We interrupt this spiral...

Posted at 11:47 AM on January 11, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)

Wasn't December supposed to be death for retailers?

It wasn't at Best Buy, unless you think a 1.5 percent increase in same-store sales is something to sneeze at when we're being told hourly that consumers are pulling back and we're on the precipice of a recession.

The Minnesota-based electronics company reported today that after adjusting for a calendar shift that moved a post-Thanksgiving shopping week to November, same store sales increased 3 percent.

The Wall Street Journal describes the increase as modest, but for a bellweather stock, surely a modest increase has got to lift spirits of the folks out on the ledge, especially since it shows the housing slump isn't crushing everybody.

Nope.

Investors apparently are still banking on the dark side. Best Buy's stock is closed down nearly more than 5 percent today.

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