however, as the day unfolds and investors absorb today’s...

As the summer doldrums roll on, a nap may seem tempting. But stay awake this coming week for a host of data that may give more insight into U.S. consumers. Friday’s retail sales report for July, which showed no gain in contrast with expectations for a 0.4% rise, was something of a puzzler...

Can the gold hits just keep coming? If trading moves off the flat line to higher ground yet today, the most important market benchmarks may be looking at another lap at the record podium. This morning’s government report that sales at the nation’s largest retailers were little...

The rate of growth in rental prices may have slowed in hot-tech markets like San Francisco, but investors in apartment real estate investment trusts aren’t yet fretting. By one measure, rents in the second quarter rose 4 percent in the U.S., marking a slowdown from the 5 percent rise in...

Brits sent shockwaves throughout financial markets in June when they approved the referendum to exit the European Union. Since then, concerns have also surfaced that corporate debt is rising everywhere, giving us “Crexit,” a mashup of the twin risks of Brexit and credit.  ...

Yelp Inc (NYSE: YELP) announced its second quarter results and provided upbeat outlook for the full year. Following the results, several brokerages commented about the results and forecast. There is a similarity on two counts. One is the local advertising and ARPU, which were better than the...

It's likely to be a consumer-spending tale of two retailers, among others, when Macy’s Inc (NYSE: M) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA)—at opposite ends of the retail machine and the world—turn in quarterly results ahead of the bell Thursday. Are consumers...

It’s the dog days of summer. Volatility is low. Oil prices are under pressure. Earnings are just about over. But the resilient stock market keeps posting highs. That was again the case on Tuesday, when the S&P 500 Index (SPX) posted a record intraday high and the NASDAQ index closed...

If the early going is laying the groundwork for today’s trading trajectory in the markets, it looks like it may be another day in the two-plus weeks that U.S. stocks have traded within a 2% range. That’s what market watchers call sideways trading­­—stocks are not...

New Jersey is considering a bill that may impact one of consumers' favorite past times: multitasking on their way to work. The bill is described as potentially impacting "any activity unrelated to the actual operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that interferes with the...