Market Currents

• Tuesday, March 16, 2010

• 09:25 AM If you hate your local bank, you can always turn to Wal-Mart (WMT). The company's planning to increase its "Money Centers" by 50%, so that a little less than half of Wal-Marts in the U.S. will offer bank-like services. 3 Comments

• Thursday, March 11, 2010

• 14:28 PM Gamestop ([[GME]] +5.1%) shares spike on speculation that the world's largest seller of video games will be acquired. “It’s cheap, they’re expanding stores and they’re taking prices lower than Wal-Mart (WMT) and Best Buy (BBY), so maybe a bigger foreign player who wants a larger U.S. presence would be interested.” 2 Comments

• Wednesday, March 10, 2010

• 17:29 PM If you want to build an "index" out of only a few stocks, Eddy Elfenbein locates four ([[DIS]], [[DD]], [[XOM]], [[UTX]]) with an 89% daily correlation to the S&P 500 - and bumps it to 95% by adding four more: [[AXP]], [[IBM]], [[VZ]], [[WMT]]. Comment!

• Tuesday, March 9, 2010

• 18:00 PM Even with Morningstar changing the managers in its Ultimate Stock Pickers, the group's major holdings remain almost exactly the same; tops on the list: Wal-Mart (WMT), Microsoft (MSFT), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). 2 Comments

• Monday, March 8, 2010

• 16:52 PM Wal-Mart (WMT) is reversing course on some product-line cuts it made last year, as consumers have been looking to competitors such as Lowe's (LOW) and Walgreen (WAG) for the goods. The retailer is returning items such as cereal, soda, detergent, and health and beauty products to shelves. 1 Comment

• Tuesday, March 2, 2010

• 09:55 AM Dow leaders: BA +1.3%. CAT +1.1%. CHV +1.0%. KFT +1.0%. JPM +0.7%.
  Dow laggards: T -0.6%. WMT -0.6%. GE -0.3%. Comment!

• Monday, March 1, 2010

• 09:55 AM Dow leaders: HPQ +1.3%. CAT +1.3%. INTC +1.0%. MRK +1.0%. IBM +1.0%.
  Dow laggards: JPM -0.9%. WMT -0.7%. AXP -0.4%. Comment!

• Thursday, February 25, 2010

• 13:33 PM Rep. Frank says the House Financial Services Committee won’t seek to regulate in 2010 credit-card swipe fees charged to merchants. Wal-Mart (WMT) and Target (TGT) have asked Congress to reduce the fees. 3 Comments

• Wednesday, February 24, 2010

• 17:03 PM GameStop (GME) down 2% AH as CFO Catherine Smith departs for a position at Wal-Mart (WMT), and Robert Lloyd is named interim CFO. Comment!

• Monday, February 22, 2010

• 17:48 PM As expected, Wal-Mart (WMT) confirms its plans to buy Vudu, for undisclosed terms, but reportedly for more than $100M in cash - which may be a lot for a company that's not Netflix (NFLX). Comment!
• 13:51 PM Wal-Mart (WMT) makes another move into movies online, reportedly buying start-up Vudu. Earlier, David Pogue pointed out Vudu's innovative features and plans to live outside the (set-top) box. (previously) Comment!

• Friday, February 19, 2010

• 13:27 PM More support for the inflation-isn't-a-worry camp: Walmart's (WMT) U.S. same-store sales in its latest quarter dropped 2% year-over-year, largely due to price declines on food items and consumer electronics. Despite the firm's forecast for soft sales ahead, Barron's believes its a sign that good things are in store for the retail giant. Comment!

• Thursday, February 18, 2010

• 13:26 PM Target (TGT) aims to become a one-stop shop, as it plans to expand 350 of its existing locations this year to add more grocery items. Target will invest $1B to roll out its "PFresh" program and hopes it will eliminate the need for a separate trip to a traditional grocery or a Walmart (WMT) superstore. 5 Comments
• 10:00 AM Dow leaders: TRV +1.0%. UTX +0.9%. BA +0.9%. BAC +0.7%. HPQ +0.7%.
  Dow laggards: WMT -1.4%. CSCO -0.1%. JPM -0.1%. Comment!
• 07:26 AM Wal-Mart (WMT): Q4 EPS of $1.17 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $113.6B (+4.5%) vs. $114.3B. Shares +0.2% premarket. (PR) 1 Comment
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Thursday's open: ABX, AEE, APA, DTV, GT, INCY, MGM, NBL, NXY, PDCO, PDE, PEG, TRA, VTR, WIN, WMB, WMT Comment!