The consumer discretionary group is in-line with the broader market in early trade. The retail group is in the red with the Retail HOLDRS Trust (RTH) down 0.9% and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) down 1.1%.
Select names trading higher following earnings/guidance: DUCK +13.6%, ULTA +8.6%... Names trading lower following earnings guidance: LULU -6.0%, KR -5.6%. Restaurant/QSR names trading lower following McDonald's (MCD -3.9%) comps. The co announced global comparable sales growth of 3.5% in August. TXRH -3.6%, CAKE -3.3%, YUM -2.8%, EAT -2.7%, PFCB -2.4%, BWLD -2.6%, CMG -1.5% are all lower.
Other notable mentions: Wal-Mart (WMT -0.4%) re-launches layaway plan ahead of holiday season... Leaders: Travelzoo (TZOO +3.6%) higher after ChaPaVe Partners announced plans to commence a Tactical Tender Offer for up to 1.5 million shares of the outstanding shares of TZOO... Lee Enterprises (LEE +31.7%) surging higher after announcing the co and lenders agree on refinancing... Laggards: Nestle (NSRGY -1.2%) considering purchase of baby food producer in Russia, according to reports... Kohl's (KSS -1.1%) filed form NT 10-Q notification of late filing; the company has identified certain errors related to its accounting for leases. Men's Wearhouse (MW -0.5%) weakness attributed to cautious mention in financial newspaper.
Analyst related: Time Warner (TWX flat) upgraded to Buy at Caris. Conns (CONN +4.7%) upgraded to Above Average at Caris. Pearson (PSO -1.1%) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup. Expedia (EXPE flat), Priceline.com (PCLN flat) initiated with Outperform and Orbitz (OWW -2.0%) initiated with a Neutral at Wedbush. TiVo (TIVO +0.5%) and Rentrak (RENT +1.2%) initiated with a Buy at Brean Murray. Heineken (HINKY -1.5%) initiated with a Neutral at HSBC Securities. American Campus Communities (ACC -2.2%) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS. Fiat SpA (FIATY -5.5%) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Macquarie.






