Preliminary retail sales reports for the holidays are in. According to SpendingPulse, a unit of MasterCard, total retail sales (excluding autos) declined 8% year-over-year for the period Dec 1 through 24. More troubling was the report issued by ShopperTrak. It reported that customer visits to retailers declined 24% (the largest drop ever) last weekend versus last year. Keep in mind that the weekend before Christmas is usually the busiest shopping time of the year, as shoppers look for last-minute gifts. ShopperTrak also estimated that retails sales for Dec 19-21 fell 5.3%. Our take is that sales trends have deteriorated from November into December. Falling gasoline prices are not enticing consumers to consume more. In light of a weak economy, higher unemployment, and tighter credit markets, consumers are choosing to spend less and save more. Those who are spending money in retail stores are

...

Preliminary retail sales reports for the holidays are in. According to SpendingPulse, a unit of MasterCard, total retail sales (excluding autos) declined 8% year-over-year for the period Dec 1 through Dec 24.

More troubling was the report issued by ShopperTrak. It reported that customer visits to retailers declined 24% (the largest drop ever) last weekend versus last year. Keep in mind that the weekend before Christmas is usually the busiest shopping time of the year, as shoppers look for last-minute gifts. ShopperTrak also estimated that retails sales for Dec 19- Dec 21 fell 5.3%.

Our take is that sales trends have deteriorated from November into December. Falling gasoline prices are not enticing consumers to consume more. In light of a weak economy, higher unemployment, and tighter credit markets, consumers are choosing to spend less and save more. Those who are spending money in retail stores are buying heavily discounted items

...

Teletouch Communications Inc. offers a comprehensive suite of telecommunications products and services. They provide cellular, two-way radio, GPS-telemetry, wireless messaging, and public safety/emergency response vehicle products and services throughout the United States. Trading on the Pink Sheets, the Company has their corporate headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas.

Teletouch’s wholly owned subsidiary, Progressive Concepts, Inc., is a leading provider of AT&T Mobility® voice, data, and entertainment services. They also provide other mobile, portable, and personal electronics products and services to individuals, businesses, and government agencies. Progressive Concepts retail stores sell under the “Hawk Electronics” brand. PCI operates a national wholesale distribution business called PCI Wholesale. This business serves smaller cellular and automotive retailers, car dealers, and rural cellular carriers throughout the U.S. This distribution business sells through Hawk-branded sub-agents, their own direct sales force and on the Internet via www.hawkelectronics.com, and www.hawkexpress.com, among others.

Teletouch engages in initiating and maintaining subscribers’

...

The Andersons, Inc. (ANDE) is a diversified company operating in five different business segments ranging from buying, selling and storing grain to leasing railcars and running retail stores offering the latest home hardware needs. The company has operations in 12 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, plus rail equipment leasing interests in Canada and Mexico.The company said certain fertilizer inventory values began to decline late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. What's more, ANDE expects some continued price decreases in the world fertilizer markets will lead to margin decreases and additional inventory adjustments in Q4.Given the unpredictability in plant nutrient product valuation, the company lowered its FY08 EPS guidance to a range of $2.00 to $2.80 per diluted share, down from the previous estimate of $3.50 to $4.00 per diluted share. We rate shares of ANDE a Hold.Read the ...

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

...

While announcing that is has opened three new outlets in China, OmniaLuo has also entered into contracts with two new independent distributors for stores to be opened by the end of 2008. The addition of these three new stores increases the number of OmniaLuo retail stores in China to 245. The company's retail network consists of 32 [...]

G20 largely a non-event…  Pound moves up…  Brazil falls on sell off of emerging markets…  Japan enters recession… And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Good day…and welcome back to another work week. I driving into work this morning and started thinking about the growing number of people who no longer have jobs to report to. And the problems are no longer just concentrated on the manufacturing sector. I was shocked at the long list of retail stores which are planning to shut down after the holiday season. The situation in the US economy continues to deteriorate, and unfortunately things are going to get much worse here in the US before they turn around. On that cheery note, I’ll get started.

Leaders from around the world

...

Retail sales slumped 1.2% in September. It was the steepest decline for over three years. This is bad news for retailers. Andrew Snyder says this means investors should avoid retail-related REITs such as Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG).

This from Today’s Financial News:

Just a few days ago, I wrote about how the housing slowdown has reached its lowest point. I told readers that some real-estate investment trusts (REITs) look downright promising. I also warned that others were in extremely dangerous territories.

Yesterday’s consumer spending figures proved my theory was right on track. The report showed that while consumer spending dropped 1.2%, healthcare spending was up by a similar amount.

In other words, REITs that specialize in healthcare properties, like National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI), will beat the markets. And their counterparts that focus on retail-related properties, like Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG), are going to under-perform.

Going

...

JP Morgan is upgrading Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to Overweight from Neutral. Apple’s model is far more diverse than previous vintages, and they think the staying power has been underappreciated. With its market share momentum likely intact, Apple in firm's view offers strong relative downside protection to the looming earnings reset that they expect to impact IT Hardware companies in coming weeks and again early next year.- Diverse model provides staying power. There has been considerable investor concern lately over the Apple model losing steam, particularly if the consumer vertical rolls over. JPM estimates that the company’s total model exposure is about 70-75% consumer, but they think that Apple’s brand and market share momentum offer meaningful buffers to potential macro-driven pressures on the consumer.- Retail expansion could sustain share gains and international momentum. JPM thinks a major force behind Apple’s growth story will be its diversifying revenue ...

Arkansas is the birthplace of Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States. Arkansas’ subtropical weather sounds very inviting for those who live in regions of extreme temperatures. The state has usually mild winters, but that is not the reason why some world renowned companies call Arkansas home. Here are some interesting facts about the state:1. Arkansas main agricultural products are chicken, rice, soybeans, and cattle and calves.2. The north west part of the state is rich in natural gas, which is the most important mined product in the state.3. In 2007 tourism contributed a total of $5.4 billion to the state economy.4. Agriculture employs 275,000 in Arkansas5. Agriculture’s contribution to the state gross domestic product is the largest of any state, 12% of Arkansas’ GDP comes directly from agricultural activities.6. Arkansas ranks 4th for timber ...