Retail Sales

NEW YORK -- Stocks are pushing moderately higher after a better-than-expected earnings report from Wal-Mart helped to offset disappointing data on jobs and retail sales. Investors are hesitantly adding to Wednesday' big gains, which came after upbeat comments from the Federal Reserve. The slight advance comes despite new reports showing retail sales fell unexpectedly in July and more workers are filing for unemployment benefits. A better-than-expected earnings report from Wal-Mart Stores is helping to lift stocks in early trading.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. raised eyebrows last Christmas when the teen retailer insisted it would ride out the recession without resorting to widespread price-slashing. Then came months of massive double-digit sales declines and dwindling store traffic as shoppers defected to competitors that sold similar clothes at more affordable prices. Industry experts wondered whether the company was risking its business in its attempt to uphold its brand image. At the same time, Abercrombie was criticized for missing several fashion trends, for instance, waiting too long to offer casual dresses and relying too heavily on its graphic T-shirts.

On Wall Street, the average shopper can trump a Federal Reserve policymaker. With other parts of the economy showing signs of improvement, the question of when a recovery will occur and how strong it will be lies with consumers. So reports last week showing weaker-than-expected retail sales and flagging consumer confidence overshadowed an upbeat view of the economy from the Federal Reserve. The major indexes ended the week with a loss of about half a percent, their first weekly losses in five weeks.

Dump out the coffee cans, car ashtrays and the bottom of your purse. The lowly penny, which almost was taken out of circulation three years ago, is making a comeback as the recession puts a crimp in back-to-school sales. Spiral notebooks, batteries, markers, crayons, pencils and even some clothing are just a few of the items going for 1 cent these days. The gimmick, which seems as old as the penny, is gaining traction as merchants try to attract penny-pinching consumers with deals.

Eight years after getting out of cosmetics business, Sears is jumping back in, banking that the high-margin sector can give the retailer a much-needed profit boost. The flagship brand of Sears Holdings Corp. is opening full-service beauty counters at 13 Sears stores in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York this week. The goal is to roll out the beauty business to 100 locations next year and, if all goes well, expand to as many as 400 of its 852 Sears department stores by 2012, said Andrea Goldner, Sears' merchandise manager for cosmetics.

NEW YORK -- Stocks are rising in early trading, breaking a four-day losing streak after the latest reading on the jobs market and mixed retail sales reports. The gains in stocks come as the Labor Department said the number of people filing for unemployment claims fell last week by 4,000 to 570,000. However, the market had been expecting a bigger drop to 560,000. The market is also sifting through a number of sales reports from retailers. Overall, sales are still weak, but many companies, including Target Corp.

Wall Street wants consumers to do their part to heal the economy. Traders know it's going to take some time. Investors will get some insight this week into how much consumers are spending from a government report on August retail sales. They will also get an indicator of how willing consumers are to borrow money to make those purchases when credit card lender Discover Financial Services reports earnings Thursday. "I think everybody is focusing so heavily on if people are releasing some of those dollars they have been clinging so tightly to over the past year," said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group in Colonial Heights, Va. Analysts say investors need to see evidence that consumer spending is picking up before the market can extend its recent gains.

NEW YORK -- Stocks fell in early trading today amid concerns about a growing trade dispute between the U.S. and China. Overseas markets also fell sharply Monday on concern about tensions between two of the world's largest economies. Late Friday, the U.S. administration imposed trade penalties on tires coming into the country from China. The Chinese government quickly condemned the move and filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization, calling it protectionist and a violation of global trade rules.

NEW YORK -- Investors waded deeper into the stock market today as a batch of economic reports provided mostly upbeat signals about the economy. Retail sales jumped in August by the biggest amount in three years, but inflation at the wholesale level rose at double the rate analysts expected. The Dow gained about 50 points in afternoon trading. Beyond that, the Federal Reserve said manufacturing in the New York region improved for a second straight month in September. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke also said that the worst recession since the 1930s is "very likely" over.

A battle is brewing over the processing fees that banks charge merchants each time a customer uses a credit or debit card. Congress is considering three bills that would regulate the so-called interchange fees -- which generally amount to 1% to 2% of a sale and totaled $48 billion in 2008. Meanwhile, the Government Accountability Office is doing a study of the fees, as required by a law signed by President Obama in May that bans many unfair credit card industry practices. Merchants across the country and the card industry are waging a fight for public support.