The consumer in America is just spending and they're spending with abandon. It's very hard to find a pocket . . . where the consumer is not spending. |
The early November period was rather sluggish but the good news is that the Thanksgiving weekend was superb and that really set the momentum for the holiday season. |
The expectation is that it's going to be a very disappointing season. Business never materialized, and when it did, it was right around Christmas. It was too little, too late, and I think it became way too promotional. |
The numbers that came out were surprisingly strong. You have to walk away impressed with what they've been able to do in a short amount of time. |
The September numbers were generally on track, there were pockets of strength and there were some weaknesses. The numbers overall were not horrendous, but overall certainly the outlook could have more of a negative backlash from the higher oil prices. |
They must do something that's going to leverage traffic in the mall. They can't get totally away from fashion. They've got to come up with something else whether its making the jewelry area bigger or making the denim area bigger. |
They reported much better earnings than we suspected. It was all based on Fingerhut being better than plan. Department stores were actually below plan, so the quality of that (earnings) improvement reflects better delinquency rates than anticipated. |
We're in a marketplace where any kind of negative signal worries people. The same way some of the tech companies caused a ripple, I think investors hear Lowe's issue a warning, hear what's going on with one of the great players in the sector, and they get nervous. |