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November 13, 2014 Firming home prices in markets across the country contributed to a slight dip in nationwide housing affordability in the third quarter of 2014, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), released today. In all, 61.8 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of... Read more »

November 3, 2014 New Orders, Employment and Production Growing; Inventories Growing; Supplier Deliveries Slowing Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in October for the 17th consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 65th consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business.  The report was issued... Read more »

November 13, 2014 J.C. Penney is in the final phase of its turnaround and the company’s stores are customers’ preferred destination for great style, quality and value, according to company CEO Mike Ullman. Those comments came after J.C. Penney said its third quarter same store sales were flat and it forecast a fourth quarter comp... Read more »

November 13, 2014 Kohl’s is heading into the holidays with a loss of momentum after third quarter same store sales declined 1.8% and the company missed analysts’ earnings estimate by four cents. The third quarter comp decrease of 1.8% was on top of a prior year decline of 1.6%.  Total sales at the operator of... Read more »

November 13, 2014 A third quarter same store sales decline of 1% at Dillard’s wasn’t enough to dissuade CEO William Dillard, II from declaring the company is very well positioned for the holidays. Total merchandise sales also declined 1% to $1.42 billion while net incomes increased to $55.2 million, or $1.30 a share, compared to... Read more »

November 13, 2014 Walmart’s same store sales turned positive during the third quarter, ending a two year drought, prompting the company to forecast a U.S. comp increase of as much as 1% during the fourth quarter. Third quarter same store sales at U.S. stores increased 0.5% and were aided by inflation and the impact of... Read more »

November 12, 2014 Procrastinators and bargain hunters alike are taking their time getting started with their holiday shopping bonanza, possibly to take advantage of deeper discounts over Thanksgiving weekend and late in the season.  According to NRF’s Holiday Consumer Spending Survey, 45.6 percent of holiday shoppers say they haven’t started shopping yet, relatively flat with... Read more »

November 12, 2014 World economic growth, which stands at 3.2 percent for 2014, will accelerate modestly to 3.4 percent in 2015, The Conference Board reported today. The Conference Board Global Economic Outlook provides output growth projections for 2015, 2015-2019, and 2020-2025, including 11 major regions and over 50 mature and emerging economies.  Overall, annual global... Read more »

November 12, 2014 Macy’s third quarter sales were lower than expected but the company still managed to grow profits by 30% and expressed optimism regarding the fourth quarter. The department store retailer said same store sales declined 0.7% while total sales declined 1.3% to slightly less than $6.2 billion during the third quarter ended November... Read more »