Sanguine Sales at Sears

Sears (NYSE:S) received an early Christmas gift last month. It's something that's on every retailer's gift list -- a positive monthly same-store sales release.

The retailer reported yesterday that November comps -- which is a measure of sales at locations open for at least a year -- for its domestic stores increased by 2.8%. Sales for all domestic stores went up 1.9%, coming in at $2.51 billion. The year-to-date figures are still in the negative, however; comps in this case are down 1.5%, while total sales are down 2.8%.

Nevertheless, this is a good sign for Sears, which has experienced many months of declines in same-store sales recently (see this article as an example). In October, domestic same-store sales increased by 1.9%, so with this latest report, perhaps an inflection point in Sears' problems has been reached.

Then again, we have to look at all this through a different prism, because everything has changed now. Unless you've been holed up in a cave or got stuck in some Twilight-Zone-like weird dimension after uttering a strange incantation backwards, you've heard the news -- Kmart (NASDAQ:KMRT) and Sears are set to combine forces in a historical merger (will it be misguided or on target?). In my opinion, this makes it tough to look at these numbers and make a clear investment decision as an individual because the big story is whether the merger can work or not. There will be talk of synergy opportunities, culture clashes, purchasing leverage, and brand cross-promotion, among a whole host of other issues and parameters. And let us not forget the real estate angle.

Whereas an individual investor could have made an easier determination about the current prospects of Sears' stock both short term and long term based on this latest sales trend before the merger announcement, it cannot be done now. The big boys will be trading both players up until the end, and it probably would be best to wait until the official new entity rises down the road to see if you want to expose your portfolio to it.

For more Takes on retail, click on:

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• Is Home Depot (NYSE:HD) homely or lovely?
• Hot Topic (NASDAQ:HOTT) may have some rot on its walls.

Fool contributor Steven Mallas owns none of the companies mentioned.