Retail sales were better than expected in August, whether you count the Cash for Clunkers program or not, which likely helped Perry Ellis International, Inc. (PERY) with its more than 8% gain this afternoon.

< ?DART(15);?> However, apart from the macroeconomic news, this apparel company also recently reported it's fiscal second-quarter numbers and signed a deal with Pierre Cardin.

Earnings estimates for this top-performing Zacks #1 Rank company have moved sharply higher in the past month with strong analyst agreement.

In addition to PERY, there are 5 other names from the Textile-Apparel industry on today's Zacks #1 Rank List, which includes 225 names. Those other companies are G-III Apparel Group Ltd. (GIII), Guess?, Inc. (GES), Maidenform Brands, Inc. (MFB), Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation (PVH) and Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL).

Volume today is at 145,000 shares, compared to the

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It's a relatively quiet week on the earnings front with only 50 companies scheduled to report, including a smattering of retailers and food companies. Only 2 S&P 500 members are on tap to report including Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) and National Semiconductor (NSM).

The economic calendar is also quiet to start the first "real" trading week in September, as Wall Street comes back from August vacations. It's a shortened trading week due to the Labor Day holiday on Monday.

Monday: Markets closed for Labor Day Tuesday: ICSC-Goldman Store Sales, Redbook Wednesday: Beige Book Thursday: International trade, weekly jobless claims, weekly natural gas inventories, weekly crude inventories Friday: Import and export prices, University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey for September, Treasury budget Volume is likely to return to more "normal" levels to start the week. Despite recent weakness in the markets, the bulls remain in charge. Wall Street will also be watching trading

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With just 51 companies scheduled to report, economic news will be at the forefront. The only S&P 500 members on the earnings calendar are Brown Foreman (BF.B) and Ciena (CIEN)

The economic calendar is pretty packed with the August ISM surveys, August employment data and minutes from the last Fed meeting all scheduled to be released. Adding to the potential volatility will be light volume, particularly on Friday afternoon as many traders leave early for the holiday.

Monday: August Chicago PMI Tuesday: August ISM manufacturing index, August auto sales, July construction spending, July pending home sales Wednesday: August ADP employment survey, August Fed minutes, July factory orders, revised Q2 productivity, weekly crude inventories, weekly mortgage applications Thursday: August ISM services index, weekly initial jobless claims, weekly natural gas inventories Friday: August unemployment rate and nonfarm payrolls

No Fed officials are scheduled to speak.

The U.S. financial markets will be closed on Monday,

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G-III Apparel Group Ltd.'s (GIII) share price has entered into oversold territory with a stochastic value of 7.43. Analysts have been boosting their estimates on the Zacks #1 Rank ("Strong Buy") company's fiscal 2010 earnings, with the consensus up 10 cents over the past month to $1 per share.

"GIII" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research

Shares of G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (GIII) are up in the double digits Tuesday, nearly a week after announcing a narrower fiscal first-quarter loss than Wall Street was expecting.

< ?DART(15);?> Consequently, earnings estimates for this fiscal year and next have advanced in the past 7 days.

Good Start for the Fiscal Year

GIII lost 41 cents per share in the quarter, which was a penny narrower than the previous year. More importantly though, the loss was a dime better than analysts were expecting, accounting for a positive surprise of almost 19.5%.

Net sales reached $115.9 million, or practically 54% atop the year-ago performance of $75.4 million.

According to the company, it has cut costs, controlled inventory and positioned itself to perform well. The Wilson's retail outlet business, which had been owned by GIII only 3 weeks in the year-ago

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Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Alliant Techsystems Inc (ATK) American Financial Group (AFG) American Technology Corp (ATCO) Associated British Foods Plc (ASBFY) Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc (BRLI) Cantel Medical Corp (CMN) CapLease Inc (LSE) Check Point Software Technologies Ltd (CHKP) Forest Oil Corp (FST) G-III Apparel Group Ltd (GIII) Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS) Henkel AG And Co KG (HENKY) Keppel Corporation Ltd (KPELY) Merge Healthcare Inc (MRGE) Orchids Paper Products Co (TIS) PennantPark Investment Corp (PNNT) Phillips-Van Heusen Corp (PVH) Raven Industries Inc (RAVN) Ross Stores Inc (ROST) Smart Balance Inc (SMBL) Tutor Perini Corp (TPC) Wal-mart de Mexico SAB de CV (WMMVY) View the entire Zacks #1 Rank List.

"ATK" Free Stock ...

Ciena (

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Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #5 Rank ("strong sell") List today:

ABB Ltd (ABB) Axis Capital Holdings Ltd (AXS) The Black & Decker Corp (BDK) Cal Dive International Inc (DVR) AM Castle & Co (CAS) Credicorp Ltd (BAP) DTE Energy Co (DTE) Equinix Inc (EQIX) Flushing Financial Corp (FFIC) Franklin Electric Co (FELE) Arthur J Gallagher & Co (AJG) GATX Corp (GMT) Genuine Parts Co (GPC) KB Financial Group Inc (KB) Lincoln National Corp (LNC) Matrix Service Co (MTRX) Mechel OAO (MTL) PacWest Bancorp (PACW) Peoples Financial Corp (PFBX) Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc (SHO) The Timken Co (TKR) UTi Worldwide Inc (UTIW) Anixter International Inc (AXE) Blyth Inc (BTH) Camden Property Trust (CPT) Chicago Bridge & Iron Company NV (CBI) ...

Apollo Group (

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