Stimulus glee offsets retailer woes

Small-cap stocks hovered near steady levels into mid-session trading, up from the morning lows amid optimism over the fiscal stimulus plans that were put into greater detail today by President-elect Obama. The stimulus cheer helped offset gloom over sloppy retail sales from discount giant Wal-Mart, which put an early pall on the morning activity. At 12:23 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 0.27, or 0.05% at 497.36, outperforming the Dow and S&P 500.

Wal-Mart’s same-store sales were up in December, but short of expectations, which rekindled worries about consumer spending in the recession. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was one of the few bright spots during 2008, but if discounters start to struggle, does that mean rising unemployment is forcing consumers to close their wallets altogether right now?

Speaking of unemployment, today’s weekly claims data served up a bullish surprise for the second consecutive week, with the headline figure coming in at 467,000, some 75,000 below the forecast. However, continuing claims were at 26-year highs, which took some of the bullish edge off the number. The market is still bracing for a potential ...

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