Dana Telsey Quotations

You also wonder about the reaction to the spring line.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.