Check out the truth behind the numbers. 
 
Some retailers reported November same-store sales numbers that looked strong on the face of it. But a closer look shows underlying weakness.
 
Take Target, for example. The discount retailer posted a 10.8 percent increase in same-store sales for November. But look deeper and you see that most of the gain was due to a calendar change (last year’s retail calendar had 53 weeks). Factoring out the shift, Target’s same-store sales were up only 1.1 percent in November, falling short of analysts expectations.
 
Costco was another tricky one. The headline number showed a 9 percent same-store sales increase. But Costco sells a lot of gasoline and the price of gas was up more than 35 percent for last November. Factor out gasoline sales and same-store sales only rose 4 percent.
 
For other retailers, a weak number might have really been good. Gap’s same-store sales were flat. But this is Gap and that actually could count as progress. Analysts had expected a 4.6 percent decline and its stock rose 2 percent on the beat.
 
Also in the basket:
 
Coca-Cola COO Kent to become CEO
 
Meat processors look for ways to keep ground beef safe (NYTimes)
 
Nike, new coach, chase serious runners (Wall Street Journal, subscription required)

(Photo: Reuters)