MarketWatch Says “U.S. Consumers Are Back”, Mish Says “Show Me The Money”
by ilene - April 9th, 2010 5:23 am
MarketWatch Says "U.S. Consumers Are Back", Mish Says "Show Me The Money"
Courtesy of Mish
MarketWatch is reporting March sales are fresh signal that U.S. consumers are back
U.S. retailers’ March sales rose by their highest percentage in more than a decade, another sign that U.S. shoppers are back spending beyond what they need.
Total March sales rose 9.1%, the highest since data began to be compiled in 2000, with 92% of reported numbers topping Wall Street expectations, according to Thomson Reuters. International Council of Shopping Centers reported sales rose 9%, their highest since March 1999.
With the benefit of Easter falling this year on April 4, and thus being included as part of retailers’ March reporting month, instead of April 12 last year, they also said combining retailers’ March and April results would be a better gauge of shoppers’ spending power.
From high-end retailers Saks Inc. (SKS) and Nordstrom Inc.(JWN) to discounters Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) and Target Corp. (TGT), same-store sales gains of more than 10% were seen across the board.
Easter Bonus
Yahoo!Finance says Shoppers hand retailers a basket of Easter cash
Shoppers are finally coming out of hibernation.
Better weather and an earlier Easter enticed Americans to shell out for spring clothes in March, the fourth straight month of gains for retail sales. Target, Macy’s, Gap and the parent of Victoria’s Secret all beat Wall Street expectations.
The improvement was broad, spanning discounters, mass merchants, specialty stores and luxury retailers. The gains offer strong evidence that people are feeling more confident in the economic recovery and are more willing to spend.
Retailers had several factors on their side. The earlier holiday combined with comparisons to notoriously weak sales in March 2009 had analysts expecting solid improvements. But it’s also clear that shoppers’ mindset is changing.
"There was a lot of talk about the frugality of the American consumer and that the recession taught people to save more," said Sherif Mityas, a partner in the retail practice at management consultant A.T. Kearney. "But U.S. consumers have short-term memories."
Before anyone gets excited about same store sales, please ponder the effect store closings had on comparisons.
31 Retailers File For Bankruptcy In 2009
- Penn Traffic:11/18
- Hackett’s Department Store: 11/10
- InkStop: 10/1
- Sacino & Sons: 9/11
- Samsonite: 9/2
- Escada: 8/13
- Finlay: 8/5
- Bashas: 7/12
- Crabtree & Evelyn: 7/1.
- Best & Co: 6/26
…
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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW. She manages the site