When you see a headline such as Dismal sales as provided by Siddharth Cavale of Reuters, you need to put the headline into perspective. The reality of the retail world is the last quarter is when the companies make their money. Thanksgiving and Christmas are the two biggest seasons in the retail world and after people really do not need new stuff until the spring. For those of us in the northeast, we better have boots and coats to keep warm outdoors. It was a dismal season because expectations were high that as the economy strengthened department stores would get a boost from a strong holiday shopping season.

The forecast from the National Retail Federation was 2016 sales would increase by 3.6% to $656 billion. However Amazon benefited from online shopping. It seemed people were spending at Apple’s App store which generated $ 3 billion. The most popular downloads were Super Mario Run and Pokémon Go (number one download) followed by Netflix, HBO Now and MLB.com.

The effect of the news of the sales decline on department stores stocks was a falling price.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, while many people have greatly benefited from department stores, it seems it general we are shopping less at them. The stores operate vast amounts of real estate and the market of prices has been decreased which means you are getting the goods for close to the buyer’s wholesale price. The retail world will continue to face great challenges. It is easier to buy utility companies and use the dividends to get the wonderful value the department stores will be offering.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.