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Tuesday, 17 August 2010 00:55 |
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As U.S. markets trend lower after their stellar July performance, more and more investors are wondering if we are headed for a double dip recession. Anxiety is running especially high in the retail and broader consumer discretionary sectors, which have faced some unique headwinds during the traditionally slow summer months ahead of the back-to-school season. With the boosts of stimulus spending and census employment quickly wearing off, many investors are curious to see how retail firms have fared this summer against a backdrop of elevated unemployment and continued weakness in consumer confidence levels.
Two key companies in the retail/consumer discretionary sector report earnings today, which should help to clarify the market’s direction going forward. This comes after weakness in July retail sales, which rose 0.4% from June–slightly below the 0.5% expected increase. However, excluding autos, building materials, and gas, sales fell 0.1% suggesting that consumers are continuing to batten down [...] Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com. 
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