The holiday season was a little bit choppy. We started off strong, it dipped in the middle, and this last week certainly was the biggest week.

Gap's basic and fashion merchandise is certainly not getting the right mix in order to sell more goods at full price.

It's certainly a boon to the luxury business.

It's certainly a boon to the luxury business. That exclusivity has made more people willing to pay full price for merchandise the moment they think they can get it, which has helped the bottom line.

As you can see, Christmas is spread out -- not just among December but among January as well. Promotions certainly helped to drive those sales and you can see what the consumer is looking for. It all depend on price.

There's concern that earnings estimates will have to be reduced.

They don't have enough promotional inventories in the stores. They'll only be selling full-price and they're already giving out warnings of negative same-store sales declines in February.

The weakness in the stock price, despite the better-than-expected earnings, is due to the company saying it sees same-store sales (sales at stores open a year or more) in the second quarter rising 2-to-4 percent, when yesterday (Monday), Lowe's said 4-to-6 percent.

You're getting quarterly reports and news about August sales this week, and retail stocks have also been beaten down, so you're seeing some strength in the sector. Retailers have managed their second half of the year well, which is positive for back-to-school and Christmas sales, both crucial for the sector.

Apparel overall is showing a mixed picture. There's been a lot of pressure on the apparel side, particularly among specialty retailers, to keep prices down but we think that situation will improve as the year goes on.