Research Topic

New York City -- Nearly half of U.S. smartphone users say they have already, or soon will, use their phones to do mobile shopping, according to a recent survey conducted by ABI Research, and 53% also use, or intend to use, their smartphones for mobile banking.

New York City -- Home Depot on Wednesday slightly raised its fiscal 2010 earnings guidance for the second time in two months as the market for home-improvement projects slowly begins to improve. The retailer plans to open 10 stores in 2011, and has budgeted $1.3 billion in capital expenditures. and about $2.5 billion on share repurchases.

The retailer now expects net income from continuing operations to be $1.97 per share, up from prior guidance of $1.94 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, also predict $1.94 per share.

Chicago -- Year-over-year GAFO retail sales increased a slight 2.3% or the week ending Dec. 4, according to ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE), while the company’s Retail Traffic Index (SRTI) reported foot traffic remained flat for the same period.

Ankeny, Iowa -- Casey's General Stores reported on Wednesday that the costs of its recapitalization plan and its defense against hostile bids by competitor Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard take a bite out of its second-quarter net income.

Casey's said it earned $21.7 million for the quarter that ended Oct. 31, compared with $33.6 million in the same quarter last year. The results include roughly $19.4 million in expenses related to its recapitalization plan and the dispute with Couche-Tard.

New York City -- More than $17.5 billion has been spent online for the November-December 2010 holiday season to donate , marking a 12% increase versus the corresponding days last year, comScore reported on Wednesday.

The Nov. 24 edition of SiteTalk invited readers to suggest what they thought would be most talked-about in the aisles of the International Council of Shopping Centers New York deal-making conference. Here is what one reader had to say:

 "I expect to hear people complimenting our new Roundtables (Tuesday, Dec. 7, 8-9 a.m.) at the Sheraton. Also, if Black Friday and the start of holiday shopping season match retailer expectations (as shown in our pre-holiday tenant survey), I expect to hear about more deals being made."

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation has announced its support of a tentative bipartisan agreement that would temporarily extend Bush-era tax cuts for all taxpayers regardless of income in return for extending unemployment benefits.