After a difficult January, when shoppers first felt the effect of a payroll tax hike that lowered take-home pay by 2 percent, some retailers got a little relief in February from growing employment and a rising stock market.
Staples, the largest U.S. office supply chain, reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue and forecast weak full-year earnings as corporate customers and other shoppers in Europe and North America reduced discretionary spending.
Europe's biggest bank HSBC posted a pre-tax profit of $20.65 billion for 2012, much lower than the $22.7 billion forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.
J.C. Penney delivered the latest dismal retail news, reporting a much larger-than-expected loss as same-store sales fell 32 percent. Shares skidded after-hours.
The discount retail chain reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street's expectations for the holiday quarter, despite heavy discounting and consumer caution.
The department store chain reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts' expectations as its strategy of tailoring merchandise to local markets paid off during the holiday season.
Home Depot said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit topped Wall Street analysts' expectations, helped by an extra week of sales in the current quarter as well as by improvements in the U.S. housing market, and post-Sandy buying.
Trevor Fetter, President & CEO of Tenet Healthcare, breaks down the company's quarterly numbers and weighs in on spending cuts in Washington and the outlook for the health care industry.