Blog Posts by Dan Berman

Stocks are trying to log their fifth straight week of gains. The Dow dropped about 12 points yesterday, putting it roughly 50 points shy of where it opened on Monday. The S&P dropped nearly five points yesterday, but is ahead about 15 points on the week. Right now, many traders are turning their attention to Japan where the Nikkei was jumping around today. Yahoo! Finance Senior Columnist Mike Santolis has more in the video above.

What's old is new at Procter and Gamble (PG). As of last night, A.G. Lafley is again CEO of the comsumer products giant. He replaces Robert McDonald, who ran the company for the past four years. Under his watch the company struggled to win over cost-conscious customers. It's also had trouble getting new products into the pipeline. Recently activist investor Bill Ackman has been calling for change. Procter and Gamble stock is up 13% year-to-date and twice that much over the past year.

Google (GOOG) and Facebook (FB) may be about to get into a billion dollar

Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF) is down 12% after releasing a dismal earnings report at 7am. The clothing company says it lost 9-cents a share, less than the 25-cents it lost a year ago, but still almost twice as much as estimates. Revenues also missed by more than $100-million dollars. Same store sales are down 15% from a year ago. The chain says that's largely because of inventory shortages. Up until this morning, Abercrombie shares have been up 14% year-to-date.

Next is an Abercrombie competitor, Gap (GPS), which has seen its shares drift as much as 5% lower after releasing its earnings. The company beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines posting 71-cents a share on $3.73 billion in revenue. The quarter was also a marked improvement over the same period last year when earnings were 47-cents a share. The company was helped by a rise in same-store sales at its namesake Gap stores as well as Old Navy stores. Growth in Asia was also strong. Shares of the Gap are up 53% over the

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Yahoo! Finance's Lauren Lyster and Mike Santoli discuss the fact that so many retailers have been blaming bad weather for lackluster earnings this season. The pair also talk about the sudden CEO switch at Procter & Gamble and new numbers on durable goods.

Stocks managed to climb well off the lows to close slightly in the red. The Dow opened down triple-digits following a 7.3% plunge on Japan's Nikkei 225 (^N225). The Tokyo exchange suffered its biggest loss since the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster more than two years ago. The drop there was precipitated by disappointing economic news out of China and remarks yesterday from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. On the economic front, weekly jobless claims have dropped again. The Labor Department says there were 340,000 new claims filed last week, down from a revised figure of 363,000 in the prior week. Meanwhile, new home sales rose 2.3% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 454,000. That's the second fastest pace in nearly five years.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) rose more than 17% on the heels of its quarterly report released after yesterday's closing bell. The company posted earnings of 87-cents excluding items. That's down from a year ago, but it beat estimates by

Stocks are poised to open significantly lower after a tanking in Tokyo. The Nikkei plunged 7.3% today. That's the biggest drop for the index since the country's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. And it happened on record volume. But what exactly sparked the massive sell-off? Yahoo! Finance Senior Columnist Mike Santoli explains in the video above.

Weekly jobless claims have dropped again. The Labor Department says there were 340,000 new claims filed last week. That's a drop of 360, 000 in the prior week which had actually been a jump from a 5-year low.

There's speculation this morning that two snooty rivals could soon be rubbing noses. We're talking Saks (SKS) and Neiman Marcus. Saks closed-up more than 13% yesterday on a report in the New York Post that it was exploring the possibility of going private. Now comes word that private equity firm KKR is considering an investment in Saks. Then there could conceivably be a merger with Neiman's. That chain is currently owned by

First up is Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) which has risen more than 12-percent in early trading. The company released its quarterly report after yesterday's closing bell, posting earnings of 87-cents when you exclude items. That's down from a year ago, but beats estimates by 6-cents. Revenue missed by $1/2 billion. Basically, the company beat by cutting costs. But CEO Meg Whitman also upped the yearly outlook citing strength in enterprise services and printing. Even prior to this morning's gains HP is up 41% since the start of the year making it the top performer in the Dow.

Next up, Dollar Tree (DLTR) which is currently up 3%. The company came out with its quarterly earnings this morning. It beat on earnings posting 59-cents a share compared with estimates of 57-cents. Revenues matched the consensus. Sales were up more than 8% from last year and hit a new record for the company. Gross margins also moved higher. Shares of Dollar Tree are up 21% so far this year slightly outperforming the

Summer's virtually here with Memorial Day in view, but is there still time for a spring swoon? Vote below in the daily "Hot Stock Minute" poll.

In the video above Yahoo! Finance's Lauren Lyster and Mike Santoli discuss the sharp drop today in the Nikkei following yesterday's fall in U.S. markets. The pair also look at comments yesterday from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the drop this week in jobless claims.

Target (TGT) released its quarterly earnings within the past hour. The company missed narrowly on revenues, but excluding items it easily beat on earnings posting $1.05 a share when estimates were for 85-cents. Target is blaming soft sales in season and weather related categories for the miss. By the way, Target has just started a push into Canada, where it has just opened 24-stores. Shares are down 2% in early trading but they're up about 25% over the past year.

Lowe's (LOW) is also down about 2% this morning on the release of its quarterly report. The company missed estimates posting profits of 49-cents a share when consensus was for 51-cents. The home improvement chain also came-in about $300-million shy on revenues. Just for reference, Home Depot had a strong beat yesterday citing the improving housing market. Lowe's like Target is blaming the weather for its woes, saying cool temperatures and lots of rain this spring hurt sales of outdoor items. Lowe's is up 67% over the past