While I touched on unemployment duration at the end of my last blog, this is a very important subject and deserves a bit more elaboration. Quite simply being out of work for three or four weeks is a very different experience with very different economic implications than being out of work for six months to a year or more. The focus on the total number of unemployed obscures that reality. The thing that makes this recession so much different than the ones that have gone before it is how long people are staying out of work once they become unemployed. Yeah if you get laid off for a few weeks, it can be a pain in the butt, but essentially it is just an unplanned vacation. It does not really affect your long term financial solvency, nor do your job skills diminish significantly. After six months, regular state unemployment ...

Last week, Walgreen (WAG) decided to acquire the assets of 12 Eaton Apothecary pharmacies in the Boston area from D.A.W., Inc., a subsidiary of Nyer Medical Group Inc. (NYER) for approximately $19 million. The acquisition, subject to certain terms and conditions, is expected to close within the next 90 days. Following the transaction, Nyer would liquidate. We believe the acquisition will boost the company’s revenues going forward.

Walgreen’s strong balance sheet has enabled it to grow its business through acquisitions even in the midst of recession. The company generated $852 million in the fourth quarter and $4.1 billion for the year in cash flow from operations, an increase of 55% and 35%, respectively driven by strong drugstore performance, including improved working capital. At the end of the last quarter, Walgreen had $2.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents. We had expected earlier that the company would use the available

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In September, total retail sales fell by 1.5% sequentially (seasonally adjusted). This almost totally reverses the 2.2% gain for August. On a year-over-year basis, total retail sales were down 5.7% -- a slight improvement from the 5.8% year-over-year decline in August (remember that things really started to fall apart last September). However, the headline number is a bit misleading since it includes auto sales, which were greatly inflated during August by the "Cash for Clunkers" program. After the program was over, auto sales fell right back to where they had been before the program started. If autos are excluded, sales were up 0.5% for the month and off 4.9% from a year ago. In August, retail sales excluding autos were up 1.0% from July and down 6.3% year over year. Sales of autos and parts fell 10.4% for the month and are down 9.3% year over year. ...

Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CHIP, CUR, CVM, ENZ, IMUC, IWEB, SRCO, SVUL, XSNX

Markets finally snapped their winning streak last week, as weakness in housing markets and durable goods orders led to broad-based declines in all of the major indices. All told, the Dow surrendered 155 points on the week to close at 9665, down 1.6% on the week but up 10.1% on the year. The Nasdaq lost 2.0% on the week to close at 2090, up 32.6% on the year, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 posted losses of 2.2% and 3.1% respectively, paring their yearly gains to 15.6% and 19.9%.

Unexpectedly poor data from the housing sector was the big economic story on the week as both new and existing August home sales failed to live up to expectations. New home sales increased modestly to 429,000, falling short of estimates calling

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 28, 2009 – Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week’s list includes Walgreen (WAG) and Xyratex (XRTX). To see more earnings analysis, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=3207.

Every day, Zacks.com makes 4 stock picks available, free of charge. To see them, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5612.

This Week's Events

Five S&P 500 companies are confirmed to report: Constellation Brands (STZ), Darden Restaurants (DRI), Jabil Circuit (JBL), Nike (NKE) and Walgreen (WAG). A total of 27 companies are on the calendar.

We are still a week away from the "official" start of third-quarter earnings season. Alcoa (AA) will release its results on Oct 7. The majority of companies will not start reporting until the latter half of October, however.

The economic calendar is most active towards the second half of the week with

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Five S&P 500 companies are confirmed to report: Constellation Brands (STZ), Darden Restaurants (DRI), Jabil Circuit (JBL), Nike (NKE) and Walgreen (WAG). A total of 27 companies are on the calendar.

We are still a week away from the "official" start of third-quarter earnings season. Alcoa (AA) will release its results on Oct 7. The majority of companies will not start reporting until the latter half of October, however.

The economic calendar is most active towards the second half of the week with the release of the ISM manufacturing survey and the monthly employment surveys.

Tuesday: September Conference Board consumer confidence survey, July Case-Schiller home price index Wednesday: September Chicago PMI, September ADP employment survey, final Q2 GDP, weekly crude inventories, weekly mortgage applications Thursday: September ISM manufacturing survey, August personal income and spending, August pending home sales, September auto sales, September Monster employment index, September

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• General Mills (NYSE:GIS) reported fiscal first quarter earnings of $1.28 a share, ex-items, beating Zacks estimates of earnings of $1.03 a share, as sales rose 0.6% to $3.52 billion, above Zacks estimates of $3.52 billion. The company also raised its 2010 earnings guidance to $4.40 to $4.45 a share from its prior view of $4.20 to $4.25 a share

• AMR (NYSE:AMR) announced a private offering of $450 million senior secured notes due 2012

• AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings of $4.43 a share versus $3.88 a year ago, a shade below Zacks estimates of $4.45 a share. Sales of $2.23 billion were above prior year's $2.21 billion and above Zacks projections of $2.23 billion

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) lifted its price target on Walgreen (NYSE:WAG) to $36 while maintaining a "neutral" rating. Analysts lowered the fourth quarter earnings estimate 2 cents to 38 cents a share, with fiscal year

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 14, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Ford (F), Toyota (TM), Best Buy (BBY), Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and Walgreen (WAG).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Retail Sales Turning Tail

The government auto sales numbers (up 2.4% from June, following a 1.9% increase the previous month) were well below what was indicated by the unit sales numbers coming from auto companies like Ford (F), General Motors and Toyota (TM). However, the "Cash

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Retail sales in July were much lower than expected. Total sales fell by 0.1%, far below the 0.8% increase forecast by the consensus of economists and the 0.8% increase that was posted in June. The one piece of good news in the report was that the June number was revised up from a 0.6% increase. If autos are excluded, sales fell 0.6% versus the expected increase of 0.1% and well below the 0.5% increase in June (originally reported as up 0.3%). The government auto sales numbers (up 2.4% from June, following a 1.9% increase the previous month) were well below what was indicated by the unit sales numbers coming from auto companies like Ford (F), General Motors and Toyota (TM). However, the "Cash for Clunkers" surge was right at the end of the month, and some of those sales may show up in the August ...

• Chevron (NYSE:CVX) is the only DJIA component expected to report its earnings today.  Analysts expect the company to report second-quarter earnings of $1.27 per share, down from $2.90 a year ago

• AIG (NYSE:AIG) is reportedly in early talks with rival MetLife (NYSE:MET) to sell its Alico unit, which could bring in as much as $15 billion

• Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) raised its rating on KB Homes (NYSE:KBH) to "outperform"

• Bank of America/Merrill (NYSE:BAC) upgraded Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) to "buy," on expectations of better-than-estimated second quarter earnings, due out next week. Analysts upped the price target from $144 to $175, increasing estimates for 2009 and 2010 as well

• Among same-store-sales numbers: Less-worse numbers were posted by Zumiez (NASDAQ:ZUMZ), with a 19.3% decline versus estimates of a 20.4% drop. Worse-than-expected results were posted by Limited (NYSE:LTD) down 12% versus estimates of a 7.9% drop, and Wet Seal (NASDAQ:WTSLA) with a 11.1% drop

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