It would suggest to me that they are not experiencing any meaningful improvement in their sales figure. They just can't seem to strike a message that consumers respond to. This is an attempt to bring in fresh thinking to help John turn the company back in the right direction.

The stocks are not cheap anymore but there aren't many alternatives out there. Good opportunities are hard to find in this market.

Sales are down by half, which is a slight improvement, but really it's still very grim.

By and large, retailers kept inventories tight and gift card redemptions also boosted sales.

Given that Super Bowl is scheduled one week later this year, discounters that have significant food and beverage sales may see some sales transferred out of January into February.

All groups showed comparable sales up over 5 percent for the month, ... The economy is certainly an element of the upside surprises. We saw back-to-back quarters of GDP growth. People also anticipate a significant amount of fiscal spending particularly in an election year. This bodes well for consumer sentiment.