Ken Perkins
Ken Perkins
beat broader came companies concerned low miss surprised
I'm concerned that Wal-Mart could be the harbinger of some broader weakness. With everything they had going for them, Wal-Mart still came in at the low end of a not-very-aggressive plan. I wouldn't be surprised if we'll see more companies miss expectations than beat expectations.
bottom customers fewer fighting holiday line margins retailers watch
They're going to have to watch the bottom line and the margins very closely, ... This holiday season, retailers are going to be fighting for customers and fewer discretionary dollars.
cheaper discount hurting impact marginal products stores
Is Wal-Mart also hurting its business? I think cheaper products at the discount stores did have a marginal impact on the company's sales.
consumer continues fairly gas job market provided remain run
The consumer has not run out of gas yet, provided the job market continues to remain fairly decent.
appear commerce conditions economic improved iraq last march month people run shopping year
Economic conditions have improved significantly from March last year when commerce was impeded for much of the month by the run up to the Iraq war. People do appear to be shopping more.
appear consumers economic energy future growth high hurting job prices regarding situation
High energy prices coupled with uncertainty regarding future economic growth and the job situation appear to be disproportionately impacting low-end consumers and hurting sales.
companies earnings gas handful hearing instead nice raise saw
Instead of hearing about gas woes, we actually saw a handful of companies raise their earnings estimates. That was a nice surprise.
expect given last red seen september stellar weakness
After a stellar September for retailers, it was a given to expect some weakness last month. But this is pretty amazing. I don't think I've seen this much red on the board.
beating consumer couple environment greatest last psyche taken
It's not the greatest macro environment to be going into. The psyche of the consumer has taken a beating the last couple of months,
decent definitely head march tough winds
The tough head winds are definitely there but March was still a decent month,
christmas concern deep goes hitting
There's a deep concern that if this thing goes on, a lot of Christmas merchandise hitting the docks can't be transferred.
effect energy higher prices
We are going to see the effect of higher energy prices trickle up to the middle-income consumers.
finally gains great month numbers sales seen
We've finally got a great February. The first set of numbers indicates that this was a blowout month with the kind of sales gains that we haven't seen in a while.
against earnings growth half next second steep year
The deceleration in earnings growth is a significant concern. Techs are up against steep comparisons in the second half of this year and the first half of next year,