In this video from Friday's edition of the Motley Fool's Investor Beat, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool Million Dollar Portfolio analyst Ron Gross take a hard-hitting look at the biggest investing stories of the day.
Home sales numbers fell 3% in October, the second month in a row of falling home sales. Ron takes a close look at how home sales and housing prices affect the housing market at large, as well as how they impact the home improvement retailers Home Depot and Lowe's.
Then, Chris and Ron take a look at brick-and-mortar retailers as a whole, and specifically look at why Target plunged this quarter, while a niche retailer like Williams-Sonoma was able to thrive in this economy and retail environment. Is this divide the new normal?
And finally, Ron gives investors one key takeaway that he'll be looking for as a broader sign of the retail environment going into the holiday season, when several major retailers report earnings next week.