Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) - Shoppers “Didn’t Have the Time.”

This morning, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) reported that December holiday sales were much less than expected. It comes on the heel of reports that Americans actually cut back holiday spending this year.

Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY) reported lower sales as consumers clearly “did not have the time,” or the money. It joined a growing list of retailers who saw sales and income drop this Christmas.

Retail outlets are having great difficulty maintaining their levels of profitability as consumers cut back - massive sales and promotions don’t seem to be doing the trick. And for investors looking to profit, the outlook doesn’t look good.

But that doesn’t mean there weren’t companies with products that didn’t fly off the shelves. Nintendo’s (OTC: NYDOY) Wii consol and Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) products

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H&R Block, Inc. (HRB) is a leading provider of tax preparation, financial advice, investment, mortgage and business services. The company is the largest provider of tax preparation services in the world, serving taxpayers primarily in the U.S., Canada, and Australia through more than 13,000 retail outlets and via its digital tax solutions.We reiterate our Hold rating on shares of HRB following the release of Q2 financial results. Although the fallout from the mortgage business implosion will likely be felt for some time to come, and we continue to have significant concerns regarding other aspects of HRB's business, we believe that negative and positive aspects of the company's outlook are now roughly balanced. Steps have been taken by management to refocus the company on its core tax businesses, and the emphasis on expense reduction should result in improved margins going forward. Our price target of ...

Oando has won the Nigerian Stock Exchange Presidential Merit Award for the Best Quoted company in the Downstream Petroleum Marketing Sector. It also won the award in2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006. br /br /Oando is clearly showing the way with its adherence to post-listing requirements and corporate governance. br /br /Oando’s is Nigeria’s foremost integrated energy company. It is the nation’s leading oil retailer, with one in every five litres of petroleum products being sold or distributed by Oando via its 500 retail outlets.

As larger financial institutions struggle with fancy financial instruments and rescue packages, there are many smaller banks in the US that continue to loan and make money as they can. The local bank, where the loan officer actually remembers your name, is doing well and looking to capitalize when and where it can. As with any business in difficult financial times, there are losses to be had, but these types of banks have stepped up to lessen them.

Macatawa Bank Corp., a Michigan Chartered Bank, operates 26 FDIC insured retail branch offices throughout western Michigan. The company has been experiencing solid growth and expects to open additional retail outlets in its Grand Rapids and Zeeland/Grand Haven markets as conditions warrant.

In most respects, Macatawa Bank is the local bank that a community can depend upon for all its banking needs. It was there for a consumer’s first home or business

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Zhongpin Inc. (HOGS) saw revenues soar 116% to a new record in the third quarter as the company continues to expand pork production. HOGS has surprised on estimates 3 out of the last 4 quarters on average of 7.25%. The company is cheap. HOGS is trading at only 5.7x forward earnings.

Company Description

Zhongpin is a Chinese-based meat and food processing company that handles pork and pork products as well as fruits and vegetables. The company operates in 24 provinces in China through over 2,960 retail outlets and also exports to the European Union, Eastern Europe, Russia, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.

Zhongpin has been expanding production. On Nov 7, it announced that its new prepared meat facility in the Henan Province, which was just starting production, would increase annual production capacity for meat products, including sausage and ham, by 114%.

The new facility was built

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ZAGG, Inc. (ZAGG.OB), a leading provider of protective film coverings for personal electronics under the brand name invisibleSHIELD, recently announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2008 ending September 30, 2008. The company reported a significant year-over-year increase in revenues and positive net income for the third quarter and year-to-date. Net sales for the third quarter of 2008 climbed to approximately $6.9 million, an increase of 376 percent compared to net sales of $1.4 million for the third quarter of 2007.

The company’s quarterly gross profit totaled $4.4 million, or 64.7 percent of sales, compared to $1.1 million, or 79.2 percent of sales, during the third quarter of 2007. Gross profit for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 reached $8.5 million, or 68.5 percent of sales, compared to $2.3 million, or 77.3 percent of sales one year earlier. ZAGG reported net income of $889,743 or $0.05 per share

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China Yingxia International, Inc. (CYXI.OB), a China based health products developer, announced today a plan to repurchase up to $2 million of its own common stock. China Yingxia will repurchase the shares on the open market, or via privately negotiated transactions, through September of 2009. The company made clear that the final number of shares repurchased and the timing of the purchases will depend on market conditions, share price, applicable legal requirements, and other factors deemed appropriate by the company’s board, and the program may be discontinued or expanded as deemed necessary in the future. China Yingxia has about 44.5 million common shares outstanding and approximately 10.9 million freely traded shares. Any shares repurchased through the program will reduce the number common shares outstanding. The repurchase will be funded with available cash on hand.

Ms. Yinxia Jiao, CEO and chairwoman of China Yingxia, commented on the reason for the program, and

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- A total of 7,074 tonnes of tainted dairy products have been removed from retail outlets across China, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) said in a statement. Most of it was milk powder and liquid milk contaminated with melamine. - The recent survey in 50 cities and 20,000...

Both gold and silver recovered from their sell-offs in early morning trading in the Far East yesterday. Both spiked upwards about 15 minutes before the Comex open...and were subsequently capped at their highs of the day very shortly after that.

Skins (SKNS) is a development stage footwear company specializing in footwear for both men and women. The company puts an orthopedic support in its shoes, known as the “Bone,” and places a fashionable cover on the outside, known as the “Skin.” This combination allows consumers to mix and match bones and skins to create the look they like best. Skins products can now be found in 21 retail outlets. Once a customer has bought a pair of bones, they don’t need to repurchase another pair, but they can buy an unlimited quantity of skins, which are available at footwear and apparel retailers and over the Internet.

While the company had sales of less than $1 million in 2007, Skins is estimating sales of $10 million to $15 million for 2008. Bones retail for around $60, while skins cost between $100 and $200. As is par for the course with start-up

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