Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
With the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, the major indexes are just slightly higher as investors aren't looking to make waves today. As of 12:45 p.m. EST the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.69%) is up 21 points, or 0.13%, while the S&P 500 has risen 0.17% and the NASDAQ is higher by 0.48%.
But throughout the world of retail a number of individual stocks are making moves.
The brick and mortar book store Barnes & Noble (BKS) is trading higher by 5.44% today after the company announced its Black Friday holiday deals. While the company is offering a number of different promotions -- such as a buy one get 50% off deal for education books and toys, or 50% savings on select titles and other items throughout the store -- the most impressive deal and, what is likely sending shares higher, is the top-rated Nook Simple Touch being sold for $39. That is the lowest price ever for the device and could really help push the item out the door. While Barnes & Noble will not likely make much money from the sales of the Nook Simple Touch, continued purchases over the life of the device will be profitable for the company. Still, this is not quite enough to make me want to run out and buy shares of the company today, and I wouldn't suggest anyone else buy today either.
Crocs (CROX 0.84%), the retailer that made rubber clogs famous, is moving higher by 1.99% today after rumors began spreading that the company is in talks with private-equity-buyout firms who may possibly take a stake in the company. Any investment made would likely be put to use buying back stock, but that is just speculation. A equity firm, though, could help the company turn itself around and remove the clog image from customers both in the U.S. and abroad. But this information is just second hand from supposed insiders, so trading on this hearsay can be risky and lead to a quick loss of capital.
Shares of Rite Aid (RAD -20.53%) were up as much as 3.29% earlier this morning, but as of now are holding a gain of 1.22% today. With little news pertaining to the company it is hard to say what caused the change this morning. But over the past five days shares are up more than 14% after an analyst at Imperial Capital slapped an outperform rating on the stock. The analyst stated that the company is in the middle of a multi-year turnaround that is going as planned, and investors getting in now could ride the wave as the company improves and the share price continues to rise. Year to date the stock is up an astonishing 476%. But due to the price increase over the past 11 months, not everyone feels this is such a great buying opportunity. My colleague Rich Smith recently noted that after adding in the company's debt and cash flow, shares are essentially trading at 27 time free cash flow, or 36 times past earnings, not the 18 times earnings often stated. To see more about how Rich came to this conclusion, click here.
