Is Urban Outfitters Worth the Premium?

Things are actually starting to look up for some US fashion retailers, which can be interpreted as a good sign for the economy. Clothes, while generally seen as essential items, can also be viewed as a discretionary category depending on their price. Urban Outfitters, which offers a diversified range of consumer goods, recently came out with a very solid earnings beat. However, the stock is trading at a significant premium to the industry and peers such as Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch . Is it worth the money?

Urban Outfitters' most recent numbers look good. The company reported earnings of $0.47 per share for the third quarter, up from $0.40 a year ago and beating by $0.02. Revenue of $774 million was up 12% year-over-year and beat the consensus by around $3 million. The news sent shares up about 1.3% in after-hours trading on Nov. 18.

Much of the 18% rise in quarterly profit was due to a strong performance from the Anthropologie and Free People chains. Free People recorded a very impressive 30% increase in comparable-retail-segment net sales, with Anthropologie's figures up 13%. Overall, comps were up 7%, which is fairly impressive in the current spending environment.

Aside from these record earnings, the profit rate is also looking pretty good. The gross profit rate increased 11 basis points for the quarter, and by 99 basis points for the nine-month period ended Oct. 31. Management attributed this increase primarily to a reduction in markdowns and improved margins at Free People and Anthropologie in particular. Contrary to many of its competitors, Urban Outfitters seems to be having a better time navigating the tough teen market at the moment.

Source:fool

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Mega Millions' changes pay off in $230 M jackpot

Mega Millions is back in the big-jackpot game, thanks to some recent changes.

The annuity jackpot for Friday’s drawing is up to $230 million -- the biggest amount in 20 months -- while the cash is up to $125 million.

Tuesday’s drawing also produced the game’s first-ever $5 million winner, on the heels of a $3 million winner on Friday – larger amounts than any secondary prize in Powerball.

No one matched all the numbers drawn Tuesday night -- 27, 44, 59, 74 and 75, with a Mega Ball of 3 -- but five tickets matched the first five.

A Texas ticket won $5 million for also having the $1 Megaplier prize-multiplier option. Since the Megaplier came up 5, the usual $1 million prize was multiplied by 5. New York had two $1 million winners, and Florida and Illinois had one apiece.

Friday night, a North Carolina ticket won $3 million.

Source: philly

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'Frozen' review

Disney Animation attempts to emulate their classic animated musicals with “Frozen,” an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” but comes up a little, well, cold.

“The Snow Queen” is prime real estate for a Disney adaptation, and this musical features a few unexpected plot twists, but it is dimmed by lackluster humor and a rushed structure not as cohesive as previous Disney films. 

However, “Frozen” does modernize the Disney princess meme by turning the vulnerable princess and prince charming story on its head. All the stereotypes are here, but “Frozen” puts them on ice. Rather than focusing on a princess who can only be saved by a prince, the film tackles a different type of love-- the power of a sisterly bond.

Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) are sisters gifted with the magical ability to create and manipulate ice. As young girls they innocently use their magic to play games, until an accident almost kills Anna. To save young Anna, a pack of trolls removes her magic and memories, giving her a new lease on life. Elsa, though, is confined to a life of solitude to protect herself and her family from her reckless powers, a decision that keeps her from seeing Anna for many years.

Source:foznews

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Meet the woman named for the holiday

On Thursday, the family of a Minnesota woman will be wishing a happy birthday to Happy Thanksgiving.

That's Dr. Happy Thanksgiving Reynolds of Minneapolis, to be precise, who will be celebrating her 43rd birthday on Thanksgiving, the holiday that inspired her colorful name. 

“It's exactly like every other time of the year for me, surprisingly,’’ Reynolds told TODAY.com. “It winds up being something of an afterthought, so shockingly it's never that crazy around this time. As much as I'm sure there should be giant floats and sparklers and perhaps a juggler, no, it's pretty normal on my birthday.”

Her parents, Thora and Kelly Reynolds, were part of the counterculture in the 1960s and chose her unorthodox name when she was born on Thanksgiving. She noted that she narrowly missed out on being named Snow because it also snowed on the day of her birth.

“Yes, we were hippies,’’ Reynolds told TODAY.com. “We made our own tofu, our own goat cheese, our own sauerkraut. My parents founded a co-op. They were into it.”

Reynolds got used to people’s reactions to her name while attending 13 different schools during a childhood spent in Minnesota and California.

“We were already ostracized because we were hippies in a small town, so it was one more layer of reasoning to be like, 'You people are weird,’’’ she said. “To be totally frank, I think people were like, 'Dude, there's so much there that we could make fun of, that there's just no point. It's almost cruel to make fun of Happy.’

Source: today

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Jennifer Love Hewitt has baby girl

Jennifer Love Hewitt is a mom and a wife. "Jennifer Love Hewitt and her husband Brian Hallisay are thrilled to announce the birth of their daughter," the rep said.

Her "husband." See what they did there? Nothing quite rolls off the tongue like "Jennifer Love Hewitt-Hallisay."

The rep added that "Autumn James Hallisay was born on November 26."

No word yet on the moniker's inspiration or additional birth details.

Another source told the mag that Hewitt, 34, and Hallisay, 35, "got married recently in private."

That contradicts what the well-endowed "Party of Five" alum said at a Pampers event last August. 

"I'm not putting that on myself also! We're going to wait," she said of getting married. "I'm going to get down and be cute again and then we'll be ready to go."

Hewitt announced her pregnancy and subsequent engagement to Hallisay in June after the couple had been dating since 2012. Hallisay reportedly popped the question in May while they were vacationing in Europe.

Source: latimes

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Steam Autumn Sale 2013 Kicks off

Just in time to make Black Friday shopping seem superfluous, the Steam Autumn Sale has begun, bringing with it the same sort of steep discounts on digital games we've come to expect from Steam.

It turns out the leaked sale dates shared earlier this month were accurate: The Autumn Sale will run from today, November 27, through Tuesday, December 3. It appears to be a typical sale without any of the extracurricular activities seen in some of Steam's previous sales. There are the usual flash sales that change every eight hours and daily deals in addition to week-long sales on certain games.

Among the highlights in today's daily deals are Rogue Legacy for $5.09, Skyrim for $7.49, Antichamber for $4.99, and Outlast for $6.79. Meanwhile, some of the standout sales lasting all week include Company of Heroes 2 for $19.99 and Civilization V: Brave New World for $14.99.

Look for more deals over the course of the next week and let us know which games you'll be picking up in the comments.

Source: ign

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TVA to pay out $127 M in employee bonuses

Just in time for all of those Black Friday sales, the Tennessee Valley Authority will pay out $127 million today in performance bonuses to most of its 12,612 employees.

For most full-time TVA workers, the annual incentive equals about 5 percent of their pay, or more than $3,600 for the average TVA worker earning the utility's median base pay of about $73,000 a year.
The incentive pay is down nearly 20 percent from the record high paid a year ago, primarily because such payments are based upon ever higher performance standards each year, TVA President Bill Johnson said.
The incentive payments, which include $115 million in Winning Performance pay for most employees and another $11 million in executive bonuses to senior TVA employees, come just a couple of months after TVA granted an average 2.9 percent raise to engineers at TVA represented by the Engineering Association (EA)/ IFTPE Local 1937.

Source: wrcbtv

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