Back from the brink

Shares of Target came close to falling below the $30 level last week for the first time since early December, after January’s sales results brought a sigh of relief from the market that had braced for the worst. The negative 3.3% same-store sales figure the company reported was actually a fairly solid showing given that consumer spending on discretionary products such as apparel and home furnishings has stalled.

News of the sales decline actually moved shares higher by $1.26 and they closed last Thursday at $32.29. The upward trend continued on Friday and extended through Monday when shares closed at $XX.XX, well above the 52-week low of $25.60 recorded on Nov. 19. Even so, shares of Target have a lot of ground to recover as they traded above $60 for most of 2007 and remained above $50 for most of 2008 until a late year free fall that resulted from the rapid deterioration in economic conditions.