Trade in Groups

It’s true that December wasn’t a great month for retailers who sell, well, almost anything. However, there was one bright light in the darkness. Costco Wholesale (ticker: COST) announced on Thursday that same-store sales rose 7% in December 2007 when compared with sales from December 2006. Only a mega store like Costco could accomplish what so many other [...]

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Something had to change.  Bear Stearns (ticker: BSC), an investment bank caught in the center of the subprime mortgage crisis, announced Tuesday that CEO James E. Cayne will resign to be replaced by the company’s current president, Alan D. Schwartz.  The move comes at a time when the bank is desperately trying to recover from one [...]

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If only people lined up to buy shares of Krispy Kreme (KKD) stock like they do to buy their doughnuts. The North Carolina-based company, which makes wildly popular doughnuts, has seen its own shares of struggle over the years. Most recently, the company announced a serious decline in sales for the fourth quarter and expects [...]

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Now that we’ve taken the time to celebrate another new year, we should remember to add a celebration to the list for 2008. Priceline.com and William Shatner, its Trekkie-turned-spokesman, are celebrating their 10-year anniversary as partners in the world of online travel. Has it really been that long? Priceline.com has certainly thrived over the years, being one of [...]

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2007 wasn’t exactly an easy year for Office Depot (ticker: ODP). Shares of the office supplies company hovered around $35 at the start of last year, but fell to $12 by the end of the year, with no clear signs of a rebound. The company has publicly blamed the housing crisis for its troubles; hard-hit states [...]

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Retailers may have suffered a disheartening holiday season. And, as competition grows, gas prices go up, and other obstacles get in the way, it seems to get harder and harder for retailers to confidently turn a profit.  However, as 2008 dawns, at least one clothing giant looks like its holding its own. Shares of Gap, Inc. [...]

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2008 didn’t exactly start off promising for gourmet coffee giant Starbucks, Inc. (ticker: SBUX). Today, shares of Starbucks fell to more than 5% to $19.31, the lowest it has been since the middle of 2004. The beginning of 2007, at which point shares of Starbucks traded at over $36, seems incredibly distant from the present. The stock continued its [...]

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On Facebook, the social networking site immensely popular with people in high school, college, and a little older, the group “I Don’t care How Comfortable Crocs Are, You Look Like a Dumb***” boasts, as of today, 735,920 members and is still growing.  The shoes, although they make look, at best, “unique,” have been touted as [...]

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Last week, the Federal Trade Commission gave Google (ticker: GOOG) the green light in its quest to acquire DoubleClick, the online advertising company behind countless of those annoying pop-up ads that show up on your computer screen every time you visit a website. If you’re unfortunately without the wonderful invention that is a pop-up blocker, [...]

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Just when we’ve think Apple (ticker: AAPL) has got everything covered, the company goes and outdoes itself. On Thursday, the company announced a deal with News Corp.’s (NWS) Twentieth Century Fox that would allow customers of Apple’s iTunes Store to digitally rent Fox movies off the site. The movies would be available for viewing on [...]

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