** panic friday **, page-10

re: ** panic friday **/retail sales? Stocks Set to Open Mixed on Retail Sales

Thursday October 6, 8:33 am ET
Stocks Are Set to Open Mixed As Investors Keep an Eye on September Retail-Sales Results

LONDON (AP) -- U.S. stock market futures are trading mixed Thursday, as investors look to focus on September retail-sales results to see how severely hurricanes impacted consumer spending.
Dow Jones futures were recently up 17 points, S&P 500 futures were ahead 2.30 points and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.50 point.

On Wednesday, Dow industrials tumbled 123 points to 10,317, the Nasdaq Composite slid 36 points at 2,103 and the S&P 500 declined 18 points at 1,196, reaching a three-month low on concerns over inflation and slowing economic growth.

Asian and European equity markets also were lower, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index slammed 2.4 percent and U.K.'s FTSE 100 index losing 1.3 percent.

Crude-oil futures weakened another 69 cents at $62.10 a barrel on signs of ebbing demand, while the dollar was lower against rivals on a report that Venezuela's central bank has shifted assets out of the dollar.

Retail results will be in focus with a flood of September sales releases.

Issaquah, Wash.-based retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. said Thursday its fiscal fourth-quarter ending Aug. 28 profit rose 19.5 percent to $355 million, or 73 cents a share, with revenue up 10.3 percent to $16.4 billion, and announced plans to buy back another $1 billion in shares. Costco said the quarter included 7 cents in tax benefits; excluding those benefits, its earnings of 67 cents trumped Thomson First Call-compiled analyst estimates of 64 cents a share.

Claire's Stores Inc., the Pembroke Pines, Fla., retailer of costume jewelry and accessories, reported that September comparable-store sales rose 8 percent and boosted its earnings estimates for third-quarter earnings and revenue.

Retailer Mothers Work Inc. lowered its fourth-quarter earnings forecast, now seeing a $1.09 to $1.19 a share loss, after same-store sales rose 1.9 percent during September. Same-store sales were down 1 percent in the quarter, it said. Mothers Work previously saw a loss between 52 cents and 72 cents a share.

Goody's Family Clothing said it's agreed in principle to be bought by Sun Capital Partners for $8 a share, an 8.1 percent premium to Wednesday's close. Chairman and Chief Executive Robert M. Goodfriend and his family will tender their 42 percent stake in support of the deal. Separately, the retailer reported a 5.5 percent decline in same-store sales during September, and sees a third-quarter loss "significantly" wider than the year-ago 2 cents a share loss. Six stores remain closed due to hurricanes.

Outside of retail, Xerox Inc. said in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that its third quarter will be affected by $114 million, or 12 cents a share, in charges. Xerox said $79 million comes from a previously-disclosed arbitration decision and other potential legal losses, $9 million comes from damages sustained due to Hurricane Katrina that won't be covered by insurance and $26 million from accounting changes.

J.P. Morgan upgraded U.S. Airways Group Inc. to overweight from neutral, saying it believes domestic capacity will be flat in 2006 as jet kerosene surges to new highs. The broker said the slowdown in capacity growth was good news for retreating East Coast carriers such as U.S. Airways and Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL).