Monday, November 29, 2010

Citigroup (NYSE:C) Chooses Target (NYSE:TGT), Macy's (NYSE:M) as Top Christmas Picks

After a robust shopping weekend after Thanksgiving in America, Citigroup (NYSE:C) said they're raising their same-store estimates for the Christmas season, increasing them for November from 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent, and for December from 2 percent to 3 percent.

Contrasting last year's sales to this year during the same weekend, Citi noted a major boost of 33 percent for online spending on Thanksgiving day, and a 16 percent increase on Black Friday.

Along with Target and Macy's, other stores enjoying strong Black Friday sales were Saks (NYSE:SKS) and Kohl's (NYSE:KSS).

All of this sounds positive, but it remains to be seen at what costs the larger numbers are being attained, as stores around the country are under severe pricing and margin pressure in order to attract customers during the major shopping season.

It seems traders are considering that as well, as Target was trading at $56.36, falling $0.49, or 0.86 percent at 12:50 PM EST. Kohl's was trading at $56.40, down by $0.94, or 1.64 percent. Citi has a price target of $72 on Target and $33 on Kohl's.

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