New York  London  GMT  Tokyo  Singapore 
Tom Lydon

6 Reasons Wal-Mart Is A Retail ETF Bright Spot

By Tom Lydon on March 8, 2009 | More Posts By Tom Lydon | Author's Website

Wal-Mart (WMT) sales performance for the month of February beat analysts expectations, and gave a boost to the retail sector, and related exchange traded funds (ETFs).

Among the reasons for the success of this discount chain:

  • Wal-Mart is raising its stock dividend by 15%, to $1.09 per share. Many other companies have done the opposite, some even forgoing payouts to make up for the slowing economy.
  • Wal-Mart is diversified - it’s everything to everyone. Clothes, food, games, plants, bedding and more, it’s all right there and at low prices.
  • Falling gas prices gave consumers more disposable spending money than earlier on, but not so much that they’re ready to splurge.
  • The discount chain has been doing well because of the upswing in bargain-hunters and consumers trading down from name brands to generic items.
  • As consumers stay home for dinner, they’re needing more equipment to fix their budget feasts - enter Wal-Mart and its inexpensive appliances and cookware.
  • They’re ubiquitous. Chances are, you’ve got a Wal-Mart in your neighborhood. Check out this hypnotic map of how it’s expanded across the country since its humble beginnings in 1962.

The world’s largest retailer reported a 5.1% increase in sales at U.S. stores open at least a year, however, there is nothing certain that stabilization has occurred, reports Kerry R. Grace for The Wall Street Journal . Retail sales rose 0.3% in February according to final figures from Thomson Reuters. A 1.2% drop was expected, reports Karen Tally for CNN Money. Discounters carried the day, with comparable store growth of 2.9%.

  • Retail HOLDRs (RTH): down 16% year-to-date; Wal-Mart is 26.9%

If you like this article please...
Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email Email This Post To A Friend Email This Post To A Friend

Leave A Comment :

Name (required)
E-mail (required - never shown publicly)
URI
Subscribe to comments via email
Your Comment (smaller size | larger size)
You may use <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong> in your comment.
Opinions From Our Contributors
Commodities Financials Exchange Traded Funds
Stocks Forex Economy



Theme By: WordPress Theme Shop