Shop Talk

Check out Big Lots’ big profit beat.  The closeout retailer, which buys extra merchandise from manufacturers who cannot sell their products for whatever reason, handily beat Wall Street expectations with its quarterly results.

After a slew of U.S. retailers reported  disappointing November sales, casting a shadow on how this holiday season will unfold, Big Lots’ big results were apparently a breath of fresh air for investors:  Big Lots shares jumped 17 percent in morning New York Stock Exchange trading.

Shouldn’t be too surprising:  Big Lots sells that extra merchandise at the discounts that have  proven popular with still tight-fisted consumers.  Off-price retailer TJX, which operates TJ Maxx and other chains, saw same store sales (sales at stores open at least a year) rise 8 percent in November, which included the Black Friday extravaganzas, while same-store sales at luxury purveyor Saks fell 26.1 percent.

Also in the basket:

Kraft starts clock on unchanged Cadbury bid

November U.S. jobs data boosts recovery hopes

PREVIEW-Tesco to flag solid Christmas, eyes on 2010

Yum sees EPS rising at least 10 percent in 2010

(PHOTO/Reuters)