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Monday November 30, 2015

// November 30th, 2015 // Comments Off on Monday November 30, 2015 // Daily News

Black Friday brought in 151M, most online: NRF survey
CNBC.com

The Thanksgiving weekend saw more than 151 million bargain hungry consumers open up their wallets to make purchases either on the Internet or in physical stores, the National Retail Federation said on Sunday. This year, the NRF changed its methodology to reflect changes to shopping and retail trends, which make year over year comparisons difficult.
The NRF’s sentiment survey, which are not based on actual retailer’s results, said the number of people shopping exceeded their mid-November survey, when the organization estimated 136 million would shop over Thanksgiving weekend.
The NRF’s results also underscored the growing power of the Internet. The number of people who shopped online–more than 103 million, according to the organization–edged out the nearly 102 million who opted for in-store deals. The average spending per person over the weekend totaled nearly $300, and most shoppers were under the age of 35.
“It is clear that the age-old holiday tradition of heading out to stores with family and friends is now equally matched in the new tradition of looking online for holiday savings opportunities,” ,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.
According to Shay, 42 percent of shoppers that said they shopped online, while nearly 52 percent shopped either in store, online or both. Black Friday spending has evolved because of early sales, he added.
Evidence is mounting that consumers are gravitating toward mobile to avoid what retail tracking firm ShopperTrak noted was a “social stigma” associated with Black Friday. Meanwhile, a growing number of retailers are offering deals in advance of Thanksgiving, and shoppers are taking advantage of those—thus depriving the two day shopping extravaganza of some of its importance.
On Saturday, ShopperTrak’s preliminary figures estimated combined retail sales of $12.1 billion over Thanksgiving and Black Friday, a projected decrease from the comparable year-ago period. The firm added that Thanksgiving Day grossed just shy of $2 billion, while Black Friday pulled in more than $10 billion.
Separately, data from analytics firm RetailNext showed overall sales for both days fell 1.5 percent as customer traffic flattened, pushing down average spending per shopper by 1.4 percent.

Today’s Inspiration

Who Is Your Confidence In?

by Joyce Meyer – posted November 30, 2015

For we . . .glory and pride ourselves in Jesus Christ, and put no confidence or dependence [on what we are] in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and external appearances.
—Philippians 3:3

Today’s scripture destroys any reason to believe we can put confidence in anything we can do or have done. It clearly tells us that our confidence cannot be in “the flesh,” but instead must be “in Christ Jesus.”

It is freeing to finally see that our worth and value are not based on what we do, but on who we are in Christ. God has assigned value to us by allowing Jesus to die for us. By that very act, God the Father is saying to each one of us, “You are very valuable to Me, and I will pay any price to see that you have the good life I originally intended for you.”

Once we recognize who we are in Christ, then and only then can we effectively begin to pray about the things we do for Him, but He wants us to do them in response to what He has done for us and in us. He wants our good works to flow out of our love for Him, not out of a sense of mere duty or obligation.

Meditate on what God has done for you in Christ and the value He has placed on you by sending His Son to die for you. It will help you fall more deeply in love with Him daily and enable you to serve Him from a position of love rather than duty or obligation.

Love Yourself Today: Confess that God loves you and you are valuable. Appreciate what God has done for you, and serve Him because you love and adore Him.

Monday November 23, 2015

// November 17th, 2015 // Comments Off on Monday November 23, 2015 // Daily News

Home Depot posts earning beat

CNBC.com
A Home Depot store in Miami, Florida.
Home Depot delivered quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ expectations on Tuesday, helped by strong demand from professional contractors and builders.
Consumers spent more on houses, home improvement products, appliances and autos than on discretionary items such as apparel in the August-October quarter, analysts said.
Smaller rival Lowe’s, which will report on Wednesday, is also expected to have benefited from strong spending on housing.
The report sent Home Depot’s premarket share price higher. (Get the latest quote here.)
The home improvement retailer posted third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.36 per share, up from $1.11 in the year-earlier period. The quarter’s earnings were reduced by one cent a share due to costs associated with a 2014 data breach, the company said.
Revenue rose to $21.82 billion from $20.52 billion a year ago.
Analysts polled by Reuters expected the company to post earnings per share of $1.32 on revenue of $21.82 billion.
“I think the big headline here is going to be that, following a lot of missteps by retailers lately, this is a bright spot,” Brian Nagel, Oppenheimer & Co. senior equity research analyst, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Home Depot said it now expected earnings of $5.36 per share and same-store sales growth of 4.9 percent in the year ending January, at the higher end of its previous forecast ranges.
Same-store sales rose 5.1 percent in the third quarter ended Nov. 1, above the 4.6 percent growth expected by analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix.
Shares of retailers such as Macy’s and Urban Outfitters have taken a hit after recently posting disappointing quarterly results.
“What we’ve seen for a while now is home improvement has performed better than other areas of retail. I tend to think that retailers like Macy’s are hit harder by weather,” Nagel said.”
Home Depot’s stock has outperformed those of rival retailer Lowe’s this year, rising more than 15 percent. Lowe’s stock is up about 3 percent in 2015.

Today’s Inspiration

What to Do When Trouble Comes

by Joyce Meyer – posted November 17, 2015

Fight the good fight of the faith . . . .
—1 Timothy 6:12

Sooner or later we all have some trouble in life. We all have some trials and some tribulations. Everybody goes through times of testing. And not every storm shows up in the forecast. Some days we can wake up and think everything is going to be great.

Before that day is over, we may be tested by all kinds of trouble we were not expecting. Trouble is part of life, so we simply have to be ready for it. We need to have a planned response to trouble, because it is more difficult to get strong after trouble comes. It is better to be prepared by staying strong.

The first thing you need to do when trouble comes is pray, “God, help me stay emotionally stable.” Do not let your emotions overwhelm you. The next thing you need to do is trust God. The instant that fear rises up, pray.

Stay emotionally stable, trust God, and pray. Then while you are waiting for God to answer, simply keep doing good. Keep your commitments. Do not stop serving the Lord just because you have a problem. The greatest time in the world to keep your commitments to God is in the midst of difficulty and adversity. When the devil sees that trials and tribulations won’t stop you, he will stop troubling you for a while.

To be prepared for the next time you find yourself in a difficult situation, practice saying, “I am going to be faithful to God, and God is going to give me double for my trouble. Satan, you thought you were going to hurt me, but I am going to get a double blessing, because I am one who diligently seeks the Lord.”