Dana Telsey Quotations

Basically the economy is sluggish. We are seeing consumers resisting spending and the outlook for the second half of the year is not as bright as it had been. Even Wal-Mart said its second half will not be as strong.

Hard electronic retailers, like Best Buy, are seeing more of the tax refund dollars than specialty retailers.

Some of the names that fit into that context actually names like The Gap ( GPS : Research , Estimates ). Basic items like jeans and khakis, people certainly going there on a repeat basis.

You also wonder about the reaction to the spring line.

Typically, if rates increase, basically if we get the sense that we're more near the end of the rate increases than the beginning of the rate increases, that would certainly be a positive for our sector. Retail stocks are basically early cycle stocks. And if we get the sense that we are more near the end than at the beginning, the low valuations of these stocks will prove attractive to many investors.

With Christmas coming on a Sunday, most people feel they can procrastinate a little bit longer because they have until Saturday to finish up their holiday shopping.

We've had a wide variety of excuses, whether it be Princess Diana's funeral, the weather, El Nino... Bottom line is August was better than planned and it stole a little bit from the month of September.

Sometimes when retailers get big same-store sales increases, you have to look behind the numbers.

Projections for the Christmas season really haven't changed very much. While some of the retail stocks certainly have come back a lot, we haven't seen sales overall pick up dramatically. The good companies like the Gap, are still doing very well, while the companies that have been struggling continue to do so.

Comparison would have been even better for some of those retailers if you would have had better weather in the Northeast.

Apparel overall is showing a mixed picture. There's been a lot of pressure on the apparel side, particularly among specialty retailers, to keep prices down but we think that situation will improve as the year goes on.

You're getting quarterly reports and news about August sales this week, and retail stocks have also been beaten down, so you're seeing some strength in the sector. Retailers have managed their second half of the year well, which is positive for back-to-school and Christmas sales, both crucial for the sector.

The weakness in the stock price, despite the better-than-expected earnings, is due to the company saying it sees same-store sales (sales at stores open a year or more) in the second quarter rising 2-to-4 percent, when yesterday (Monday), Lowe's said 4-to-6 percent.

They don't have enough promotional inventories in the stores. They'll only be selling full-price and they're already giving out warnings of negative same-store sales declines in February.

There's concern that earnings estimates will have to be reduced.

As you can see, Christmas is spread out -- not just among December but among January as well. Promotions certainly helped to drive those sales and you can see what the consumer is looking for. It all depend on price.

It's certainly a boon to the luxury business. That exclusivity has made more people willing to pay full price for merchandise the moment they think they can get it, which has helped the bottom line.

It's certainly a boon to the luxury business.

Gap's basic and fashion merchandise is certainly not getting the right mix in order to sell more goods at full price.

The holiday season was a little bit choppy. We started off strong, it dipped in the middle, and this last week certainly was the biggest week.